Moncton, New Brunswick. To many people this destination isn\u2019t even on their \u2018bucket list\u2019, I know it wasn\u2019t on mine until I got there. Now it\u2019s a must see. Emphasis on \u2018must\u2019.<\/p>\n
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\u2026 hey, you can only drink so much! Blueberry Ale anyone? What\u2019s next? Herb-n-garlic? Enough! Okay, the preceding depends on the waitress.<\/p>\n
Canadian riders have always come up a tad short in the \u2018big\u2019 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\u2019s 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\u2014Brrrrr\u2014go.<\/p>\n
Atlanticade is the fix for this malady. It\u2019s 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 \u2018the friendliest city in Canada\u2019 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.<\/p>\n
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 \u2018pops\u2019 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, \u201cI need a new tire\u201d. 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 \u2019em, smoke \u2019em! Damn, I was almost tempted to take my GS pig up on stage and light \u2019er 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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\u2026no 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\u2019ve 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.<\/p>\n
Tom Mann along with Heather Ireland of Biker TV were present to capture good times on film and I\u2019m 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.<\/p>\n
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\u2019re shoulder to shoulder and just \u2018moving along with the herd\u2019. 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\u2026think 1967 and #7. There\u2019s a quiz for all you blue and white types that have never seen \u2018your\u2019 Stanley Cup won in colour.<\/p>\n
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!<\/p>\n
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\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s what Atlanticade is all about!<\/p>\n
Next year when Atlanticade rolls around, mark it on your calendar and head to Moncton. There\u2019s ton\u2019s of good rooms and camping abounds, so check it out on the web and plan to attend. You\u2019ll be glad that you supported a Canadian event that will grow larger than life. Let\u2019s show our southern riders how it\u2019s done just so\u2026 ohh Canada!<\/p>\n
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\u2019m going back. Hope to see you there! MMM<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Glenn’s Two Cents<\/strong><\/p>\n Weather is always a factor in any outdoor motorcycle event. This year\u2019s 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n A woman I met on the weekend of Atlanticade was passing through the Maritimes on her quest to cross the country. I\u2019m 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\u2019d say, for a relatively new solo rider.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s the difference, they\u2019re willing to listen and try different ideas. They\u2019re putting their heart and soul into this event and are committed to making it right.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n I\u2019d be remiss if I didn\u2019t thank a few people. Our schedule didn\u2019t allow us to ride out to Moncton, so I\u2019d 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.<\/p>\n 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\u2019t realize that his freight-train-like snoring vibrates walls, windows and sets off alarms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Moncton, New Brunswick. To many people this destination isn\u2019t even on their \u2018bucket list\u2019, I know it wasn\u2019t on mine until I got there. Now it\u2019s a must see. Emphasis on \u2018must\u2019. Moncton is right in the heart of the Maritimes, history flows everywhere and the main drag is loaded with one very good microbrewery […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12225,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[373,33],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n