Rough Rider - 23 July 2026

Above:  Sturgis, South Dakota, 23 July 2026.
Jack,
Thanks for the pic of Sturgis.  I hope you and BernieCuz are enjoying your trip!
I rolled into the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, mainly a Harley cult event, on a bright red BMW K1200 RS motorcycle a quarter-century ago when my knees had more forgiveness. I owned a Harley Road King for a spell three or four years later—big, glorious land yacht that it was—but the whole Harley Cult thing never quite sucked me in. I’m more of a dual-sport heathen: the kind who likes his motorcycles to actually do something besides pose and rumble like a mechanical diva at a biker bar.  
That said, Sturgis as pure American spectacle? Chef’s kiss. It’s louder than a V-twin in a library, wilder than a tornado in a trailer park, and one of the best positive cultural explosions this country still throws. I'm glad you're there to see the prelims.   You’ll understand freedom with a capital F and exhaust fumes.  And whatever you do, buy the T-shirt. The back reads: “If you can read this, the bitch fell off.” Poetry. Pure poetry.
While you’re out there wandering the Black Hills like a modern-day explorer with better snacks, don’t miss:
  • Wall Drug (because free ice water and a 6-foot jackalope are basically mandatory)
  • Devil’s Tower (yes, it really does look like it fell off a spaceship)
  • The Rib & Chop House in Sheridan or Gillette (where the steaks are bigger than your ego and twice as satisfying)
  • Kevin Costner’s joint in Deadwood (because why not let Yellowstone’s Dutton eat your money?)
  • Mount Rushmore—stone presidents staring down at you like disappointed dads. I swung by last year on two wheels and it still hits.
And right next door to Rushmore you’ll find the Crazy Horse Memorial, one of America’s most entertaining long-con travel scams. The sculptor’s descendants have been “finishing” the thing since the Pleistocene by dramatically detonating one stick of dynamite every afternoon like it’s performance art. God bless them. It’s honest, dusty, slightly ridiculous American optimism at its finest.  
Have an absolute blast out there. I’m genuinely curious to hear your take on the new Teddy Roosevelt Library and Museum in North Dakota—nothing says “American adventure” like a Rough Rider exhibit in the middle of the actual Badlands.
Drive safely and have fun.