The rally provided two days of outstanding weather, fun, and non-stop action. The main attraction, of course, was the vast array of loud, mostly garage-built rides blasting down the Farmington Dragway. During each run a lovely damsel would send the boys down the strip. They were all there: customs, Japanese chops, British classics, and baggers running for bragging rights. Nothing was timed, you just ran WFO and hoped you didn’t miss a gear and look like a tool. While most of the time I stood there waiting for the impending disaster that never happened, it just seemed like a matter of time before someone was going to wrap themselves around the guard rail. Wrong…I saw some sphincter puckering runs, but never saw anyone go down. Pretty freakin’ amazing if you ask me.

The drag strip show was great, but for me the highlight is always all the Old School bikes that you know were thrown together in someone’s garage and are the pride of their lives. The bikes are hand-worked pieces of art and crafted out of blood, sweat, and metal. OK, although they may be art to some, they may also have looked like junk to others, but whichever way you saw the motorcycles, they were genuine and loved by their owners and admired by the crowd. You have to wonder, how can someone actually ride some of these bikes? Answer: Very carefully. On most Old Schoolers there are no comfort features, which I am personally all for, but there is that look in the owner’s eyes, you know that one, pride, so a sore butt is a small price to pay (Unless it’s my butt. Ouch!).  They remind me of the past when Americans took pride in what they built and what they owned.

Among other activities that could be enjoyed (and oh how I enjoy these activities) was the wet T-shirt contest and the topless bike wash. Unfortunately you had to be seven-feet tall to see anything at the topless bike wash as it was “five-pervert deep” around it. Here’s a little fact I did not know about North Carolina and I’ve lived here fifteen years.  Under state law, it is not illegal for a woman to be topless; a woman’s breasts are not considered “private parts” in the state statute governing indecent exposure. Can I get a “Hell Yea!” I’m amazed I haven’t seen more of this activity at Wal-Mart. Let’s get with the program ladies.

What else is there to say about my favorite event of the year? Well here’s what a couple of icons of the industry said. “There is really a creative approach out here,” said Keinosuke “Keino” Sasaki, founder of Keino Cycles in Brooklyn, New York. “But it is also great to see the working class and Average Joes, for those are the people that really appreciate the bikes.”

 “This is just a way for people to see each other every year—sort of like a family gathering,” Edge said. “I think most people would be surprised to see that we can have a good time here and avoid all the misconceptions about biker people.” And Edge ought to know because he’s the Smoke Out X Event Manager and you couldn’t find anyone more qualified.

Well, another Smoke Out is in the books and I can’t wait ‘til next year as it will be the tenth anniversary of the Smoke Out and will be held at “The Rock”, that’s the Rockingham Dragway in Rockingham, North Carolina. See ya there.