Danielle Barondropped into Daytona Bike Week to pick up a few tips
An estimated 500,000 bikes roared into town during the Daytona Beach 66th Annual Bike Week, and with a street-facing hotel room, I think I heard them all.
Each spring, this modest coastal town becomes a mecca for bikers from all corners of the globe. Billed as the world's biggest motorcycle meeting, it took place from March 2nd-11th this year.
The ubiquitous slogan "Daytona Beach Welcomes Bikers" could be seen everywhere, from restaurant menus to messages written in cursive script by skywriters. Indeed, this was surely the most biker-friendly place on earth.
Even Main Street, Daytona's main thoroughfare, was transformed into the hub of Bike Week entertainment, with a huge sign saying "motorcycles only" erected along it's length.
Men and women of all ages rode every kind of bike along the coastal city's streets, the vast majority of which "were probably purchased last week", as I heard one hardcore biker mutter darkly. Certainly each one seemed shinier than the next.
Naturally, Harley-Davidsons predominated, but I also spotted several of the rarely seen Boss Hoss bikes and even a few sports bikes. Custom-built choppers worth up to $300,000 were not uncommon.
Hundreds of people used Bike Week to pick up the bike of their dreams, says Bruce Rossmeyer, owner of Destination Daytona, the largest Harley dealership in the world and one of the main venues involved in Bike Week.
"Sales were excellent. We sold more bikes in the first ten days of March than we did during the whole month of March last year," says Rossmeyer.
Destination Daytona is "like Disney World for bikers", he adds. "It's not just the bike sales. You can buy a bike but we also have stalls, restaurants, with bands and entertainment. You can spend the day here and buy a hot dog or buy a bike."
According to veterans of the event, the real fun was to be had in the affectionately titled "Cabbage Patch", a campsite six miles west of Main Street which acts as home to thousands of bikers each year.
It's also where the celebrated annual "Japanese Bike Destruction" took place. Fairly self-explanatory but, essentially, several defenceless Japanese motorcycles were suspended above the campsite for the week, at the end of which they met their doom.
Smashed off the ground repeatedly, the bikes were doused in petrol and then set ablaze, all to the raucous cheers of the huge crowd that gathered.
The unique thing about Daytona Bike Week is that it combines the traditional motorcycle meet with motorbike racing.
Held at the International Speedway, home of the famous Nascar Daytona 500, the racing schedule included amateur and expert races, culminating in the Daytona 200 on the last day of the festival.
Planted "bait bikes" equipped with GPS, meant that bike thefts were down from 54 in 2006 to just 23 this year. Bike Week 2006 went down in history as the deadliest on record, with 21 bikers killed throughout Florida during the event.
Stricter law enforcement this year meant that the Bike Week-related death toll stood at seven on the final day. A burning issue discussed throughout the festival was whether or not state law should be changed to make the wearing of helmets compulsory, as presently it is not.
There were apparently several Irish people in town for bike week, the manager of my hotel assured me, but I failed to meet any of them.
Of course this could have been due to my unwillingness to venture into Main Street's many girlie bars.
On the last night, however, I did spot a lone Cavan jersey across the bar in Dirty Harry's, standing out amongst the leather and lace like the proverbial sore thumb. Just like the backpatch bikers that surrounded him, he was wearing his colours with pride.
But alas, he disappeared out the door before I got the chance to speak with him. It must have been his round.