Friday, the 13th!!!!

Friday, the 13th!!!! Some years there are three, some years only one. But whenever one does occur on the calendar, bikers from far and near gather in a small lakeside town with a population of about 6,000 residents to celebrate. In 1981, three bikers had lunch in Port Dover on a Friday, the 13th. They agreed to meet there the next Friday the 13th, and brought along some friends. Word of mouth travelled, and each Friday the 13th had more and more bikers. Sometimes, such as last year, the Friday the 13ths were in winter months (February, March, and November) and the turn-outs were a couple of thousand each. This was the 50th occurance of a Friday the 13th since the original one in 1981

However, for 2010, there was only one and it was in August. There were 150,000 bikers. Every street, parked side to side, down the middle of streets, every corner, everywhere, bikes!!!

The town has two roads into it, and 6 miles outside of town, the police have roadblocks and only bikes are allowed pass. No cars or trucks - even if you live there. People who do not have bikes can still join in by parking in a field and taking a shuttle bus - the only 4 wheeled vehicle allowed. Besides, it is so crowded, you could not get a car or truck in or out of the town anyways.

The police have a heavy presence during this event - walking through-out the crowd in groups of 6-8 officers, directly traffic, and flying helicopters above.


The bars had large lines for people waiting to get a beer (it was very hot), and fenced in drinking areas were full. However, my fellow biker, Mad Dog, sniffed out beer being sold in the basement of a church. How he found this, who knows but there was no crowd and the beer was very cold.

The last picture, is Mad Dog, walking off into the sunset. Notice the large shadow. There is only one Friday the 13th in 2011 as well. It is in May and it will be crowded as well.