Good Motorcycle Morning!
Just one week after visiting the OCMD Bike Week (See last month’s article), I made the last-minute decision to attend the Ray Price Capital City Bikefest in Raleigh, NC, and I’m so glad I did!
I set out about 8 am, grabbed some breakfast and arrived in Raleigh around 9:30 am. There were folks strategically placed at key intersections in downtown directing you to where you can park the bike, though I noticed in the evening when I was leaving that there were bikes almost everywhere so I guess they gave up on that sometime throughout the day.
The convention center officially opened at 10 am, but I snuck in before. 
I used that quiet time to get the lay of the land inside the convention center and to plan what I was going to see that day. First, I checked out all the custom bikes in the house. In Ocean City, I was most likely to see people in leather and chaps. In Raleigh, I was more likely to see mechanic shirts, fabricators, bike builders. There we about 30 different custom bike builders showing off and selling their creations. They had everything from ancient Harleys to epic baggers to sweet café racers. It was awesome.
Inside the convention center there was a lot of entertainment too. I checked out the rock crawler moto stunt show. Then there was a different outfit doing the same’ish Wall of Death act that I had seen at OCMD Bike Week. Then someone got married. Yes, married. At a bike rally. He was a bike builder and I’m not sure what her connection to the moto community was, but again, married at a bike rally. Amazing. After that I witnessed fellas on bicycles flying 30 ft. in the air at the BMX stunt show, totally awesome. A little later, the Carolina Roller Girls performed. As far as dangerous people on roller skates go, these ladies definitely fit the bill.
Later I left the shade and A/C of the convention center and there was a lot going on outside. I did the Harley factory demo ride on a beautiful ‘rust red’ street bob with ape hanger bars. It’s definitely not the bike for me, but I sure did feel real cool riding it. Then I grabbed some lunch from one of the food vendors lining both sides of the road for 2 city blocks. There was everything from Carolina BBQ to Greek fare. The only downside what that I had to eat sitting in the sun, but besides that it was pretty good. There were 2 stages, about 2 blocks apart, with some pretty good sounding bands playing. I chilled out for a while and did some people watching while listening to the music. Before I knew it, it was around 6 pm. The last thing I did was check out the outdoor stunt show. They were stunting sport bikes, cruisers, baggers and Camaros. Lots of little wrecks, lots of tires exploding, lots of smoke, pretty cool.
This was my second time visiting the Capital City Bikefest. I had attended before, 3 years prior. It has definitely improved over the years, but it’s not yet comparable to the sheer magnitude of the entire Delmarva peninsula’s bike rally. That said, it’s a pretty good time, mostly all the entertainment is free, and it’s only 45 minutes from my house. I’ll be back for sure.
Good Motorcycle Morning!
Want more? I made a video about my day at the Capital City Bikefest: youtube.com/sightw
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