went to the rally in galveston today and was glad to see how many people showed up. as most of you know, galveston was devestated by hurricane ike a few months ago and this rally was postphoned a couple of months. the majority of the island went under water and the devastation is mind boggling. i was born and raised in houston and have been going to galveston since i was a little kid with family and friends. think i got stung by my first jellyfish when about 5 or 6. to see what has happened just blew me away. on bolivar peninsula it looks like an a-bomb went off. over 500 homes just washed away. i was here july 4th partying with friends and fishing. now its just gone. saw on tv but until you stand there and look at it, it just doesn't seem possible. anyway, glad to see how many riders did show up to support the city. seems to me it will take at least 10 years minimun for galveston to recover. GOD bless TEXAS and especially GALVESTON......

 

You know, I was so disappointed that they changed the dates because being a shift worker it meant that I had little time to spend at the rally. I did go during the week and was so glad to see that although less attendance at least it was supported. Last year's rally was bigger in attendance than Sturgis this year which put it the biggest motorcycle rally in the United States. Because of the hurricane, date changes that put it in cold weather, hotels that could not accommodate out of towners as much due to hurricane Ike, hardships of non locals travel during winter, etc, I am still glad there appeared to be a great attendance. Unlike Sturgis, for now, they don't bring in hundreds of cops for extra revenue through tickets, no goody goody tourist rules in lue of a real biker rally, no price gouging for a place to stay on a large scale like Sturgis, no trademarking of the city name like Sturgis, no sex offender for life for flashing **** like in Laughlin rally and just plain down to earth pure biker rally. It is one of the biggest in the country now and is what a BIKER rally is all about. Let's hope that the greed and police revenue won't get the best of them in coming years like the joke of a rally Sturgis has turned into. That still remains to be seen. But for now as the Lonestar Rally will get even bigger for the coming years it's still the best in the nation and I've been to them all. All we need now is for the rally to extend it's time frame for at least a full week, attract more of the same and more big name vendors, and continue to make a name for it self as a REAL biker rally and not a Disney world rally like the rest of the country is going to. I was proud to support Galveston after a devastating hurricane and in all they love us there.

I did receive the Lonestar Rally news letter a few weeks ago which stated that there was a small amount of price gouging on hotels. They stated if it was wide spread and continued that they would move the rally out of Galveston. I would so hate to see this but if it turned into another Sturgis I would understand completely and would support the move myself. For now we have the beginnings and one of the best rallies in the nation and all in a few short years. I've been to Disney world, have been to Sturgis many times, and hope that this rally stays true to bikers and never ends up with the feeling that you are at either of those. Thanks for supporting the rally my friends.

 

I was real impressed with the turn out for the Lone Star rally in Galveston this weekend. I was glad to through some money into the Galveston economy and had a great time doing it. I was afraid it would be a small turn out. The original hotel I booked at was still not ready to open and I had to make new reservations less than a week before the rally. When I easily found a hotel and saw that I had plenty of options, I was concerned it would be a poor turnout. Especially when on the way down Fiday night, I was the only bike on the road. I did see a couple being trailered but I don't count them

Here's a picture I took to show the crowd on the strand. It was only 1:00 on Saturday afternoon and it was already packed.

Can't wait for next year!

 

PICS!!! We need pics!

 

This was my wife and i's first rally, and i can say we enjoyed every minute of it. It was good to see all the support for Galveston, i also have been going to the island for the last 25 years and could not believe the devistation. We look forward to supporting this event for many years to come.

I will post some pisc's soon!!!