 Myrtle Beach Bike Week
In these dire economic times can any municipality afford to scale back the amount of tourist dollars coming into their community? This is what the City of Myrtle Beach is doing. While the motorcycle rally is referred to as the Myrtle Beach rally the correct name is “Cruising the Coast”. The City of Myrtle Beach itself is just a teensy little segment of the rally. Other municipalities in Horry County appreciate and welcome the bikers and ask only for them to “obey the law and be respectful of others”. For the Mayor to make the statement “the motorcycle rallies have been stopped” is simply ludicrous. Ron White said it best, and I can only imagine he was referring to Mayor Rhodes and the Myrtle Beach city council, when he said “YOU CAN’T FIX STUPID”. In my opinion the only thing the Mayor has successfully succeeded in stopping, is his political career.
Personally, I do not have a problem with any of the city ordinances which have been enacted. I wear my helmet all the times anyway for I am way too pretty to have my hair blowing all over the place, it keeps the sun and rain off my noggin and at my age my head is getting a little soft ( I’m writing to the newspaper aren’t I) and I need all the protection I can get. It is my choice to wear a helmet even in places where the law does not dictate same. Two bikes to a parking space? Smart move, spread the parking out and require a lot more parking spaces. Loud exhaust? Myrtle Beach is a tourist town people, you knew that when you moved here! A couple hundred thousand motorcycles are going to contribute to noise pollution but so would a couple hundred thousand lawn mowers. A few motorcycles are obnoxiously loud, most are not. I took off my performance mufflers and managed to decrease my gas mileage by four to six miles per gallon. This means I will be buying more gas. (But not in Myrtle Beach). Riders who violate the law should be dealt with accordingly. Riders who obey the law and respect the community should not be viewed in the same light. Curfew? When you reach my age you figure anybody out after dark is up to no good anyway. A responsible rider will not be inconvenienced too much by these new ordinances. Local, taxpaying, businesses, many who depend on these tourist dollars, will be inconvenienced
What the city council has done is put the police department right in the middle. The Myrtle Beach Police Department has always done a tremendous job during the rallies, working long hours under overwhelming conditions and being front line ambassadors of good will, while simultaneously enforcing the law and serving the needs of the public. The police and the vast majority of bikers have always had a good relationship. I fear this relationship will now deteriorate somewhat, for it is the police department that is now saddled with the responsibility of enforcing these ordinances and as the ones in direct contact with the public, they will be perceived as being responsible for the enactment of the ordinances. I foresee estoppel issues when enforcing some of these civil regulations and can also envision the city defending itself against a great many additional lawsuits. (Perhaps the property tax increase was done in anticipation of forthcoming litigation.) These ordinances were enacted, not in the interest of public safety or for the good of the public; rather they were designed to target and harass a specific group or faction of the population. That is profiling and profiling is wrong.
Limiting the number of vendors and spreading them out will only put more traffic on the road, traveling from vendor site to vendor site, adding to the congestion. Do the bikers come to the rally because the vendors are there or, do the vendors come because the bikers are there?
If you don’t want the vendors in Horry County we would welcome them up across the state line into Brunswick County. The bikers come up here anyway and God knows in these economic times we sorely need the extra revenue.
How long will it be (if it hasn’t already happened) before some other municipality offers the Carolina Harley Davidson Dealers Association monetary consideration to bring the spring rally to their town? While some Myrtle Beach residents may welcome such a move, I can only say, be careful what you wish for. The roads to Myrtle Beach are lined with communities that would welcome the thousands of tourist dollars the City of Myrtle Beach is saying it does not want.
Having lived for the past thirty years in a community where the principal industry is tourism, I fully understand the frustrations felt by locals. That being said sometimes it is better to think of what is best for the community as a whole instead of just me, me, and me. The money spent at the rallies does not just go to the many businesses that cater to the bikers. It also goes to the many service workers in the tourism industry who spend this money to supply food, clothing and shelter for themselves and their families. In other words the money stays in the community long after the last bike rides off into the sunset and the roar of the exhaust fades in the distance.
There are two schools of thought in the biker community concerning these actions. The first being, if they don’t want me, I will go elsewhere and spend my money. The second being, I am a taxpaying American and nobody is going to tell me where I can or cannot go. I wonder how many of the 300,000 to 400,000 bikers that come to Myrtle Beach and enjoy themselves, return home and when it is time for the family vacation, load up the mini-van with their wife, two point five kids and a pocketful of money, to return to the place where they had a good time on their motorcycle trip.
This issue isn’t just about the money, more so, it is about individual rights and freedom. The right to travel this great nation of ours in the manner our forefathers envisioned. The right to enjoy life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, unencumbered by government intrusion.  | 
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