We had spent the afternoon riding to and visiting Mt. Rushmore. We had purchased some beer and were ready for the nightly concerts. The bands for tonight featured Theory of a Deadman and Lynrd Skynrd. Amazing night of music.

All afternoon the weather had been perfect. Sunny with nice cumulus clouds that made the whole scene some postcard you received from your rich relatives when they traveled. We really didn’t want anything more than some beer and to make some initial moves toward packing to leave in the morning.

Being country people we pay attention to the weather, and the storm clouds brewing were nasty. As we were consulting the radar on our cell phones, we heard and announcement from Hank Rotten, the emcee at the Buffalo Chip, “Ladies and gentlemen, we have just received information that a storm with 80 mile an hour winds and baseball size hail is expected here in 20-minutes. Please take this warning seriously.”

One guy’s Harley was an ’08 Road King that took months to get. Mine was a 10-day old ’08 Heritage. The other was an ’05 Electraglide CVO. The whole campground was in action determining where and how to protect their bikes from the hail. I took my Thermarest backpad and covered the tank. Then, I put my sleeping back on the top of that with the foot area covering the headlight. Then, I put a tarp over that. Finally, I strapped my pillow to the luggage rack. What the hell, it might deflect some hail.

The neighbors were on a ride somewhere, and we knew they were trapped by the storm and couldn’t get back. Since they had treated us like gold, we stowed their stuff as best we could. After all we were using their motorhomes as some bit of shelter for our bikes.

Once all the bikes were covered as best as possible, we covered ourselves. I did nothing to my tent except place everything inside and put my gear on my chair. I figured everything would be together, and I would only need to find the tent to find my stuff. After that, I donned my leather jacket and rain suit. I think we were ready.

The only move left was to go to the bar and drink some beer. Two hours at a beer bar at the Buffalo Chip waiting out a storm wasn’t bad. I spent the time talking to Eric from Vacaville, CA. We had a good conversation about bikes and the meaning of life.

The conversation was interrupted by an announcement that the concerts would begin in 30-minutes, an announcement that was met with cheers from the cold, wet crowd. Everyone scrambled to return to the camp and check equipment. For our part, everything was fine. Two tents were flooded, but the bikes were unharmed. My tent was dry and my gear safe. Not too bad for a Wal-mart tent I bought for $35.00 to attend rallies. I was impressed.

Theory of a Deadman played a much abbreviated set of 30-minutes. Shame because I thought they were really good, and I wanted to hear more of their music. Between the groups Ross and Rotten sang to keep the crowd entertained. Of course, they sang “Harley in the Rain,” one of their best songs. Everyone that knew the words sang, and at the end of the song, everyone cheered because it was about at appropriate a song as could be sung.

LS took the stage to the roar of bikes. After all, LS is a band with which most of us grew up and old with. We remember where we were when the crash was announced. We sang every word of every song they played. Toward the end a gentle rain returned. After a short break, they returned and played “Freebird” in the rain at the Buffalo Chip. Some people left with the rain, but I figured I would stand outside in the rain to listen to “Freebird” if they were to play it again. No problem.

After the concerts, the partying continued in a much abbreviate form because of the rain. We returned to our tents, they other guys slept in the garage of the neighbor’s toy hauler. As for me, I sleep in my tent in my boots and rainsuit. I took a stuff sack for my sleeping bag, folded up my leather jacket and made a pillow. Put in my foam ear plugs and sleep the rest of the night away in a gentle rain.

Great experience over all. A few people weren’t so lucky at Glencoe. Three people there were struck by lightening. They were alive the last I knew.

 

HiPlains,
Sounds like you all had a good time, I wish I could have been there. if you have pics, please post & share!

 

Man, sounds like an experience. Thanks for sharing your story. I hope to make it to Sturgis next year.

 

Thanks. Sturgis is an experience, and the reaction to it are as varied as the individuals attending. You may hate it, you may love it, but you ought to do it. All the bikes and feeling of riding in them can't be described.

I only took a few pics. My buddy was taking so many that I decided I would just mooch his and not worry about it.

 

Here's a few pics I have worth looking at. The first is at Stage Hill looking toward the amphitheater. The second is with Rod Woodruff owner of the Chip (2nd from right). 3rd is at the entrance to Mt. Rushmore. 4th is Full Throttle Saloon. Last is at Mt. Rushmore.

 

Here are a few more...

 

Looks like you had a good time, thanks for the photos. I've heard that the Chip gets real rowdy, did you like staying there? I personally like rowdy, but it is nice to get some rest when you need it.

 

The Chip can be pretty rowdy without question. I have a pair of foam ear plugs I use. Blocks out just enough noise that I sleep like a baby. I have meet some great people there, and Woody, the owner, and his people are wonderful to work with.

Quieter places exist. With that said, there are some parts of the Chip that are quieter, too.

 

Alright thanks for the info. I think I'm going to start planning to go to next years rally soon.

 

If you want a quiet place to sleep after a long day of walking in the Sturgis heat, or a long day of touring the Black Hills then the Buffalo Chip is not going to be the place for you.

That said it is one heck of a party. People are drinking 24 hours a day. People are riding around on some very wicked machines all day long. It is an experience everyone should live through. If you do want to sleep, there are a few things to know.

1. Ear Plugs, and get ones meant for sleeping, not shooting, since I've found they block most of the noise.

2. Cover your eyes and ears with a bandanna. This will block a little more noise, and block the sun in the morning, which starts getting bright around 5:30am. (and considering my average bedtime was 4am, anything that could help was great!)

3. Don't worry about privacy, there is none, but you'll have total anonymity so you've got that going for you. Which means anything goes, including but not limited to riding naked, bathing outside where the hose spigots are, not bathing, etc.

4. The best way to fall asleep is to pass out.

5. In general the food at the Chip is not good, this is good information to know before hand.

6. Getting out of the Chip at night, during the day, ect. takes about 30 minutes to do traffic at a single set of Stop signs.

I agree about the weather up in SD, it is the same every year. I've consistently gotten Rain, Hail, Wing, Heat, and extreme Sun. Great thing is, each day is different, and at night the weather is usually great.