By Miserable George

Well, the official, opening of the 2012 Chili Challenge was Thursday, Nov. 1…we got there on Tuesday, to secure our regular camping spot, and by Thursday, the place was all but full up! The party out-did itself this year! Yep, THE best biker party in Florida grew in size by one day, and about 15 acres of space…now THAT’S progress, considering that the very first one had only about 40 people, in the confines of a back yard!!

The weather was absolutely fantastic this year, bringing out a horde of party animals, as well as, an increased number of vendors…one, offering their services for free…the body painters…who had a line waiting for their artistic talents. This year as always, there was a good variety of food available, with beer on the Hillsborough Co. side only!!

New, was the lower platform just in front of the main stage, featuring a pair of bearing mounted stripper poles, which the babes from Show Girls made very good use of! Did I say babes?? They were there in abundance in about every mode of dress that one could imagine! Very camera friendly too, I might add! Master MC, POGO used his talents of talking the ladies out of as many clothing items as possible, and up on stage too!!

All these shenanigans led up to the big event day…Saturday! Chili cooking started at 7:30AM, followed by the annual horse shoe matches, while the crowd ogled the bike show entries, and checked out the vendors. Later, bikers showed their expertise in the biker games; out-house races, and mini-bike races. At noon, the crowd scarfed down all the chili, drank a lot of beer, and prepared for the evening events, which included a tribute to our Veterans, and a moment of silence for those lost.

Trophies were awarded, the girls did their thing on stage, live music prevailed, and the crowd was…er…ya had to be there!! Hey, a BIG thanks to Roscoe and his huge staff for giving the bikers what they wanted…a real biker party! See ya all next year!!

Photos by Kneecap and Miserable George!

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