Smoke and mirrors

At least on this side of the border, the 81st Sturgis Motorcycle Rally didn't bring nearly the influx of two-wheeled visitors many had been expecting. Compared to the heyday of 20 years ago, says Sheriff Jeff Hodge, this year's Wyoming Wednesday was positively sedate.

"It sounds like [numbers] were up in Sturgis," he says, but this didn't seem to translate to the kind of hectic middle of the week Crook County usually experiences.

Numbers seemed to be down in both of the usual Wyoming Wednesday destinations, Hodge says: the burnouts in Sunday and the Ham n' Jam in Hulett. The streets of Sund...