Daytona: Hot Mammas On Cole Slaw!

Big Girls-Bigger Pile O' Slaw!

Wrestling fans come from everywhere to enjoy the sport of kings--

"Cole Slaw Wrestling"

What could be better on a hot Florida afternoon than the sight of two ladies, (larger than life), engaged in smacking the daylights out of each other for bragging rights as the toughest woman at Biketoberfest '08... Make no mistake, the little girls normally associated with riding rockets wouldn't stand a chance in the Cabbage Patch's Cole Slaw Pit.. These are well-fed, muscled up ladies who probably could do a crate of eggs, pound of bacon, & loaf of bread for breakfast alone. They writhe in the chopped cabbage, which has been baking in the sun, the whole act emitting a certain odd flavor of a really cheap wedding banquet buffet line where guests fight over slaw dogs. Eventually, one of the big ladies wins the match, bragging rights are established, and it's all over until next year. This is a mini rally all by itself, with dozens of vendors, two live bands, maybe ten thousand people, and four dollar beers. (at least the admission is free, if the sight of all those cops doesn't make you turn into the wrong lot and be charged five bucks for parking.) On this day, a large crowd stayed on hand for the "Beer Bong Bash". Due to an approaching shower, we split for a fish sandwich. Traffic was still lined up for miles waiting to get in. You'd love to have just 5% of the daily bar, take a year off work. Sopotnick's Cabbage Patch, about 10 miles southwest of Daytona's Speedway.

More Bikers Than Expected:

It's no secret that the world economy at the least, is if not in the tank, preparing to make the big swan dive theretofor, so we were suprised to see nearly as many fall bikers as last year's rally. From what we've heard, vendors were not all that happy with their '08 sales--One well-known dealership had not sold a single bike as of Friday night. Others, like the Daytona Harley dealer, continue to move hundreds of bikes a month, seemingly immune to looming storm clouds. As in the trend we've seen at rallys in '06-'08, fewer bikers can be spotted carrying plastic bags full of shirts, hats, & assorted leather and bike parts, in fact, some arriving bikers, bent on not spending much at all, have described their new lifestyle as..."Frugal". Hey, the most important thing is having your bike run good. After that, everything else is icing on the cake!

More HP Than Brains?

At the risk of sounding like an angry young man, please allow me to describe the feeling of doing about 80 (along with the traffic flow), and being passed by a 'Busa hugging the far left lane of I-95. He passed us (and surrounding cages) like we were standing on the side of the road. That approximates his speed at around 150mph. Suppose a cage, or another bike slides over to make a pass? Somebody's gonna die. We slid into the far right lane & let the rockets have plenty of room. Even then, another close call as some dodged in and out of traffic.. Cops time would be better spent "counseling" some of these three digit boys instead of writing $1,000 tickets for the new Vertical License Plate restriction. Don't get us wrong--We love to ride fast and have fun--but there's a time and place for everything, and this was neither the time nor the place for 150mph.

Stormy Wx Never Hit Daytona:

Bikers couldn't have asked for better weather. Aside from a tiny shower late Saturday afternoon, daytime temps ranged in the 80's and lower 90's. An expected high of just 70 degrees on Sunday should make northern bikers feel a little more at home.

Pack Up, Head Out:

Road-weary vendors probably won't take home as much money as expected. Bikers probably would have spent more cash if they had a chance, but again, we say, there were far more bikers than we would have expected, given the way things are..

This is the last big rally of 2008. After a short winter, bikers will return for the grandaddy, Daytona's Spring Bike Week right after the Nascar Daytona 500 this spring. On one hand, we love the publicity our sport gets due to oversized crowds, it makes us feel stronger, but then, there's being able to always find a parking space before your bike burns up, easy access to food & drink, and actually being able to stroll down the sidewalk. Many of the "posers" are gone, replaced by actual riders who don't care what you brung, only a shared common bond as bikers.

Check back from time to time.. if it's fit to print, we'll post it right here!

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Daytona's Biketoberfest '08: Sunny, Hot, Florida!

Some Came Anyway!

Times are tough. Many bikers are faced with a choice between hitting all of the major MC gatherings, and simply being able to keep making payments on their ride. Followers of ABM know we've been predicting this financial fiaso ever since rally attendance began to fall of some 18 months ago. Bikers are a pretty good barometer of what's going on, economically, in the American economy. That having been said, Daytona's Biketoberfest is off to a decent start, and we expect this area to be packed from Friday thru Sunday.

Eddie Trotta, Corona Drinker?
Yesterday was a cooker on Dayton's Main Street, and after a hard day of searching for press passes, we settled down with a friend for a couple of cold ones inside of "Wiseguys", a two-level bar on the north side of Main. Staring across the bar at a fine looking blonde lady, we noticed Eddie Trotta/Thunder MC had drifted in for a can of Corona. Either it was Eddie, or his 100% "doppleganger". What amazes me about this dude, is every time I see him, he looks younger, and I look older!

Fish Sandwich, Anyone?
There's a little town just about ten miles north of Destination Daytona, by the name of Bunnell. After dropping by my buddy Scott's shop (US-1 Cycle) for a fresh set of plugs for the evo, we dropped by "THE BANTAM" for a fish sandwich. The dude who rode down with me was famished, announcing he could eat a whale, or something like that, and the BANTAM didn't let us down. As always, the FISH SANDWICHES were HUGE. $5.99 and you can't get yer mouth over it, ya just have to hold it by the wax paper & much a little at a time, like you were eating fish out of a bucket! He said, "man, you should have told me it was this big!". Hey, I did tell him, but noboby listens, ya know? THE BANTAM is (don't freak out on me now) kitty corner from the town police station, a stone's throw from one of only two intersections. Tell 'em we sent ya! By the way, the Oyster po boy is pretty good, too! ABM still doesn't know how they can sell such a huge sandwich so cheap, but we ain't complaining.

Two Passes For A Parking Spot:
Main Street had quite a few bikes. We made a couple of passes before finding a tight spot where two bikes could fit. Altough the bars weren't crowded, each had a decent share of bikers. Vendors seemed to have been caught with their pants down. In Ignacio, they would have killed for this many bikers so early on in the week. We expect most of the tents and trucks to have been set up by this morning. (Thursday).

Kansas Rocks Destination Daytona:
Tonight, in the big, open air pavillion. Be there or be square! Just last week Kid Rock sold out the St Augustine ampitheatre. Didn't suprise us to hear it was good. DD is packed with vendors, as usual.

Despite the Economy, Bikers Ride:
Irritating pundits who have been predicting the demise of motorcycling are totally out of touch. They believe that if there is declining rally attendance, fewer Americans are enjoying motorcycling, and that's an outright lie. We still ride, we just don't have as much available cash to roam all over the country, while taking time off from work. Want proof? Look at the figures for a rally where nearly all of the riders are locals: Look at Leesburg, Florida, a half hour northwest of Orlando. Ten years ago, it started out with 10,000 bikers. Last year, 300,000, up from a quarter million the year before, and yes, we spoiled Florida bikers are already beginning to complain about the overwhelming pack of humanity. Complain, complain, complain. There's not enough bikers, there are too many bikers.. just SHUT UP & RIDE!

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Check back throughout the week, as we continue to blog & broadcast from Daytona!