Sturgis sees record crowds for bike rally

Sturgis sees record crowds for bike rally

By Earl Descant
Dispatch Starkville Bureau
edescant@cdispatch.com
Saturday, August 19, 2006 11:21 PM CDT

STURGIS - Under a blanket of helmets, heat and humidity, Sturgis South rumbled into action this weekend, bringing record crowds to the Golden Triangle, including seasoned and sometimes grizzled cross-country bikers, as well as new riders on bikes fresh off the factory floor.

Main Street and nearly every scratch of dirt around “Little Sturgis” - the rally's nickname - was a sea of chrome, rubber, leather and vendors selling everything from custom-made chaps to watermelons Saturday afternoon.

“We've been having a blast,” said Jody Foust, 32, a 10-year tattooist from Westwego, La., who came up with TattooVille, a mobile tattoo parlor which travels across the country.

“Business has been great,” added Foust, whose arms and most of his body were etched in a spider-web of intricate tattoos and piercings.

This was Foust's first trip to Sturgis and already it felt like home.

“It reminds me of where I grew up in Tennessee,” he remarked, as a steady line of patrons made their way through the camper-like tattoo trailer.

Most of the tattoos, he said, were custom jobs.

“That's our favorite kind of stuff. Someone comes in with an idea or an image they have in mind, and we create it for them. That's where it gets fun,” said Foust.

Business was steady at the Main Street Grill, where seats were refilled as soon as someone rose from one of the 10 to 15 tables. “It's been a real good weekend, and we've been non-stop,” said an exhausted Sally Oglesby from behind the counter, with waitresses swirling around her.

And the patrons agreed.

“It's been a real nice weekend,” said David Williams, a chicken farmer from Magee, who rode his Victory N2C and was having lunch with six other family members. This was their fifth year making the trip. “We're having a great time.”

But not everyone was all smiles. Some bikers were annoyed by this year's route change.

The traditional Friday night ride did not go through Starkville as in year's past, and some riders believed they were being slighted by the city of Starkville.

“I'm telling everybody not to spend any money in Starkville,” said Tony Ory, from Louisville, who opposed the route change.

“Our town still lets you come through town.” he added.

Starkville city officials said it was a decision made entirely by Sturgis South.

“We had nothing to do with the bikers not coming through Starkville,” said Starkville Chief Administrative Officer Lynn Spruill. “This was the bike rally folks that changed it. It had nothing to do with the mayor's office.”

Campus groups from Mississippi State University were at the rally.

Representatives of the National Association of Industrial Technology, a student organization, were on Main Street selling burgers to raise money to attend NAIT's national conference in Cleveland, Ohio.

Like the thousands of custom-job motorcycles lining the streets, the students brought along their own modified vehicles, like a four-wheeler retrofitted with a miniature Hummer body or a five-foot tall maroon cow bell painted with the MSU logo and mounted on a metal frame attached to the bed of a trailer.

“This is the largest cow bell in the United States,” bragged industrial technology student Daniel Wilburn, 24, of Hattiesburg.

“We'll have the bell in the north end zone this year,” he added, noting everyone loves ringing it.

Other students, like mechanical engineering student Brian Christian, who lives in Sturgis, had their bikes at the rally.

“There really aren't a lot of foreign bikes,” said Christian, referring to his bike, a BMW.

Sturgis South, like its big brother - the 66-year-old Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in Sturgis, S.D. - has become an icon for not only Harley-Davidsons, with their low-slung ride and calm growl, but also custom bikes and a whole stream of accessories, such as leather jackets, biker boots and tattoos, soldering a sub-culture of open-road freedom, family and at least a touch of rebellion.

“This is the first time this year, we've all gotten together,” said Denise Wingo, a machinist in Huntsville, Ala., who uses Sturgis South as a way to meet up with friends who also ride motorcycles.

“This is our third year here,” Wingo added, wearing an orange Harley-Davidson T-shirt and matching Crocs. “We came in on Friday, and this is great. It's our one time to get together like this and we love it.”