UFOnut at the 2012, 72nd Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, South Dakota

Even field investigators need to get away from the hustle and bustle of UFO sightings, Bigfoot Sightings, Cattle Mutilations and other strange things from time to time, so I escaped this year to the 72nd Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota. Packing my bike with clothes, a sleeping bag and a tent, I saddled-up on Tuesday August 7th and rode seven hours to Sturgis to spend the rest of the week rubbing elbows with fellow bikers and seeing the sights of the South Dakota mountain side.

Sturgis is a city in Meade County, South Dakota with a population of about 7000. The first motorcycle rally was held on August 14th, 1938 by the “Jackpine Gypsies” motorcycle club. Their intentions were to promote professional motorcycle racing along with touring, and 72 years later, they’re still going strong. When the rally is in full swing, an average 500,000 visitors attend.

There’s plenty to do during the week of the Sturgis rally,  from going to sanctioned motorcycle racing and hill climbing, to experiencing biker build-offs, to attending some of the best organized band concerts in the US. Some of my favorite things to do is to converse with factory reps, check out all the new motorcycle accessories on the market, and of-course riding through the Bad Lands of Dakota.

This year for fun, I took a couple of bottles of a new wine with me to have real bikers sample and rate.

Disclaimer: UFOnut.com generally won’t promote products or books, but from time to time a good book comes by which needs mentioned, and sometimes, so does a good wine.

Mark Tucker from Vision Wine & Spirits sent me a couple of bottles of their “special” wine from their Abduction series to sample. Taking a bottle of their  ”Galactic White” and a bottle of their “Cosmic Red” I wanted to find out what actual bikers thought of their wine. Hosting a little wine tasting get together at the Rush-No-More campground near Sturgis, I was able to get actual biker opinion on the wine. It was a lot of fun, and as it turns out, the Bikers loved it! Good job Vision Wine & Spirits. Their web link will be included at the end of this special blog.

The following pictures are just a taste of what I experienced at Sturgis year, and yes, some pictures were modified by me compliments of “UFO Camera Gold” app for my IPhone.

Overall the 72nd Sturgis rally, like all previous ones, was a total success. A week-long party atmosphere engulfed with all different models and makes of motorcycles, to all different models and makes of people. Different types of biker organizations were present too, from “Bikers for Christ” to the “Hells Angels”, to the “Sons of Silence” to the “Mongols” (just to mention a few), were all there and on their best behavior. Talking to the many different clubs and riders, they seemed to have one thing in common, “They all believe in the Paranormal.” Yep, my kind of people.

I’d like to thank Vision Wine and Spirits for their Abduction Wine they sent me to sample. Here is their website link:

http://www.visionwineandspirits.com/brands-main.php

I’d like to thank the “Rush-No-More Campground” for allowing me to host the Abduction Wine Tasting experiment, they were really good sports about it. Here is their link:

http://rushnomore.com/

I’d like to thank “Shady Products” for designing my special motorcycle cover for my Ultra Classic. Good job guys, and here is their link:

http://www.shadyproducts.com/

And I’d like to throw a “shout out” to the Jackpine Gypsies for creating the Sturgis phenomenon. Here is their link:

http://www.jackpinegypsies.com/

This was my twelfth Sturgis rally, and each time it gets better and better. So if you ride, maybe I’ll see you there in the future, and if you don’t ride, well, you can always drive there and enjoy all the excitement. Either way it’s an experience you won’t forget.