By Kacie Svoboda
This year’s 75th Annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is not the first time I have encountered the sound of thousands of revving engines, but it is my first time working in a town that is inundated by bikers. I am quickly learning how the local residents of Hill City cope with this influx of people and bikes.
Most reactions seem to fall into three distinct categories. The first is what I’ll call the “get the heck out of dodge” group — a gang I don’t think I would mind being a part of. This group rents out their homes to rally goers and gets away to somewhere that the roar of motorcycles is either a distant purr or completely non-existent and shopkeepers who look upon the two weeks as a mini-vacation as their products or services are outside the usual biker fare.
The second group is the “we’ve been waiting for this all year” group. These are the businesses that make the majority of their income, or close to it, during the two weeks that span the Rally. Businesses in this group have been stocking up and training their employees for the bedlam that is Bike Week. Locals who are bikers are also in this group, partaking in the revelry of the event — riding, attending concerts and socializing with bike lovers from around the world.
However, it is the third group that I find most interesting and can relate to. This category is the “we’ll make it work” group. It includes those businesses that aren’t already tailored to rally-goer’s tastes, but have adapted to try to benefit from the bikers. Some businesses have added rally-themed merchandise, have special promotions or brought in vendors. An impressive example of this adaptive ingenuity is evidenced by a sign outside Hill City Mercantile, which beckons bikers to come in and let the Mercantile workers sew on their patches.
This group also consists of residents, like me, who are just trying to go about their daily lives and work despite someone inviting 500,000 to one million visitors to our home. We do our best to adapt our daily patterns in order to flow with, rather than against the tide of rally-goers.
One of the most important things I have learned this week is that mornings are golden. I don’t know if the bikers mostly like to sleep in or are still feeling the effects of last night’s activities, but the mornings are blissfully quiet and the best time to do anything around town unimpeded — particularly traveling. I also learned the hard way that I just shouldn’t attempt to get gas. I am sure it is fine in the early morning as previously stated, but at any other time it is a huge hassle to navigate around throngs of bikers pulling in, backing out and hanging around.
If I had any advice to offer, it would be to embrace the invasion. One of the major things I recommend is people-watching. You will rarely find a vast array of diverse humanity in such a small spot and it can be quite entertaining.
Also, I encourage everyone to take advantage of some of the special events that occur because of Rally, such as grabbing breakfast at the Hill City Senior Center to mingle with our many visitors and support local fundraising efforts at the same time. Be friendly and open-minded. The majority of rally attendees are great people with fascinating stories to share.
Also, don’t let it get to you. This influx of traffic can give anyone used to a gentler, country pace some road rage. Take a deep breath and realize it is only a few weeks out of the year and soon the roar of the motorcycles will fade into the distance and the off-season calm will resume its hold on Hill City. A few months of quiet and then we might start yearning again for the hustle, bustle and muscle that is Rally week.