June Weekend of Riding – Saturday
It isn’t that often that I have a weekend full of riding, but this was one of them. I am talking about Saturday and Sunday the 23rd and 24th of June.
Saturday’s event happened to be in Loudonville, Ohio the Thunder in Paradise. The event spanned the entire day from 8:00 am till Dusk, Motorcycles were celebrated in Loudonville.
Loudonville is a small town in Holmes County Ohio, where a lot of folks go to relax in the middle of Mohican country. Beautiful rolling hills give motorcyclists some perfect roads and fabulous vistas. The area has plenty to do with some of the best river related activities (Canoes, Kayaks and Tubes to start with) as well as plenty of camping throughout the area. We discovered the area soon after moving to Ohio, we quickly put our camper in a seasonal campsite in nearby Long Lake Campground. Having the camper at long lake turns out to be a very convenient thing, only minutes from home and Loudonville.
I did not arrive until around 10:00 am as I left the camper right after breakfast. Taking my Shadow-Aero into town I arrived about 15 minutes later. The event staff block off the main streets during events like this. The staff directed bikes onto the main street, overall the event was pretty well organized for a first year. Lots of bikes had already arrived and parked in the streets of the town by the time I arrived. Vendors were set up in the park, the food wagons ready to roll, and most importantly the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall for Ohio was being assembled in the center of town.
By the time noon rolled around the streets were really filling up with motorcycles most of the makes were represented including a Moto Guzi trike. As always every conceivable Harley was there including some very nice Pan heads and a few Knuckles. There were some particularly nice BMW’s (old and new) as well as some Indians present at the event.
There was even a group of Aero riders that came in (one from as far away as Indiana), I had talked with one of the members some time ago in Wooster. He flagged me over and we talked about the bike.
Had lunch at the broken rocks cafe, I am not a fan of the food that comes out of those wagons. Most of the time I walked around, admiring the bikes of all makes and years. Occasionally stop to chat with some of the onlookers or owners.