Big Randy Does It Again And Better Than Ever

I found myself gravitating toward their corner a lot over the weekend, cause, well, you know…um... DOGS! It was really hard to leave there without taking one of them home! Thanks, Randy, for all that puppy love!

One of the best parts of the Cycle Showcase weekend is always the bowling after-party; this year was even better. The Saratoga Lanes, established in 1916 and located in the upstairs space of the building it occupies, was one of the best bowling allies I’ve ever been in. It was large enough to accommodate the crowd, yet still small enough to have the intimate feeling of a group of friends just hanging out. Some were having fun playing pool, those who were having fun bowling, and those who just hung out having a few drinks and socializing. Most enjoyed all three.

Of course, Randall couldn’t let us all just stay at any ol’ run-of-themill hotel. This year’s host hotel, The Angad Arts Hotel, provided the perfect “artsy” feel for the weekend. You could choose your color of room, Red, Blue, or Green, and the entire room was done in that color. I chose yellow because sunny days make me happy!

I look forward to seeing what Randall has in store for us next year, and I am sure I am not the only one! Maybe we can talk him into an ice cream social? You can keep tabs on Randall and Cycle Showcase STL on Instagram @ csstl.

BITS ‘N PIECES

SOME STUFF WE GOT IN LAST MINUTE BEFORE PRESS DEADLINE AT HQ

Yeah, there’s a lot going on with SmokeOut, you’ll have to excuse us, this is a big deal around here! So one of the coolest things, in addition to some bitchin band announcements, is the fact that we have partnered up with Randall Noldge of Cycle Showcase to curate the Legends And Legacies at this year’s SmokeOut. What this means is that in addition to STL, Randy can now add SO to the lineup of Cycle Showcase. He will be bringing the same level of professionalism to the event hall and will be overseeing every aspect of it from the art installations to the 18 bikes and their builders that are making up the invitational. With what he has accomplished at Cycle Showcase STL, we know that this is in good hands!

Speaking of bitchin band announcements. If you are not already following the SmokeOut Rally on instagram, you need to hook that up quick to stay in the loop for all the news. We let the cat out on our Saturday Night headliner with Nine Pound Hammer, but that’s only part of it. We also have Dallas Moore, Koffin Kats, Michelle Leigh, Big House Pete, Barnyard Stompers, Spacey and Sneaky Tree. From start to finish there promises to be a killer music line up but that’s not to take anything away from the other events. We have a full line of bikes shows, bike games, chopper dirt drags and of course Hammer’s Strongest Biker Worlds, officiated by Ralph “Hammer” Janus himself. And yes damnit, there will be mini bike racing you maniacs.

The Sturgis Hall Of Fame awards ceremony has become a real integral part of the Black Hills Motorcycle Classic and this year promises to be a new level. We won’t spoil the surprises but if you happen to not be one of the over half million people expected to visit the Black Hills for this years rally, we have partnered up with the Museum and Hall Of Fame to bring the ceremony to you live. From start to finish we will be the official inaugural live broadcast of the Awards. In addition, we will be there for pre show to get some red carpet interviews as the attendees stroll in. If you’ve never been to this prestigious event it is a real who’s who in motorcycling. It’s kinda like our version of the Emmy’s.

Finally, a word about our little magazine here. It is an extreme honor that I can report to you that Cycle Source has survived COVID. I’m not sure how many of you realized but when COVID lock down hit we lost half of our distribution when the retailers closed their doors. Half of the magazines that first month just got thrown away and there was nothing we could do about it. We reacted as quickly as we could and cut down to printing every other month. For the first time in our quarter of a century history, we had to slow our roll. It turned out to be a smart move and helped us make it back around to things being back on track at the newsstands. Starting with this issue we are heading back to 10 issues a year, thanks to our advertisers , subscribers and newsstand readers who stuck with us and helped us through these trying times.