Friday the 13th obviously means different things to different people. For some, it's a day when they possibly worry slightly more about such things as walking under ladders or crossing the road. Some even go as far as wearing lucky charms to ward off the dangers of this auspicious date.

Of course, others simply don their leather riding gear, mount their motorcycles and head off to the little town of Port Dover on the Lake Erie waterfront, to join with the thousands of others in the biker fraternity.


Since 1981 when Chris Simons first invited a couple of dozen biking buddies down to Port Dover, the town has never been the same. Each year the numbers of motorcyclists visiting seems to grow, and with Friday the 13th falling in July this year, it was predicted that up to 150,000 bike fans would be in attendance.

So what is it all about? What brings the motorcycling fraternity out in such enormous numbers to visit a town, which at any other time of the year, is not much more than a quaint little lakeside town, whose only true boast is that of being the home to the largest freshwater fishing fleet?

Well, one has to be the town's residents who are incredibly friendly and welcoming to their two wheeled, and occasionally, three wheeled friends. Naturally, there are one or two who might prefer if the masses of bikers chose another town for their visit, but on the whole, the majority of residents welcome them with open arms.

And why not? After all, on every Friday, which has the number 13 in its date, money flows into the little town at a phenomenal rate. Local shopkeepers sell everything from Port Dover t-shirts to bottled water by the truckload, and the local Tim Horton's becomes literally the busiest in Canada. I'm not joking there; I've stood in line-ups for coffee and a handful of timbits before, but never for over an hour!!

The local homeowners are not shy in capitalizing on the sudden influx either, and many are only too happy to rent out their front gardens for parking and camping. In fact, some simply let riders park and camp on their lawns out of pure friendship. No parking lot in Toronto has ever offered me a lawn chair to sit in and a cold beverage!!! (Thanks guys, much appreciated!!)