Sturgis Rally Daily - 08092013

Sturgis Rally Daily Features editor Joel Welin joel.welin@rapidcityjournal.com or news @rapidcityjournal.com

FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 2013 Rapid City Journal rapidcityjournal.com

Phone 605-394-8426 or 1-800-843-2300 Ext. 8426

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C2 | FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 2013

RAPID CITY JOURNAL

STURGIS RALLY DAILY

RALLY INFO

sturgisrallydaily.com More news, photos blogs and general information are available online. Get all your ra all your rally updates and more at sturgisrallydaily.com .

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GET YOUR MOTOR RUNNIN’

EMERGENCY SERVICES

Let it roll

If you have an emergency, call 911 · POLICE DEPARTMENT: 605-347-2573 · FIRE DEPARTMENT: 605-347-5801 · AMBULANCE: 605-347-5801 · HOSPITAL: 605-347-2536 · VA MEDICAL CENTER: 605-347-2511 · SHERIFF/JAIL: 605-347-2681

Seven-day forecast

Can’t get enough two-wheel (or three-) fun? “Let It Ride,” a new program on the National Geographic Channel debuting at 9 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 14. Zach Ness, grandson of Arlen Ness, starts off his series with a “Rockin’ Wheelies” episode.

With 2011’s “Highway Prophet,” Sturgis native Jasmine Cain proved she’s an old soul in a new package. Cain returns home again for a show at 8 p.m. Saturday on main stage at Easyriders Saloon.

Exit 30 To Deadwood

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STURGIS MAP

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Junction Avenue

Fourth Street

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First Street

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1: Rally Headquarters/Info Center 2: Sturgis Community Center 3: Motorcycle Museum & Hall of Fame 4: Champions Park 5: City Hall/Library/Rally Office 6: Police/Jail/Courthouse 7: Sturgis Fairgrounds 8: Lynn’s Dakotamart 9: Sturgis Harley-Davidson 10: Chamber of Commerce 11: Hospital 12: Jackpine Gypsies Short Track 13: Broken Spoke Saloon 14: Sturgis Liquor Store 15: Loud American Roadhouse 16: The Knuckle Saloon 17: U.S. Post Office 18: Easyriders Saloon and Steakhouse

Junction Avenue

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Lazelle Street

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To Rapid City

Go to rapidcityjournal.com/sturgisblog to read more blogs from our street-wise staffers who are cruising Sturgis looking for stories.

Big Kenny Alphin, left, and John Rich, of Big & Rich, share a laugh before taking the stage at the Full Throttle Saloon Wednesday night.

I went to the Circus Backstage with Big & Rich at the Full Throttle Saloon Tom Griffith Journal staff STURGIS | I went to the circus Wednesday night.

It took a long time to get there.

The “big top” was the Full Throttle Saloon and I arrived with the rest of the elephants, stumbling down Lazelle Street at 3 miles an hour.

The place was packed and, as is always the case with South Dakota’s largest costume party, parking was problematic. The nearest available space was a half-mile from the show, the concert venue. I quit exercising a few years ago (when a friend told me it would prolong my life) and I didn’t relish a hike. Thus the situation, while not dire, called for ingenuity.

Pulling my cobalt blue Caddy to the first of three gates leading to the stage, I rolled down my window and told security I was delivering the vehicle to some guy named Big Kenny who was performing that night with some band named Big & Rich. He opened the gate and beckoned me through, as did the next two attendants, the last directing me to a prime parking spot 30 yards from the stage.

This wasn’t my first circus.

Boarding Big Kenny’s million-dollar Prevost tour bus, I was greeted by a blast of Electro Shine, the techno-country musical creation he’s been developing over the last year. Bose speakers battered the bus as Big Kenny’s best cameraman and cohort, Jayson Wall, enveloped me in a hug and poured a Crown Royal Reserve on ice.

The first welcome sip had just slid down my throat when I was lifted off

S.D. Hwy 34

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Partly sunny

A free Post Rally Community Picnic will be Friday, Aug. 23, from 5 p.m.- 7 p.m. at the Woodland Shelter in Sturgis City Park. Bring the family.

There will be burgers, hotdogs, chips, salads, desserts and drinks. For more, visit sturgisarechamber.com

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HELPFUL PLACES · Sturgis Community Center: 1401 Lazelle St. · Sturgis Post Office: 820 Kinship Road, 800-275-8777 · UPS: 3421 Whitewood Service Road, substation at Sturgis Harley-Davidson, 1040 Junction Ave. · Park Avenue Laundry: 2315 Park Ave., Sturgis. 605-347-5789 · East Main Laundry: 915 E. Main St., 605-347-8429

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Main Street

GETTING MARRIED Marriage licenses can be purchased for $40 (cash only) from the Register of Deeds,at 1425 Sherman St. Both parties must be present to purchase a license with one form of ID each. Licenses are good for 20 days. Couples are required to locate their own minister or justice of the peace. A list is available at the Register of Deeds. The Clerk of the Courts does not perform ceremonies. For information, call Register of Deeds at 347-2356.

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Wednesday

Thanks to you

John Lee McLaughlin, Journal staff

Lazelle Street 2

Tomorrow

Black Hills Today

Robel of Bisbee, Ariz., sits in his Conquest trike,

Homecoming Jasmine

Today

A strong Partly sunny, a afternoon t-storm in spots t-storm in spots

On the cover:Vince

Lookin’ for adventure?

LAWS · Vehicles parked on Main Street after 2 a.m. will be towed. · Alcoholic beverages are not allowed in public, and only allowed in establishments where alcohol is served. · Urinating in public is forbidden. · Public indecency/indecent exposure laws are strictly enforced. · Helmets are required for riders younger than 18. Adults are not required to wear helmets. · Riders must wear glasses unless motorcycle has a windscreen. Clear glasses are required after sunset. · Modulating headlights are OK. · Passenger seat/pegs are required. · Motorcycles must have both right and left mirrors. · Motorcycle passengers must be behind the driver. · Turn signals are required.

THE FORECAST

Tom Griffith photos, Journal staff

Big & Rich’s Big Kenny pauses in his tour bus while preparing to perform Wednesday night at the Full Throttle Saloon.

Atlanta Falcons cheerleader Shauna Korner attempts to “shoot” a beer Wednesday night at the Full Throttle Saloon, as her friend, Brandy Kirschner, laughs in the background.

the floor by the “International Minister of Love,” Big Kenny in all his smiling, white-toothed, longhaired glory. Interviewed en suite in his well-appointed private sanctuary at the

back of the bus, “B.K.” tells me he’s just purchased a red- and gold-striped, 120-by-210-foot circus tent — which was strange because I’d already written the opening for this story.

“I’m getting into the festival business,” he proclaims, because everything he says these days seems to be a proclamation. “I want to do some good with it, feature our new Electro Shine music in a festival setting with people like the Marleys and the Bon Jovis, put some happiness in my soul and make some money.

“Every time I make some money, something good happens,” Big Kenny says.

“Kids get fed. People dance.”

The country music star, who sprang onto the Nashvegas scene little more than a decade ago with his musical partner, John Rich, has turned his good fortune into numerous charitable acts, feeding Haiti’s homeless, immersing himself in countless charitable causes and truly living his “Love Everybody” mantra.

Nearing 50 years old, Big Kenny says he never thought he’d get the chance to make a difference in

other people’s lives.

“I never thought I’d make it to 40,” he says, turning contemplative.

“So, I’ve got to do something good with it.”

I n te r r u p te d by h i s right-arm engineer and techie, Austin, Big Kenny is informed he has “the CMT interview at 7:45, the meetand-greet at 8 and the concert at 9.” It’s time to dress and he proudly places a Cowboy Fast Draw Association badge, presented to him by the Mayor of Deadwood a few years back, on the breast of his coat.

“Let’s get on it,” he says.

Gracious and kind, he and Rich deftly handle a CMT interviewer’s questions, then join Cowboy Troy for handshake and photos with a wheelchairbound fan, a contingent from Ellsworth Air Force Base and even me.

A successful frontman, producer, winner of the Donald Trump’s “The

Apprentice,” last season, and proud father of sons Cash and Colt, Rich is as friendly and relaxed as he’s been in a decade. After years on the road and in studios, the black-hatted musical marvel says he’s most excited about his new brand – Redneck Riviera – that will soon launch with more than 200 clothing and accessory items.

Concert-call arrived with a flurry of backstage activity and the entrance of a dozen scantily clad women who, well, looked like more fun than any circus I’ve ever attended.

By Big and Rich’s final song 90 minutes later, with the strong scent of illegal herb wafting through the cool night air, there was a full party in progress at the Full Throttle Saloon.

I went to the circus Wednesday night. It didn’t take nearly as long, but I smiled the whole way home.

FIND MORE NEWS ONLINE AT RAPIDCITYJOURNAL.COM

Joe Gally of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, had wanted a dragon tattoo and researched just how he wanted it to look.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 2013 | C3

STURGIS RALLY DAILY

Joe Gally liked the dragon because it is the water sign. “It’s the protector of the earth,” he said.

Josh Warner of Fort Collins, Colo. got his skull tattoo in 2011. He says the skull is exploding in the tattoo. “It’s like the life you live, live it to the extreme.”

T Incorporated

he art of tattooing has radically changed over the years and Dennis Dwyer has had a front row seat for the transformation. “I used to be a witch doctor, now I’m a barber,” he said during a break in the action at the annual Sturgis motorcycle rally Monday.

Dwyer said tatooing has been demystified with the advent of YouTube and cable TV and that the ink-to-flesh art form has become more mainstream.

Photographs by Deb Holland, Journal staff In the ’50s and ’60s, someone who wanted a tattoo had few options — what Dwyer referred to as “off the wall flash.” Tattoo art was limited to panthers, eagles, roses and someone’s name.

“Today you’re only limited by your imagination,” Dwyer said.

Josh Sandvoss of St. Louis, Mo., has his daughter, Katelynn’s Cerebral Palsy awareness pennant tattooed on his hand.

Ken Deets of Tucson, Ariz., got his tattoo last year. Deets, who is a tattoo artist, said he got the tattoo because it signifies the gypsy lifestyle.

Victor Tackett of Tucson, Ariz., got this tattoo of a tiger in 2011. “I’ve always loved tigers because they represent both beauty and danger.”

It’s better with one more Three-wheelers are on the rise in the motorcycle culture John Lee McLaughlin Journal staff

Vince Robel’s Conquest trike is a different breed of custom motorcycle.

When he feels like feels like going for a ride, he just pulls his wheelchair up an automatic ramp into his three-wheeled sled, secures his chair and goes.

It hasn’t always been so easy.

T h i s yea r ’s S t u rg i s motorcycle rally is a first for Robel, who drove in from Bisbee, Ariz, with a buddy in another Conq u e s t . R e ga rd l e s s o f whether someone’s bound to a wheelchair, he said the trend for trikes has been on a definite incline.

“I think you’re going to see (them) more and more,” he said Tuesday after parking on Fourth Street in downtown Sturgis. “I’ve just seen a number of trikes. They are coming up for sure. In fact, tomorrow we’re going on a trike-only ride.”

Robel joined hundreds of others for the Trike Owners United Ride Thursday from Hill City to the Buffalo Chip Campground. Trikeonly rides are evidence of a motorcycle subculture on the rise.

As further evidence, Harley-Davidson Motorcycles has rolled out its own model and it has taken off, according to company spokesman Matt King.

“It’s been a few years, actually, at least three years that they’ve been in production,” King said.

“They’ve been really popular. It’s a good-selling motorcycle. There’s a solid market for them.”

He said a common misconception is that only older riders are interested

in trikes. The truth, he said, is that more and more younger riders are starting to spark to the idea of three wheels rather than two.

Al Vogele of Rapid City agreed.

Vogele of A&L Trikes converted his first motorcycle into a trike for himself in 1992 and teamed with Lehman Trikes, a company with a mission of giving motorcycles three wheels, for 16 years before switching to California Sidecar, a similar company.

On Tuesday, Vogele was set up at the corner of Junction Avenue and Ballpark Road outside of downtown Sturgis, where he’s been posted for the past 28 years during the rally.

“It used to be nothing but the older crowd,” Vogele said. “Definitely, we’re all getting older.”

Now, he said there has been a definite peak in younger riders converting to three wheels because they don’t feel as comfortable on just two. Vogele said when he first started converting, one or two customers was good year. More recently, he was converting

up to 30 trikes a year before the economy nosedived.

But, he said, more models are popping up from the factories. Vogele fashions trikes out of most Harley-Davidson models and everything else from Honda Goldwings to Victory motorcycles.

“It may be an opening or reopening of doors for someone to ride a motorcycle that didn’t think they could do it on two wheels,” King said. “For some people, it extends their experience.”

For Kansas City’s Daryl Rogers, who’s been attendJohn Lee McLaughlin, Journal staff ing the rally for the past 12 Vince Robel of Bisbee, Ariz., poses in his Conquest trike after parking on Fourth Street in years, buying a trike was downtown Sturgis. Conquest makes motorcycles for the mobility impaired. the best way to get back on a motorcycle. He had a hip surgery that left him wary of riding on two wheels, so he bought a trike.

“I bought a trike a little Additional Products Available: over a year ago,” Rogers • Ambulatory Aids said. “I’ve more fun on it • Bariatric Equipment than any other bike I’ve • Bathroom Safety & ridden. I’m back going again.”

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Contact John Lee McLaughlin at 394-8421 or john. mclaughlin@rapidcityjournal. com

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STURGIS RALLY DAILY

RAPID CITY JOURNAL

BETTER WITH AGE Gordon Sinner, 58 , is in his 33rd year at the rally. “I see my friends once a year here,” he said. “I have met people from all over the world so why not come back? “

King Rocket, 58 , from Texas is in his eighth year at the rally. “I like the people-watching. I have so

much fun watching other people have fun,” he said. “Everyone is so happy, I just have to smile; it radiates.”

Jim Carson, 77, of Gillette, Wyo., has been coming to the rally for 48 years with Booboo, his dog, on his shoulder (and with another close at hand). Booboo has been with him for 19 rallies. “He has rode more than 100,000 miles on my shoulder just like that,” Carson said. “That is what you call a real bike dog.”

Gibson Scarborough 60, from Kansas City, Mo., is attending his 19th rally. “I’m a biker and I love to ride this is what it’s all about.”

Rick Shields, 66, from Tucson, Ariz., is in his sixth year at the rally. “Six, six, six,” Shields said. “Going to be a devil of a year,” he continued. “I party, I like music, I like bikes, I like women, why wouldn’t I be here?”

Faces in the Crowd Ian Bland, 65, from Johannesburg, South Africa, has

been to the rally twice, once in 2003 and again this year.

“The people are the best part and the bikes are much different from the ones we have in South Africa,” Bland said.

R

ally attendees over the age of 55 talk about what keeps them returning to the event.

The project was photographed with a medium format twin lens reflex film camera. This format provides a weathered feel to the images that the photographer felt would mirror the subjects nicely.

Photography

by Chris Huber, Journal staff

Dave Hass, 72 , from Nevis, Minn., is at his 17th rally. “I do biker’s ministry while I am here,” he said. “I have the story of Jesus on my bike and I try to spread the word while I am here. I just want everyone in heaven.”

Errol Thayer, 68, from Florida has been coming to Sturgis for the rally since 1981. “It’s the best rally there is,” Thayer said. “I keep coming back for the pretty girls.”