Atlanticade enters its third day today running on a bit of gasoline and a lot of spirit.
As of mid-afternoon yesterday, the grassroots-organized, non-profit motorcycle festival had more than 600 bikes registered. And with the arrival of summer, the last day of school, the weekend and the Downtown Moncton Street Party, that number is expected to keep growing today.
While it's hard to guess what event will appeal most to participants over the five day festival, today is certainly the biggest day of Atlanticade for the general public.
From 11 a.m. until midnight, Main Street will be closed off to traffic and the general public is invited downtown. There will be music and other entertainment as all the registered motorcycles show off their stuff and industry vendors exhibit and sell their products.
St. James Gate, Sasha's, The Old Triangle, the Delta Beauséjour and Mexicali Rosa's will extend their patios into the street to enhance the festival atmosphere.
Among those passionate participants parked on Main today will be Stephen Morton, who rode for a number of years before losing his legs in an industrial accident. After that, Morton didn't ride a motorcycle for almost 16 years, and he was missing it. Because he does not use prosthetic legs, Morton joked yesterday the only way he would have been able to drive a motor bike was if his wife could grow her legs longer and help with the driving from the back of the bike.
In keeping with his philosophy of life post-accident -- "you can get up and go or you can lay down and die" -- Morton made the trek down to Daytona for Bike Week three years ago and met a man who offered him a test ride on a trike he owned.
"The ol' heart just started pumping again," he recalled yesterday. The Mortons bought one of their own after that, a modified GoldWing, and the rest is Honda history.
"I get looks," Morton said. "I drive down the street one way and people think, 'Oh, he's missing a leg.' I drive back up the street the other way and then they're really surprised."
He was off his bike and sitting in the wheelchair he hauls around in a trailer at the opening night of Atlanticade Wednesday when a stranger approached. "'Hey buddy, this is exactly what you need,' the guy says to me, pointing to my trike," Morton recalled yesterday of the man who thought he was an armchair, or rather, a wheelchair enthusiast instead of a fellow participant.
"Gee, you think?" Morton asked the man, who once enlightened, took it all in good humour. They shared a laugh at the misunderstanding with the typical camaraderie of such gatherings.
The spirit of the non-profit Atlanticade, which is raising funds this year for the Children's Wish Foundation, spilled over from bikers to boaters yesterday at Atlantic Motoplex on Champlain Street, where the Yamaha dealer was offering demo rides all day.
A customer at the dealership to pick up a boat he purchased asked Atlanticade chairman Dale Hicks what all the commotion was about. Hicks said yesterday that after he explained, the man then asked about a fundraising kiosk Atlanticade had set up.
"'That's for Children's Wish,' I told him, and he dropped a $100 bill in and walked away."
At Baig Boulevard's Hi-Tech Powersports, another one of the local hotspots for the gas and gears crowd, Ian Mollins had one bad bike shined up and ready for today's festivities. It's a chopper built by the guys on the TV show Orange County Choppers. It was won in a national contest by a Buctouche resident, switched hands and then switched hands again when Ian got hold of it. It is however for sale. "Everything here's for sale," Mollins said, looking around his shop. "Except the dog," he added, as a boxer named Squirt ambled over.
The chopper, like many motorcycles on display downtown today, is a work of art whether or not you ever plan to straddle a bike. It will be just one of the many things to see at Atlanticade.
