No Bikers in sight on Thursday before Daytona Bike Week which starts on Friday. The town used to fill up a few days before the official start but not this year. The Beach Street doesn't even have any vendors setup. It used to be a nice cozy stop for Bikers before hitting main street. Perhaps they'll start calling this Ormond Beach Bike Week in a few years since Destination Daytona Harley Store probably attracts more Bikers to its massive complex in Ormond Beach. Plus they are plenty of cozy biker bars along US1 when you are headed out that way. I've certainly seen a huge decline in how Bike Week used to be in Daytona. You would have vendors setup along US1 all the way to New Smyrna. If you are headed down to Daytona for Bike Week there are a couple of spots you are going to want to stop. One of them being International Speedway which has vendors setup on it's tarmac parking lot. It used to be nicer a few years ago when they had the vendors setup on grassy area. It just felt less corporate and more friendly. The River front at Beach street is not setup this year. Looks like they are drilling to put up some huge high rise condos. You can head down to Main Street of course which gets pretty busy on the weekends. They are quite a few condemned buildings in site that won't be able to host vendors this year. The Beach is always a nice spot to Ride as well. Yes you still can ride your motorcycle on the beach here in Daytona. Usually the sand is nice and hard that makes it easy for riding but they are times when it gets soft and tricky to ride through. They usually host a Bike show around the main street peer area. It's a good place to check out some nice bikes and models posing on them.
Your best bet for most fun is along US1 when you are heading towards Ormond. You can take A1A to the Ormond Bridge, cross over and take US1 North where you'll find plenty of biker bars and camping along the route all the way to Destination Daytona which is a massive Harley Davidson complex built by Bruce Rossmeyer, the legendary Harley man who sadly passed away a few years ago at Sturgis while riding his motorcycle.
If you are looking for a scenic ride, there is always that loop! Take A1A north from Daytona main street. Once you get passed Ormond you'll get a nice scenic A1A ride with the Ocean right next to you. You'll come across a road called the High Bridge Road. Turn into it and enjoy a very scenic and curvy road along Florida swamps. It's truly a majestic experience especially at sunrise and sunset. A road covered with a tunnel of trees will take you all the way back to where you started too.
If you are down here you'll also want to ride out to Saint Augustine on A1A. Perhaps stop by the Washington Gardens Park on your way too. We hope you have a great time on your trip to Daytona Bike Week. Enjoy the beautiful weather and RIDE SAFE
