By Lulu

For 16 years now Joe Vece and great patriots take time out of their busy lives to put on a moving tribute to the lives lost on 9/11 and those who continue to suffer the effects of that day. The ride starts with the ceremony and registration at the Flagler Government Service Building in Bunnell. The ride through the country ended this year at Ike’s Saloon in Bunnell for a great lunch. I was out of the state this year, so Sherry Fletcher attended and shot some photos for the article. The Knights of Inferno and The Punishers MC of Flagler organize the event and do a fantastic job. A special thank you to Politis & Matovina, Monster Motorcycles, Ike’s Saloon, Flagler County and Tropical Enterprise for their sponsorship and help with the event. And to all who won’t let a year go by without a day of somber reflection!

By Horny Dave (photos by Crash)

Tucked back in the woods on Old Highway 17 in Pomona Park is a famous neighborhood watering hole called the Hideaway Bar & Grill. The name is fitting, blink and you’ll miss it. There is a large motorcycle crowd in the area, and they own all kinds of Harleys, custom trikes, and rat rods. Every third Sunday Sheldon and Lisa host a swap meet that everyone is showing up for and you need to check it out.

Local vendors offer hard to find parts for Panheads, Shovels, EVOs, and metrics. If you need a part, these boys have it or can get it. They have handmade jewelry vendors, tools, boat parts, and of course food. James has the smoker going with pork or chicken to feed the crowd while Tommy and Meghan play on the stage. Show up a little early at the bar and get the best SOS this side of the Mason-Dixon Line, breakfast 8-11am Mon-Sat and during the swap meet.

It’s good to see hometown businesses listening to the community and doing a wonderful job of bringing everyone together for good times, great company, and just about anything you need for your bike. When you are planning your next adventure, do a little country riding and come out and experience some good old back woods fun.

By Lulu

Patti Miracle has taken over the reins at Saints & Sinners Pub in Ormond Beach. Having been in the bar and entertainment business for most of her life and being a native-born Daytona girl…Patti knows what people are looking for to enjoy a night out. Patti’s first bar was the old Countrytime Pub in Bunnell back in 1995. She owned Roadside Tavern, a busy party spot in Port Orange from 2011-2015. Patti then ventured into radio, starting The Rock of Daytona, which she still owns. In addition, she opened Downtown Daytona Live and Seaside Tavern. Presently she is turning it up at Saints & Sinners Pub at Destination Daytona and is looking forward to continuing to build the Saints & Sinners activities and following. The bar is a full liquor bar, with ice cold beer, friendly bar staff, GIANT sandwiches, and a great new food menu. Cornhole is every Thursday night at 7pm (Weather permitting). The monthly Biker Jam is held on the first Saturday of the month with live music from 1-5pm. The second Sunday of every month is Super Swap Meet Sunday with live music from 1-5pm. Vendor spots are available for $10.00, and all the proceeds go to a designated charity. Sites open at 8am and shoppers shop for free. Friday is bike night with live music from 6-10pm. We recently attended Bike Night and Big Engine was rocking the pub stage while we enjoyed $5 food and drink specials. Music is featured Saturday & Sunday 1-5pm. Perfect spot to sit while your bike loving significant other shops at the dealership! Saints will be closed Christmas. Make your plans to join the party on New Year’s Eve! Hypersona starts at 9pm, free champagne toast and VIP-packages are available. Get on your bikes and ride out to Saints & Sinners Pub at 1635 N US Highway 1 in Ormond Beach. Visit their Facebook page for complete live music schedule. Save the date for the 2nd Annual Women’s Music Fest February 3-5, 2023, featuring Jasmine Cain and other local female vocalists.

by Jeani G.

So many unique and amazing costumes at this year’s Halloween bash … with over 30 contestants, the judges sure had a tricky time selecting their favorites!

1st Place $1,000 cash was awarded to the striking Viking couple Matt & Kristen, who have ten children and were so thrilled to win!  2nd Place $100 OB’s gift card went to the 8ft Big F*#ckin’ Zombie Ron, who terrifyingly towered above the crowd; and the 3rd Place $50 OB’s gift card winner was the Ancient Druid Jack, a sculptor who created his mask from a cow pelvis.  Be sure to check out all the great costumes on Thunder Roads Florida Facebook!

Jasmine Cain rocked the stage as an adorable Wednesday from the Addams Family – the band played a great mix of classic and modern rock, pop, metal, and several awesome originals!

OB’s scary and sexy staff were wickedly busy slinging drinks and serving food to keep the creepy crowd hauntingly happy all night long. The monster mash was so much fun we can hardly wait for next year!

By Lulu

Tucked away in Paisley is a favorite destination for those who like to get on their bike and ride. Pirate’s Pub is a full liquor bar that serves ice cold beer for those who like the lighter stuff. The owner of Pirate’s is Mark and he throws a yearly bash in August that he named “Too Broke for Sturgis.” Since gas was outrageous this year we stayed in Florida and joined in the festivities in Paisley. This year Gunshy played their hearts out to the crowd. I saw folks from as far south as Sebastian, and Mark, the owner of the Alibi in Geneva, also came to spend the day under the oaks. The ladies from Stilletos on Steel made us happy by posting a video on their site of the photos from that day. If you aren’t heading to Sturgis, ride out to Paisley next August for the party, but don’t forget they are always happy all year long to toss you a longneck or mix you a cocktail.

By Lulu

A great friend has a bar that really should be on a pedestal somewhere. I don’t know anyone, anywhere who does more to help others in need than Janice and Mark, owners of Crossroads Tavern in Bunnell. The night we donned our leis and Hawaiian prints the bar was packed to capacity. Sounds of karaoke and coconut bra dressed men filled the bar. But the best part of the night was when Mark offered to shave his beard and even his head (although the shaver wouldn’t cut through his thick head of hair so that had to happen the next day) to help raise funds for a child in need of a transplant. I am not exaggerating when I say these are really good folks, not just Mark and Janice, the patrons of the bar dug deep and I know over $1000 was raised that night. Check their ad out for the events in October and November! Do me a favor and stop in when you need a little “spirits,” be an angel and keep these 2 people in business the world needs more peeps like them!

By Lulu

One of our longest ad clients is a bar that has a LONG history in the Daytona area. Chris’ Lounge has been family owned and operated for over 32 years. Chris was the owner when the bar first started with Thunder Roads Florida years ago. Now Gina, Chris’ daughter, has been at the helm since the passing of her mom. Her staff keeps the place hopping! Known for stiff drinks, rowdy fun, best of bartenders, free warm popcorn and other goodies at time, ice cold beer, pool, darts and being open every day from 7am-2a this is a locals favorite place to hang out. Chris’ Lounge is located at 1301 Ridgewood Ave., in Holly Hill. You know you have found it when you see the military man out front of the peach building.

Gina has recently opened “The Other Place” (the old Troy’s Pub) at 1040 S. Nova Rd. presently it is beer & wine, but she plans to bring in food and full liquor down the road. Great improvements to the bar have already been made and they have a bike night on Wednesdays from 5-7pm.

So, stop in and see the staff at both bars, they are always happy to hear motorcycles pull in the parking lot!

So, I try not to get political here. To begin with, I am no expert on politics, secondly my opinion is just that and probably can offend some readers, particularly New Englanders this month. I just had to send Eric Adams, the new mayor of New York City, a nasty letter; and I now need to rant about this fool’s attack on the State of Texas! How in the hell can he attack a state that has literally been under siege by illegals for years! Infiltrated by 207,416 in just June! How in the hell can he threaten their elected officials who have begged the federal government for help with this onslaught. He has been on the news daily threatening to send New Yorkers to Texas to campaign door-to-door against Texas Gov. Greg Abbott! Does he think only Texas should have to deal with this Biden made disaster? Abbott is sending them to sanctuary cities. BRILLIANT! I had supported Eric Adam’s election, thinking as a retired New York Police Officer that he would stop the ridiculous defunding of the police which has made crime the state’s main pastime. I flew to New York City this July and was afraid walking the streets near the subway.

Remember I am not afraid hanging with bad ass bikers, but there is ZERO respect for the law by many in NEW YORK CITY because they have no fear of prosecution. Mayor Adams needs to focus on his city’s problems. Then he needs to help the State of Texas, that simply CAN NOT care for the millions that cross into their state, by harassing the Biden administration to DO SOMETHING to stop this onslaught of OUR country. And now the wealthy in Martha’s Vineyard shipped out the 600 Desantis sent…great showing of their true colors! Remember when the libs were whining that five billion for a border wall was TOO much money that we did not have, did you just see their new budget?? Do you have any idea how much they have sent to Ukraine to help them secure their borders? 9.9 BILLION! I hope my email to his office doesn’t end up deleted! Guess I will have to mail him a copy of this month’s magazine! PLEASE VOTE! This is a dire time we are facing!!!

By T.J. Costa

There is a little motorcycle parts store in South Daytona that I want to tell you about. It’s called V-Twin Specialties and if you aren’t familiar with it, you should check it out. Owner Bud Milza has been around and dealing in all aspects of motorcycles most of his adult life. Since fleeing the cold climate of upstate N.Y. and moving to Florida in 1999 to be closer to his family, he had worked in Harley Dealerships and bike shops before deciding to open his own store 2 ½ years ago. His parts sales online business is buzzing, and his walk-in traffic is steady. If you need it for your bike, Bud has it, or can get it quickly for you from any of the big parts manufacturers and distributors. He is a dealer for S&S, Drag Specialties, Arlen Ness, Baker, and many more. Anything from a small part to a complete motor is available from V-Twin. Their specialty is HD, Indian and custom V Twin bikes, but Bud also carries all other makes and models including Metric. Future plans include getting a service department up and running. Bud is looking for a good, reliable wrench, if you or someone you know is interested in helping him get that started. Tires are in stock for purchase and installation is coming when the service side begins. You may see Bud out riding his ’07 Police Road King and there is a new hardtail build in progress sitting on the lift in the showroom. Big things are coming for V-Twin Specialties so next time you need something stop in and see Bud. He can get you set up with whatever you need. Tell him Thunder Roads Florida Magazine sent you for a 10% discount on most items. Hours of operation are Mon-Fri 9-5. Closed on weekends. Address is 933 Beville Rd., Suite 102 H, South Daytona. Online at vtwinspecialties.net and phone is (386)-310-8333.

By Lulu

One of our favorite places to go for a night on the town is Cabbage Patch Bar. The bartenders are always welcoming and pour good drinks and keep the beer cold. But they have brought back the theme parties and our first one to visit was Back to School. They provided dunce hats, cap & gowns, yearbook to sign in, chalk boards with I Will Not Say Fuck, everything but a paddle to remind us of days long gone. The band Playin Possum was great! Join in the festivities for Biketoberfest but don’t miss out on their “ABC” Anything but Clothes Party October 21st!

By Lulu

Each June OB’s throws a custom bike show on their huge property. All kinds of sweet rides fill the lot and I certainly wouldn’t want to have to pick one. I neglected to get the names of the winners, so spank me when I see you next. A beauty from Jacksonville, Sandi walked away with the bikini contest cash! We pulled Rod up on stage to sit behind the girls during the contest for his birthday! If you haven’t made it out for this event or the HUGE Russ & Bob Panhead Shovelhead show in November you really must. A special thank you to Rue & Ziffra for always supporting the motorcycle community!

Winning Bike

September 2018 Twisted Evolution Motorcycle Shoppe opened its doors. Since that time, they have strived to continually improve their operations, products, and services. They have added a paved and fenced parking lot, painted the building, new signs, additional parts vendors, two additional lifts and numerous specialty tools. January of 2022, they partnered with Dunlop Motorcycle Tires to become Pro Dealers. This will ensure in the future that they will always have a Dunlop to fit your Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Twisted then in February purchased their second location. A 2800 square foot facility to start another leg of their journey. Here they intend to hold their annual Backyard BBQ and to start a motorcycle storage program. That location is at 16246 Lingle Rd., Brooksville and the date for the next Backyard BBQ is January 28th. “To continually improve and grow has always been the partners focus here at Twisted” says Fred Rudat Head of Operations. “We are excited and optimistic about this new opportunity” he added.

Join them on January 28th for the BBQ to support and celebrate their efforts!

By Marc Pica

The  9th Annual Boots on the Ground Poker Run and Concert was once again hosted by American Legion Riders Chapter 9, Flamingo Lake RV Resort and Dick’s Wings. LOCATION: 3640 Newcomb Road, Jacksonville FL 32218. To support K9s For Warriors, K9 Line, Inc., Project Vet Relief, Mission 22, The Veterans Village of NE Florida, The Florida Fallen Hero Memorial Fund and Wreaths Across America. Over 1,500 Bikers and 180 Jeepers came out to honor this Nation’s Veterans, their families and memorialize our Fallen Heroes while supporting this great cause. Live music by The Remains on Friday Night Pre-Ride Party , Saturday there were  performances by the Side Project Band Pipe and Drum, Paul Wane Experience, Metal Mucil and closing out the night was Duval County Line. The event raised over $75,000 in support of the 7 Veterans support organizations. There was thirteen separate bike routes and 1 Jeep route with a total of forty-seven different poker stops to choose from. Over forty vendors and several food vendors. The Bikes kicked up at 11am when the Dreamland Squadron conducted their flyover, that they do for this event every year. Thousands of military and first responder boots lined the RV Resort. each with a flag and a picture of a fallen military personnel KIA in OEF/OIF or a first responder that perished during 9/11. It is part of ALR Chapter 9’s “Boots on the Ground-America Remembers” Memorial. The bikes and the Jeeps paraded through the memorial as they left out. It truly is an emotional and humbling experience. This event is always the Saturday prior to Mother’s Day so mark your calendars for next year. You will not be disappointed.

So, I try not to get political here. To begin with, I am no expert on politics, secondly my opinion is just that and probably can offend some readers, particularly New Yorkers this month. I just had to send Eric Adams, the new mayor of New York City, a nasty letter; and I now need to rant about this fool’s attack on the State of Texas! How in the hell can he attack a state that has literally been under siege by illegals for years! Infiltrated by 207,416 in just June! How in the hell can he threaten their elected officials who have begged the federal government for help with this onslaught. He has been on the news daily threatening to send New Yorkers to Texas to campaign door-to-door against Texas Gov. Greg Abbott! Does he think only Texas should have to deal with this Biden made disaster? Abbott is sending them to sanctuary cities. BRILLIANT! I had supported Eric Adam’s election, thinking as a retired New York Police Officer that he would stop the ridiculous defunding of the police which has made crime the state’s main pastime. I flew to New York City this July and was afraid walking the streets near the subway. Remember I am not afraid hanging with bad ass bikers, but there is ZERO respect for

By Bill Grotto

Bike Winner: Mark Minnich
Born: Ohio but raised in south Florida since he was 7
First Bike: Honda 90 when he was 15 years old, he paid $519 for it!
How long riding: 52 years
Occupation: Retired Air Conditioning and Refrigeration tech by day and bartender by night…for 32 years!!

I tried to reach Mark a few times via email and phone but he wasn’t budging. I introduced myself and told him that out of the thousands and thousands of entries for the Twisted Tea Dragger, built by our friends at Flat Broke Chops n Rods and Cycle Source magazine, that he was the lucky winner. I mean it’s not like I told him I was a prince from Nigeria that inherited a vast sum of money but in order to access the money, I needed his bank information in order to share it with him!

With all the scams out there these days I can’t blame him for being skeptical. The last message I left was “Hey man you won this bike and if we don’t hear from you we are going to have to pick another winner at random.” BOOM! That was all it took to get him to return the call! When he told me he heard about the sweepstakes by picking up a copy of Thunder Roads Florida Magazine at Earl’s Hideaway I was just about as ecstatic as he was because both are great supporters of Twisted Tea.

You see we have these people out there called “sweepers” and their main goal in life is to enter as many sweepstakes as possible in the hopes of winning something…anything…even if they don’t care what it is! There are even websites dedicated to this unscrupulous past time that list all the sweepstakes out there. Once we had a guy win a bike from us and he didn’t even ride. Told us he planned on selling the bike as soon as he got it. It’s a free country and that guy won the bike fair and square but when he told us his intentions, I asked the guys up in the finance department if we could offer a cash option which we did…post haste!

Mark lives up in the Space Coast of Florida with his lady of 17 years Dee. In fact, she was the one who grabbed the magazine and prompted him to fill it out so you know she’s gonna get to ride with him whenever she says so! (And fellas, isn’t that always the case??)

Congratulations Mark and Dee and we’ll see you on the road!