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Event Reports

10 Days Of Riding Racing, & Rockin’

Article By: Sara Liberte

Photos By: Sara Liberte & Kerri Schindler

Originally Published In The August 2012 Issue Of Cycle Source Magazine

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It had been a few years since we last zipped over to Sandusky for Ohio Bike Week, so we decided to gear up and check out the scene. Our curiosity meter was peeked to see what this event had turned into since our last visit. To our surprise, we found out that not many people are even aware that Ohio has a bike week event. I find this a little odd since Ohio is in the top 5 states with registered riders, not to mention the surrounding states are in that top 5 as well. Ohio Bike Week started in 2000 as a State HOG rally and has since moved up from a “long w e e k e n d event” to a full blown 10 day rally filled with riding, racing and plenty of great music. Our crew consisted of mostly the PA staff due to logistics: me, Chris, and Mailman. Roadside Marty decided he would join in our journey and catch a flight up to Pittsburgh from Florida. We’d grab him at the airport at 10 a.m. and head out… or at least that was the plan. Delta had other ideas for ol’ Roadside and left the guy at the airport from 4:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. Not wanting to delay our arrival anymore than Delta had so graciously done for us, I re-routed Roadside to land in Cleveland i instead of Pittsburgh getting us 2 hours on the drive. We did the “drive by” with the Cycle Source “White Dragon” and grabbed him around 8 p.m. and headed straight to Sandusky.

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By the time we geared up with equipment and bikes, we just caught the end of the Jackyl show. Holy shit was there a crowd of people for this; I’m talking probably close to 50,000 people! This is what baffles me when I hear people say, “I didn’t know Ohio had a bike week?” Where the hell did all of these bikes come from? Steve Ernst, the director of Ohio Bike Week made sure the Source crew and Rally TV had all access to bring you everything! So much access we got to hang with the guys in the band as they tended to their fans to sign autographs, etc. Props to Jackyl because they hung out for hours to make sure they shook each and everyone’s hand and signed all that was asked of them. I like seeing this instead of the attitude some rockers put out. We wrapped up with them and caught a little of Jasmine Cain rockin’ the stage over at the Twisted Tea pier. It’s just not a rally without catching that girl up on stage; man, is she talented! On the ride back to the room, Wildman’s ‘49 ran outta fuel. Oh yeah he did, and on a hill to boot. Mailman did the swindle and got some fuel out of his tank into his travel cup and into Chris’s tank. Knowing first hand how much hard work goes into laying down a paint job like the one on Chris’s bike, I couldn’t bear to watch fuel being sloppily “carefully” poured over that gorgeous flake job, so I turned the other way. We made it to a gas station and headed back to work.

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Now having been going to many, many rallies over many, many years, we always like best to find the unique things to the area to check out, otherwise, all these bike week events will just be the same. I mean the best part of a bike week event is exploring the local area and taking advantage of being there in that location seeing things you might not have ever gone out to see. Sure we understand “riding down to Main Street” and “rippin’ the strip” every once in a while, but don’t let that be the only thing you do at a rally… Get out there, ride, and explore the area. That brings us to Cedar Point, known as the amusement park with the best roller coasters! So, you ask, why go to an amusement park during bike week? We say, ‘Why the hell not? We’re here aren’t we?’ We added world-known moto-gypsy Bean’re to our group and headed off for a day to enjoy the great park. Wow, is this place killer; the rides are amazing! Our advice is to get there early ‘cause you will spend all day, and if you are a biker on the “beefier” side, make sure you try out the coaster chair at the entry to each ride. Chris and Roadside stood in an hour-long line only to find out they were a little too round to get the buckle snapped. This was a little disappointing, to say the least. Bean’re and I made our way on the top fuel dragster and if you are a “little too round” in the belly department, you got a year to lose the weight, because it’s so worth it to ride this coaster: 10,000 hp and 120 mph in like 2 seconds. Yes, go do it!

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After we came down from our high of riding coasters all day, we made our way back downtown to see the band Saliva. Man, they sure do bring in some good music for this rally. Again, we score a backstage interview and get filled in on what the band is up to. Check out Rally TV for all of that. Saliva is all about hitting the studio these days and we are looking   forward to hearing what they put together. The guys were great and spent lots of time hanging out with us; pretty genuine guys. Saturday morning showed up real quick and it was time to ride over to Norwalk to watch some AHDRA racing. Oh yeah, gotta love the smell of funny fuel and the sound of nitro bikes burning tire. Once the tree lights up, they are rippin’ 6 second runs over 200mph; god I love that! A bike week to me is all about the sport of motorcycling. If you find yourself at a bike week event you gotta hit up some racing, whether it’s drag, circle track, hillclimbs or flat track, get out there and support the sport. I mean, I can’t understand anyone that rides a motorcycle not enjoying watching some racing!

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Speaking of racing, we found a Go Kart track just past Mad-River Harley Davidson, so of course we all pulled in and rode the 2 tracks. Never ceases to amaze me the competition inside our crew, from the games at the amusement park to the Go Karts, everyone’s desire to win rises to the surface. (Yep, I won! Kerri and I ruled the tracks that night.) Thanks to Doug Quinn from Progressive Ins. and his girl Wendy that hung out with us while we rode the karts and even filmed us! Always take the locals’ advice on where to dine when you are out at events because they know where to go, and boy did Doug and Wendy bring us to a great place: Danny Boy’s, yum! We were lucky to run into good friends Gary Mauer and his lady Julie of Kustoms Inc. and Ron Harris of Chop Doc’s (both part of the Chop’in Block). We got to spend some time with them as they were set up as part of the “Piston Power Lot.” Of course it didn’t take long for the antics to start and Ron was flashing his ass everywhere and Roadside and Bean’re were drag racing tricycles. Again, go watch Rally TV for that stuff. We did get to check out the Cycle Source 15th anniversary give-a-way bike they are building. Man, is that bike coming along nice. Make sure you are entered for a chance to win. It’s going to be given away during Las Vegas Bike Fest, and some lucky bastard is going to be a happy camper with that score! We couldn’t get over how many bikes were in downtown Sandusky; every street in every direction was filled with bikes. So check it out. Next year, we are for sure going back and want to bring all of you along. What do you say? How about a “Source Day” at Cedar Point and no doubt a Cycle Source bike show? Come on, of course we’ll go on a killer ride around the lake and watch some AHDRA racing. Sounds like a great time, don’t it? So, start planning now for 2013 – May 31 – June 9.

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