Going Over to Dover

Eyebrows raise when I admit I’ve never ridden to Port Dover on a Friday the 13th.

I ride a motorcycle so surely I must have made the pilgrimage and taken in the spectacle! Uh, no. I get nervous in huge, unpredictable crowds, which is what makes me go the other way during major events. And with tens of thousands of leather-clad riders in the tiny town, when I eventually do go- and I will – it will be very early in the day, and not for very long. I do enjoy the lakeside town for its perch and celery bread at the Erie Beach, but it’s been quite a while since I’ve been there.

Today is the only Friday the 13th of 2011. It’s a little early in the riding season but it will draw the faithful out just the same. There have been rumblings that Dover wants to end the tradition of drawing bikers to its shore on the 13th. Methinks the merchants will oppose that view. Last year, a promoter tried to lure them further north with a huge outdoor concert and it totally bombed. Habits are hard to break.

A 1039 listener sent me the link below, to a live webcam on Port Dover’s main drag. If you don’t mind putting up with the occasional ad, you can watch the goings-on in real time. It’s the next best thing to being there!