Too Broke For Sturgis
July 27-29, 2007
'Crash'

A Report from the 'Webwench'

What a great time to escape to the mountains and enjoy ‘Too Broke For Sturgis 2007’.  We left early Thursday morning so we could get to Mormon Lake and find ourselves a great camping area. We arrived by 10am and there were already about 20 campsites set up by people who had come up days before us. Needless to say, the one campsite we came early to get had been taken. Seems some other folks wanted that area that friends of ours had camped in for years and arrived on Sunday…yup Sunday, 5 days before the event even started. Well, early bird catches the worm and in this case, the best camping site. Now we had the task of finding a substitute site, but nothing measured up, to our disappointment. Finally we ended up right next to the old site. Not exactly the flattest spot, but there were some trees and a place to put all the folks that came to camp with us.

We get the camp set up and we are now ready to enjoy sharing some time with our friends and some totally awesome cool weather. The temps stayed in the low 70’s and an overcast sky threatened to rain but then just passed us by on Thursday.

As many of our camping buddies got settled in the first thing you started seeing everyone doing was checking their cell phones for a message or they were ready to call someone. If you have ever been to Mormon lake you know there is no signal. That’s one of the things I love most about this event. I can turn the phone off when I leave Phoenix and just not worry about it until I return. Some folks starting jonesin’ when their phones didn’t work. Now everyone needed to know the location of the nearest payphone. Isn’t it just amazing how our lives are so wrapped up and around technology?

Finally Greg, one of our camp buddies told everyone he knew where to get a signal. Everyone is listening closely to find out where the place is. I waited patiently for him to give directions to somewhere down the road where you were clear enough to get a signal. But Noooooooo… that didn’t happen. It seems Greg new exactly where the cell phone vortex of Mormon Lake was located. He took people one by one and showed them the sweet spot. That is all it was, just 1 square foot of area that you could get a cell phone signal. I just can’t tell you how that messed with my mind all weekend. How the hell did he know it was there? I kept getting a visual of him walking the entire area, 1 step at a time, until his phone showed a signal. That’s an awful lot of dedication to make a call. But it could be a great replacement for the ‘Can You Hear Me Now’ commercial. Below are pics of the vortex spot in case you need to make a call when your in the area.

After a great nights sleep we wake to cloudy skies. It was nice in the morning but the ever-threatening dark clouds kept moving closer. By noon it began to sprinkle and by 12:15 it was a downpour that lasted a good hour and a half. Most of the people camping with us were on security duty at the front gate and they were soaked. Our camp started to fill up with water and made its own little lake – mini Mormon Lake. I was a bit concerned that if the rain didn’t stop there would be a waterfall coming down the tiered rocks on the side of the hill that we were camped next to. That didn’t happen, but because of the bit of an incline we were camped on, part of our tent seeped in some water that got trapped between the tent and the tarp underneath.

After the rain everything was wet or felt wet. Later on Friday evening it was my turn to help work at registration. The rain in the afternoon had turned the temps to cold. Many riders came in soaked and shaking from the cold and now they had the task of finding a camp area in the pitch black and find one that wasn’t full of mud or water. The campground was already busting at the seams as a record number of people showed on Friday. Everyone just took in stride and did what they needed to get settled.

Saturday morning the skies were fairly clear with the dark clouds off in the distance. This morning the local Fire Department along with some of the residents of Mormon Lake, held a pancake breakfast at the firehouse for attendees of the event. The price was $4 for all you could eat pancakes, 2 sausage patties, juice and coffee. It was a great breakfast and all the local people were very friendly. They had filled the firehouse with seating and had some also available outside. We arrived with a group of 10 or so at 8:30am and a bit of panic seemed to be setting in. One lady asked if some one opened the floodgates because all of a sudden there was a line. Hopefully they were able to keep up until 10:30 and didn’t run out of food. It would be nice if they did this pancake breakfast every year. It was a great addition to the event and some good PR between bikers and locals.

After breakfast many were heading out on the poker run. The dark clouds were moving closer and it was a good bet that those on the poker run were gonna get wet, and get wet they did. By the time the poker run returned it was time for the bike show. That was a bit tricky to get set up due to all the mud and water in the rodeo arena but the ABATE team pulled it off. Following the bike show was the bike games. I can’t remember the last time I've seen so many bikers signed up for each event, let alone the packed rodeo stands with a cheering crowd. It brought back memories of a good 'ole skool' events. The most fun for me was watching the Drag Races. What was funnier is how many guys signed up thinking they got to race…WRONG!!! This would be drag as in queen. Two bikes would pair up against each other and race to the end of the course, get off their bike and put on a wig, bra and skirt then get back on the bike and race back. It was a great laugh, especially seeing our camp buddy 'Crash' in a blonde curly wig. There was also the slow race, bike wash and weenie bite.

After the days activities it was time to head back to camp. The camp ground had been rockin’ and partying for 2 days and on the last night I was sure it was gonna get wild. You could hear the band ‘Shut up and Drive’ from our camp but I never did go down to see them. Compared to the entertainment of 2006 these guys could be nothing but rock stars! I have seen them many times in local bars so music at a distance worked for me.

ABATE of AZ did a bang up job of putting this event together and all of them plain worked their asses off to bring you a quality event. Entertainment was good and vendors were a little light but that’s ok. They had couple of really good food vendors (hope you tried the Hatch green chili vendor). Even the set up was better this year with all the RV’s and support vehicles not allowed in the tree area. That gave all the folks who actually road in with their camp on their ride a good place to get into to camp…After all it is a bike event. This was the biggest 'Too Broke For Sturgis' ever and after this year I think it will only get bigger.

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