The Sturgis Rally officially starts today and the crowds are already large and expected to get larger into the peak numbers mid-week.
I’m reporting from a building on the corner of Kansas City and Seventh St. This is one block from Mount Rushmore Road in Rapid City. Sturgis is 30 miles away but motorcycles can still be heard from my window.
Officials are expecting to see the highest numbers people ever recorded for this year’s 75 Anniversary of the Rally. Some Businesses in Sturgis have already noticed more people than usual in the area. Christine Paige Diers is the Executive Director of the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum.
“We’re seeing more motorcycles on the road earlier than we usually do,” she said.
Diers adds she’s expecting more people to show up for the event in the coming days.
“What really is going to matter I think in the end is if we’ve doubled the number that we’ve had in the last few years. That’s huge. So weather its 400 thousand or 600 thousand or 800 thousand, if we can tell that it’s been twice as many people, that’s a lot of people,” Diers explains.
Officials have estimated that as many as 1 million people could enter the Black Hills during this year’s Sturgis Rally.
The Rally is scheduled from today through August 9. But given the 75 anniversary, large numbers of bikers could remain on South Dakota highways for at least an extra week.