By Billy”Kneecap”Braddock

In the month after we have paid our taxes, it's time to reflect on how it is being spent. The $14+trillion national debt is inconceivable. Spending increased by 27% in two years, but we are being told that it is impossible to cut the budget by 2%. Read the rest of this entry »

By Lulu

I travel all over the state with the magazine and have only had a few encounters of negative words about bikers. On a recent trip to investigate Okeechobee County I had one of those situations. Read the rest of this entry »

By Lulu A ritual for me and Micah is ending Bike Week in Bunnell at the Dog Pound Saloon. The owner, Glenn is a friend of ours and we wouldn’t miss it. This year they had live music by the Hemby Brothers Read the rest of this entry »

y Lil Jon April 1st is not only April Fools’ Day it is also the Rockin’ Wheels 2011 party day. Furst Automotive & Cycle and Gainesville Harley Davidson got together and threw a party for bikers at a campground in Fort White, Florida. An old skool party where anything goes and it went!!! Read the rest of this entry »

By Deborah Speicher There were lots of girls at Daytona Bike Week and each year it seems as though more of them are on their own motorcycles. Girl power was in full force on Tuesday, March 8 when close to 150 women riders lined their motorcycles up on Beach Street for the 4th Annual Harley-Davidson MDA Women’s Ride. This is my favorite ride and it gets better each year. This year’s ride had a new route which started at Riverfront Park on Beach Street and ended at Destination Daytona. In between, the police escort took us down Main Street and through The Loop. Read the rest of this entry »

By Rich Malfitano On Monday March 21st, members of Rolling Thunder at Chapter 8 Florida continued their support to American Veterans by escorting a truck carrying bedding mattresses to the Haven Recovery Center in Volusia County. The mattresses were purchased by Chapter 8, from “The Furniture Deal” located at 430 Yonge St. in Ormond Beach. Johnathan Gildo and Janice Grabko of the furniture deal, quoted; “We are honored to have had this opportunity Read the rest of this entry »

By Jodie McDougall Historic and quaint downtown Melbourne was the perfect setting to revisit antique iron when the "Bikes of Days Gone By" was held for its third year. Despite the fact that the show was held the same weekend as Leesburg Bike Fest lots of tattooed men and perspiring women braved the hot sun to mingle, reminisce, swap stories, enjoy good times and camaraderie during the afternoon event. Read the rest of this entry »

By Lulu One of the first rides we did for Thunder Roads Magazine was with the Blue Knights from Flagler County. Their rides are always well organized and this was no exception. The ride started at Heroe’s Memorial Park in Palm Coast, took us down A1A on the most beautiful day. Our ribbon of hundreds of bikes was then led through the Loop and eventually landed us at Dirty Harry’s on Main Street for free BBQ and great live music by Bad Mannerz. Read the rest of this entry »

By Lulu All kinds of adjectives can describe friends: BEST, close, old, new, good, dear, special, girl, boy, only… And friends often like us, love us, comfort us, help us, need us, laugh at or with us, forgive us and even occasionally hurt and hate us! But one thing for certain Read the rest of this entry »

By Lil Jon

Adamec Harley Davidson in Jacksonville had a low country boil with an escorted motorcycle ride. They called it Bike & Boil on February 26th at their Baymeadow’s location. The ride left at 10:00am and went on a 50 mile ride through Jacksonville led by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. Read the rest of this entry »

By Lulu

There are great events every weekend for terrific causes and because of our magazine I get to meet the people the stories are about! Often their causes or needs are devastating and tragic. But Cap’t Steve in Amelia Island moved me to tears more than once this trip, but they were not tears of sadness. Cap’t Steve has been taking disabled people on fishing trips of a life time for the past 12 years and here is how the story began. Read the rest of this entry »

By Lulu [singlepic id=890 w=320 h=240 float=left]I have made yearly trips to Lake County to cover Leesburg Bike Festival, and with the Helter Skelter of trying to make it to the bikini contests, bike shows, concerts, wing eating contests, etc., etc., the only real riding I have ever managed was to make a trip each visit to Lake Harris Hideaway for good food, relaxation out on the tree covered waterfront deck and music. What I was surprised by while doing our research for this article is Read the rest of this entry »

Well, we survived Bike Week and again we had to hear about the noise from the same whiners who have been trying to rid the great city of Daytona Beach of all the events that keep the city from becoming an overrated swimming hole. If the complaints and the restrictions continue, instead of referring to the town as the "City of the World's Most Famous Beach" it will be the "City of Vacant Buildings". If it's the family atmosphere they want they should Read the rest of this entry »

By Deborah Speicher

Someone once told me that if you want to get something done, ask someone who is busy. I found that to be true and Colonel Ronald P. Rook (USMC Ret) embodies that saying. Ron was born in Milton, FL, graduated from Milton High School in 1964, and entered the Marine Corps in August 1964. He served in the infantry from 1964 to 1967, including a tour in Viet Nam with Alpha Company, 1st Bn, 5th Marines in 1966/67. During his career, he progressed through the ranks of Staff Sergeant, Chief Warrant Officer 3, and Limited Duty Officer (LDO) (Captain) — before being selected for redesignation to unrestricted officer status in 1981. Read the rest of this entry »

Well, as those of you who read Thunder Roads Florida may have noticed by now, we have launched a new website and in doing so we started a members group we named Thunder Riders. I am so excited about our site for many reasons which include more pictures than we can fit in the magazine, the ability for you to submit your events directly on the website so that even after we have gone to print you can still get exposure and if you see yourself in the magazine you can call your Aunt Betty in Nebraska and tell her to go online and see you there! Read the rest of this entry »