My First Poker Run

This past weekend my wife & I participated in our first Key West Poker Run. For those who don’t know what that is. The Poker run to Key West was established over 35 years ago by Phil Peterson’s Harley Davidson, where over 10,000 bikes run from Miami to Key West collecting funds for different charities. The run also is made to boost the slow tourist season in Key West during the month of Sept.

What makes this run so special is the ride itself. There’s nothing quite like riding from one little island to another with the Gulf of Mexico on one side and the Atlantic on the other. I talked about my first ride to Key West on a previous blog and how great it was, well this run doubled the fun and excitement because we were able to do the 160 miles with several other friends as well as several thousand other riders. Eight riders on five bikes met up on Friday morning around 9:am at the Service Plaza on the turnpike and headed out to the first of five different stops along the way.

Sport Bike Reputation

Contrary to how this post might come across, I like sport bikes. I prefer cruisers, but I think there are some really beautiful sport bikes out there and manufacturers are coming out with some awesome bikes lately. I know of a lot of sport bike riders that take motorcycle safety very serious. In fact two of the instructors at my BRC ride sport bikes. Even my boss rides sport bikes. However here in South Florida there has been an increasing dislike by the general public of all bikers primarily due to irresponsible riding by sport bike riders. Riders doing wheelies at 80 mph on major highways and generally riding erratically have increased the amount of accidents (and deaths) in the last few years.