Melissa Jones is a nurse. Her husband, Jeff Jones, is an information technology specialist for the city of Lincoln.
But this week they’ve given up scrubs and office cubicles for the evergreen-dotted roads of the Black Hills, the rumble of a 2014 Harley-Davidson and the traffic nightmares that are inevitable with the nation’s largest motorcycle rally.
The Joneses have been regulars at the South Dakota event for the past 15 years and said the 75th Sturgis Motorcycle Rally that started Monday is the biggest they’ve seen yet.
Organizers expected more than a million people to make the trek this year -- more than double last year’s crowd of 442,000.Â
“It is the most crowded we’ve ever seen by a long shot,†Jeff said by phone early Tuesday afternoon. “Depending on the time of day, traffic can be backed up two or three miles just trying to get off the interstate into downtown Sturgis.â€
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More traffic means more danger.Â
Four people died between 6 a.m. Sunday and 6 a.m. Monday, bringing the number of fatalities so far this year to six. And the South Dakota State Patrol made 67 drunk-driving arrests and 96 drug arrests during the same time period.
Sturgis is infamous for bawdy behavior -- fishnet bodysuits and breasts clad only in paint are occasional sights downtown during the rally.
In 2006, two men affiliated with the Hells Angels shot and wounded five people connected to the Outlaws Motorcycle Club in Custer State Park, about 70 miles from the rally. In 1990, a Sons of Silence gang member shot an Outlaws member in a bar brawl in Sturgis and two Sons of Silence members were stabbed.
But gang violence sometimes associated with motorcycles and motorcycle riders is rare these days, although not unheard of.
“It’s pretty tame up here," Jeff Jones said. "It’s just us every-day average people up here for the most part.
“People cut loose here, that’s for sure. Pretend you’re someone you’re not for a week and let it all hang out.â€
Added Melissa Jones: “The campgrounds do get a little wild.â€
This year, the Joneses rented a room in a house within walking distance of downtown Sturgis and are doing everything they can to avoid traffic snarls. They got up early Tuesday to beat their hung-over peers into the saddle for a ride up a two-lane county road to Keystone, South Dakota.
It’s a far cry from the nine-person race on a dirt track and organized by J.C. “Pappy†Hoel in 1938 or the first rally Jeff went to with a group of friends after graduating from high school in 1979. He rode a Suzuki back then. He couldn’t afford a Harley.
"It wasn't very crowded back then. It was about seeing new country; I'd never been up here," he said.