Downtown DeLand's Bike Fest 2008

Last week bikers from around the world desended on Volusia County for Bike Week 2008.

While Daytona Beach still gets most of the publicity as the Bike Week epicenter, activities now spread throughout Volusia County and all of Central Florida.  The historic downtown of Deland, my home town, roared with the sound of bikes on Saturday, March 1 for the DeLand Bike Rally.  The normally quiet downtown was host to as many as 50,000 bikers who enjoyed all that downtown DeLand has to offer.  Live bands played, while bikers and spectators alike enjoyed picture perfect weather conditions.    The turn out was made all the more amazing considering that this was just the 4th annual event to be held in DeLand. 

When my husband, Frank and I first began coming to Bike Week 12 years ago, the only bikers in West Volusia were those that could not find hotel rooms in Daytona.  Luckily my husband and I happened upon the picturesque town of DeLand just as we had decided it was time to get out of South Florida.  One of our priorities in searching areas was access to our other favorite pastime - boating.   DeLand's proximity to the coast, as well as our pleasant discovery of the St. John's River just to the West, made it the perfect spot for us.  While motorcycles are no longer a part of our life, we are happy that they helped lead us to DeLand, which we expect to continue to be the perfect spot for us for years to come.