The Smoke Out started out inCottonwood,Arizona, as you also probably know because it was documented on the previous pages in Rodent’s article on the Smoke Out West. Talk about writer’s redundancy…sheesh!

The event in Rockingham had a little bit of everything to entertain and amaze. They had drag races, XS Speed’s mini-bike races, the annual Chop Off, and even Roller Derby. How’s that for diversity? My only regret was that I missed the mini-bike races. I heard they were a hoot. I get so psyched up with all the garage bikes everywhere I point my camera, I tend to loose track of time due to the fact that I suffer from “CRS” (Can’t Remember S**t) so to be truthful, I forgot all about it. Can you blame me with every imaginable make of bike known to man tweaked and cobbled into one of a kind American ingenuity? I won’t even attempt to describe the builds that are everywhere on the site, that’s what all the photos are for.

If that wasn’t enough, the event supplied all kinds of musical genres: Kings of Hell, Uncle Scrath’s Gospel Revival, the lovely and talented Jasmine Cain, and Blackberry Smoke pounding out Southern rock at its best…rock on!

My favorite part of the day was watching the drag races on the strip. Everyone was invited to twist the throttle on their rides and amazingly no one laid a bike down, although there were a few sphincter-clenching moments. All in all it was a blast watching some of the classic choppers, ‘70s Hondas as well as the newer models, test each other and let me tell you some of the older bikes smoked the newer. I stood there for hours in my freakin’ glory.

During the day I talked to many of the riders that participated in “The Long Road,” the approximately 2,000-mile ride fromCottonwoodto Rockingham and they raved about how much they enjoyed the experience. Many expressed how impressed they were with riding the mountains of westernNorth Carolina, theBlue Ridge Parkway, and especially their stop inMaggieValleywere they stopped at Dale Walksler’s Wheels Through Time Museum. As expected, Dale treated them like royalty with a tour of one of the best American-made bike museums in the world.

I’m not even gonna comment this year on the drunkenness, debauchery, and general outlandish behavior that makes this event one of a kind. I won’t describe it as racy, raucous, a modern day Babylonian orgy. No way, I’ll just say that if you are the least bit prudish and are offended easily, stay away and beware, because ya just might have a great time.

As I do every year I want the thank Edge, the man who makes it all happen, for being a great host and putting on a rally that keeps getting better and better every year. As a matter of fact in the near future I am hoping to be able to check out the Smoke Out West version of this swamp meet. Party on!