But Sturgis was unique in drawing people from across the nation to one small town, where they crowded into bars, restaurants, tattoo shops and other businesses, many without masks. An analysis of anonymized cellphone data, conducted by a firm called Camber Systems, found that 61 percent of all U.S. counties had been visited by a rallygoer.
61% of all U.S. counties. Of course, not everyone has the virus, but that’s why events like SXSW were the first to shut down and need to be last to resume.
I’m a lifelong South Dakota resident, growing up in a tiny town right off of Interstate 90. While I’ve never been to Sturgis during the rally, it’s still an integral part of my growing up.
I am by no means surprised by any of this. Got that macho machismo thing going for most bikers, even the ones that fly in to a nearby city and ride their cycles the rest of the way.
Hard to say how much of the spread actually came from people residing in the area, vs say someone coming in from Colorado spreading it to someone who lives in Wisconsin. We’ll never know. The only thing we will know and could very likely guarantee is that the small city of Sturgis is and was an epicenter of spreading.
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