Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/751464
28 nDecember 2016n www.thunderpress.net THUNDER PRESS by SunDancer DAYTONA BEACH, FLA., OCT. 13–16—October is a great month for riding in Florida. The blistering heat has subsided but it's still warm enough to ride in a tank top or T-shirt during the day and a light jacket late at night. However, this year, just a few days before Biketoberfest, riders, along with everyone else in Central Florida, were hunkered down for a couple of days waiting for the Category 4 storm to work its way up from the Bahamas and along the coast. There were doubts as to whether the event would even take place after watching the mayhem Hurricane Matthew created in Daytona and further north along the east coast of Florida. Many Biketoberfest events were canceled just days before they were scheduled to take place. We got word on the 13th that the Sons of Speed Vintage Motorcycle Races on the 14th and 15th were postponed but would take place at Bike Week next spring. I wasn't surprised, though, as I remem- bered that's a dirt track so it must have been a big mud puddle after the storm. I had planned to head to Daytona Beach on Wednesday but Tomoka State Park where I usually camp was closed due to storm damage so I post- poned my ride until Thursday morn- ing. After numerous calls and a lot of BS, I fi nally decided to cancel my reservation altogether but was told I couldn't because it was past my check- in time. I've stayed there for years but I won't again. Frustrated to the max, I pointed the handlebars north and headed to Daytona. My fi rst stop on Thursday was at Willie's Tropical Tattoo for Willie's Ol' School Chopper Show. There are always a lot of very cool bikes there varying in models and age so it draws a big crowd. I rolled in about noon and was surprised to see that there were plenty of parking places along the side roads and across the street in the Publix parking lot. The number of folks milling around the show was also surprising since I could actually move through the crowd. It was busy enough to be enjoy- able, though, and there were some good-looking bikes so I took advan- tage of the situation. There were over 20 classes of bikes being judged so the announcements take a while to get through. Some of the winners were: Best Twin Cam, '99 Dyna owned by BD Swanberg; Best Shovelhead, '77 bobber owned by David Reidingo; Best Panhead belonging to Shirley Johnson, and Willie's Choices were Gary Luke's '59 bobber and a '73 Shovel owned by Tom Jablon. From Willie's I headed further north on US-1 to one of my favor- ite places, the Iron Horse Saloon. Along the way I noticed several trucks from energy companies outside the state and there seemed to be a lot less bikes on the road than in past years. I'd heard that several of the hotels were completely closed due to damage and others had limited rooms available. Arriving at the Iron Horse I had even more surprises await- ing me. I pulled right in and got a place up front—don't think I've ever been able to park there. Inside there was no line at all for a bev- erage and I worked my way up to the catwalk which is usually three deep by late afternoon. Not so today; there was plenty of room and I took advantage of it to enjoy the breeze and listen to the band. I made my way to Main Street and was overjoyed to see that here it actually did appear to be a rally weekend and the bars were lively with music and adult refreshments. I stopped in Main Street Station and then wandered over to Boot Hill next door where the crowd was wall-to- wall inside the bar and outside as well. Then, at Dirty Harry's, a wet T-shirt contest was in full swing and the gals were on the stage showing their stuff and trying to win the cash prize to cover their bar bill. Friday morning, I stopped at Daytona Speedway where plenty of vendors were set up. The Harley- Davidson pavilion, a.k.a. Thunder Alley, displayed some new models along with some bikes used in recent movies and offered refreshments. Then I checked out the Iron Horse again, which was a bit more crowded than it had been on Thursday but still not the usual crowd; it seemed that the usual liveliness of the party goers was also missing. I decided to go fi nd some fun and headed to Destination Daytona. But just a bit north of the Horse I stopped at the Broken Spoke which was a shambles—trees were down with only a few larger ones still standing. I was told by security that it would back open in time for Bike Week. Back on the road I headed toward Rossmeyer's and was there in just minutes; no e s Choices were obber and a '73 Tom Jablon. I headed further one of my favor- n Horse Sal aloo oon. noticed d several y compa panies nd ther ere t less s than in ard that els were d due to s ha had d ailabl b e. e ven ait it- ght up k I' I've park was bev- d my y y walk p the road I headed toward Rossmeyer's and was there in just minutes; no Main Street was one of the few crowded venues during Biketoberfest this year Deers and beers, a winning combination 24TH ANNUAL BIKETOBERFEST Party rocks on after Matthew's departure