Americade 2007 - Day 5

This year I'm going to try publishing highlights of Americade 2007, day-by-day in this blog. This is the 25th year for Americade. It's scheduled for June 4-9 this year. The blog will also include my preparation in getting ready to take the ride to Lake George, NY, my observations while there, the ride home, and getting back to normal.

Blog for Thursday:

Today was my day to walk up and down Canada Street and take a few pictures. You have to remember that there are really two rallies at Lake George: Americade and un-Americade. The first is the official rally that you have to register for and pay money to get in free at Tour-Expo, attend seminars, hear world famous riders speak like Fred Rau, go on organized tours, take demo rides on new bikes, enter your bike in various shows, attend the fireworks display, etc. The un-Americade rally has come to be known as Lake George Bike Week and there are plenty of T-shirts that say just that. The two rallies come together on Canada Street with bikes both parking on the side of the street and cruising back and forth.

I like it on Canada Street. I get to see bikes up close and I get to watch them go by and hear them run. I get to smell the exhaust too. I also take pictures and videos.

This evening, we took one trike up to Roaring Brook Ranch (RBR). Jane rode pillion for a change. We left her bike back at the motel to hold a parking space. We wanted to hear Fred Rau speak. His subject was to be a compilation of his Americade talks over the years.

On the way to RBR, I setup my camcorder on my new handlebar mount and let the camera record the trip up and back.

We got to RBR a little early but the place was packed with activities. It was like a 7-ring circus with nearly simultaneous seminars, light shows, demo rides, balloon glows, fashion show, 3-course dinner, and stunt show. I had to make two loops of the place to find a place to park my trike.

Before the light show was over, we decided to leave and got applauded as we rode the trike over the same section of road that the official light show entries did.

When we got back to the motel, a party next door had filled the back of our parking space with guest bikes. I had to yell for someone to move his bike so I could slip my trike into the space behind Jane's trike. We then walked up town for ice cream at Bob's.

Packing came next in preparation for leaving tomorrow.