Moncton, New Brunswick. To many people this destination isn’t even on their ‘bucket list’, I know it wasn’t on mine until I got there. Now it’s a must see. Emphasis on ‘must’.
Moncton is right in the heart of the Maritimes, history flows everywhere and the main drag is loaded with one very good microbrewery after another, not to mention the many pubs that line Main Street and the immediate side streets. I should know, as my cohorts in crime (Ron, Shane and John) and I blindly missed several of them on one or two of our directionally challenged walks… hey, you can only drink so much! Blueberry Ale anyone? What’s next? Herb-n-garlic? Enough! Okay, the preceding depends on the waitress.
Canadian riders have always come up a tad short in the ‘big’ motorcycle event world. That may have something to do with a little thing called winter. Down south you have Daytona, Americade, Sturgis, Laconia, Laughlin and many more that produce bike attendance in the tens or hundreds of thousands. About the biggest event north of the border is Port Dover and that’s just a loose knit bunch of riders that answer the call whenever the next Friday the 13th rolls around, and sometimes that little ditty takes a very hardy soul to—Brrrrr—go.
Atlanticade is the fix for this malady. It’s no Sturgis yet, but watch out because it has the potential to be. The Atlanticade headquarters parking lot, located at the 4 Ice Centre, offered plates from Alberta, Quebec, Ontario, P.E.I, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and riders from a few northeastern States, quite a satisfying parking lot wander. I remember hearing a few years ago on CBC that Moncton was declared ‘the friendliest city in Canada’ and after this weekend, I think that still holds true. Establishments throughout Moncton welcomed motorcyclists and opened doors to our motley crew of riders from all over.
Around 3,000 folks watched the burnout event at the G. Bourque dealership in Dieppe, a neighbouring city to Moncton. That carbon-based show offered clouds of hot rubber smoke and satisfying ‘pops’ when the scientific laws could no longer agree with each other. I asked one of the competitors why the heck he would enter into a burnout competition and his answer floored me with pure logic, “I need a new tire”. Okay, you win, great answer. Go burn the crap outta that puppy. G. Bourque offered new skins for competitors at 50% off the going price, a pretty good deal for the competitors, so what the heck. If ya got ’em, smoke ’em! Damn, I was almost tempted to take my GS pig up on stage and light ’er up, but the big Beemer has Metzeler Tourances on and that may have taken way too long, although next year who knows, I may get the bug.
Organized rides of every description were on the go throughout the weekend, taking riders through the scenic highways and byways treating them to views of the Bay of Fundy, the Northumberland Strait as well as a few interior roads. A blazing Saturday night street party saw Main Street closed off for motorcycle and pedestrian traffic only. The public was invited to join in the festivities and walk the street to view some awesome motorcycles while the GTOs performed on stage in front of City Hall. Also on Saturday night at Magnetic Hill, Bon Jovi along with Canadian icons Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman laid the rock and roll down just so sweet.
Atlanticade had things well under control with some pretty neat tricks. The one that stood out to me was at the Saturday night street party. If you wanted to move your bike off, or into the street you got an Atlanticade volunteer escort in and out…no sweat, the Atlanticade volunteers, resplendent in their yellow Atlanticade and Motorcycle Mojo tees made sure that no pedestrian got in your way or anyone got hurt. What a breath of fresh air, as I’ve watched the shenanigans at some U.S. events that just beg for someone to experience a visit to a trauma ward. I wonder what it would take to get a couple of those tees, as they really do make a statement.
Tom Mann along with Heather Ireland of Biker TV were present to capture good times on film and I’m pretty sure Tom is still choking up rubber from the burnout competition, really, you can only get so close to those things without sucking up some nasty fumes. Regardless, Biker TV should have some great all-round Canadian shots of the whole weekend.
Vintage and custom machines were on display in the mammoth Moncton 4 Ice Centre along with vendors. Having two complete ice surfaces at your disposal allows tons of opportunities to show off our Canadian world of Custom Iron. You could also ogle the displays without feeling like you’re shoulder to shoulder and just ‘moving along with the herd’. Custom builders took the time to answer questions and spark up some ideas, one of which I really hope to report on over the next two years…think 1967 and #7. There’s a quiz for all you blue and white types that have never seen ‘your’ Stanley Cup won in colour.
Touring in and out of the 4 Ice Centre saw some pretty neat vintage stuff roll in like it was just any other day. Doug Bulmer putted in on his daily rider, a 1962 Triumph Cub, and Jason Lente dropped in on his 1973 CB750F that looks as if it just rolled off the assembly line. Vintage iron that always begs for a second look. Ya gotta love it!
Also at the Atlanticade Headquarters were bands like The Watermen and The Mustangs performing on Thursday and Friday evenings in the huge beer garden. If wetting your whistle was in the plans, but you didn’t want to sit in the beer garden, the 4 Ice Centre has its own restaurant that served up some excellent grub and the wait staff were outstanding.
Specialty rides, custom iron, vintage beauties, microbreweries, a great street party plus The Maritimes and all of those new friends yet to be met. Atlanticade puts them all at your disposal. A new corner every ten seconds plus a million dollar view is worth the effort alone! That’s what Atlanticade is all about!
Next year when Atlanticade rolls around, mark it on your calendar and head to Moncton. There’s ton’s of good rooms and camping abounds, so check it out on the web and plan to attend. You’ll be glad that you supported a Canadian event that will grow larger than life. Let’s show our southern riders how it’s done just so… ohh Canada!
By Sunday, I learned how to competently walk again and that Roger really does snore, four points past big time. Next year it will be separate rooms, but I’m going back. Hope to see you there! MMM
Glenn’s Two Cents
Weather is always a factor in any outdoor motorcycle event. This year’s Atlanticade, however, had outstanding weather in comparison to the two previous years. During the five-day festival I logged about 500 kilometres and not once did I get rained on. In fact it was so hot at this year’s Atlanticade that I was told by a few riders that the odd shower that did descend from the sometimes threatening, but otherwise mix of cloudy and blue skies was great for cooling down.
As usual, I met up with some old friends and just as important, I met some new ones. Such is the way in the Maritimes and so easy to do in such a friendly part of the country. Two in particular stand out though, and ironically, they are not from the Maritimes.
Mike Muldoon from Arnprior, ON saw the ad for Atlanticade in a copy of Motorcycle Mojo and decided to tie his attendance of the event in with a business trip. That in itself doesn’t make him stand out from the crowd, but the fact that he has only been riding for three or four years, and last year put 45,000 km on his bike does make him unique. He has clients in the Maritimes and the northeastern USA and rides to all his appointments. He said he only put 4,000 km on his car last year.
A woman I met on the weekend of Atlanticade was passing through the Maritimes on her quest to cross the country. I’m not one for revealing a ladies age, but let me just say that Willi Pearce began riding at the age of fifty and has been riding for only six years, enough said. Willi left Mission, BC on June 13 and I met her on June 28 in Moncton. Her Canuck Chicks Conga 2009 Ride is about women riding together. Her blog, canuckchicksconga.blogspot.com was updated regularly of her travels and the women she met along the way. The idea of her Conga Ride was anyone wishing to ride with Willi for an hour, a day, a week or longer just needed to meet her on the road and ride along side. She figures by the time she gets back to Mission she will have logged about 15-16,000 km. Pretty good, I’d say, for a relatively new solo rider.
There were about 350 motorcycles that took part in the Atlanticade motorcycle parade on Sunday. Led by various CAV (Canadian Army Veterans) Units, the bikes took a run through Moncton with the final destination of the Veteran’s home across from the Moncton Legion. Many of the Veterans who live there were out to see the hundreds of bikes roll down the closed off road and park in front of their home and were overwhelmed by the support shown to them by the motorcyclists in attendance.
The festival organizers did a great job, as did all of the volunteers, to put on the five-day motorcycle festival. There were issues, but the organizers bent over backwards to improve everything they could and are more than willing to listen to any ideas to make it better next year, and the years to come. I know I put my two cents in and I think that’s the difference, they’re willing to listen and try different ideas. They’re putting their heart and soul into this event and are committed to making it right.
I think Atlanticade has huge promise. Not only because of the friendly nature of the locals, the scenic rolling countryside rides, the fresh seafood and the vibrant downtown, but New Brunswick is central to all of the Maritime Provinces and is an ideal location to have a motorcycle festival.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t thank a few people. Our schedule didn’t allow us to ride out to Moncton, so I’d like to thank Gary and Krista, Luc from Kent County Custom, Larry from Toys for Big Boys and Kawasaki Canada for allowing us to use various bikes so we could blend in with the others of the two-wheeled kind. A big thanks, of course, goes to Dale Hicks and his crew of organizers and volunteers for a job well done.
I also must apologize to Shawn from Britten Appraisals who had no idea what he was getting himself into when he agreed to travel to Moncton and share accommodations with Roger, our sales guy. Roger doesn’t realize that his freight-train-like snoring vibrates walls, windows and sets off alarms.
