Riders breeze into Norfolk

PORT DOVER – 

An estimated 1,000 riders braved a November gale to attend this week’s Friday the 13th motorcycle event in Port Dover.

There was a time when few people were expected to attend Friday the 13th events outside the spring and summer months.

However, Friday the 13th enthusiasts are proving to be a remarkably resilient lot. In recent years — no matter the month and no matter the weather — at least a handful make a point of riding into town on motorcycles.

Many of Friday’s riders arrived in Norfolk as a cold front was passing through. By mid-afternoon, the temperature in Port Dover had fallen to 5°C. Anyone riding home Friday night had to contend with temperatures below freezing.

“It was a nice ride,” Ron Miller of Courtice said Friday afternoon. “There was a little bit of hail, some hard cross winds, and quite a bit of rain. But any weather is riding weather. As long as it’s on two wheels it doesn’t matter. We aren’t made of sugar.”

High winds are an issue for motorcycles. Driving behind a few on the Blue Line Road Friday, riders had to compensate for the strong wind by leaning to the side to a noticeable degree. To the untrained eye, they looked like they were defying gravity.

“It’s like driving around a corner, except you’re going straight,” said Trevor Harding of London.

Friday the 13th rallies during the nice weather are a guaranteed international event.

More than 10,000 motorcycles will converge on Port Dover during a busy rally, with the population of the town of 6,000 swelling to more than 100,000. The numbers force authorities to turn a 2.5-kilometre stretch of Main Street into a motorcycle-pedestrian mall.

A random sampling of visitors on Friday turned up some international content. Dave “Prowler” Maikowski was part of a group that rode in from Detroit. This was Maikowski’s fourth Friday the 13th event.

“We come for the roads of Canada,” he said. “They are very nice, very clean and well paved. We enjoy the camaraderie.”

Norfolk OPP were vigilant as ever but officers kept a low profile on Main Street. They mounted a large RIDE spot check at the intersection of Blue Line Road and Highway 6 Friday afternoon and patrolled county roads on the lookout for aggressive drivers who may not be keeping an eye out for motorcycles.

As of 3 p.m. Friday afternoon Const. Ed Sanchuk reported that the rally was uneventful.

“People keep coming to Port Dover,” he said. “Everyone is there for a good time. It’s nice to see.”

As usual, the Port Dover Kinsmen and the Port Dover Board of Trade collaborated on organizing the event. There was a small exhibition area in the Main Street parking lot Friday for out-of-town vendors. With lineups outside some of the downtown restaurants and watering holes, Fraser “Oogie” Pringle, past president of the Kinsmen, deemed the day “a success.”

“Success for a November Friday the 13th is everyone comes, everyone’s happy and everyone drives home safely,” he said.

Monte Sonnenberg

519-426-3528 ext. 529150

monte.sonnenberg@sunmedia.ca

twitter.com/montereformer 

Riders breeze into Norfolk