Friday the Thirteenth Motorcycle Rally

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Every Friday the thirteenth in Port Dover, a small fishing town on Lake Erie, motorcycle owners from Canada and the United States gather for an informal rally to show off their bikes and renew old friendships. It is said that it all began when a few local bikers were talking about an upcoming Friday Thirteen and decided to get together in Port Dover. Word spread and on a warm Friday thirteen in July, as many as 50,000 cyclists show up.

January 13, 2006 was mild but overcast with a threat of rain. But there was no snow and the roads were mainly dry. On the drive from Hamilton we passed many bikes going the other way and were afraid that we'd missed the excitement. Not so, because people come and go all day, and there is always a large gathering all along the main street, at the Tim Horton's outlet, and down by the lake. There's a reasonable seafood restaurant on the beach and fast food places on the beach strip. The action centers at the Norfolk Tavern, and a small park a little farther along on the main drag where many booths are set up selling biker gear. There are stores selling leather outfits at reasonable prices and souvenir T shirts to prove you were in Port Dover on Friday the thirteenth. Harley dealers are around, lots of bikes are on private sale and there's some really beautiful machines to check out. We enjoyed ourselves, and we are certainly not biker people.