Today marked the 51st edition of Friday the 13th motorcycle rally in Port Dover, Ontario. It started in 1981 as a small gathering but has now grown into a rally attended by thousands. Heather went to her only rally in July 2007 but I missed the first 50. With this year’s only rally in May we decided to go hoping the weather would co-operate.
We woke up very early in the morning as we wanted to avoid the bigger afternoon crowds. We left our home in Woodstock at 7:30 in the morning. It was a very warm day but cloudy with a threat of thunderstorms.
The ride to Port Dover was a very lonely one until about Delhi which is closer to Port Dover than Woodstock. There, we could see many groups of bikers heading to Port Dover. We made another stop in Simcoe for some cash and made it to our destination at about 8:30 am. It amazed me that Port Dover is only an hour away from Woodstock. It used to take us nearly twice as long when we used to live in Waterloo.
Port Dover main street.
Once in Dover, we parked only a block away from the main street and from the lake. Leaving early definitely paid off. The rally proved to be pretty much what I expected. Motorcycles parked in every corner, bikers from various walks of life and thousands of vendors peddling anything from food, shirts, patches, motorcycle equipment and gear. There was also a trailer with a display of Indian motorcycles. Something about these motorcycles always makes me stop in awe. Sadly, the day may never come when I own one as they are among the most of expensive of motorcycles and their history of existence is patchy at best.
One of the most interesting motorcycles found in Port Dover.
We walked up and down the main street while taking in the scene. For an early snack, we chose to get some pulled pork sandwiches. Up to this time, I’ve never encountered a bad experience but that streak wasn’t going to continue. For some reason, I didn’t enjoy the sandwich I had and that pretty much left a bad taste in my mouth for the rest of the afternoon.
While in Port Dover, we also picked up a couple of patches, a shirt for Heather. A couple of hours into our adventure, we decided to leave. Just before leaving, we chatted with a couple from Kitchener who were here on their 30th anniversary. Both husband and wife were riding and they were even accompanied by their son who also rode. We finally left Dover at 11 am. Since the day was still young and the weather hadn’t turned for the worse, I led Heather through some roads we’ve yet to travel.
The ride led us west along Lake Erie, then towards St. Thomas where we stopped for a couple of minutes for refreshments and to snap a picture of the local water tower. From St. Thomas we rode to London and then finally to Stratford. In Stratford, we went to a local motorcycle dealer. The reason for that was a massive Suzuki recall to replace a regulator/rectifier assembly. Oddly enough, only Heather’s bike needed work even though we bought our motorcycles at the same time. Just another thing that better be left unexplained.
Heather's bike under repair.
The repairs took only about 15 minutes and we were heading home shortly after 3pm. We arrived home before 4pm and we even managed to stay dry all day. The experience in Port Dover was something that I really wanted to do just once but it’s not something that I would attend regularly. All in all it was a great day.
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Bob attended PD13 in 2008. He feels the same as you. It was something that he wanted to experience at least one time. He won't be making it a regular event.
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