2010 MB Bike Rally
Festival goers and motorcycle riders mostly kept to their own separate events Saturday as the Cruisin' the Coast spring bike rally kicked off.
Most motorcycle riders gathered beyond the city limits of Myrtle Beach, while some families took in the sun at the Cinco de Mayo festival downtown.
In 2008, the Myrtle Beach City Council voted in ordinances to curb the bike rallies and by last year many of the more than 300,000 bikers were avoiding the city.
Several bikers said that if Myrtle Beach isn't going to be biker friendly, they will not spend any money in the city.
Butch Thomas avoids even driving through the city and will drive around Myrtle Beach, taking S.C. 544 and S.C. 31, if he is going north of the city.
"They don't want my money; you can bet I'm not going up there," said Thomas, who has been attending the bike rallies for about 15 years.
Sherry Lesley said that the city's attempt to attract visitors with festivals and other events won't work and she has no intention of going to any of them. The reduced number of people at the rally means fewer vendors and fewer bikes to look at, she said.
"It's just not as welcoming as it used to be," Lesley said. "It used to be you could ride anywhere."
So far the crowd seems bigger than it was at this time last year, she said, and with a decision by the S.C. Supreme Court on the Myrtle Beach helmet law still pending, there is some hope.
Tim Teach, who retired to Myrtle Beach about three years ago after years of coming to the bike rallies, said he is sad to see the damage to city businesses as a result of the bike rally changes.
He has no plans to check out any of the festivals the city has planned this May in part to try to attract additional tourists lost when the rally rules went through. –Sun News
In an attempt to attract “families” to the downtown area of Myrtle Beach, the city has replaced the annual bike rallies with festivals. I suppose it’s a good thing, but the festivals really don’t do much for the entire city, let alone the entire PD area, including those who work here. The festivals will be held primarily in one area (downtown) and those business immediately around the festivals may profit from the attendees, thus the benefits will be more centralized rather than spread out. Whereas the bike rallies certainly benefited the entire PD area.
Oh yeah, when you look at the financial aspect of the rallies, replacing some 300,000 tourists will not be easy … that’s $300.000 dollars per day at $1 per person that business are loosing throughout the PD. Now that’s a chunk of change not being spent here and of course there’s no stimulus money coming from our idiot city leaders.
No matter which side of the rally issue you stand on, the loss to the city and the image it has created of itself will have a long-term affect on the area. The city chased away good hard working bikers who were willing to drop a lot of cash into our economy. As a result, those who work here, yeah those of us who pay taxes, were affected the hardest and are still paying for it to this day.
The city council really screwed up on this one … shame on you!
Festival goers and motorcycle riders mostly kept to their own separate events Saturday as the Cruisin' the Coast spring bike rally kicked off.
Most motorcycle riders gathered beyond the city limits of Myrtle Beach, while some families took in the sun at the Cinco de Mayo festival downtown.
In 2008, the Myrtle Beach City Council voted in ordinances to curb the bike rallies and by last year many of the more than 300,000 bikers were avoiding the city.
Several bikers said that if Myrtle Beach isn't going to be biker friendly, they will not spend any money in the city.
Butch Thomas avoids even driving through the city and will drive around Myrtle Beach, taking S.C. 544 and S.C. 31, if he is going north of the city.
"They don't want my money; you can bet I'm not going up there," said Thomas, who has been attending the bike rallies for about 15 years.
Sherry Lesley said that the city's attempt to attract visitors with festivals and other events won't work and she has no intention of going to any of them. The reduced number of people at the rally means fewer vendors and fewer bikes to look at, she said.
"It's just not as welcoming as it used to be," Lesley said. "It used to be you could ride anywhere."
So far the crowd seems bigger than it was at this time last year, she said, and with a decision by the S.C. Supreme Court on the Myrtle Beach helmet law still pending, there is some hope.
Tim Teach, who retired to Myrtle Beach about three years ago after years of coming to the bike rallies, said he is sad to see the damage to city businesses as a result of the bike rally changes.
He has no plans to check out any of the festivals the city has planned this May in part to try to attract additional tourists lost when the rally rules went through. –Sun News
In an attempt to attract “families” to the downtown area of Myrtle Beach, the city has replaced the annual bike rallies with festivals. I suppose it’s a good thing, but the festivals really don’t do much for the entire city, let alone the entire PD area, including those who work here. The festivals will be held primarily in one area (downtown) and those business immediately around the festivals may profit from the attendees, thus the benefits will be more centralized rather than spread out. Whereas the bike rallies certainly benefited the entire PD area.
Oh yeah, when you look at the financial aspect of the rallies, replacing some 300,000 tourists will not be easy … that’s $300.000 dollars per day at $1 per person that business are loosing throughout the PD. Now that’s a chunk of change not being spent here and of course there’s no stimulus money coming from our idiot city leaders.
No matter which side of the rally issue you stand on, the loss to the city and the image it has created of itself will have a long-term affect on the area. The city chased away good hard working bikers who were willing to drop a lot of cash into our economy. As a result, those who work here, yeah those of us who pay taxes, were affected the hardest and are still paying for it to this day.
The city council really screwed up on this one … shame on you!
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