Just haven't found anything that motivated me enough to want to write about it. Which is not necessarily a bad thing, I guess, because most of the time the things that motivate me to write are things that have pissed me off to one degree or another.
But nothing like that has happened in the nine days since my last post. And like I said, that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Like most other bikers, I'm just sitting around patiently waiting for Mother Nature to change from her winter clothes into her spring ensemble. And with the snowstorm that hit parts of the South yesterday, it doesn't look like she's ready to change quite yet.
And speaking of bikers, as I type this the Spring Rally in Daytona, Florida, also known as "Bike Week," is under way. Yeah, I wish I was there, but I've heard that the crowds for the spring rally are REALLY unbelieveable, and judging from what I saw when my wife and I rode down there for Biketoberfest in October, 2003, I believe it. Besides, the weather at this time of year in Florida has a tendency to be kinda wet; for the past few years the rally has gotten rained on, and there's nothing quite as miserable as a bike rally in the rain. Unless it's a beach in the rain. Or both. Yeah, that sucks.
And speaking of bike rallys, those of you who were planning on attending the Myrtle Beach Spring Rally better start looking for other hotel reservations - the city of Myrtle Beach has apparently turned its collective back on the thousands of bikers that come to that city twice a year by passing more than 15 ordinances that will make it nearly impossible for 99% of the bikers who attend to get away WITHOUT getting a ticket for something. To me, the silliest of these ordinances and the one aimed at running off bikers the fastest is the helmet ordinance - in order to ride a motorcycle in the city of Myrtle Beach, you now must wear a helmet.
And this in a state that does NOT have a helmet law. You tell me what the city fathers were thinking.
I wonder if they stopped to realize that when they run off the bikers, they run off the REVENUE the bikers bring as well? Apparently not.
Well, all is not lost! The rally will go on, because the organizers are relocating ALL of the events to spots OUTSIDE of the city limits. And the city of North Myrtle Beach is rolling out the red carpet to bikers, telling one and all that they and their loud pipes (and their dollars, of course) are more than welcome in their city. I have a feeling that Myrtle Beach's loss is going to be North Myrtle Beach's gain.
Once upon a time, Myrtle Beach was a nice little seaside town where bikers gathered to party and enjoy themselves twice a year, and it was these two rallies that helped bring Myrtle Beach the prominence - and the wealth - that it now has. But, of course, along with money comes attitude, and the attitude of the now-wealthy and self-proclaimed "blue blood" of MB have decided that they no longer want the crowds of drunken, slovenly, loud bikers in their fair city.
Okay, no problem. We'll just toddle on down the road to your sister city and spend our money there instead. No sweat.
I have a feeling that about three or four years from now, the nice folks in Myrtle Beach are going to be sitting around asking themselves, "What in the hell were we thinking?"
IHC
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