A Newbie Biker Celebrates Sturgis

This blog details the triking adventures of Red and Big Guy, and their inaugural trip to the 2018 Sturgis Rally.

Let me put it out there…Big Guy and I live in mid-Michigan. Normally, that’s a really handy place when we’re trip-planning because we always joke that we’re located three hours from anywhere. Obviously, that rule doesn’t apply when it comes to a Sturgis run.

Now I don’t know about you, but when calculating travel, I am definitely a Point-A- to-Point- B kind of girl. Wave an incredible event like Sturgis in front of me, and even TELEPORTATION would not be quick enough to get me there. Don’t get me wrong, road trips (especially
motorcycle trips) are awesome, but when it comes to Sturgis, I am all about the main event.

We live due east of Sturgis, on the eastern side of Lake Michigan. Our route choices are driving through the Upper Peninsula (beautiful ride, but time-consuming), or circling south along the bottom of the lake through Chicago. I checked the travel time between mid-Michigan and
Sturgis—conservative estimate is eighteen hours of hard driving. Throw in some heavy Chicago traffic, those pesky construction zones, and that time could increase. Substantially.

So Big Guy and I settled down with a roadmap, a calculator, and started plotting. Our mileage calculated out to over 1200 miles each way, and that is a lot of transport time. There wasn’t much we could do about the road miles; but the water miles…ah, now those are completely fluid.

No pun intended, of course.

We learned there is a car ferry called the S.S. Badger, which travels across Lake Michigan between Ludington, MI and Manitowoc, WI twice daily during the summer months. Traveling on the ferry between the two ports won’t save us measureable time over driving around the end
of the lake; it takes roughly the same amount of time. However, instead of spending four hours of aggravation in multi-lane heavy highway traffic, we’ll be able to relax for four hours of peaceful downtime, enjoying the numerous amenities aboard the boat. Buffet dining? Check.
Bars, to enjoy a quiet drink? Check. Wi-fi? Check. Free movie and satellite TV lounge? Check. They even offer a quiet room, staterooms, and a gift shop. Right now, there is a promotion running on tickets; one-way tickets are $59 (reg. $69) and round-trip tickets are $111 (reg $129).

When we get off the boat in Wisconsin, fourteen hours of driving on I-90 west will put us almost smack in the middle of downtown Sturgis, ready to kick back and enjoy ourselves. Nothing like beautiful bikes, great riding, awesome people and ice-cold beer. Can’t beat it with a stick.

RIDE ON!