Bikes were lined up a la Sturgis-style on Saturday night, as more than 200 motorcyclists met in Mandan for the state's annual H.O.G. rally. The bulls eye you see on the bottom left corner of the headlight is a game for bugs when the bikers are traveling - the one that hits closest to the center wins. Rick Scharf photo

By Brian L. Gray

You may have noticed an unusual surge of black leather in Mandan last weekend, and the roaring of engines on the roads were a bit louder than usual too.

That’s because Harley riders scattered the streets of Mandan for the 2009 North Dakota State H.O.G. Rally. Almost 300 riders were in town for the rally, which chose Mandan to be the location of its annual event this year.

Brian Sather, treasurer of the H.O.G. Rally, said the rally ran successfully. “I didn’t hear one complaint. The only problems I heard were people having a little trouble finding certain places,” he said.

The rally began on Friday night, with a series of tours around the area and a party at Harley-Davidson on The Strip.

On Saturday, the riders took part in a scavenger hunt of sorts, called a mystery hunt, which added about 200 miles to the riders’ odometers. Then at 5 p.m. the H.O.G.s were escorted by the Mandan Police Department for a parade through town, from the Seven Seas to the Old Red Trail, as they made their way through Main Street. The riders then had dinner and games in Dykshoorn Park, parking their bikes Sturgis-style in front of the public library.

On Sunday, a breakfast took place at The Post, “and from there the riders went their own way,” Sather said.

Harley riders from all around the country and Canada were in town. Sather said people from Montana, Kentucky, Georgia, Iowa and several other states came for the rally.

Feedback from the event was positive, Sather said, and the city worked well to get the rally to run smoothly. “They were great, and really helped us out. They did everything they could to make us feel welcome here,” he said.

The success of the rally may mean a return in the years to come. Next year’s rally will be in Fargo, but it may return to Mandan in 2011.

Many of the Harley riders only see each other once a year, and the rallies give the people a chance to catch up with each other. For many, Sather said, it’s like attending a family reunion.

The old cliché of motorcyclists being scruffy meanderers no longer applies these days. Harley riders come from all walks of life, Sather said, who himself is employed with the human services department at the State of North Dakota.

“You may be sitting next to a guy who, during the week, works in a hospital room, or another guy who works as an engineer,”_he said. “You never really know, and you don’t really care. It’s a mystery. And that’s the best thing, we don’t care what you do for living. It’s all about enjoying the open road and being able to ride free.”