By Deborah Speicher

The mission of the national Harley Owners Group (“HOG”) is to ride and have fun, so when I arrived at the registration office for the Florida State HOG Rally (October 26-29), I realized that it would be just that – lots of riding and lots of fun.  In addition to a schedule of events, I also received a ride guide.  During each day of the event, there were a minimum of two rides that were guided or self-guided.  Add a poker run, demo rides and off-site parties, the riding never ended.   Perfect weather, scenic roads a group of riding buddies from my HOG Chapter (Old Town HOG) and other like-minded riders, made this a great event.

The hub for this event was Sun‘n Fun in Lakeland.  If you just rode there, there was plenty to do and see – an antique bike show/aircraft display, live music, factory demo rides, vendors, food, drill team demonstrations, and an opportunity to meet riding legend Gloria Tramontin Struck.  Gloria is 91 years young and still riding two wheels; an H-D Heritage Softtail to be more exact!   For a fee, you could also ride something other than a Harley as helicopter and biplane flights were available as well.
Saturday evening the event came to a close with the announcement of winners of prizes and raffles, awards to various HOG members who made this event possible, and then some dancing to the great music of the Déjà Vu Band.  I heard this band in Shreveport earlier this year and they play music that you can actually dance to!

I have always felt that a great part of owning a Harley is being part of HOG.  If you own a Harley-Davidson motorcycle and don’t belong to HOG, get more information, go to:  https://members.hog.com/