Morrissey
Well-known member
My Dad and I met up this morning and took a ride over to Bobcaygeon BikeFest, and we found it to be a big disappointment, and we went with low expectations to begin with.
First, the good. I will say the they blocking off of the downtown and signage was very well done. Everything was orderly and seemed to be going smoothly. Peterborough Cycle (Ural Canada) had a nice display with a few non-current new bikes, a demo model and a new 2014 for sale. It was very interesting to chat with the salesman and poke around the bikes. There is something about those crazy hacks that I really find appeling. That was about it.
Then there was the bad. There were two spots with live bands. One of them was within ear-shot of the radio station broadcasting on location and playing tunes for everyone, so the two bled into each other making for one hell of a racket. Official Bikefest gear booth, where the heck did they hide it? We walked the whole event and could not find it. One less patch for my collection I guess. Most events I go to, the official gear booth is front and centre. Then there was the HD demo ride going on. The organizers were using a headset and loud speaker to give the demo rules and instructions to the riders and they had to remind the riders not to start the bikes until the speech was done twice! Not sure how they were getting the bikes out of there. They were all lined up facing into the event. So either they were pulling u-turns (not a great idea giving someone a 900lb bike they aren't used to and making them pull a U-turn as their first maneuver) or else they were having to ride them through the entire event to get out to some open roads. Not much in the way of food or interesting vendors either. And what the heck was with the guy selling Sturgis, Laconia etc event shirts? Shouldn't you have to GO TO THE EVENT to buy the shirts?
The best part of the whole thing was getting to go for a ride with my Dad and picking up Chelsea buns from the baker downtown Bobcaygeon. However, next time I think we'll skip the Bikefest and just go for a ride instead!
First, the good. I will say the they blocking off of the downtown and signage was very well done. Everything was orderly and seemed to be going smoothly. Peterborough Cycle (Ural Canada) had a nice display with a few non-current new bikes, a demo model and a new 2014 for sale. It was very interesting to chat with the salesman and poke around the bikes. There is something about those crazy hacks that I really find appeling. That was about it.
Then there was the bad. There were two spots with live bands. One of them was within ear-shot of the radio station broadcasting on location and playing tunes for everyone, so the two bled into each other making for one hell of a racket. Official Bikefest gear booth, where the heck did they hide it? We walked the whole event and could not find it. One less patch for my collection I guess. Most events I go to, the official gear booth is front and centre. Then there was the HD demo ride going on. The organizers were using a headset and loud speaker to give the demo rules and instructions to the riders and they had to remind the riders not to start the bikes until the speech was done twice! Not sure how they were getting the bikes out of there. They were all lined up facing into the event. So either they were pulling u-turns (not a great idea giving someone a 900lb bike they aren't used to and making them pull a U-turn as their first maneuver) or else they were having to ride them through the entire event to get out to some open roads. Not much in the way of food or interesting vendors either. And what the heck was with the guy selling Sturgis, Laconia etc event shirts? Shouldn't you have to GO TO THE EVENT to buy the shirts?
The best part of the whole thing was getting to go for a ride with my Dad and picking up Chelsea buns from the baker downtown Bobcaygeon. However, next time I think we'll skip the Bikefest and just go for a ride instead!
