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The rally is now run under the leadership of the crew that runs the Easyriders motorcycle events nationwide, the owners of the Sturgis Broken Spoke Saloon and Daytona’s Iron Horse Saloon, and the company that has supplied the Lone Star Rally merchandise for some years. With a group like that in charge, you can see the management team has lots of experience and know the pitfalls of other major rallies and how to avoid them. This rally can only get better with age like good wine. We mustn’t forget that Ron Limbock, the originator of the rally and unfortunately sidelined by illness, created Lone Star and gave the current team a great start.

Considered one of the best large motorcycle events in the country, a big part of that success is that the police have been the best mannered of any at a major run. They want you to have fun and enjoy yourself. I imagine that if you are a jerk, they’ll respond in kind. I’ve attended the Galveston rally for a few years and have never seen the cops over react. Other venues take note. Oh yeah, for those of you that drink, you can drink in public ― like sit on your motorcycle parked along the Strand with an open beer in your paws. New this year was the Rat’s Hole Show, a tattoo area, and other attractions. Melisa and Brinder had my Gulf-front accommodations ready for me to check into as I debarked from the free State of Texas ferry on Galveston Island having arrived from Port Bolivar.