Alexandria Bay, New York, or Alex Bay or ABAY, as it is referred to by most northern New Yorkers and those familiar with the area, is a quiet sort of quaint village on the St. Lawrence River about 30 miles North of Watertown. I think one could yell from one end of main street to a person at the other end and be heard.

But on this particular Friday morning, the peaceful village began a transformation process with custom bike builder’s trailers being positioned, vendors building up stands, the center of attraction ‘big top’ staked down and in place on Main Street. All along the village streets the local shops are putting the last touches for specials and the “Biker’s Welcome” signs. Of course the quiet has already been broken a few times by the occasional twist of the throttle and that sweet motorcycle music (tune of your choice as this is an ‘all bike’ event). Yes, the early birds are here staking out their territory, places to party and enjoying the magnificent scenery. Hard to believe that within a few hours the metamorphosis of this otherwise quiet river town would be complete and the event would begin — the Thousand Islands River Run 2011— would be going full throttle for the next three days.

Yes indeed, this afternoon the streets will go from a few bikes to hundreds of bikes of just about every make and model you’ve seen and some you ain’t never heard of or seen. From sparkling new factory rides to good old roughrider iron to tricked out full customs you’ll see it here in Alexandria Bay this weekend. Nice shops, great vendors, super food, drinks and all at a reasonable rate. This is one bike party that takes an aged biker back to “the day”. I know you remember those days when riding to the gig was a major part of the thrill, finding “that” spot to position your bike on main street, meeting old and making new friends, and living the good life for a few wonderful days.

This event offers an array of excitement and entertainment for everybody. Many bikes of various types entered the ‘Bike Contest’ and won prizes from Best Custom to Most Dirtiest. Custom bikes are a major interest for gear heads at motorcycle events. Many of these custom machines are also quite interesting to those with little or no knowledge of motorcycles.

The Town Pavilion was full of vendors ranging from tattoo artist to custom silver products to biker clothing, patches, custom LED application, insurance and safety equipment. Custom bikes were displayed and live music was playing in the background. And for that tranquil moment, on the point is the Veteran Memorial overlooking the St. Lawrence River.

Meanwhile, downtown in the village, bikes and people were scurrying around seeing the sites, taking in food and drinks at local pubs and eateries. The street positions found earlier were now paying off as folks slowly walked around checking out the bikes rolling by and the interesting faces of people on them. Some different highlights for sure. All the while the bands were rocking out in the big top fest tent all day and well into the night. Of course there those dancing in the street, and many of them had no prior dancing lessons, so you can somewhat imagine the amusement.

Now if a body needs a break from all of this going on, there are several boat rides being offered to cruise the St. Lawrence to relax and see the many sites along the river, or you could saddle up and head to Canada (oh yea, don’t forget your Passport).

Yes my friends, this is the real deal, nothing pretentious, glitzy or Hollywood about this biker event. But wait a minute if I really think hard about it, this event is truly loaded with a sort of grandiose nostalgic flair and plenty of real paint and chrome that is seldom found these days. Perhaps I should have started this tale with words like, let me take you back to the days of yesteryear, back to the days of when a buck was a buck and leather was worn to protect and not model. Back when ‘the bike’ was the reason people rode.

So, as the blues reverberate in the background with the sound of many pipes resonating up and down the street, I am ready to be transported to the world we all know and love for the next 3 days. And yes, I look forward to the end of the event as well. Remember when you were the last bike to pull out of an event and there was that almost eerie calm after the storm feeling? Well, all of those feelings are alive and well in ABay.

Tomorrow Part 2: Tattoos & Night Moves