By Lulu

Can’t imagine losing a child! But Kelli, the mother of Noelle, lost her daughter to the opioid crisis that’s slaying the youth of our country. Her daughter was a young mother of twins! Tragic! Five years later, Noelle’s brother’s life was lost to the same battle!!! The loss of her two children inspired Kelli to form Project Noelle in Ohio where she lives. Other states have formed groups to shine light on the opioid crisis and to “help the smallest victims of the epidemic” …the children left behind! This ride was led by the Lake County Chapter. Stops included Pirate’s Pub, Crossroad 44 and ended at OB’s for a great BBQ. TJ won the best hand and donated the $200 back to Project Noelle. Let’s help grow this event next year, grab a friend and ride for Noelle!

By Lulu

Out in Deland right next to the new Sunrail Station is a great dive bar, The Inn Between. Ethan bought the bar 7 years ago and has turned it into a really cool joint. Not only did they celebrate 7 years of business, but they also celebrated that the building is 100 years old… and still standing even after Helene and Milton! The day had a bit of rain on and off, but the back yard was still packed as Duval County Line played their hearts out, even doing the National Anthem and handing out flags to the crowd! This is a full liquor bar with a great outside area. Ethan, who rides, also owns Brass Rail in Deland. Stop in for a cold one on your ventures!! They are always glad to see bikes pull up front!

By Lulu

Often you meet people that talk big. Not that often do you meet people that live what they preach. Walk the walk! But 2 years ago, we met Donna & John when we rode out of Sanford on their first run for the Eli Seth Matthews Leukemia Foundation. They were introduced to it in Pennsylvania, met Eli’s dad there and decided to bring the ride to Florida. Deciding to tie the knot, they turned their wedding into a ride for Eli’s Foundation. Starting and ending at So-Hoss Bar in Deland, we rode to Dale’s Ales, Cabbage Patch and OB’s. A great BBQ dinner and wedding cake waited for us at So-Hoss, a special thank you to So-Hoss for hosting this. A perfect day of wedding dancing to the tunes of Gunshy! Basket raffles, auctions and 50/50 all helped make the day a day of giving! Look for events organized by Naughty Hog Enterprise, which is Donna & John always helping worthy causes!

By Lulu

This event is on my bucket list for 2025! I had a client’s event that conflicted with this one, but I got up at 5am to arrive at the staging area on US 1 in Port Orange to snap photos of the people who took their day to shine attention on the fact that 22 veterans commit suicide daily. Way before sunup adults, children, veterans, first responders, sponsors, and even a guy with a prosthetic leg anxiously awaited the beginning of their day. Over 140 walked! Many were wearing T-shirts that proclaimed 22 A DAY IS 22 TOO MANY. Dick Steinmeier, a well-known and well-loved veteran, led the 22-mile hike on an adult 3-wheel tricycle. He made the entire journey. So proud of you Dick! Anyone who knows me and Thunder Roads Florida, know that we love our veterans. Many may not know I worked a psych unit as a nurse and even back 30 years ago, long before they used the term PTSD, many of our patients were Vietnam Veterans dealing with things they experienced that no one should have had to. It was often more a survivor’s guilt that they were struggling with, as much as anything else. So, keep an eye out for this event next year and put some walking shoes on! What a simple way to shine attention on a real problem in America and to honor those who have already given their all!! The tentative date for 2025 is the last Sunday of September. Jordan Snipes keep us posted with 2025 date!! Thank you to the sponsors Red, White & Blue Heating & AC, Legacy Mortgage Corporation, and High Profile 4 X4. Check out the events website SpeakUpTomorrowNeedsYou.org!

By Lulu

What a great day at OB’s! The girls were hot, the weather wet, the bikes were all awesome, and the crowd was huge! OB’s staff were all dressed up in matching patriotic outfits. I didn’t get with the owner of the Best in Show Bike to do a feature on him this month, but hopefully I will have that next issue. It was a perfect condition old Indian and he deserved to walk with the $1000. Nikki was the winner of the bikini contest and was happy to pose for the crowd on bikes! Coming up on November 17th is the Russ & Bob Panhead/Shovelhead show complete with a “vintage” bikini contest! Don’t miss this show!

By Lulu

While you are in town for Biketoberfest check out Grandview Live! We went last month to their Red Party and there is always too much to see! Beautiful girls with excellent athletic talents were busy entertaining the crowd. Customers and the dancers were all dressed in red, and red balloons were everywhere. During Biketoberfest, Tony from Full Throttle Magazine is hosting a bike show on the night of October 17th. During Biketoberfest they are featuring $3 Busch Light on Tuesday & on Wednesday night they feature $150 bottle service for you party animals. If you are lucky enough to be there when Marsha is on the pole you will definitely need some money to litter the stage with. She is one amazing entertainer!!

By Lulu

Once again Pirate’s Pub’s annual Too Broke for Sturgis Party had the rain god’s crying, but it didn’t keep the masses away. Gunshy rocked the porch, and everyone loved them. Tanya and the staff were slinging drinks as fast as they could. If you haven’t ventured out to Paisley to visit Pirate’s Pub, it is a beautiful ride in the country on a great open highway! This is a full liquor bar owned by Mark and Tanya who love motorcycling! They also have their yearly anniversary party in January but don’t wait for that to get on your bike and visit!!

By Lulu

Tucked in a strip center off LPGA and Derbyshire is a cool Daytona watering hole. Sandrine, the owner, is a little spitfire from France. And the staff who keep this bar afloat are awesome. Tara with her Sunday “build your own” Bloody Mary station to die for is the hostess with the mostest! When she knows we are coming with a big crew she brings in food, so we don’t go away hungry! The bar is known for dart and pool leagues, occasional live music, and Dirty Bingo! Reasonably priced beer and spirits is also what Hideout is known for! It is a perfect stop for your poker run. While in town check out the Hideout Lounge!

Seems like I have hit that age where I attend more Celebration of Life events than weddings. This summer we lost three true biker friends many of you know. Jerry Diers that was at the helm of the Shovelhead Coalition died suddenly of a heart attack; rumor is he rode his bike to the hospital with severe chest pain…doing what he loved no doubt about it. Ken Gardner from Custom EFX Lighting lost a very long battle with cancer. Ken, even in his sickness was a generous soul, giving to events like Saddle Up for St. Judes. Jamie, we will all miss him and are so sorry for your loss. And final goodbyes and a toast went up for Grog (Dennis Snyder) at a Celebration of Life at Iron Horse Saloon. Grog was a long-time staple at Iron Horse Saloon and Boot Hill! He gave the BEST hugs. On an equally distressing note, many of you may know Rebel, a rally worker who is paralyzed after a 4-wheeler accident in Sturgis. There is a Go Fund Me that Scott Demonico has started to help him get back to Florida and for medical/living expenses. He is still in Rehab in Sturgis…alone! A good friend and great singer, Steven Keeton, originally in the band Mistreater, was in a bad motorcycle accident and is at a Daytona rehab although may be home by the time this Pony Tales hits the racks. Looks like he will be fine but has a long road to recovery. Be safe out there friends, tell your peeps you love them and don’t forget your sunscreen.

By Lulu

A favorite destination ride for a meal with a view is 3 Bananas in Crescent City on Crescent Lake. While in town for Biketoberfest or Bike Week, or any other time, get on your bike and take a ride out to the quaint city and find Pat and Anna Finley’s place on the lake. The couple took over operation on the bar in November 2021 and breathed new life into the place. Originally from Ponte Vedra they brought years of experience to this new endeavor having been in restaurant consulting, ownership, conference & catering director at a large resort and even director of training. Years of experience must have paid off as once again 3 Bananas has quite a following under their reins. The Finley’s now reside in Crescent City. Pat rode dirt bikes as a teenager but now they are into trail/beach cruisers and enjoy Bikes on the Beach. They enjoy golfing, fishing, and visiting hole in the wall establishments. Sounds like they are living the good life, although I know restaurant bar business is TIME CONSUMING! The Finley’s are community minded and the charity they are involved in is K9s for Warriors.

3 Bananas specials include Prime Rib Saturdays and are known for their seafood. Try their hand breaded shrimp or blackened grouper dinner featured in the photos. Personally, I LOVE their quesadillas. Try some of their famous banana-based drinks Dirty Banana, Banana Split or Banana Wreck. I bet any of them will go down so smoothly you may end up acting like a monkey! They are open Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday 11am-5pm,
With extended hours Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday 11a-8pm. They have live music Saturdays noon-3pm and Wednesday night they feature trivia.

Coming up on October 25th 5 pm is their Yappy Hour and Howl-o-Ween Parade. Dogs in costume with prizes! So, for you guys who ride with pups you might want to check this one out! The address is 11 S. Lake St. in Crescent City or find them on 3bananas.com.

By Lulu

Out in Satsuma a short hop from Crescent City is the old Hermit’s Cove, under new ownership and a new name. The Gartenders at the Gnarly Gar are happy to serve you with a smile! The new owners Jay and Tanya Steck, along with Marcin Grucela have had the helm of the Gar since November 2022. Tanya was born and raised in Florida. Jay was born in Michigan but raised in New Jersey. They now reside in Port Orange but have a place out in Satsuma where the Gnarly Gar is located. The bar is a great destination ride for ice cold beer, seltzers, and wine with a beautiful view of the water and sunsets! Jay and Tanya are also busy with businesses other than the bar. Jay works for a construction coatings manufacturer and together they have Saltair Properties Group which manages rental properties. Jay was in law enforcement in the past and Marcin was a Marine, “once a Marine, always a Marine”! Marcin does ride motorcycles and loves the biking community. The “fish camp” (home) they own in Hermit’s Cove made the former Hermit’s Cove bar their place to stop for a drink, and when Gary the owner passed away, he left the bar to Pamela Small, who ran if for a bit. When she decided to sell, the Steck’s bought it to keep it operating for the local community, the motorcycle riders and the boaters who love this place, as they do. In Tanya’s words, “We love the bar and continue to improve on it. We really decided to buy it because we were concerned that if we didn’t, someone may come in and change the bar to something else or would tear it down and put houses on the property. We love the bar, and we also love this community, which genuinely is what ‘makes’ this bar what it is today. We embrace the Gnarly Gar as a local’s spot and the support we receive from the community of locals, bikers and boaters shows in everything we do to keep it going.” Since Gary had the original Hermit’s Cove, the bar has added live music, occasional food trucks and other entertainment.

Ride out to find this gem in the country. They are open Wednesday-Sunday 11a-to sometime after 10pm. Tanya runs the show, Jay and Mancin are never far from the Gnarly Gar. Kim, Michelle, and Ana Mira are the GARTENDERS. Ride out and tell them you saw this in Thunder Roads Florida Magazine!

The address is 482 Cove Dr., Satsuma. Check them out at gnarlygar.com or find them on Facebook too. The phone number is 386-214-1863.

By Greg Perret

Greg Perret owner of Le Duck Motorcycles was kind enough to submit the story of Le Duck Motorcycles in Daytona Beach in his own words. He has a heavy French accent, so I asked him to answer questions in print not wanting to make any mistakes. He kindly wrote the following. These guys are really nice and hard working. Stop in and check out their business. Lulu

I’m Greg and purchased the shop Crank and Chrome with my brother, Sylvain last spring. We come from France, and I moved to Florida in February with my wife and my two children, each with 2 suitcases! Now that the kids are back in school, my wife is looking for a job. My daughter is 10 years old (5th grade), and my son is 8 years old (3rd grade). They love their new life, here in Florida, and made new friends at school. They both rode a little bit in motocross when they were in France.

I sold my business in France, and I was looking for a Motorcycle Business in the USA. We had the opportunity to buy Crank and Chrome from Barry Zenn. And we did! This year we built three bikes for our showroom, and we truly want to show people that we love the work we do. We specialize in Harley-Davidson and Indians. We do repairs and service, and are Harley certified. Le Duck also sells new and used parts.

I was 9 or 10 years old when I had my first bike, a Yamaha PW80. Then, we were riding every week on the MX tracks, and spent 10 to 12 years in competition. I bought my first Harley-Davidson, and customized different bikes for myself in France. We created Le Duck Motorcycles to purchase Crank And Chrome. Now we continue the same operations with the same team. Come in and meet our team; Philip, Craig and Hippie.We have a lot of ambitious plans for the shop in the next few months, to make it the place to be, to make it a concept store.

Le Duck comes from the movie Convoy, in the French version the main character Kris Kristofferson is called “Le Duck” so, nothing about motorcycles is the reason for the name. Although, we have a t-shirt with his effigy. Le Duck also is our clothing brand and we carry Renegade Babes too.
The address for the shop is 1533 Ridgewood Ave., Daytona Beach. Phone is 386-615-1449. They are open Monday-Saturday 8am-5pm so get on the schedule to get your ride ready for Biketoberfest.

By Lulu

In July, Born to Ride Magazine put on a custom ride in bike show and hot rod classic show at Tampa Bay H-D. The band Tommy Roxx was on the Fran Haasch stage playing their hearts out. Vendors and bikini bike wash girls gave the peeps something to look at and inside I saw at least one happy camper ringing the bell for his new Harley purchase! It was nice to get out on the west coast for a minute. Thanks for a good time Ron! You always put on great bike show.

By Lulu

We weren’t able to make it up for the spring Thunder Beach Rally, but T Rex and Tony stopped in and shot some pics on their way through heading to Sturgis and the Midwest. Bike Rack on Front Beach Rd was rocking with vendors, full bar, stunt shows, burnout contests, bike and audio shows and live music. This years lineup featured The Rock Mob, Black Eyed Blonde, Frank Fletcher, JoJo Bee, Scratch 2020 and Velvet Gypsy. Frank Brown Park was once again filled with vendors and live music while Bill Grotto and the Twisted Tea girls shared their brew. With the fall rally approaching in October, I want to remind you of a great destination ride out to the Red Bay Thunder Rally (see their ad in this issue). Their rally runs from the 21st through the 27th of October. The bar is called Hideout in Ponce de Leon. It’s a beautiful 30-minute ride out to the country for a fun day away from the traffic on beachside. Thunder Beach Fall Rally is from the 23rd to the 27th of October.

In the past we would take Letters to the Editor and publish them, but as the magazine has grown over the past 17 years, we simply haven’t had space. James had a beef with my Pony Tales in August 2024 and dared me to post his letter to me. So here it is with my response. In my response I forgot to take issue with the 250,000 deaths due to Covid he wants to blame Trump for. Every country suffered deaths. The left went crazy when early on Trump wanted to stop flights from China. The liberals let people with no vaccines flood into our country illegally. I also am subjected to CNN, MSNBC because T. J. watches all the channels to form our opinions. But common sense is something the liberals running this country the past 3.5 years do not possess. And we are stuck with their poor decisions on defunding the police, the border, the prices on gas and groceries. The uprisings in cities they want to call peaceful protests, even the new VP candidate allowed in his state. Weren’t those riots a crime against our nation? Police stations and courthouses damaged, police cars burned, police officers hurt!!! Then our current Democrat running for the White House raised money to bail the hooligans out of jail after the damage they did. Form your own opinions. After all that is all my Pony Tales was…mine. And here is Jim’s!

From James Mills
Have to take issue with the August 2024 Pony Tales article by Lulu.
Such a false narrative.

Trump is a convicted felon of fraud. Convicted of sexual abuse.

Responsible for the greatest treasonous crime in American history orchestrating the January 6 insurrection. He should be hung as a traitor. He set back 50 years women’s rights.

He continues to marginalize the LGBTQ community.

He has no respect for our military. Calling John McCain a loser.

Not wanting to be around the wounded cause “it looks bad”, doesn’t want to go to military cemeteries cause they are losers that they got killed. All of this is on tape. He’s a racist, bigot.

He’s a narcissistic, misogynistic, habitual liar.

Told more lies in 4 years than Clinton, Bush and the best POTUS ever, Obama for their administrations.
Don’t believe it, fact check it.

Fact check everything.

Failed business man. Bankruptcy of his various companies. Ask any contractors who worked on his buildings. He screwed everyone and ruined their livelihood. He is responsible for a minimum of 250,000 deaths in this country because he ignored the medical experts in regards to Covid.

Oh, “drink bleach, inject Lysol! “ WTF!!!

Get your info from sources other than Faux or the other conservative conspiracy outlets.

Try BBC & PBS or some news sources from other countries if you think all channels here are spewing nonsense like Faux.

In closing. If anyone still supports Trump after all the crimes he’s committed as well as being nothing more than a spoiled rich baby you lack a very important character trait and lack intelligence.

I know you don’t have the guts to publish this.

Thank you.
James Mills
Punta Gorda, Florida

Jim,
I appreciate your input and couldn’t disagree with you more. I do fact check and the fact is women choosing their rights over the right of an unborn child is morally wrong. So, you will not win me over on that one. The border czar you support has done NOTHING in her entire career and has had 3.5 years of open border policies that we will suffer the consequence of for years to come. The sexual “crimes” you accuse Trump of, are the normal course of life in politics if you followed the Clintons from Arkansas through the White House. Should I name them all or are you aware, talk about liars! And if it hadn’t been for the evidence of the blue dress, he would have let Monica go down as a liar. As far as business dealings I personally know of several New York business contractors who said they weren’t paid in full for jobs that were either not done on time OR of substandard quality who say he was ruthless, and yet they will be voting for HIM. So, in closing Jim, I will be cancelling your vote at the polls, but Florida has almost 1 million more Republicans than Democrats. Fact check that. It isn’t our state that will decide. It will be a close race. I pray that we don’t end up with the far-left female that absolutely no one respects, except for the liberals who are just thanking God it isn’t Biden who failed this country miserably. Trump isn’t a racist. He is a brash, egotistical, narcissist. And this country needs him. But the important thing about America is you have freedom of speech and so do I. Thanks for reading and commenting.
Beth aka Lulu owner of Thunder Roads Florida Magazine