Day 1 at the 85th Sturgis Rally brings skulls, dancers and 'escapism'
STURGIS — DJ Hulio says day one of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is the most “tame.”
Like the jitters of a first date, folks attending the largest motorcycle rally in the world quietly line the bar tops taking photos as more than 100 Ultra4 rigs roar into the Buffalo Chip, some even with 3-year-olds in their laps. There are lines for the lemonade stands and ice cream shops, foot massages, mattress sales and buffalo skin rugs at the art shows.
But tame is a relative word for the 85th anniversary of the rally, where an estimated 700,000 or more are expected to descend upon the town of roughly 7,000 for the next week.
Before 8 a.m., there were also bikini washes on Lazelle Street, a man wobbling on stilts on Main Street, a chorus of revs in the pit during ZZ Top and no one even noticed the two-hour thunderstorm that drenched the campgrounds and showed up as strobe light-like lightning in the sky.
Rally-goers were just getting started.
Albert and Sylvia Diaz arrived two days ago from San Antonio, Texas, excited to see the Budweiser Clydesdales for the rally’s opening ceremony Aug. 1. They’ve lodged at Creekside Campground for nearly 25 years, the “best friends they’ve got” also there for what is their annual reunion.
Albert will saunter his way through downtown Sturgis for the next week with a skull necklace the size of his fist atop his neatly shaved big belly. His biker name is “Skull” and so appropriately he has a skull ring on every single finger, like knuckle dusters to intimidate you. But he’s jolly.
Albert is at the rally after all.
“I’m retired now, so I get to grow out my mustache and dye my beard,” he says. “I’m Hulk Hogan in New World Order while I’m here one week out of the year.”
Performers and a DJ in between concerts
“Escapism” is what Buffalo Chip performer Trish Rodgers calls it.
She moved to South Dakota two years ago and now makes more than $10,000 in a week dancing at Club Chip, a lit-up elevated bar that cranks its music in between sets on the Chip’s main amphitheater.
“We’re hype girls,” she says. “We want people to know it’s OK to dance and let loose.”
Ryan “DJ Hulio” Horan has been working the Chip for 14 years now and has been camping in the same spot there for nearly 25. He manages four dancers at the rally, each of whom needs compression socks and ice packs at the end of each night.
Rodgers had to be carried to her campground around 2 a.m. last year after fear of a hairline fracture on her swollen left leg. She danced the next night.
Horan, who’s a plumber when he’s not a DJ, takes care of them.
“This is my family,” he says.
He used to DJ at Creekside in the back of his camper, “shutting down the night” before running Club Chip all on his own. “It gets so wild, but there is zero mess here. If it wasn’t for the amazing security they have, I wouldn’t do this job. They’re fantastic.”
International Bikini Team founder Michelle Caton says she ensures the safety of her Miss Buffalo Chip contestants at the rally, too, who must stay together and not leave the grounds.
There are preliminary rounds every night, the top three of which will go onto finals Aug. 10. When they’re not competing, they bartend, wash bikes and take photos with the riders.
“The Buffalo Chip is an entire city in itself,” Caton says. “If you’ve never been to Sturgis, it’s unlike any other vacation you’ll have.”
Mayor, grand marshal welcome bikers
Sturgis Motorcycle Rally Grand Marshal for the 85th anniversary was “whipper-snapper” Gloria Tramontin Struck. She turned 100 last month and can attest to the safe environment: She has eagerly returned to the rally as a “two-wheel traveler” since 1941.
“I’ve been a member of the Motor Maids since 1946 and am in the (Sturgis Motorcycle Museum) Hall of Fame,” said Struck, who was introduced Aug. 1 by Mayor Kevin Forrester during the rally’s opening ceremonies.
“Enjoy life, and don’t waste a day of it!” Struck said. “Make each day count a lot, and have a good time this week.”
The rally will continue through Aug. 10, with the Mayor’s Ride having taken place through the Black Hill on Aug. 2, performances by Gene Simmons and Saliva on Aug. 3, Military Appreciation Day on Aug. 4 and the Biker Belles Women’s Day on Aug. 5.
