The 2009 Republic of Texas (ROT) biker rally starts today here in Austin and runs through Sunday.
A custom bike with a V8 engine at the ROT Rally
It’s the biggest biker rally in Texas, and the 4th largest in the nation. More than 200K riders are expected in Austin for this event. Which, by the way, brings in more revenue to the city of Austin than does the SXSW or ACL music festivals.
Of course that’s because at those festivals, you have mostly unemployed 20-somethings who will “split” a hotel room with 7 other slackers, and budget approximately $8.95 per day for food. The total spent per person by these music festival goers is somewhere around $25 per day. (I totally made up that number).
Bikers, on the other hand, are older, career professionals who have considerable disposable income. When you see the number of $45K-$65K toys that are wheeled into town this weekend, you’ll get it. These are people who will not share hotel rooms with anybody other than the woman who rode in with them. They’ll fill up all of Austin’s best restaurants and poor millions of dollars into the local tax revenue.
Rally Attractions
Tonight’s live music at the Rally grounds includes Ray Wylie Hubbard and Robert Earl Keen tonight. Tomorrow night’s headliner is the Kentucky Headhunters. Saturday night will be Hank Williams, Jr.
Tomorrow is the biker parade from the Expo Center on Decker Lane to the Capitol. If you’re not a rider, make sure to head downtown to witness 10s of thousand of bikes roaring into Downtown. And then stick around to watch Robbie Knievel, son of the late Evel Knievel, jump over a bunch of semi-trucks in front of the Capitol at 11 p.m. Friday.
A big change to the rally this year is that they will no longer permit anybody younger than 18-years old onto the rally grounds. Which is a good idea. Sort of.
Out on the rally grounds, away from the Expo Center and vendor areas — out on the parade route and camping grounds — their is a lot of debauched adult behavior going on. Pretty openly. Lots of drinking, nudity (lots of trailers with stripper poles on them), some drugs, lots of loud bikes doing burnouts — in other words, not a good place to bring your children.
This is one of the more "family friendly" couples early on Saturday evening at the ROT Rally
But every year, I see hundred of teenagers, kids, and even toddlers wandering around in an environment that they shouldn’t be in. I’m always dismayed at the parents who bring their kids to this.
On the other hand, I think that an exception should have been made for during the day inside the Expo center, where there are a lot of fun and interesting things for the entire family: custom bike build off competitions, tattoo competitions, roller derby girls, Extreme fighting, micro wrestling, and lots of vendors and food booths.
Just don’t let the kids out to the campground area at night.
Be Careful Out There This Weekend
I don’t know how much (or if at all) I’ll get to participate in this year’s rally. My brother and his clan are coming to visit this weekend and to get the rest of their stuff that we were storing for them while he was stationed at Ft. Jackson, S.C.
I don’t think my wife will think too kindly of me running off and partying at the rally while she’s stuck at home entertaining my brother and his kids. I might talk her into letting me ride in the parade Friday evening, and they can meet me downtown. The kids will love the parade, and we can get in and out of downtown early…while the sun is still up.
For the rest of you in Austin this weekend — if you’re in a cage, please watch out for the bikers around you. Not just today…but always. Give them some room, don’t tail gate, and always check and then double-check before making a turn or changing lanes. Most bikers are killed by cars making a left turn in front of them.
If you’re a biker, please watch out for the cars around you. Ride with respect and safety in mind. Don’t tailgate, don’t split lanes, and try to keep both wheels on the ground at all times. If you have loud pipes (I have some of the loudest in Austin), please keep your throttle down when rolling through neighborhoods and after the sun sets.
Everybody enjoy the rally. And everybody make it back home safely.
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This ranks right behind SXSW as the best weekend to vacation away from Austin. Nothing like overcrowded streets full of weekend warrior wannabes who park their Escalades in Kyle so they can look like real bikers when they troll into Austin on their squeaky-clean little tinker-toys.
Pat, to quote Curly Bill from the movie Tombstone “Well….. Bye”.
Hey Pat, don’t let the door …. well you know the rest. Sure do hope that as a local you enjoy the major $$$$ that is coming to your town. – fucktard, (couldn’t resist)
Awww…is Pattycakes mad that Chastity Bono is having a sex change? Maybe his fake lesbian daughter can do the same.
Hey, its patty, the fake austinite with the fake lesbian daughter. You didn’t show up to defend a child from verbal assault by a nasty old pervert (letterman), but you do show up to attack an event celebrating testosterone. Why, you must be a leftist!
I never took my kid to ROT, even in the morning it is an R rated show. Saw lots of kids on the drag Saturday night the last time I went, teens handing out beads is just not right and we quit going after that. 18 and over is a welcome change.
“Most bikers are killed by cars making a left turn in front of them.”
Could you please explain/describe how accidents of this type happen for the sake of increasing driver awareness?
I always try to be extra careful when driving near a motorcyclist, as I realize that, due to the drastic differences in mass, the distance required to stop a car is much greater than the distance required to stop a motorcycle when both are traveling at the same speed. I am also very conscious of how vulnerable bikers are to bodily injury.
However, despite trying to employ caution, I have not considered how making a left turn could threaten the motorist behind me (unless, of course, I was turning without using my turn signal or was illegally cutting across a lane of traffic to make the left turn). Having knowledge of other types of scenarios would be useful to avoid causing them!
Tracy, it’s the later….cars making left turns in front of oncoming traffic.
And the first thing the drivers always tell the investigating officer is, “I never saw the motorcycle [that I just cut in front of].”
Whenever I see a car in a left turn lane coming in the opposite direction, I just assume they are going to turn in front of me.
Same with cars pulling out of driveways on my right. I always assume they don’t see me and are going to pull out right in front of me. Which they often do.
Thanks for explaining. Since you said most motorcyclists are killed by left-hand turns, I felt that it was important to fully understand how these accidents occur to best avoid causing such accidents.
As I considered how left turns could result in these fatal accidents, I imagined scenarios in which the motorcyclist was traveling BEHIND the car making the left turn. I did not even consider the scenario of a vehicle cutting off a motorcyclist approaching in an oncoming lane. The reason I did not even consider this scenario is because it seems virtually IMPOSSIBLE to not notice an oncoming motorcycle. Though motorcycles are much smaller than vehicles, they are hardly invisible.
My older brother and his wife have been biking for years. I have heard them, and many other bikers, describe how motorists seem to begrudge them an inch of space, as though they do not have the right to be on the road. I don’t understand this mentality. It’s almost as though, since motorcycles are comparatively small, that motorists feel entitled to squeeze them off the road. I don’t know if we can chalk this behavior up to hostility or just plain carelessness, irresponsibility, and negligence. Whatever the reason may be, when we get behind the wheel of a two-ton vehicle, it is important to remain vigilant against being lulled into complacency by the seemingly mundane daily task of driving. It is much too easy to simply drive home on autopilot.
Thank you for the reminder of the enormous human cost incurred when we do not remain alert while driving.
Tracy, here’s a classic example.
Oh, God, that was horrible. I cannot believe the driver just drove off and left the victim of their recklessness. I suppose the motorcyclist died from his injuries?
Hopefully the driver was caught and punished to the full extent of the law. This person should also never be allowed to drive again after serving the maximum amount of time.
Who can say?
I’ve seen people survive horrible accidents, when it seemed no one should have, and have seen people die with only one little mark on the side of their head.
People run all the time. If you live in Texas, be prepared to chase someone that hits your vehicle, what with all the illegals driving around on our streets.
V8? Really? I’m surprised nobody mentioned those missing 5 cylinders. Maybe to the cruiser crowd and other non-motorcyclists if it’s not a narrow angle V twin, a straight three might as well be a V8.
check out the ROT Rally pics at rotrallypictures.blogspot.com