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What do you do on a humid weekend in October when the
22nd hurricane of the season is barreling down on you? You go for a
ride! Biketoberfest this year was met with clear skies and humid air
all weekend. But even as our show rig Nemesis rolled into Daytona all
they could talk about on the news was “Wilma” the next in a year
long string of storms that made 2005 the worst hurricane season on
record. And here we were rolling in for a 3 day rally wondering if we
were going to be waist deep in water before the end of the weekend.
Being the hearty souls that we are we unpacked the truck, set up the
canopy and rolled out the bikes!
Rally attendance was fairly light this Fall with may people staying
away from South Florida because of the storm warnings. But since we
were there we did what any good biker would do and rounded up a few
friends on Saturday and took a ride down to the lighthouse at Ponce
Inlet. One of the things you learn to do at rallies is to stay away
from the main drag, so we headed south on the side streets out of
Daytona and crossed over the inland waterway in South Daytona. Once we
hit A1A we headed south again looking for the lighthouse. The best
part of this ride is once you run out of road you have arrived at your
destination. The lighthouse is a classic east-coast structure but the
best part is the little bar & grill at the base of the lighthouse
where if you are patient you can get great food and cool beverages
after your ride. With our stomachs full of Oysters, Soft-Shell Crabs,
Crab legs and other delicacies we all headed out to check out the
newest attraction in Daytona.
When you head north on I-95 from Daytona you'll hit a little town
called Ormand Beach. Ormand is home to the Broken Spoke and Steel
Horse Saloon and has now become home to the motorcycle mega-plex
“Destination Daytona” owned by Bruce Rossmeyer. This former motel
and truck stop has been converted in to the worlds largest
Harley-Davidson store and houses vendors and show-rigs during Bike
Week and Biketoberfest. We arrive just in time to catch a glimpse of
Billy Lane on stage doing his “Blood, Sweat & Gears” show to
the delight of the gathered crowd.
All in all, Biketoberfest was a good weekend and a chance to finish
the rally season with smaller crowds and a little warm weather. Oh and
Wilma, she showed up Monday morning and made a complete mess of south
Florida. Hopefully everything will be cleaned up by next Spring so we
can do it all again!
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