Up in Dallas, the month of October kicked off with Rick Fairless and crew celebrating the 21st anniversary of Strokers Dallas and thousands of motorcyclists from the North Texas area turned out to celebrate the fun with live music, a wet T-shirt contest, and much admiring of some amazingly gorgeous custom builds that he had on display. We wish Rick the best for another 21 years! (StrokersDallas.com)… The annual Dallas-Fort Worth Ride for Kids took place at the legendary Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday, October 8, and the proceeds benefited the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation which serves the kids that are battling the deadliest form of childhood cancer. The event was open to all makes and models of street-legal bikes and hundreds of riders turned out to show their love and support… The second outing of the Rockers Riders and Ribs rally was held on the weekend of October 20–21 in the far east Texas town of Longview and the attendees appeared to be having a great time during the unseasonably warm autumn weekend. For those that chose to avoid the big rigs on I-20 and opted to ride in on Highway 80, it was one heck of an experience to be constantly dodging the patrons of yard sales and I kept wondering if these sales were a weekly event that happened mile after mile. I found out later that I had been dodging U-turning vehicles and eager bargain hunters that thought nothing of strolling across a highway—that they had all turned out for the bi-annual garage sale called The Spruce which spans 400 miles from Mesquite all the way over to Georgia! Once I got to Longview on Highway 80, I looked high and low for signage, any type of signage, to let me know that a major motorcycle rally was happening. I happened to recognize a street name from my pre-planning for the ride and after turning right and riding a few blocks, stumbled upon a major party going on! Upon arriving at the rally site itself, there was fantastic signage and very helpful volunteers directing riders to the motorcycle parking that was up close and convenient to the event. Most events take about three years to get their “sea legs” beneath them but not Rockers Riders and Ribs! The Harley-Davidson Motor Company was on site with one of their demo trucks and they shared with me that they’d been packed with riders anxious to try out the new 2018 models. General feedback from the sponsors and vendors was that RR&R was one of the better-organized motorcycle events they’d attended in the 2017 season and they looked forward to many happy and profitable returns. I had a chance to speak with event organizer Larry Jobe who shared with me that, at the time of this writing, their attendee numbers were substantially better than those of last year’s of 10,611, and he was very pleased that there had been no arrests, no incidents, and no DWIs. The 2018 event is already being penciled into the calendars for the third weekend in October and will be expanded in days, a larger venue space, and a more robust and action-packed schedule. (RockersRidersRibs.com)… Keep the shiny side up and I’ll see you next month!
