We're the Sturgis Imposters

What fun to arrive at Bonney and Ewing’s in Boyd, Montana, from Great Falls. What a treat for the eyes, their property, and being with them was a treat for the heart, soul and mind. They are growing alfalfa and the fields are lush green with specks of purple. Behind their beautiful house is a beautiful creek and we listened to the rush of water all night through our bedroom window.
The next day we did not ride at all which was a relief and rode up into the Bear Tooth Mountains which were still patched with snow. We had a picnic and then stopped for coffee in the town of Red Lodge, an old mining town that managed to revive itself. There is a green building on the corner that used to be a bank where Butch Cassidy and his gang actually robbed.
It was wonderful to be with the Philbins and learn a bit about ranching and Montana life and alas, we had to leave them early Sunday morning to continue our journey…
When we left the air was still, with cows on one side of the road, horses on the other, and the rise and fall of the bluffs. (Unlike hills, Bonney explained, because one side has a sudden drop.) Ewing explained that a lot of small ranchers in the area are living “hand to mouth” and struggling to survive.
“They have become an endangered species,” he said. “And we have to do more to protect them.”
We passed a Crow reservation and then Cheyenne. The land grew starker and more barren. Then we crossed over Wyoming and that was when we started to notice a lot of Harley riders on the road. Sturgis, not sturgeon! Yes, the 69th annual Sturgis rally held in Sturgis, South Dakota, which means that for a week, about 400,000 (I kid you not) Harley enthusiasts descend upon this otherwise quite normal sleepy South Dakota town.
So there Jonny and I were, conspicuously uncool on our BMWs (with our helmets and protective gear) amid thousands of riders of all shapes and sizes, most of them not wearing any helmets, donned in leather, tattoos, doo-rags, black boots and other funky attire. We started to talk to one biker and he said his daughter is serving in Afganistan right now. It humbled me, because looking at this guy, I would never have guessed, and I told him that I will pray for his daughter, Jennifer, and that she has my utmost respect.
“She sure has earned it,” he said.
Then we spoke to another guy, Tim, with that blue bandanna in the photo, who was coming from Seattle, and he passed us later on the highway with his buddies and rode with us for a while before he zoomed off (at about 80 mph). And two more dudes from South Carolina who were as sweet as could be (they don’t look as sweet as they really are!) The taller one showed us a photo of Devil’s Tooth in Wyoming where a scene of “Close Encounters” was shot. He told us we should go see it but Jonny’s ankle was hurting and we didn’t feel like riding one more meter than we had to. “Well, just look at the picture on my camera and you can tell folks you saw it,” with his southern drawl that served as counterpoint to my nu yawk accent. Check out his license plate!
We passed by Sturgis and from every direction were bikers. From above we all could have been ants in formations…It was incredible, with tents and RVs set up all along the road, right in farmers’ fields. It was fun seeing all the bikers but then the wind decided to slap us around with gusts up to 35 mph and at one point, Jonny went off the highway onto an exit. I thought he was leaving the highway so I started to go off the ramp but it was only because the wind blew him with a bolt.
We reached Rapid City safely, and now are in a motel with lotsa bikers everywhere. Fun!
"The cool thing is that we had no idea the rally was starting tomorrow so it was great just watching all of them," Jonny said.