I've been thinking about that. I went on a run @ Moosheart (in Batavia). They have a large paved lot there, and it was pretty much full. There were 350 bikes.

Thinking about the size of that lot, comparing it to the areas filled with bikes at Grundy County Fairgrounds, I can't see there being more than 3,000 or so bikes there. 40,000 is a LOT of bikes. By my calculations, based on square feet, it would be difficult to fit more than about 5,000 bikes in the areas used at Grundy County.

The lot at Moosheart is about 40,000 sq ft. There were 350 bikes there. That's about 114 sq ft per bike. ... but there was room to walk around the bikes, so open areas with tables for coffee & donuts. Maybe you could fit 500 bikes in that lot... without a lot of room around each bike. That still gives you 80 sq ft per bike.

The areas we used at Grundy County add up to about 324,000 sq ft. Lets be generous and call it 350,000. At 80 sq ft per bike, you end up with room for 4,375 bikes.

I think you can put a bike in a space about 8'x4' (36 sq ft) - with no room to walk around it. Even at that, you could, possibly, at best, only fit about 9,000 bikes in that area.

Talking to a shop owner in Marseilles, I was told that the first two runs, there were 30,000 bikes that showed up in Marseilles - not all of them necessarily taking part in the run. ... but, in subsequent runs, the number has been far lower.

Anyway... *I* am curious to know the actual numbers. Even if it's just 3,000 or 5,000, that's still a LOT of bikes all cruising together down the highway!

 

+1 definitely interested in the numbers....it was definitely more than 10k....grundy was packed...i got lucky and got in with a group of rolling thunder guys so up to the front for me...lol

 

Freedom ride was good time the bikes never ended heres some pics

 

We did the Freedom Run in 2004, 2005 and 2006 (moved to Georgia late 2006). It is a very moving experience.

 

What a party too!

 

It seemed to me, that there was half as many bikes as there was last year.

 

Thats because they cut the main st parking in half. You had to look around. There were parking lots stuffed full 7 blocks away to the west.

 

anyone get a attendance number yet??? 40k is a lot of bikes