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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The annual huge bike rally at Sturgis South Dakota is going forth.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The Sturgis crowd tends to be older people in general, the 50-something and 60-somethings being perhaps the mode. Several of my biker friends are going this year. Sturgis is a biiiig deal to that crowd, their much-anticipated relatively low-cost annual vacation.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The theory is that outdoor transmission of covid is rare, but this is a special case. You don’t really have enough cargo capacity on a bike to carry your own supplies and be self-contained for even a week, the way I did on my recent 3 week trip with a camper, so they will be at restaurants and hotels. The crowds at the Sturgis events are very closely packed, which is clear from the photos my friend sent. Some are wearing masks outdoors, looks like about maybe 20%.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The hotels are booked solid, so it will include some tent camping as that rally always does, but pleeeenty of eating indoors at restaurants. The biker crowd isn’t known for caution or for following orders, which is good because South Dakota has taken a mostly hands-off approach: their governor hasn’t mandated masks or shut downs in general, but she did shut down public schools (which makes sense.) A lot of South Dakota is Indian reservation, so the chiefs make their own rules on both schools and restaurants on the rez (haven’t heard how they are doing.)<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>I just got a note from one of my friends who is there now who has been going to most of the Sturgis rallies for the last 30 yrs, says they are having a blast. They cancelled the opening ceremonies, but the party goes on full throttle. Sturgis is on my list of to-dos, but haven’t done yet and mighta stayed back this year out of abundance of caution, even if I hadn’t been busy with other matters.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>There is a risk that if there is a huge outbreak at Sturgis, those bikers come from every state in the union and they will be riding back home next week. We science-minded sorts will get some fresh useful data in a coupla weeks from tens of thousands of mine-canaries on bikes.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Good luck bikers.<o:p></o:p></p></div></body></html>