Bikers descend on Sturgis rally with few signs of pandemic

The coronaSTURGIS, S. D. virus is changing the world, but there aren’t many signs of the pandemic at the massive annual motorcycle rally being held this week at a small city along Interstate 90 in western South Dakota.

The scene Saturday at the 80th Sturgis Motorcycle Rally was familiar to veterans of the event, with throngs of maskless bikers packing the streets.

Motorcyclist Kevin Lunsmann, 63, rode more than 600 miles to the rally from Big Lake, Minn. with several friends. Lunsmann said has attended the Sturgis event every year since 2003 and didn’t want to miss the 80th, despite being “somewhat” concerned about the coronavirus.

Still, the crowds of people and rows of bikes surprised him. He said there was no difference from previous years “other than a few people wearing masks.”

Lunsmann said he was avoiding the bars and nightclubs that line the city’s main drag this year, but many others were not. They were filled with revelers as the sun set Friday.

“Everybody’s still partying hardy,” Lunsmann said.

Organizers expected the overall crowd to be smaller, perhaps half the size of a normal year, when some half-million people from across the country roar into the town of around 7,000.

The sheer numbers raise the prospect that this year’s rally could spread the COVID-19 virus in a state with no special limits on indoor crowds, no mask mandates and a governor who is eager to welcome visitors and their money.

“Screw COVID,” read the design on one T-shirt. “I went to Sturgis.”

For Stephen Sample, who rode his Harley from Arizona, the event was a break from the past several months, when he’s been mostly home-bound or wearing a mask when he went to work as a surveyor.

“I don’t want to die, but I don’t want to be cooped up all my life either,” he said.