Well this year Daytona was slow, however; the lack of people and vendors made the services better and the riding easier. Left home on Friday and the first stop was Breakfast at Denny's for an all American Grand Slam breakfast. Normally packed with bikers, this year walked right in sat down ate and back on the road. First stop Destination Daytona; again due to lack of crowds we received up front parking for the bikes. Hardly any vendors there but still made for a good time. I ordered some parts from J&P Cycle’s received an extra 10% off plus free delivery to the house (no need to carry them with me all weekend). Did a little x-mass shopping
Met up with some friends and headed to downtown Main Street and received a big shock there. I was told the Beach Street HD shop is being turned into a museum, we didn't make over their but did get parking right in front of the Boot Hill Saloon. I did the whole main street thing with my friends while the misses shopped. After Main Street it was time to head north to the Broken Spoke. We enjoyed the rest of the evening at the Broken Spoke till it was time to head home. Again the not so big crowds made it a good time for all.
Saturday was almost a repeat with the exception of Destination, we head straight down to New Smyrna HD and Gilley’s Pub 44 (no longer Gilley’s now called FINNS) ate some lunch there, the best burger I have had in a while, we did some walking around looking at the bikes and babes and then it hit me like a ton of bricks. I have been doing Biketoberfest and Bike Weeks for as long as I care to remember and all I can say is we are an aged crowd. I will be fifty in a few days and so will all the bikers and friends I have known over the years. Rather talk about what we did last night we talked about what hurts these days. Now I am not complaining cause I still feel pretty good for all I’ve been through, but, it’s just funny how our lives and the industry has changed. I saw more women (including my wife) riding their own bikes and even more people riding trikes. I can remember when a trike was a novelty and when one was seen everybody was snapping pictures of it. I even remember saying at one time I would never ride a trike. Now I see one and I tell my wife when my knees are gone (5 surgeries to date) I’ll get one of those or I’ll turn the Electra Glide into one.
The whole point of this rant was, Had a great time during BIKETOFEST this year cause as I get older I am finding I prefer the company of close friends and less crowds. Hope everyone else had as good time as we did down there. Enjoy be safe and enjoy life.
Met up with some friends and headed to downtown Main Street and received a big shock there. I was told the Beach Street HD shop is being turned into a museum, we didn't make over their but did get parking right in front of the Boot Hill Saloon. I did the whole main street thing with my friends while the misses shopped. After Main Street it was time to head north to the Broken Spoke. We enjoyed the rest of the evening at the Broken Spoke till it was time to head home. Again the not so big crowds made it a good time for all.
Saturday was almost a repeat with the exception of Destination, we head straight down to New Smyrna HD and Gilley’s Pub 44 (no longer Gilley’s now called FINNS) ate some lunch there, the best burger I have had in a while, we did some walking around looking at the bikes and babes and then it hit me like a ton of bricks. I have been doing Biketoberfest and Bike Weeks for as long as I care to remember and all I can say is we are an aged crowd. I will be fifty in a few days and so will all the bikers and friends I have known over the years. Rather talk about what we did last night we talked about what hurts these days. Now I am not complaining cause I still feel pretty good for all I’ve been through, but, it’s just funny how our lives and the industry has changed. I saw more women (including my wife) riding their own bikes and even more people riding trikes. I can remember when a trike was a novelty and when one was seen everybody was snapping pictures of it. I even remember saying at one time I would never ride a trike. Now I see one and I tell my wife when my knees are gone (5 surgeries to date) I’ll get one of those or I’ll turn the Electra Glide into one.
The whole point of this rant was, Had a great time during BIKETOFEST this year cause as I get older I am finding I prefer the company of close friends and less crowds. Hope everyone else had as good time as we did down there. Enjoy be safe and enjoy life.
