Charity Pig Roast - Gadsen, Alabama

They have a weekend of several bands that play outside at Moragne Park, (the site for the pig roast), in the afternoon on into the night. There is a kids festival area with a lot of fun things for the little ones to do while the big kids check out the vendors, enjoy the music, and stuff their faces with PIG! There was so much barbeque that there had to have been a few pigs in that pit. And it was SO-GOOD! About five years ago they decided to include the biker community by adding a scenic ride and poker run to their weekend of fun and fund raising, and we are all very glad they did. This was our first year to go, and we enjoyed every bit of it!

Saturday there was a scenic ride from Gadsden with the first stop being at 29 Dreams Motorcycle Resort. We didn’t go to Gadsden to do the ride with them, but we did ride out to 29 Dreams to catch up with the almost 200 riders who did come from the pig roast. We usually don’t need much of a reason to ride out to 29 Dreams because the ride to get there is just so damn much fun, and once you get there, you gotta just “chill” for awhile.

The scenic ride did have one spill, and it was a lady on the way into 29 Dreams in one of the really sharp curves. She and her bike were only a little shaken with a few scrapes. She did manage to ride on from there, but I do believe she went back instead of finishing out the ride.

Sunday was the poker run and we rode over to Gadsden to join in. If you like to ride, you’ll love to go on a poker run in Gadsden; they last for 3-4 hours--100 or more miles! We all met up at the pig roast site to register and draw our first card. This is also where the vendors were set up. Our friends from the Biker Shack 411, Pam and John Hunt, were among the group of vendors. Also, we met the new guys on the “bike shop block” from Donnie T’s Customs in Centre, Alabama. They were to have their grand opening the following weekend. Most of the motorcycle magazines were on hand. In addition to Cycle Connections, there was also Full Throttle, Biker 2000, and Thunder Roads. Cycle World donated a 2005 VTX Honda that was given away at a reverse raffle that was held after the poker run, along with a ton of door prizes.

The poker run was a lot of fun, even with the threatening weather all weekend. Luckily for us, our first stop was Mt. Cheaha Harley-Davidson, where most of the rain gear was bought up—quickly! After the next stop, it was all put to use, as the bottom fell out on us. Surprisingly enough, only two or three bikes pulled off right away. The rest of us just rode through to the next big service station with a little cover. And wouldn’t you know it, right down the road it quit and everyone was burning up in the rain gear! It did, however, start raining again when we got back to the pig roast site. That was okay though—the food area was covered.

We still had a blast, even with the rain. We had plenty to eat and drink, were entertained by some really good music, had a great ride on the bike, and met some more new friends.

Our hats are off to the City of Gadsden and all of the volunteers, vendors and sponsors who helped to make the 21st Annual Charity Pig Roast such a success.

See all of you again next year and ay all of your rides be long and safe!

Write-On and Ride-On!

Story & Photos by Lynn Reynolds and Leigh Lilly - Birmingham, Alabama