Motorcycle rally set to go ahead

Businesses that benefit from the visitor count during the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally were no doubt relieved to hear on Monday evening that the Sturgis City Council had voted 8-1 to officially sanction the event this year, with modifications such as the cancellation of events like the parade that tend to see thousands of people lined up on the street.

Businesses over the state line had already made clear they intended to go ahead. Reports suggested that more than 50 hospitality businesses reached consensus that the 80th anniversary will be taking place as expected, and that they will all be open to host it.

Emergency Management Coordinator Ed Robinson began planning the local response before this confirmation was received.

“What we were seeing on social media and the news was that all the businesses, venues and other things were saying they’re going to do it regardless of whether the city said they’re going to do it or not. The Buffalo Chip is going forward with it,” he says. For this reason, he opted to assume Crook County would be seeing the usual influx of visitors.

Robinson will be meeting virtually this week with emergency managers from the region, including from South Dakota and Montana, to look at the plans. He has then invited local officials, agencies and first responders to a meeting on June 19 to make plans for the county specifically.

“We know we’re going to have people showing up,” he says. At this point, he adds, it is expected that the Sundance Burnout and the Hulett Ham & Jam will go forward.

“What kind of scale it’s going to be, I don’t know. We’re going to assume that things are going to carry on like they do every year,” he says.

“The number may not be as large as what we were predicting before all of the COVID-19 stuff came around. We were planning on the 80th being as big as the 75th, if not bigger, but then COVID-19 hit and the numbers are probably going to get squashed a bit.”

Turnout could go either way and it will be tough to tell what kind of numbers this year’s rally will have until the time comes.

“People may decide this is a good opportunity to take a road trip,” he says. On the other hand, a percentage of those who had been planning to attend might decide to play it safe and stay home.

Even if fewer bikers turn up, Robinson points out that there are likely to be plenty of tourists this summer and, in the current climate, there is a possibility of political demonstrations. With that in mind, he intends to follow the county’s usual approach to planning for rally, which is to “plan for the worst and hope for the best.”

“We plan for mass casualty events like motorcycle crashes, LifeFlights, traffic congestion, large crowds things of that nature,” he says. “There’s always the chance that there could be some kind of altercation.”

It’s unlikely that the county will be able to promote pandemic-related safety, such as social distancing, Robinson says.

“I don’t foresee us doing anything COVID-19-wise. We’re not going to be out there telling people they need to be six feet apart or you can’t be in groups larger than 250, because it’s just not practical for us to spend our time doing that,” he says.

“We’re going to be out there doing what we do: making sure people are safe driving on the roads, watching for drunks, taking care of the domestic issues and being our normal selves.”