ABM Breaks Camp, Heads for Ignacio, Colorado

Ignacio:

Much as we wanted to set up camp at the Sugar Pine Ranch & commute to Ignacio (they are having competing biker rallys), we're headed for Ignacio today. Failure to communicate with the Sugar Pine left us no choice. We offered to pay our own way, but wanted permission to interview while there. Since we never heard back, we figured the answer was no. So... Ignacio it is. Sugar Pine, it is not. After the murderous extended lawsuit between the Southern Ute Tribe & the Ranchers, I don't blame them for being a little publicity-reluctant. We just hate to leave this little town, it's packed with mainly really nice people, & they all know about ABM. I swear we only passed out a half dozen biz cards, yet everyone knows us.. for example, I'm sitting on a gas station bench, some 5 miles outside of the limits, & a guy in a pickup truck pulls in, and says...."Hey, aren't you the 'biker minute' dude...?"

Farmer's Market, Middle of Nowhere Apricots:

Enroute to some 500 a.d. Indian ruins, just before the road turned to gravel, we see a sign for fresh apricots..what? This is Colorado, how do you grow apricots? After knocking on the front door, an elderly lady in superb physical shape answers, her old bloodhound in pursuit, & shows us 40 lbs of little apricots, about half the normal store size. What they lacked in size they more than made up for in taste.. she packed up a couple pounds of them for us, & asked for ONE DOLLAR. Of course we gave her more than that. Later in the afternoon, we visit the town Farmer's Market, & score some Colorado Peaches, little suckers, about the size of a golf ball.. again, sweet, fresh, mabye the best ever, for..get this... 15/$1.00. The sweet corn, at 8/$1.00 was so packed with minerals, the first few bites gives ya a rush. The motorcycle riding, the people, the fresh fruit & vegetables, mouth-watering western steaks.. This place is a keeper. We'll be back.

ABM is headed for the "Res"--Ignacio--we have no idea what the wi-fi situation will be on down the road, so keep checking back, and a second reminder.. be very careful this weekend..watch those cages, because most of 'em aren't watching for us!

Million Dollar Highway Freaks Bikers Out!

The One Your Mom Warned You About!

Once you've ridden this stretch of blacktop, you'll know what switchbacks are all about. The so called "Million Dollar Highway", begins innocently enough. After leaving the ABM base camp, near Cortez, Co., we pointed the black bike northward along route 146, toward Telluride. As elevation increased, so did the scenery, morphing from creekside hills lined with Blue Spruce, into jagged rocks, vegetation begging for a simple crack in which to grow, then, Mount Wilson, over 14,000 feet high. At this altitude, only rock and snow can exist, and snow there was, plenty of it.

Going Up, Up, Up...past bicyclists begging for enough oxygen to survive in this razor-thin air..you'd have to wonder why they beat themselves to death, even risking a heart attack from lack of breath.. Be sure of this: most of them detest "bikers". Most of them are well-to-do people who probably feel that the road belongs only to them, and their rubber shorts, or whatever that crap is they wear...

On this first leg of the journey..we finally reach Telluride, a literal conclave of the world's richest people, everywhere, wooden and log homes costing milllions to build & maintain. For a while, our new road, rt 62, meanders through canyons & beautiful tree-lined waterways, finally reaching the northern-most part of this loop, (and the deadliest, as we're soon to find out), US Route 550, quite unremarkable until you reach the outskirts of the first major town, "Quary".

What's with the "Million Dollar Highway" name?

We knew you'd ask, so we asked the locals. The most common answer was because of the cost of the iron ore on which the road surface was built. In fact, the creeks run over a bed of golden to bright red color due to the ore contained in the rocks. This alone is worth the trip to see, but it doesn't end there...no..no. After gassing up in one of only two stations in Quary, the real fun begins.. Or should we say, adventure. We're headed toward Silverton, an 1800's mining town, which shows it's age, a thing of beauty. It's been a brutal ride down into town, over mountain passes, & suprising switchbacks, and as we pull the bike up against the curb in front of the "Pickle Barrel", a local eatery, ominous cloud activity gets me to thinking that leather time has arrived. The burger is filling, & the lettuce looks as if it had been just picked from a local garden. Some bicycle people are staring at us as we fire up, & head out south, away from 9300 ft Silverton..

Dude, the girl is really freaked out!

Rt 550 is narrow to begin with, and it's getting narrower. The locals have never heard of a guard rail. With barely enough room for two cars to pass each other, we climb, & look down into an abyss of a thousand feet or more. When cars, & trucks roll over the side of the embankment out here, they are left to rust & eventually decompose. There is no way to remove them from way down there.. They pick up the body (if they can find one), and move on. We know the Harley foursome which we've caught up with knows this, and especially one girl who looks to be a new rider, on her Sportster.. she is putting a death grip on her handlebars, going maybe 8-10mph, and looks scared to death. The other three aren't doing much better. We get to a tunnel, maybe a mile (straight up) from town, & they've had it, trying to get their bikes turned around on the steeply graded surface, & back to Silverton. 550-Silverton-NOT-4-Beginners. (or intermediates, for that matter).

By the time we reach Coal Pass, elevation 10,700 ft, surrounded by Turret & Pidgeon Mountains, over 13,000 feet high, it begins to rain. No make that POUR. Amid 180 degree switchbacks at what seems like every 100 yards, the rain is ponding & pouring across the road, & sometimes seems like it might carry us away, toward a 1 to 3 thousand foot freefall. Are we freaking out? You bet. Are we stopping? No. Where do you want me to stop, when there's over a foot of drop off the side? So we press on..and the rain gets worse, we're soaked to the bone, rounding switchbacks where the posted speed limit is 10MPH. The scenery is spectacular. Creeks ablaze with copper, ore, & gold color. Mountains, extinct volcano, & air so fresh, yet so rareified, you grab a rush with every mouthful, and belive me you need to be a mouth-breather up there just to survive. FINALLY... we reach Hermosa, a mobile-home infested small town, & pass just feet from a grazing doe roadside. The fact that she noticed my telling the better half, & NOT the sound of the chopper, is sending chills down my spine as I post this blog.

Is it over... yet? Man, it should be. Takes an hour to go 25 miles. As we approach Durango, the sky parts, clouds disappear, the sun comes out, & it's almost 90 degrees. That's the mountians for ya, but wait, there's more. It ain't enough that the bike looks like it's never seen soap & water. Now we're headed toward Cortez on 160, and Mom Nature opens up..AGAIN, this time with a vengenance reserved only the truly non-deserving! Only one of maybe a couple bikes south of Silverton, we're passing by dozens & dozens of Sunday-drive bikers, pulled over roadside. One has a giant blue tarp spread over his ride..another flashes his headlight as if to say.."pull over, cool yer pipes"...but we ride on, and finally break through the storm around Mancos, just short of Cortez. Arriving at our campsite, it's once again...(can you guess)..85 degrees & sunny. Doesn't matter. We make a huge campfire & stand there, in our wet clothes, afraid to even take them off until we are dry & warm.

So that's it, race fans: One of three fanstic loops. Just the day before, we roasted off our toasties in the high desert of Arizona, & Utah. More on that, next blog. Also: The ride to the "Cliff Dwellings" of Mesa Verde, a great day.

Two, Two, Two Rallys in One?

What we have here is the tale of two rallys. For reasons we'll divulge later, the dude who used to throw in with the Ignacio Chamber of Commerce & the Southern Ute Tribe for the Ignacio Motorcycle Rally, always thrown on Labor Day weekend, has split from the Ignacio Rally, and is having his own party at a nice place called the "Sugar Pine Ranch", a few miles from Mancos, wich is about 50 miles from Ignacio. Of course, the locals on this side think his is the place to be, & are strong supporters. They don't seem to care much for the goings on in Ignacio. Ditto the Ignacios on Sugar Pine. ABM hears his permit is limited to 5,000 vehicles per day, and if each vehicle comes & goes, does that make it 2500? These are legit questions we want to ask, but so far, the ranch hasn't returned our request for a pow-wow. (If you're reading this, you got my number.. CALL?) So, barring any unforseen circumstanes, It looks like 3DOGNITE & LRB 4us. We think Ignacio could see over 100,000 if the great weather holds. Yesterday's soaker was the first rain we've seen since Sturgis!

Trout Update:

Yeah, they're still biting! We're limiting what we catch to just what we can eat, so please...PLEASE. No more requests for dry ice shipments of Rainbow?? (dw, bb, are you listening????????????????)

Sturgis Update: 445,000 came to play

Yeah, it was down. According to the bean counters, about 12 percent. What gave it away to me was the number of emergency room visits.. 86 last year, 60 this year. Everyone we talked to said too much Johnny Law, not enough of us. To be fair, they seemed to be... everywhere.

One final clarification:

When ABM mentioned some native americans gave us incorrect info, or none at all, we only include those who work for the casinos. Throughout our travels, the local natives who have no professional axe to grind are the most friendly, talkative, engaging of any we have met. Their respect for the chopper, their questions about it, us, where we live, what it's like, and most of all, the smiles on their children's faces, don't lie. I just wanted to make that clear, thanks for letting me vent.

"til next time...ride safe, keep the rubber side down, shiny side up, & be extra careful of the Labor Day Cages.

ps: Can you beleive this? Ignacio's rally-finder pamphlet: A stern box ad from the highway safety council warning of still fines & jail for any biker over the legal alcohol limit. The ad just above it? BREAKFAST HAPPY HOUR FEATURING BLOODY MARYS! Only in America Dude, Only in America.........

Tales...from the road...and Beyond:

Where the Streets Have No Name...

Headed out to Monument Valley, Az & Ut, via Rt #160.. It's getting a little late for the trip, as a quandry exists in when to head out on the highway.. In the mountains where we're ensconsed, at 10am the temp is hardly 65. Meanwhile on the desert floor, some 100 mi away, it can be 90 headed for 100 or better. Late start today, so we'll see what happens. Last night some Hare Chrisnas or something, 20 strong stayed up & beat on a drum, guitar, & flute.. As much as I am for religious freedom, if they pull that tonight, I'm going into town for a boom-box & an AC/DC disc of "Highway To H---".

Ignacio.. Not many people, but plenty of bikes next week:

This is a really small 'berg. Six something blocks l0ng, a couple wide. Adobe-style prevails. Home to the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, who have just finished a new gambling casino to go with the original.. Believe it or not, to the person, they no nothing of any biker rally. Where to go, where to stay, who's involved, or if one even exists. What makes this really peculiar is that their logo is on the flyer! If you're headed out this way, the rally lasts for one whole week, starting next Monday, with most people comming in Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon for the big Labor Day Blowout. The Ute tribe is brining in Three Dog Night, & Little River Band.. & giving away a new Harley Soft Tail.. Yeah, they don't know anything about the rally... We've come to expect this from the tribes, as this exact same stuff has happened to us in Montana, Az, Ut, & Idaho. No problem. If you're wondering why we're moving... Ignacio is some 70 miles from our encampment, way to far to commute. Backlit signs are already up warning of jailtime for anyone over the legal (beer) limit.. That's nice. They have all summer, but wait for the bikers to show before the big crackdown. So, what else is new? Sturgis had the tightest enforcement from the State boys we've ever seen, while the Town & locals laid back. What Gives???

Nathan Cloud, where are you??

So a lady from the Ignacio Chamber of Commerce sends us to nearby "Clouds" campground, explaining that if you're drunk, it's only six blocks from Ignacio.. So we're riding around, trying to find it. We stumble into the local Ute campground, not the right place.. they're advertising 5 bucks a night online, but it's more like 25.. and of course, even though Nathan Cloud is a bona-fide Ute, the dudes claim no knowledge of him, or where his campground is.. later on, we find that it's almost directly across the street..like I said, you get used to this don't tell the white man anything.. Anyhow, you could never tell this place is a campground.. it's a shack at the end of a dirt road. Nathan is a good dude, somewhat infirm, & his neice is running the show. He says to come back a week from Thursday. We agree that's a good idea because....

The Trout are REALLY Biting!

Now you know all about the ten-Rainbow limits we hooked into while the creek water was very high last week.. it was like every stinkin' rock had five or ten fish under it.. As the week wore on, the fish thinned out. Then, a very good thing happened.. The water level kept on falling, until over the last few days, all of the honey holes were exposed. The water cleared, & now you can tell exactly where they're ganged up. The average size went from 8-10 inches up to 12-14 inches, with an occasional.... 15 incher this morning. Actually, this one was a highly prized German Brown Trout.. a real fattie.. caught by throwing some bait over the top of a boulder, then flipping the sucker around some corners after the hookup. ABM's better half hooked up next, with a beautiful 16 inch Brown, only to lose it bankside at the very last minute...FAILURE TO LAUNCH. haha.

Rain? What's That?

ABM has been on the open road since July, and in that time, it has only rained once. Sturgis, the night of Lynyrd Skynyrd. That's when three bikers got struck by lightning in the Glencoe campground. Actually, it did precpitate one night here in the mountains, but that was sleet, at about 2am, for some 30 minutes. We incorrectly mentioned Telluride, Co as being 11,000 feet.. MAN WERE WE WRONG-- Try 14,000 feet. At this altitude, (even here at 8500 feet) you got to get used to drawing DEEP BREATHS, or you simply run out of Oxygen. Being in Florida compared to here is like sleeping in an oxygen tent! On the good side, it only takes one beer, (or one of anything) to get totally wasted. Economy, dude!

Comming soon...
Tales of "Avalance" Beer.. & the local biker club dude, who describes this little town as...
"Mayberry".

Keep checking back.. we'll keep trying to figure out life's great enigma...why Bikes are so Cool, & absolutely everything else...(except trout fishing)...SUCKS!

Trout Poisoning???

Burp!

"Rainbow Poisoning" -- We're camped out at 8,000 feet, Colorado Rockies north of Durango-Cortez, & the fish are biting like there's no tomorrow. Just this morning, caught a limit of ten beautiful rainbow trout, one almost 13 inches in length. This is one place to go if you don't like fishing and not catching. It don't get any better.

Brrrrr!!!!

Man, does it get cold up in 'dem there hills... 39 degrees yesterday morning, with snow warnings for Telluride & the even higher (11,000 foot) elevations.. frost on the bike every morning.. even the down to 30 degree sleeping bag isn't worth much when your nose & ears are frost-bit, but at 14 bucks a night? Right on a trout-infested stream? We're there, dude!

Rally-Time, Again?

Yes! What's been known as the "Four Corners Rally", and a courtroom brawl between the local "Ute" Indian tribe vs local ranchers still can't hold this one down. This area probably has the best riding of anywhere in the world. The million dollar highway, north of Durango, US route 160, all of the mountains with thousands of miles of dirt roads & trails, and yes, all of this less than 100 mi from Monument Valley, & the desert floor. Put this one on your list of places to see!

Sturgis Look-Back..

The Location: Main Street, Sturgis, South Dakota.
The Place: Loud American Roadhouse Bar
The Incident: Hells Angel (allegedly) Shoots it out with member of "Iron Pigs", a law-enforcement MC club. Angel goes to hospital. Cop (or former cop, we don't know...) walks. (how's that work--? If it were you or me, we'd be in the slammer!!)

All in all, Sturgis has been pretty quiet since the Custer shootout between the Hells Angels & the Outlaw MC clubs a couple yrs back, so it's comforting to see that things are returning to "biker normal". Sorry I didn't post this sooner, but like I said, the trout are biting!

ABM is looking for a home to stay in during the big labor day rally here in the four corners, and is currently working on press passes in order that we can bring you all of the action from this great up & comming biker blast!

Keep checking back... 'cause every once in a while we clean up the worm guts & find a nice comfy wi-fi spot. Gotta go now... got icy Coronas & 14 Rainbows to fry!

SD Lawmen Tighten Their Grip, 100k$ Mess at Chip:

This is not good:

South Dakota's Highway Ptl: Tickets, Tickets, Tickets.. Mainly for being ten over, but many bikers having problems with citations for what the law deems "too high handlebars", & other equipment issues. ABM's take is that you should be able to equip yourself, your bike with whatever makes you happy, so long as you do no harm, so what?? Many of the southwest USA bikers love them sky-high handlebars, & "fish-tail" exhaust systems. So what, they aren't bothering anyone, & the height of the bars doesn't seem to impede their ability to get around in a safe manner... why all the fuss? It's just like the helmet issue, which one of the local tv stations has to get with each year.. Hey-want to see the rally shrink even more? Add a helmet law, & it's done.

What are the Sturgis Cops doing this year?

Being cool, taking it easy on the bikers. Gone are the days (at least from what we've seen) of six of 'em strolling down the sidewalk in tandem, holstered sidearms ready in an instant in case some Disney-going family decides to make a break for it. Bikers have responded in kind, &this is one of the most easy-going rallys we've seen..almost no downtown burnouts. Or, maybe.. it's that set of 27 in-town security cameras...

This is Great!

So we're ensconsed inside the minimum-security, not plush in any sense of the word ABM compound at the Buffalo Chip campground on Wednesday night-Thursday morning & it's still raining buckets, bolts of lightning off & on.. and it seems like with each crack of thunder, a half dozen or more bikers jump on their rides & roll on the throttle...NO, roll on the throttle until they hit the rev limiter, thunder, rain, sleet, lightning and all. Twisted, yes. Uncool? Absolutely Not!

Then, Thursday night, Friday morning, the next group, this time alternative-rockers, takes over after 3 Doors Down--A giant all-night party out in back of the stage & pond, & I mean A-L-L nite..So much whoopin', hollerin' & nasty going's on they could be heard all over the campground. Getting up for my morning shower, they were still partyin' at 7am. Hardcore, yes...Uncool? No! Ahh.. endearment..still stuff yer momma would slap ya down fer... but she's not here.. haha!

100 Thou Trash Pile:

Here's how it got figured--If a mixed drink is five, beers are four, and there's 25,000 squashed cans & cups on the ground, that equals 100$k of booze sales off the ZZTop show. Man, it looked like a landfill this morning, but the cleanup staff is on it, & it'll probably be gone before the 9am $1 beer stand opens.

Tres Hombres:

One 'mo time... ZZTop, fresh back from Europe, hopped off the plane in Rapid around 3pm, & headed to the Chip. They did a little over an hour, all their hits, & the crowd ate it up, like always. Yes, the girls were gettin' nekked, but it was more of a "pancake" night, as opposed to Kid Rock's all you can eat melon festival.. Does that make any sense? I have no idea what it means..

Free Pancake Breakfast:

Speaking of pancakes, we hear the "Sons of Light" ministry's every morning free flapjack breakfast inside the Chip is pretty good, & the talk is almost all about motorcyles.

The End is Near!

Yeah, it's pretty depressing when the rally ends. ABM is never ready to go home.. did that back in '05--never again. Monday morning when the campground emptys out, & all the traffic is way in front, I'll point the black bike toward Durango, Colorado. The big plan is to ride thru Wyoming, then into Colorado, thru Rifle, & down toward Durango, Cortez, & eventually, Monument Valley, Utah, & Northeast Arizona. These are our favorite places to ride. No cops, no cages, good roads, & what I truly believe to be the world's best scenery. This year we'll participate in the "Four Corners Rally" over Labor Day Weekend, a Durango-Cortez-Ignacio area event. Although it's not one of the biggest, the quality of this one is very high. If you're going, & you don't have deep pockets, stay at a national or state campground, or forest. Durango hotel, motel rooms are priced like they think it's West Palm Beach..it's not far from Telluride, & there's a lot of money in this area. The farther west you go from there, the cheaper it gets. The trout fishing in this area is beyond belief. I'll wager that a succulent trout dinner can be caught simply with the use of a hand-line, no fishin' pole, & then there's the riding with 60-70 degree days, winding, banked hardtop runnin' thru deep canyons, & so much forest, the smell of "Pine-sol" blows ya away. Something we leared last year-- Bears love toothpaste, so much so, if it's dark, don't pay any attention to your dentist... wait until morning to brush 'em, or risk being the recpient of a big 'ol BEAR HUG!

Ethanol Update:

South Dakota has just one grade of gas blended with ethanol, the middle grade. When buying regular, or high test, there is no Ethanol, unlike my retarded state of Florida, which forces stations to blend in 10% ethanol into all grades. How stupid is that?

I don't bother rejetting the carb on ABM's chopper for the trip out west. Watching the air mix & keeping the k&n air filter absolutely clean seems to work at all but the 11-12 thousand foot elevation mark, where all bikes, even injected ones run like crap. ABM maintains the position that even 10% Ethanol sucks. The proof is that for the first time ever, the chopper ran lots better out here (ethanol free) that it did back in Florida (where ALL gas has ethanol). Wouldn't it be nice if somebody bothered to ask us what we think about adding crap to our gas before making a decision? South Dakota has it right, Florida is in the ethanol tank, & why? There ain't a field of cow corn inside the entire state. Condos, orange trees, & boats, yes. Cornfields...nope.

The First Year Ever...

When gas prices actualy decreased after the rally began! Yeah, it's because the price of a bbl of oil has fallen sharply, but it's pretty weird compared to last year when they went up 25 cents the week of the rally. A nice change.

Look for American Biker Minute Updates--posted when we can get a signal.

ABM thanks to the Sturgis Library for the great signal & cool room to work in.

Check out their great selection of books on the old, wild west-worth your while.

Wyoming, next stop on the ABM '08 Road Trip.

American Biker Minute

on great American Radio Stations

& on your phone: (360)-282-5400

Motha Nature Dumps On Sturgis!

Dead To The World...
It'd been a hard-working day for ABM & a nice crash in the shade seemed like a good idea, to rest up for Lynyrd Skynyrd later in the evening... and then... IT happened. One of the bros across the street was kind nough to wake the kid up & warn of impending doom.. we switched on the noaa wx radio, just in time to hear warnings of 60 mph wind, & hail. The next 20 minutes was spent battening down several hatches, & getting the bikes under cover. Just as we finished, at exactly 7:19 pm, she let loose, & never really quit until probably 3am.. the worst was over by the time Lynyrd Skynyrd took to the stage, but we pussied out, 'cause it was still raining, & were still under a lingering case of Corona poisoning.. This moring, the grounds in front of the stage at the Chip looked like Sadyr City.. Skynyrd, Rev Theory still played, although the John Fogarty show at nearby Glencoe, including Larry The Cable Guy, who cancelled earlier in the day, never went on. No word on makeups or refunds as yet.

The rain was torrential, some spots reported over....ONE FOOT OF HAIL in theroad! Preliminary reports indicate that three or more people at the Glencoe were injured when struck by lightning, & we're guessing it happend right around 7:19..

Bikers Caught In The Middle..
Reports of total traffic gridlock in downtown Sturgis as bikers rushed to beat the black clouds back to the campgrounds, only to be stuck in the middle of wall to wall traffic as the skies opened up, dumping up to four inches of rain on unsuspecting riders.. If you have room for it, a NOAA wx radio with an alarm function goes a long way up here in the Black Hills...

The Kid Rocks The Chip

Depending on the source, as many as 42,000 crammed into the Buffalo Chip to see Detroit's bad boy lay out some tunes so fine, it was like sinking your teeth into a prime slice of Dakota Black Angus steak. From the get-go, he had the crowd rockin', hollerin' & doing things theyre mamma would probably slap 'em around for. ABM's third time seeing Kid Rock--every show we lose trackof time. They did about 90 minutes, midnight arriving way too soon, we packed up our weary butts & crashed. A bro who made it over to see KISS, reported a respectable crowd, near the size of Kid's gate, & had an excellent take... absolutely no traffic on the road... every biker was rockin!

Bikers are wondering W-H-Y???............

Why are golf carts allowed inside the stage area in the Buffalo Chip? There were a LOT of upset bikers, who paid up bigtime for their Kd Rk passes, only to be stuck standing behind people...(and I am not making this up)...who were sitting or standing on the roofs of their golf carts to get a better view of the stage...worse yet, they were halfway down to the stage, so large areas in the crowd of 40,000 had absolutely no view whatsoever of center stage...they were stuck watching the monitors. When will this end?

Do you own a set of Vance & Hines "Big Radius" exhaust pipes?

"Black Betty", ABM's project Harley Softail Standard was equipped with a pair, the thinking being that it'd be years before everyone bought a set--man, was that stinkin' thinkin'... They're everywhere around here..on a third of the Harleys must be sporting a set. One in five custom bikes has a set...Already thinking about doing them over in black. If I had a buck for every set of Big Radius's in town, it'd pay for the trip out here!

WARNING-WARNING-WARNING

Reports are that the SD Highway Patrol recently added 12 new officers,

former Cadets, now wearing a badge, & writing tickets, lots of tickets.

Have fun, but please remember, they're around just about every juicy corner.

So far this year, traffic citations are up over 50% more than last year.

Fewer Bikers, More Tickets. That's a good way to make 'em not want to return.

Vote for Alice...He Doesn't Care!

AC Rocks The Chip!

Alice Cooper packed 'em into the Buffalo Chip campground in Sturgis once more last night. The crowd was equal to, or maybe a little bigger than his last round, back in '06, & the place was rockin'. Some of the less enlightened bikers in the crowd weren't too happy with the "Dead Babie's" segment, where AC does his thing with a doll, but that's their loss. When you go to see AC, you don't just get excellent tunes, you get a stage show, with a story to tell. I was particularly enamored of the asian "dancing girls", most likely played by his wife, & two daughters, as they're in many parts of the show, & are very easy on the eyes. AC's last tune just before the encore was "School's Out"...we were blown away when Dee Snyder jumped outfrom behind the curtain & made his bad boy presence known in Sturgis--a great end, but not quite the finish. After being coaxed by bikers revving their v-twins, & the thousands and thousands of finger horn fans, they came back with "Elected".. & had make believe Hillary & Barack duking it out, only to embrace & make up at the end... Prophetic? We'll know any day now, not that any of us really care...ya know? A special touch included the girls carrying boxing match-type placards that had stuff like... "Vote For Alice, He Doesn't Care!". That's the type of irreverance we love...we got plenty of it last night.

Tonight in Sturgis:
Glencoe Campground, across the street from the Buffalo Chip: Kiss. Tought I heard something about SD's gov making a cameo. Maybe they're giving away tickets, ala "buy one get one free" to get some people inside as to not be embarrased by a small crowd, but how would we know? THEY DENY ABM PRESS ACCESS. The Buffalo Chip, on the other hand, is always ready to work with the media. Maybe that's why the place is so packed today..P-A-C-K-E-D, at least as many people as last year. At 6:30pm, John McCain takes the stage to do his part in honoring our nation's fallen heroes. Mr. McCain agreed to take part in this ceremony long ago. ABM is for bikers, by bikers, & although we do not endorse candidates, you can get a good feel for who is biker friendly by their actions, their words, or the lack of... Around 10:30pm, KID ROCK will return to the Chip's stage for the third time in four years. It was KID who landed the two largest crowds ever, & his first one sold out...that's a lot of tickets, dude. So, tonight, it's thebattle of KISS vs KID.

Shower Talk:

So the "tip-meister" dude who's supposed to keepthe comodes from backing up, never shows, & only 2 out of 7 of 'em are working..the line is backing up, & we're standing, waiting... this really burt older dude, maybe 5-8, maybe 130 lbs, long hair, beard, a rider.. comes out of the shower, shouts.."top of the morning to ya man..." & proceeds to pop the top on a can of Bud Select. (did I mention this was at 6:15...AM?)

Daytona dudes camped out across from the minimum security, not-so-ultra plush ABM compound...how in the hell do they do it... cans of Busch all day, all night, they never stop, never look wasted, until they get up in the morning. Swear they're knockin' down a case a day, per person.. man that's hard core.

Main Street, Sturgis, SD, 9am:

If you didn't get there by nine, you had to look hard for a place to park the scoot. All this stuff about nobody showing up is bs. They're here, in big numbers. As we said, the Chip is packed, & the parking lot was full of people waiting for the 7:30 am gate opening again this morning. Vendors are happy with their sales.. & the Sturgis chamber estimates so far, sales to be up about 18-20% from last year. (remember what we told you about staying home when everyone else is having fun?)

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..."I Didn't See Them.."

Two Fatalities Before Official Start of Sturgis Bike Week:

A couple from Ravena, NY were fatally injured when a Toyota pick up truck allegedly pulled in front of them on Sturgis Road. They are the first two deaths at bike week this year... and ABM is tiring of the same old excuse... "I didn't see them"... How many more times..? How about... kill a biker & it's your falut? Lose your license ... for life.

Where Are They?

It seems like everyone wants to be correct in their prediction that this year's rally will fall short of the others.. Locals, vendors, the media... Yet, we got up at 5...yes, FIVE am today so a long wait for a s-s-h.. you know s---, shower & shave.. Only your faithful servant does not shave, so it was just a S&S.. and still, there was a line at one of the Buffalo Chip's bathrooms.. on the way to the concert pit, one glance told the story.. the tenters arrived en masse.. the valleys are plugged with bikers, & all of the shady spots are long gone.

It's the Sound of "Money"
An old local dude approached me outside the supermarket & began compaining about bikers riding around, making too much noise. Turns out he had retired & moved to Sturgis from another state! Can you imagine? You KNOW the bikes are comming in August, & you decide to live there anyway.. Then ya whine about all the noise? As I hopped on the chopper & gave the throttle a quick whack, I said hear this..? "Yeah".. Well, This is the sound of...Money. 'Nff sd.

Free Food!

Each year, Lynn's Dakota Market & the Iowa Pork Council Gives Away Free Pork Loin Sandwiches. Today's the last day. Go to Lynn's in Lead.. from about 10am until 2pm.

Foghat....Rocks!

Has it been...40 years?

Yeah, forty + years since hard drivin' Foghat released their first album. Rolling Stone magazine touted it as vinyl crap, but we knew better. In the end, those songs stood the test of time. Only one orginal member, the drummer from the original band, but the bass player has been with them since the seventies. Charlie, the lead singer & axemaster, is faithful to the original vocals, and most of the crowd couldn't tell the difference,

that's what counts... Some trivia for you... The co-lead player hails from Daytona Beach, our home turf. He spent time with Molly Hatchett before Foghat, & was the original lead guitar player on Epic record's smash 70's hit.. "Play that Funky Music, White Boy"... and you can hear that lick all over his playing...very cool. The better half got Charlie's guitar pick, that he tossed to us after hitting the final chord of "Slow Ride"... She's hanging on to it. Thanks to the Buffalo Chip for a great first night.. the crowd loved it, & the band was very appreciative.

Golf Carts:

Every year, it seems like the number of golf carts increases at the chip. Not content to come to the ampitheatre & park like the bikes, it's back and forth, back and forth, back and forth... the things tend to crowd out the bikes... we're lumping them with atv's, which are fine at an ATV RALLY, BUT THIS IS A MOTORCYCLE RALLY. One dude at the wi-fi area where I'm sitting at a picnic table tried to explain by saying..."it

s almost a quarter mile from the back of the property to the concert pit, so maybe they have a need, to which I suggested, that maybe those golf cart people should walk, because 9 out of 10 of 'em are forty to 100 pounds overweight. If they were riding a bike or walking, they'd probably live a lot longer...Meanwhile, we need relief from these people.. maybe charge them extra, and probably not allow them into the concert area.. last night they were out of control.. if you want to hunt, hunt. If you want to play golf, what are you doing at a motorcycle rally?

comming attractions:

ALICE COOPER

LYNYRD SKYNYRD

ZZ TOP

etc.

If you don't check back often, how are you gonna know

what's going on in Sturgis?

American Biker Minute

Welcome to Paradise City...

Innerstate I-90 Now Open!

ABM had to make a run down to Rapid for some dot-five brake fluid & a black mirror for Black Betty, our FXSTI project bike, when we noticed that the dozen something miles of westbound just before Sturgis was complete. The road crew, the orange barrels, & machinery all gone, leaving smooth travelling for eastern-half bikers making their way toward the Mecca of Rolling Thunder. A note of caution: For some odd reason, there has been a rash of accidents on the eastbound just before the big S. Thursday morning, another head-on between two cages. If travelling from the east, watch your back during the last dozen miles.. it's all new pavement, & the dug grooves are fresh, providing problems for those with 150mm or less rear rubber. The main reason to be careful is that everyone gawks at the scenery as they approach Sturgis, & problems arise. For sure, the law will be all over this stretch, & if for no other reason, why begin Sturgis '08 with a ticket?

35mph The New 65?

Every year when ABM arrives in Sturgis, the signs still read 65mph, right at the outskirts of town, & for days the locals ignore them. It's hard to know exactly when the Law will decide to enforce the limit, but a good guess would be.... NOW.

Weather? It couldn't be nicer.

Man, the sunrise over Bear Butte (near the Buffalo Chip) on this morning's sunrise cruise had the old Eagle's "Tequila Sunrise" running through my thoughts.. There hasn't been a drop of rain in the four days we've been here, & none, other than a stray, expected. It's finally getting warm- today & tmw mid 90's then back to the 80's/50's all next week..perfect.

Are the Merchants Freaking Out?

For all that's being broadcast, & written about remaining available vendor space, the individuals we talked with seem pretty upbeat, & no, there ain'ta discounted tee shirt to be found...Yet!

Kenny Samson Breaks Ground

The "Godfather" of modern day motorcycle exhaust systems broke ground for a new 40,000 sq foot facility near town, yet another manufacturer to move to Meade County. We wonder how many of those Avacado-eating California vegetarians will be willing to make the move to the Black Hills...

Black Hills, or Green Hills?

When we left Sturgis last August, the locals were literally praying for rain, which they got by the ton this summer. Lakes that were nearly dry then, are full now. The little stream which rolls into Sturgis has water in it, for the first time in years. Fields full of clover are as green as they can get, blending in with newly-harvested rolling wheat lots, the color of pure gold. When you kick back at a steady 65mph, on an early in the morning ride, the amber waves of grain are by any account, breathtaking. Little cotton-tail rabbits are everywhere, & knowing that American (and Canadian) bikers are some of the nicest people on the planet, do not even run from approaching motorcycles, not even mine! This morning one of the little fellas was munching clover stems right in front of the main stage at the Buffalo Chip..

...You want to build WHAT next-to my house...?

I'm tellin' ya, every year it seems like another 25 campgrounds pop up somewhere in the immediate vicinity of Sturgis, and some of the locals are freaking out, like the dude on Junction avenue, complaining loudly at a council meeting last month... We can see his side, but on the other hand, it's only for about ten days. If it were me, I'd cater over some ribs, fried chicken, & catfish for 5 bucks a plate. Sort of roll with the flow.

-There's always something going on--Don't be left out--Check back often-

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Until next time, shiny-side up, rubber-side down!

Jeff Ryan