The 16th Annual “Ride to the Tide” was held April 16 with a police escorted ride from Rommel’s Harley-Davidson in Smyrna to Love Creek Elementary School in Lewes, Delaware.
Our Chesapeake HOG Chapter #4355 was well represented with 17 bikes and 24 riders on what started out with heavy fog but quickly turned into another beautiful day to ride.
This event was limited to “only” 1,000 motorcycles (of all kinds) and was quickly sold out. But for those of us that like cop escorted rides, this is one you don’t want to miss out on in the future!
Ride to the Tide Benefitting Special Olympics DE
Our group left Eisenhauer Chesapeake Harley Davidson pretty close to the scheduled 8:30am departure time. The route took us across the dam, down to through Cecil County to Route 40. Then a quick turn on Rt 213 South across the Chesapeake City bridge. We crossed the Bohemia and Sassafras Rivers on our way to Galena.
We then made our way east to Rommel Harley Davidson in Smyrna where we met up with about a thousand of our closest friends in the staging area behind the dealership.
This event was limited to “only” 1,000 motorcycles (of all kinds) and was quickly sold out. But for those of us that like cop escorted rides, this is one you don’t want to miss out on in the future!
After the invocation and riders’ briefing, we headed out as part of the larger group – almost a thousand strong. The Chapter was deep in the pack.
The Delaware State Police, Sheriffs and local police had closed off most of the route from the dealership in Smyrna to the Love Elementary School in Lewes, DE.
The pace varied significantly ranging from stretches of stop & go to other stretches where the pace was well over 100 MPH. One large group of riders was directed off of the main route. The police scrambled to redirect riders back onto the designated route and then wrangle the strays back to the herd. At least one of the our Chapter’s riders took the “longer, more scenic” route.
The elementary school was generally well organized but proved, as the final riders arrived, to be under provisioned.
Ride to the Tide, a police-escorted motorcycle ride, inspires motorcyclists and their passengers from around the region to come together and support our athletes while doing something they love to do – ride their bikes.
There were fire trucks at the entrance with a huge flag hanging between two extended ladders over the entrance. There were two main parking lots – the larger set up for bike parking and the smaller bus lot set with food trucks. Most of the food trucks had been depleted as the last riders arrived.
With limited choices, we were able to have some lunch. As a group, we gassed up at a local station and made our way back to Darlington.