After Bike Time | Community Spirit

Every year during Bike Time weekend, my husband and I have left town to go camping to avoid the crowds, the noise, etc. Now mind you, the sound of motorcycles isn't really a nuisance to me as I grew up near a biker bar and the sound of motorcycle motors revving up and tires peeling out was usually my lullaby at night (especially on weekends).  This year however, we stayed close to home because my husband was working some overtime during the weekend.

We drove downtown a few times just to look at the crowds of people and the bikes. We didn't get out and enjoy any of the festivities (I'm pregnant and wasn't feeling the greatest), but we did enjoy "cruising the strip" just to see what you can see! We live near the lake, so we had a lot of people cruising around near us, and there were lots of bikes - everywhere! Business, hotels, almost everywhere you looked… bikes, bikes and more bikes!

I'm not a biker, I don't have any family members who are bikers and most people who don't have biker friends or family might think of them as rough and tough partiers, trouble-makers, etc. From what I saw, it's anything but that! It was just a bunch of people proud of their bikes, their tattoos and everything else that goes along with it.

Bike time is GREAT for our city - hotels were packed, people were camping downtown, and out-of-towners were eating in our restaurants, drinking at our bars, and spending their money in our great city! But then there’s the aftermath. Just like every year after the music festival in Rothbury, Summer Celebration, or the old Air Fair, there are always the piles of trash left to be picked up and the Port O Johns knocked over. All of the typical clean up that goes along with a big festival or weekend like Bike Time.  We drove by Sunday evening to look at the aftermath mess and to all of our surprise, there was NOTHING! There were no messes, no trash all over, and all the vendors tents were down. Nothing! It was like nothing ever happened. We were very surprised and very impressed.

Way to go Muskegon! Thank you to all the bikers from near and far who were respectful, spent your hard earned money in our city, and had fun. Thank you to all the workers who made it such a nice experience!