Kick start

Organizers foresee Bike Fest, a four-day party featuring a tattoo contest and bike blessing, becoming an annual event, rivaling Daytona's.

By SUSAN THURSTON, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published September 20, 2002

[Times photos: Stefanie Boyar] Kevin Cleary, a personal trainer from Seminole, cruises by a row of motorcycles parked along 8th Avenue for Ybor City's weekly Bike Night on Tuesday. Ybor is expanding the event to a multiday Bike Fest, Thursday through Sept. 29.

YBOR CITY -- It began as a way to pull people to Ybor City on a boring Tuesday night.

David Greco, co-owner of Barley Hopper's International Alehouse & Grille, hated to see his bar stools bare and knew he couldn't survive on the weekend crowd.

So rather than watch his beer kegs go flat, he came up with the idea of Bike Night, a weekly party for motorcycle fans and their two-wheeled machines.

A year later, the Tuesday event has evolved into Bike Fest, a four-day hoopla featuring a Harley-Davidson show, tattoo contest and bike blessing.

Organizers want "Takin' it to the Streets" to become an annual event, rivaling Daytona Beach's spring break tradition, but much smaller in scale. It runs Thursday through Sept. 29. Entrance is free.

"Daytona is great, but it's long and it's been there awhile," said Greco, cousin to Tampa's mayor. "I believe (bikers) wanted something a little classier, a little nicer."

And a little safer. Daytona's Bike Week attracts upward of 500,000 people and results in several driving deaths every year.

Promoters in Ybor expect a fraction of the crowd but a good turnout of 5,000 to 7,000 bikes, weather permitting. Activities will center on Centennial Park on Eighth Avenue between 18th and 19th streets.

Organizers hope the event helps businesses and boosts tourism. It includes a "Poker Run" tour of the Tampa Bay area and discounts to the Florida Aquarium, Lowry Park Zoo and Busch Gardens. CC Events, which handles Ybor's Guavaween, is the lead organizer.

A license plate pays homage to Harley-Davidson, the bike of choice for many Tuesday Night Bike Night participants.

Riders are set to roll in from across Florida and beyond. Bike Night regularly attracts bikers from as far away as Lakeland and Anna Maria Island. They line the brick streets with their Harleys, though any make is welcome.

Visitors come for the camaraderie and the thrill of seeing bikes en masse. They marvel at fancy paint jobs, swap notes on new models and puff on Ybor-famous cigars. Leather and Levi's set the dress code.

Promoters say most bikers attending these kinds of events have plenty of cash to burn. The vast majority are men in their 40s; many work as accountants, lawyers and doctors.

"The days of the guys being unemployed and only having enough money to keep their bikes going are over," said Paul Allen, owner of Oldsmar-based Full Throttle Magazine, one of the sponsors.

Motorcycles line 8th Avenue outside of Starbucks in Centro Ybor. The Bike Night event has made Tuesday one of the area's busiest nights.

Supporters expect Bike Fest to catch on as quickly as Bike Night. The Tuesday event began with about 60 bikes and, within months, grew to more than 500. Some weeks, more than 1,000 bikers came, much to the delight of Centro Ybor stores, restaurants and bars.

A few businesses extended hours to make the most of the crowds.

"It really put Tuesdays on the map for us," Greco said. "Sometimes Tuesdays are as good as Fridays."

Tampa mortgage broker Marilyn Menendez said Bike Night marks the high point of her week. She meets up with fellow bikers, shows off her prized Hog and plans her next road trip.

A mother of two, Menendez bought her first bike last year and rides every day. She can't wait to have a big bike event close to home.

Joe Melnick heads home to Gibsonton after attending Bike Night Tuesday at Centro Ybor.

John MacKay works as a Tampa lawyer, but hits the highway for fun. A motorcycle buff his whole life, many of his clients are bikers injured in accidents.

MacKay sponsors bike events across Florida, including ones in Daytona and, now, Ybor City. He usually shows up in his Harley Road King or Yamaha R-1.

He always wears a helmet, but respects a person's right to ride without one.

"That's where things get tranquil for me, on the road," he says. "There's a lot of solitude in riding a bike."

Bike Fest kicks off Thursday night and continues through next weekend with contests, prize drawings and live music. Vendors will sell everything from clothing and cigars to bikes and beer.

Tracy L. Schaefer of Palm Harbor wipes raindrops from her bike's chrome handlebars during Tuesday's Bike Night. Rain failed to deter the crowd of bikers.

The event concludes Sunday with a breakfast in Centennial Park followed by a farewell parade down Seventh Avenue.

Proceeds from Bike Fest will go the Ybor City Main Street program, created to help local businesses.

For information about Bike Fest, call CC Events at (813) 248-0721 or go to www.cc-events.org and click on Bike Fest.

-- Susan Thurston can be reached at 226-3394 or thurston@sptimes.com.

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