This year at Bike Week in Daytona we had the privilege of spending some time with Eddie and Troy from Montgomery Gentry. That evening Troy invited us to ride with them on the ACM Charity Ride in Las Vegas that was held Sunday May 15th.

This ride was the Academy of Country Music's second annual Celebrity Motorcycle Ride. It was held in Las Vegas, NV two days before the annual ACM awards show. This half day trek through the Nevada desert raised funds for the ACM Charitable Foundation, an organization designed to raise support for programs dedicated to the awareness, growth, and education of music.

The Grand Marshals of the ride this year were Eddie Montgomery and Troy Gentry of Montgomery Gentry. Celebrity riders also included Dierks Bentley, Shelly Fairchild, Chely Wright, Keech Rainwater of Lonestar, James Otto, Ira Dean & Heidi Newfield of Trick Pony, and Brett Warren of the Warren Brothers.

The ride began May 15, 2005 at Las Vegas Harley-Davidson and wound through the Nevada desert and ascended to almost 8000 feet to a picturesque lodge where participants were treated to live music and refreshments. Troy Gentry lead the way with Eddie sidelined because of a broken hand sustained in a stage fall two weeks earlier. Troy an Ira Dean brought their own bikes with several celebrities borrowing rental bikes from LVHD. James Otto and Gibson Guitar President David Berryman both rode Vengeance choppers and were the envy of the other celebrity riders.

After the refreshments were gone, the riders then re-mounted and descended back down to the desert floor and returned to Las Vegas Harley-Davidson. Each celebrity participant then climbed on stage and belted out a mini-concert of hits to the delight of the riders and local country-music fans that had gathered at the parking lot concert venue. Gibson guitars was on hand with their hospitality bus where KZLA morning personality Peter Tilden was hanging out with the performers and other country music industry insiders in attendance. 

All the riders were given center-front access to the stage and were treated to catered bar-b-que lunch in the VIP tent. In all everyone had a great time with perfect weather and a beautiful ride. To learn more about next years ride visit www.acmcountry.com.