Bike Rally

September 19-21, 2003

With over 500 attendees, and more than 150 bikes, there was always something going on at this September's Live Oak Bike Rally.  Friday and Saturday night, we danced and partied the night away to the sounds of Big Mike Griffin and his blues band.

Saturday morning over 100 bikes participated in the Live Oak Poker Run - a 129-mile course with 5 stops along the way, collecting a Poker card at each stop.  The lucky winner took home $1,000.  He had a full-boat, trip aces and a pair of kings.  Not bad!  Our worst hand "winner" had the worst possible, with a 2-3-4-5-7 (aces were high).

If this past rally is any indication, you may want to make plans right now for next September's rally.  Even if you don't have a bike, the experience is well worth it, as one of our guests writes about, below.

Click on an image, below, for a larger photo

My Weekend at Live Oak's Bike Rally

a non-biker's "virgin" experience.  

By Zes

Day 1 - Thursday

I had never been to a bike rally before.  Heck - the first time I heard about it, I thought a bunch of folks in their "Lance Armstrong Look Alike" outfits would be zipping along on their racing bicycles.  Well, I was wrong, and am happy to say that I now know the difference between a bicycle and a bike.  Here's my account of my first Live Oak Resort bike rally, as a rally-voyeur.

I arrived to a welcoming group of Live Oak "regulars" - both residents and guests that I've met during the half-dozen or so visits I've made to Live Oak Resort over these last few months.  After checking in at the front office, receiving hugs from all those beautiful women behind the desk (I just love that part), the first thing I noticed was that each homeowner felt a responsibility to maintain the beauty and cleanliness of the resort.  From offering to pick up necessities in town, to pulling weeds fro flower beds, they displayed a respect for their community.

It was getting late, and Larry, Jennifer and crew were still hard at work, making sure everything was ready for the rush of guests they expected early the following morning.  I went into town to pick up some Mexican food for the "crew" and when I returned was immediately handed a huge margarita.  I had no trouble at all finishing it.  Sandy, upon seeing my glass nearing empty, mixed a rather strong second drink - more like tequila with some margarita mix thrown in for good measure.   I felt no pain.

Danielle - who also works in the front office - gave me a tour of the permanent RV section, as I drove her to the laundry facility.  Live Oak has everything - laundry, showers, a general store.  Heck, I can understand why residents are so comfortable with their surroundings.  Well, thank goodness Live Oak is a private, gated community, as although I was driving no more than the 5mph speed limit, after those drinks, Danielle was holding onto the car door for dear life!

Larry and Jennifer are superb hosts.  Later in the evening, I sat with them and Jennifer's daughter, Tiffany, in their living room and chatted until close to midnight.  I went my separate way to bed, hit the pillow, and the next thing I knew, it was 730am, and time to get up to enjoy the new day.  It's rare that I'm able to sleep through the night, but at Live Oak Resort, the sounds of the city disappear.  Being so close to nature does the body good!

Day 2 - Friday

I joined some regulars for breakfast at 800am at Live Oak's Bare Delites Restaurant.  Chef William made a "Navy-style" breakfast for me, consisting of a short stack of pancakes, topped with two eggs over easy.  It sure puts those breakfast chain restaurants to the test!  The 4 cups of coffee didn't make my headache disappear (gee, I wonder how I got a headache?), so I downed a couple of grade-Aspirin and was back to 100 percent.

I met a couple of interesting bikers over breakfast.  Tattoos and piercings - true biker lifestyle, or at least what I had imagined.  But you know - they were just like me - once I got beyond the tattoos.  Any prejudice I may have had disappeared.  Don't judge an individual on their appearance.  Heck - I wonder what they thought of me, based on my first appearance.  Everyone I met were absolutely great - and were all here for the same reasons - to relax, meet old and make new friends, to share common interests, and above all to have fun.  It truly is incredible how much pride they take in their bikes.  Young and old - twenty year olds through folks in their seventies - they're out washing their bikes, and tweaking them for the upcoming rally.  The bikers showing up here are from all walks of life.  Blue collar and white.  Doctors, lawyers, mechanics and engineers.  All aspects with at least one common thread that binds them.

By 10am I was hanging out by Live Oak's huge pool.  It was overcast, but the clouds gave way to sunshine by mid-day.  The temperature / weather combination was just the right combination to relax on a lounge chair, soak in the rays and take a dip every now and then.  A handful of others were already out by the pool, chatting and enjoying the 24 x 7 music piped in from Club Larry, while another couple was dipping into the hot tub.  I guess they needed to relax their muscles from their bike ride to the resort - or maybe from last night's "activities."

I took a short break from the pool area to see some of the vendors setting up for the bike rally.  There's a guy out here who air brushes bikes - you need to see some of his work - SpenceArt.  I saw some spectacular artwork on some bikes out here.  Heck, Ken and Maggie, residents here, had their golf cart airbrushed by Spence in a tie-died motif.  Very 70's looking, and Ken and Maggie are in their 20s.  Cool!

While walking around, I met an older man who, for the past 12 years, has called his custom van his home.  He drives about 30,000 miles a year with no destination in mind.  Every day, he picks a new location to park his home.  He wants to see what the country has to offer - from the vistas to the people.  I could never do that, but kudos to him for following his dream.  I guess that's what life is all about - and it's reflected in the faces of everyone at Live Oak.  Recognize what's important - what you value - and incorporate that into your life as you pursue your dreams.  It's not about money, though as Zig Ziglar once put it, "money isn't everything, but it sure makes for a fine down-payment."

Around 2pm, I looked overhead to see 2 vultures soaring overhead.  Managing the currents, they didn't need to flap their wings for over 5 minutes.  So, since I was at the resort, I saw tons of hummingbirds - lots of them flying around the plants at Bare Delites, a bunch of butterflies, dragonflies and even a falcon.  Now these vultures.  Wow.  Nature at its best.

I realized I had completely forgotten about lunch.  I was too absorbed in the conversation and tanning to even think about being hungry.  If I wanted, I could have gone to Bare Delites for a burger, but I was comfortable just where I was. 

The gang at the front office must have had their hands full, as there were at least 200 guests who had entered the resort by 2pm, with another couple of hundred scheduled to arrive before day's  end.  Everyone from young singles on their Harleys to elderly couples in their motor coaches have come through the iron gate.  Some of those coaches were huge - and most were towing little trailers that house their bikes - even golf carts!

By 4pm the pool was pretty full with guests and residents alike.  It's funny to see how people get into the pool.  Most of them walk very slowly into the shallow end, getting used to the temperature one small step at a time.  Cold water does funny things to bare bodies - thank goodness those parts are already under water!  Well, darned if I was going to nurse my way into the pool.  I went to the deep end and dove right in.  Soooo refreshing!  I got out, and laid back down on the lounge chair, letting the Sun dry me off.

Dinnertime came too soon - Bare Delites is open from 8am to 8pm, and I finished my day at the pool at 7pm.  By the time I washed up, I was cutting it close.  I sat down with some new acquaintances and had the most spectacular catfish dinner, thanks to Chef William's magic touch.

After dinner, I hung out with my new friends, sipping a few beers as we shared good conversation.  Before too long, it was time to head up to the outdoor stage where Big Mike Griffin had just started to perform.

By 10pm, the dance floor was bumper-to-bumper bodies... and to me, that's a good thing!  Two reasons.  First - they can't see how poorly I dance, and Secondly - I can see close-up how good they look when they dance!  Big Mike was playing everything from the blues to country - something for everyone to dance to.  If I closed my eyes, at times he even sounded like the late-great Stevie Ray Vaughan.  Pretty good!

I called it an early evening, and at midnight was ready to hit the sack.  On the way back to my quarters, I saw how busy the pool and hot tub were.  "I've got to go there tomorrow night," I thought as I slowly walked by.

Again, non-stop sleep through the night.  So peaceful.

Day 3 - Saturday

On Saturday, I awoke to the sounds of bikes starting up.  Looking at my watch, I realized it was already 9am!  Bikes were just starting to head out on the rally.  I hopped up, got washed and headed out to watch the "parade" of bikes as they left the resort.  I typically would have taken longer to get ready, but hey - when you don't need to get dressed, you save a few minutes!

Bikes of all shapes, sizes and colors were rolling out of the gate on to their 129 mile ride.  "Gotta get me one of those bikes" I thought (and have been saying ever since I returned home).

By noon, I was asked by Krueger, a super nice guy who is a year-round resident to help him out in judging the biker's poker hands as they returned from their ride.  Sounded like fun, and indeed it was.  I met so many more "new" friends that afternoon.  I was the lucky judge who read the best hand and worst hand.  Krueger read second and third place.  Sitting behind a table with nothing more than a smile, we each judged 100 bikers' poker hands.  They were all dressed and we weren't.  Weird at first, but something I got used to very quickly... and enjoyed!  I must say that it was fun watching them clean the lovebugs off their outfits as they stood in line.  ("Note to self - when I buy a bike, be sure it has a windshield, and I have goggles.") 

By 315pm, we had finished judging, and I went out to watch the bikers compete in various games - like having your passenger catch a hot dog with her mouth while you slowly ride by it.  Some biker was going to get very lucky that evening!  Afterward, I strolled up and down the rows of bikes on display for the bike judging.  See some of them in the photos on this page.  Way cool.  ("Another note to self - don't lose SpenceArt's address!") 

Finally, it was back out to the pool to soak up the rest of the day's sun.  Again after getting wrapped up in conversation (so many interesting people from all walks of life!!!), I realized it was getting almost to the end of dinner.  So we headed out to the Pavillion for barbeque.  Great food, great people.

That evening, Big Mike Griffin performed again - and like the night before, we all danced and partied the night away.  As I had promised to myself, I hopped into the hot tub (steamy 103 degrees) then like a nut jumped into the pool.  Once the shock wore off, I was able to move my limbs and paddle over to the side, where a few couples and I chatted for awhile as we watched others enjoy their evening in various recreational modes.

By 1am, I headed in.

Day 4 - Sunday

The rain started up probably around 2am, and hadn't let up.  I really felt sorry for all those on bikes, but they didn't seem to mind it one bit.  It's a great life, with and without the rain.  I hung around for a few hours to watch many of them leave, then said my good-byes with promises to be back soon.

To sum it up, Live Oak Resort has a wealth of recreational entertainment to offer all like-minded adults.  Be it those interested in riding bikes, to those who just want to get away from it all for a weekend. 

As many of the residents can tell you, they came just for a weekend and ended up staying for a lifetime.  I now know why.

I'll be back soon, and this time won't be packing as much.