Originally posted by
Mike Ray
Quote:
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bike week was actually pretty successful this year. the first weekend alone their was an estimated 300,000 bikes. it wasnt totally a wash out. the rain did hold off on a lot of key days.(weekends, and wed. was 80 and sunny) It's definately not what it was in the 80's and 90's, but a lot of that is because of the economy. rally attendance is off at every rally across the country. I am happy to report that our numbers were way up from last year, and I hope other businesses also did well. either way, bike week still generates roughly 300,000 million dollars to the states economy, thats pretty damn good. oh, 1 last thing, bike week has been going on for 86 years, the oldest rally in the country, and for those 86 years it has been held at the beginning of june.(dates due fluctuate due to leap year) motorcycle enthusiests across the world know this and plan accordingly. the people who visit laconia plan around literally hundreds of other bike rallys across the country that take place throughout the year. at this point because of the history, and the conflicting rallies, changing the dates of bike week is not really an option.
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Mike, I gotta tell ya, I don't know where you're getting the numbers from but I would guestimate about half that at best!
I've been going to Bike Week for decades and as I posted I am on a major route that bikes take. With the exception of Wednesday there were no more bikes going past me than on any other given summer day!
As for the races...I drove past the speedway the weekend of the races and there was nothing...nothing in the way of bikes or anything else.
Went through the Weirs by boat twice during the week and no crowds, and on the final weekend headed up to Meredith and ate at the Town Docks and got in and out without any waiting.
300,000 is a major stretch...of course I watched some of the same bikers drive past my place a dozen or so times during the week. I counted the ones I recognized as ONE.