Daytona Memories

 

It's the beginning of March, which also means it's time for the Daytona Bike Week. I've only been to Daytona once during Bike Week, but I came away with some pretty good stories.

It was 1999 and I was in my freshman year at university. My spring break perfectly aligned with Bike Week that year and I knew my dad was going, so I tagged along. March in the North is usually not hospitable to motorcycling and this year was no different, so we loaded my dad's bike into his van and drove to Florida. There wasn't any room for another bike, so I wasn't going to do any riding on this trip. The great thing about taking the van was that we also had a place to sleep, no hotel needed!
Now the embarrassing thing to me about the trip was the fact that I had to sit on the back of my dad's bike while we rode around Daytona (Nuts to Butts!). However, the great weather and being around that many motorcycles made up for any embarrassment. The greatest thing about Daytona is that motorcycles are allowed to ride on the beach.

While riding on the beach, bike traffic became pretty stop and go near a beachside bar. While we were stopped, I noticed a guy who I assumed was local sitting on the beach with a group of people. He was holding a cardboard sign that read, "show your tits." He was engaging in the stereotypical bike rally behavior of asking women to flash their bare chests.

An attractive women in a bikini walked up to this guy and he held the sign up above his head. She paused for a moment and said something to him. Next thing I saw was this man quickly pulling his penis out of his shorts and showing it to the lady. I assumed she told this guy that she'd show her breasts if he flashed something first. The woman had a look of shock on her face and quickly walked away without showing the man anything. His friends quickly berated the man for his failed attempt. Needless to say, I was pretty amused at the whole precession. My dad was too. The first thing he said was, "Did you see that?!!"

I think at least one trip to Daytona Bike Week would be interesting for anyone interested in motorcycles. If nothing else, maybe you'll come away with an interesting story like mine. My one bit of advice is to bring a lot of sunscreen, especially if you're as pale skinned as me. I left Florida with a pretty severe sunburn.

"Wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow." - Anita Desai