By T. J. Costa

One of the victims of the Covid 19 Pandemic was the Leesburg Bike Festival. The organizers of the rally were forced to cancel the popular spring event during the shutdown of 2020. In 2021 they held off again but then decided to move ahead with the event in November instead, and it was a huge success. Leesburg came back full speed ahead with Saliva, Hoobastank, Lit, and Eddie Montgomery rocking the huge crowds nightly throughout the weekend. Florida loves this rally and it was evident, as the city was packed full of loyal bikers. It was good to see business as usual downtown with multiple stages, hundreds of vendors and people enjoying themselves.
During the Rallies absence in ’20 and ‘21, Gator Harley Davidson felt that the show must go on so they filled the gap with their own “Gator Bike Rally”. Jan and the staff at Gator really know how to throw a party and they had crowds like they would during the usual rally season. The live music and vendors lineup goes all day everyday and of course there are many shiny new bikes to ride away on if you feel the itch.

Leesburg weekend is also about the riding. Lake, Sumter and Marion counties have beautiful rural areas with awesome country riding. Several motorcycle friendly watering holes dot the countryside and welcome us with open arms. Eaton’s Beach on Lake Weir in Weirsdale is a favorite and just down the road a bit is the quaint little town of Tavares (America’s Seaplane City). We always spend a few hours with Andy, Proprietor at our favorite spot, Hemingway’s Cigar Bar. This time we took our friend George from Chrome Premium Cigars with us to make some smoke down by the lake. We discovered a new place right across the street called The Dog House. It’s a sports bar with a hot dog flare so I had to have one and it was delicious. Take a cruise down there next time and tell them Thunder Roads Florida sent you.

We are still waiting on news and/or dates for 2022 Leesburg Bike Fest. We will keep you posted with updates right here so heads up. Hoping they get back to a regular schedule.