Bike Week

There is not doubt that Bike Week 2007 has been an overwhelming commercial success. I ran into one restaurant owner who explained that he probably did the best business he will do all year this weekend. Better than his July weekends. He also raved about how nice everyone was, patient and friendly. I ran into one local couple who were complaining about the noise, he lives on the beach road around Jockeys Ridge. For my part I didn't notice the noise as much this year as I have in past years. Probably because the events were spread over a much wider area this year.

Best observation came from another restaurant owner who explained that while last fall's OBX Marathon brought a lot of people to the Outer Banks they didn't eat much and they definitely didn't drink. They were just too health conscious, You just don't knock back too many Buds before you run 26 miles. The HOGs on the other hand, liked to eat and like to drink (responsibly) and left a lot of money in Dare County.
Whatever you think of the event, it looks like its going to be around for a while. The visitors seemed to have a good time and the local businesses seemed to love it.