By Lulu

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I have been riding out to Starke since the conception of the event 10 years ago. Like any new event it has had growing pains, change of command, even change of month held…and now Starke Bikefest is back to its roots. This year local motorcycle enthusiast took back the reins. First they moved it back to August after having been held in October in 2015. Yes, it is hot…but it is HOT as hell in Leesburg too! Yes, sometimes they get rain…hell it rained in Woodstock and no one complained…when did bikers become woozies! What I like about Starke is the country riding, miles of it! I like that they close off downtown for bikes and vendors, bring in live music, and try to include the local businesses in the event. Local taverns host bike games, wet T contests, music, etc. The bike show brought out builders from central Florida I haven’t met before and Knuckledragger’s put on one hell of a burnout contest…and a great free BBQ! This event has a few quirks to work out…a lot of vendors left early on Sunday, so if you rode out from distant cities for the afternoon you may have been disappointed…as my friends from Flagler Beach stated when they were just sitting down to eat on Sunday at Downtown Grille as we were mounting our bikes to ride home, but tweaking the scheduling of events and bands to include more on Sunday will only add to what I consider to be a solid old school bike fest. Thanks to GMANN for hosting his swap meet complete with donkeys I could pet!! These are the things that make each motorcycle event just a bit different than the city and weekend before. Starke Bike Fest is a place to unwind and RIDE! I really hope the folks of Starke continue to grow their Bikefest and that you will ride out to the country for an old school weekend in 2017!