Two decades of covering the Sturgis motorcycle rally and one thing rises up as a universal truth of the annual event - there is nothing else like it.
Except, that is, for past Sturgis rallies. There are always new things that pop up, such as new sayings, bumper stickers, body piercings, tattoo styles and custom bike trends.
One of my personal favorites was the body painting craze that took flight a few years back but got shut down quickly by local authorities.
The funny thing is, every year the media - which now includes a far greater force than mere newspapers and biker mags, but also a citizen force of bloggers and videographers on sites such as YouTube - covers it all as something new this year.
Here's a few stories that may, or may not, be trendworthy this year.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to determine that numbers at this year's rally are down from last years.
Of course, last year, there was plenty of bellyaching that Sturgis numbers were down dramatically, but in the end, revenues and visitation weren't all that far off the mark from recent years. It was mostly a misinterpretation of how long and where the rally now exists, which is roughly two to two-and-a-half weeks in an area that encompasses all of the Black Hills and even a little bit beyond.
But I digress. This year's rally is down.
Of course, we were kind of expecting it. Reports from other major motorcycle rallies nationwide were trending that way. Laconia, N.H., saw a similar trend with the rally there earlier this summer, as did Daytona.
Even the Little Sturgis Rally in Sturgis, Ky., which has seen crowds of about 20,000 bikers in the past, saw numbers drop by as much as 25 percent over past years. No word yet on whether the lawsuit scared away anyone fearing legal reprisal from the folks here in the Black Hills.
Certainly thunderstorms aren't unusual for this time of year in South Dakota. And this year has seen its share of bad weather, especially with all the flooding throughout the region this past spring.
While legions of bikers - especially those that are caught on the highway during a downpour or are camping one of the multitude of area campgrounds - must simply make do with the summer storms, the same can't be said for the visiting entertainment at said campgrounds.
A few years back, some concert fans raised a ruckus when The Steve Miller Band failed to perform because of poor weather, and on Tuesday night, a powerful thunderstorm brought similar results.
With wind speeds at up to 70 mph and lightning strikes hitting a bit too close, both Larry the Cable Guy and John Fogerty had to cancel their show at Rock'n the Rally. Of course, the fact that several bikers were injured by a lightning strike at the concert likely kept the grumbling that it was canceled down to a minimum.
Read my lips …
If you don't know we're in an "economic slowdown," you must be listening to too much daytime talk radio here in the Hills.
Said slowdown is apparent not only in the decrease in numbers at the rally this year, but it is being felt in other parts of the motorcycle industry as well. Harley-Davidson, the rally's flagship cycle, has tried to stay optimistic about business through the end of the year, but recent reports show it, too, is facing an economic crunch like almost any other business that isn't in producing or refining oil.
What is somewhat interesting is to read last year's rally trends story (click here) and put it in the light of this year's rally, knowing some of the economic challenges facing the immediate future of the event. Then again, who ever thought the 50th rally back in 1990 would have led to such an explosion of popularity in Sturgis?
Gone political
One place the rally did grow vastly this year was in political exposure. Almost all of that was due to the visit by John McCain, and in particular, his volunteering of his wife as a candidate in the Miss Buffalo Chip contest.
Of course, politicians visiting the rally is nothing new - for South Dakota politicians, that is. A couple of years back, politicking was in the air as not only did the generally reserved Gov. Mike Rounds and Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin adorn rally gear for the event, but peaceful protesters worked to make their point about business expansion in the Bear Butte area.
Still, the McCain visit and subsequent "first lady/Miss Buffalo Chip" speech lit up the blogs and airwaves as well, including the No. 1 spot on hit man Keith Olberman's nightly newscast on MSNBC.
And this being only the beginning of the third day of third day of the rally, it's perhaps a bit too early to define the trends for which this year's event will be known.
That doesn't keep us from trying or keeping score, however, as noted at the end of this story today. Stay tuned for more as the week progresses.
