Sturgis 2002 Trip Report - Saturday August 3rd 2002

I left Minnesota at 6:00am for the 630 mile journey on Saturday August 3rd.  My goal was to ride to Sturgis and be at the Buffalo Chip Campground by 10:30pm to see Smash Mouth play.  Last year they had a family tragedy and were unable to play.  All week I was calculating gas mileage and tank capacity etc.  I wanted to be as efficient as possible to guarantee I'd arrive as soon as possible.  Because I wasn't concerned about scenery I took HWY 169 South to HWY 60 West then jumped on I-90 West all the way to Sturgis.  I was able to maintain an average of 60mph and made the trip in 12 hours.  This is harder than it seems as I was traveling 75-80 mph the whole time using pay at the pump etc.  The eventual lunch stop and shorter intervals after 400 miles always cuts into the time.

After a great but long ride I ended up in town by 6:30pm.  While idling in the Sturgis traffic I struck up a conversation with a new V-Rod owner.  Turns out he was traveling solo and wasn't sure what he was going to do that evening.  I told him my plans and he thought that sounded good.  I ended up missing him later at the Full Throttle but hopefully he had a good time.  During our walk down Exit 30 (Junction Ave) we noticed bikers several streets over hauling ass towards our goal Lazalle street.  We cut over and found a great shortcut from I-90 headed West to Lazalle from the Junction Exit.  Go down about 10 blocks then cut right into the neighborhood.  Its easy to find streets that take you down to Lazalle without traffic.  You can then head right onto Lazalle and head towards many campgrounds and the Full Throttle Saloon.  Campgrounds I saw down there were Glencoe, Cabbage Patch, Buffalo Chip and Bear Butte.  Of course you'll have the pleasure of enduring another traffic jam from Lazalle  to whatever campground your trying to enter.

I setup camp at Glencoe Camp Resort and had plenty of time to check out the Full Throttle Saloon before heading to the Buffalo Chip.

After checking out the Full Throttle Saloon I headed over to the Buffalo Chip campground in plenty of time for Smash Mouth.  The line for reservations took twice as long to get through as the line for new purchasers.  Not sure what the holdup was but I got in.  I then found a good space to leave my bike in the camping area.  I planned to have a few beers so I brought my sleeping roll so I could crash by my bike.  BTW The price of your ticket includes the right to camp for that night.

After taking care of the bike I headed to the main area for some beer, pizza and entertainment.  Smash Mouth played an excellent set and the sound and lights at the chip were awesome.  After the show they held a beauty contest of sorts with the contestants wearing pasties.  This was an excellent primer to what was to come later in the week.

I stumbled back to my sleeping roll at what seemed to be 1:30 - 2:00am.  I immediately fell asleep.  At what I believe was three I was awoken by noise in the main area.  I stumbled down to check it out and found two topless girls riding a mechanical bull.  They were totally hammered and didn't seem to mind the requests being made of them by the audience.  After watching 20 minutes of this I headed back to crash for the night. 

I awoke cold but dry at 6:00am.  The skies looked grey so I figured I'd better head for camp.  While getting ready I overheard campers who hadn't yet slept arranging for more beer.  All I can say is that they party hard at the chip.