I am sure there are more but here are a few Northern Virginia and surrounding area events of which I am aware. If you know of any others please add them in the comments.
Ride for NF – June 8th
Back of the Dragon Days – June 13th – 15th
Ride your bike to work day – June 16th
Maryland/Delaware HOG Rally – June 19th-22nd
ABATE of Virginia Rally – June 20th – 22nd
HOG Worldwide Ride – June 22nd – 23rd
Virginia HOG Rally – June 26th – 28th
Rolling Thunder 2014
Debbie had to work Saturday so I was out on the motorcycle by myself. I rode the Army bike as I was planning on entering a bike show that afternoon (see Part Deux).
The first stop of the day was the HOG Pin Stop at Washington HD. Getting there from Leesburg takes a while and it involves some of the most trafficked roads in the DC Metro area; I495 and I95.
With Rolling Thunder the next day I was surprised that there were so few bikes out and about. From home to exit for the dealership I counted 17 bikes, much much fewer than I have noticed in the past.
I arrived at the dealership about a little before 10 and was surprised again at the number of bikes. In the past, at about the same time, the parking lots were packed and the vendor areas were standing room only. Not this year, I had no issue what so ever getting a parking spot and had a leisurely stool through the vendors. I saw nothing I could live without among the tents, although I am becoming intrigued with center stands, and decided to go inside and check out the remodeled digs.
The dealership has been in this building for a long time and was looking very “long in tooth”. The remodeling was, I have to say, was underwhelming. IMHO there was no real improvement at all. The one area of the store that I though was better was a display of older bikes with large period photos behind them.
I did speak to a person, who claimed to be an employee, stated that the dealership was about to change hands and that the new owner was going to build a new building. In the DC area, and especially Maryland, that can be an expensive proposition (hey, Maryland even taxes the rain).
Mounting my bike I was back on the road in less than a minute, still no heavy bike traffic.
1st Place
After leaving Washington HD I rode over to Hardcore Choppers for their Freedom Fest. The proceeds for this event were to benefit Able Forces.
They had multiple bands all day including Sam Tate and Gypsy Sons. There were a several vendors, a bike show (which I entered) and the Fairfax County Police motor patrol drill team among other things.
One of the funnier items occurred when the police were giving a demonstration of how to pick up fallen bike. When they asked for volunteers to try picking up the bike a 70+ year old lady jumped out to give it a go! Check out the video Old Lady picks up police motorcycle!
As for the bike show I took first place in my class!
This coming weekend, May 25th, is Rolling Thunder in Washington DC. In addition to the ride itself there are a lot of other, smaller events in the DC metro area that feed on the biker traffic that Rolling Thunder brings to the area.
Some of the other events in the area are:
Thunder Ally – The OFFICAL vendor location for Rolling Thunder is located at 22nd St. and Constitution Ave in the city. It is open Saturday-Monday.
HOG Pin Stop – At Washington Harley Davidson, plus they have vendors and bands at the dealership.
Candlelight Vigil 9PM Friday the 23rd of May at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
Ride of the Patriots at Patriot HD in Fairfax VA, is an event that covers all four days of the Memorial Day weekend.
Lots of the local bike dealers have their own Rolling Thunder related events. Check your favorite bike shop’s website to see what is going on. For example, Hardcore Choppers is sponsoring their Operation Freedom Fest 2014 on the 24th.
We only found out about this motorcycle event a few weeks ago and it was a last minute decision to attend. I am glad we did decide to ride.
The Mission of the Some Gave All Foundation “ensures the memories of Sergeant Joshua J. Frazier and Sergeant Nicholas C. Mason are not forgotten through service to local wounded veterans and an annual motorcycle rally.” This ride/rally was the 8th event and according to speaker has raised over $168,000. Check out the website to learn more about this organization.
Debbie and I left the house at 7:30 for the two hour trip to ride’s start point. After a quick Mickey D’s and gas pit stop (insert joke her) we head south on Route 15. The ride there was very nice, with cool crisp air and limited traffic, if it were not for the fact that we hit 98% of available red lights it would have been an awesome morning scoot.
The ride begins at Spotsylvania High School (Spotsylvania, VA) and ends at a rally at King George High School (King George, VA). When we pulled in to the High Schools parking lot I was blown away by the number of motorcycles attending the ride! I was expecting, for no real reason, about 200-300 bikes, there was at least 1000+ bikes in the lot. In listening to some of the conversations of folks who have attended before I gathered the impression that this was the largest turn out to date.
As you will see in the pictures bikes of all types were in attendance. Harley Davidson, of course, had the most bikes in attendance but, I saw more Spyders and Boss Hoss bikes in this one location than I have ever seen outside a dealership. At one part of the parking area there were 12 Spyders in a row (I am sure Miss Muffet would have passed out from fear).
Even with such a large number of attendees the organizers had everything down, from my point of view the start point was well run and superbly organized! The actual ride to the rally started on time and the police had everything well managed, we had the road to ourselves with plenty of well-wishers waving from the sides of the road. But, as with all groups of this size, there was the expected “accordion affect” which may have caused an accident. We passed a point where EMTs were dealing with two bikes off the road and over a small embankment. I did not look (I am a safe rider you know ) but Debbie told me that there appeared to be little damage to the bikes but that someone was laying in the grass while the EMTs were looking them over.
We arrived at the end point about noon and it was as well organized as the start point. The bikes were all lined up in a manner that, when ever wanted to leave, there would be no issues about getting your bike out. For the rally part of the event there were a good number of vendors, the small business type, in attendance along with a sport bike stunt team (the 540 Boyz), a half dozen “moon bounce” type of things for the kids and a local bomb squad and their robots. The event was anchored by an area setup for a pretty good band (Bad Monkey) and a bike show.
Debbie and I decided to put our bike in the show and we won “Best In Class”, not too bad for a last minute decision. Right after the bike show awards we decided to head back home, we pulled into the garage at 5:30. We both agreed that this was a very nice event and there is a very good chance that we will do it again next year!
P.S. 251 miles round trip.
This past weekend I attended the Timonium Motorcycle Show. This is one of it not the largest motorcycle event held in the mid-Atlantic region during the winter season. This was the first time I have attended and not knowing if the crowd was good or not I asked a few of the vendors. Almost all the vendors stated that it was average compared to the 2013 event. The show is split between two buildings, which is why I never felt that overly crowded but I did, occasionally, have to wait to get a picture.
The show is held at the Maryland State Fairgrounds, which is about an hour from my home. Traffic was light, by the Washington DC metro area standard, and I made it to and from the show with no issues. Unfortunately, I dove the truck, the temperature was 24F when I left the house, which is not a great excuse for not riding but the best I have.
In addition to the bike show and standard vendors the sponsors brought in several celebrities including the International Bikini Team, Michele Smith, David Uhl and Paul Senior of OCC. Mr. Uhl was a no show do to 
canceled flight but the others were in attendance. The line for the grip and great with Paul Sr was quite long and I just viewed from afar.
Michele, on the other hand was busy in her booth. She has quite the selection of female themed biker gear. Including the blinged out helmets in my pictures as well as a great variety of thongs. Watching her handling the sheer thongs was….tantalizing! LOL
The bike show itself was neat. With over 40 classes there was something for everyone’s tastes. I was very surprised by the way some of the folks laid out there display areas. Turns out that there was also an award for best display and some entrants were going all out.
The show is a professionally judged event, not a peoples vote type of competition. The judging would not be completed until Sunday afternoon so I will have to wait to see who won from the website. The biggest take away for me was that my customized Heritage would have a good chance at competing in the show, maybe next year. And as for the display….anyone got a cheap camouflage net for sell?!?!
If you are live in the Northern Virginia area check this out. Hardcore Choppers is having a holiday party at their shop on Saturday December the 7th. I have had a bunch of work on my bikes performed by Hardcore Choppers and it has all been top notch.
Check out their website to see the many custom bikes they have turned out!
There are a couple of bike events taking place in York this month.
First is the Harley Davidson York Vehicle Operations Open House the 19th-21st. The York plant assembles the Softail, Touring, CVO and Trike motorcycles and the open house allow you to conduct a self-escorted tour of the operations. You can see the bikes being birthed (the VIN # applied to the frame) to rolling out the door. The plant open house is different from the Steel Toe Tour (which I have not done) in that there is no charge, it is unescorted and you do not get the swag.
I visited the open house two years ago and it was a cool event. In addition to the walk through of the plant there were demo bikes available to ride and a bunch of the nearby dealerships had setup merchandise tents on the plant’s grounds. I am considering going again this year. The open house has been a “Pin Stop” for HOG members in the past.
The other event is the White Rose Thunder Motorcycle Event. The event has bike shows, vendors, stunt teams, motorcycle racing, a bike night, concerts, swap meet and many other activities. I have never attended this event, if you are interested take a look at the website.
I ran across the EL DIABLO RUN on the internet. If you are a west coast rider check it out, it looks like a lot of fun and
From the website this is a throwback, old school, or whatever you want to call it, kind of ride. I am adding the El Diablo Run to my motorcycle riding bucket list. Baja is already on this list so maybe I can combine the two someday
My daugher (Eryn) and I were on Interstate 68 stopped at the “Welcome toWest Virginia” rest area. In the parking lot as I emerged from the building was a pickup with a trailer hauling the three vintage bikes pictured.
These bikes were in great condition! I spoke with the owners for a few minutes and discovered that they were on there way to the Ohio Valley BSA Owners Club 32nd Annal Rally.
The Honda is one of the bikes I wanted when I was about 16.
I JUST WANT 2 RIDE!! 