More than a thousand Harley-Davidson owners traveled to Hot Springs for this weekend's Arkansas State H.O.G. Rally, including Vince Clausen, of Lake Charles, La., who literally almost didn't have the heart to make the journey, after a health scare nearly caused him to cancel his first visit to Arkansas.
"We almost had to cancel our Arkansas trip -- I had a health scare last month," he said. "I told my wife that even if she had to put me in a sidecar and cart me around that way that I was still coming on this trip. I'm back and ready to ride; a little heart trouble won't stop me."
Clausen said the couple made the "trek" to Arkansas in their RV last week and they'll head back to Louisiana on Sunday.
"I've lived in the South my whole life so I expected the Arkansas Southern hospitality, but Hot Springs really brought its A-game with how welcoming everyone's been," he said.
The rally began on Thursday with registration, an early bird party and the opening ceremony at Clarion Resort On The Lake. Friday was the first full day of rally festivities, beginning at 8 a.m. with registration and continuing throughout the day with various activities such as Harley-Davidson demo rides, a poker run, dice walk and the 2016 H.O.G. Rally parade.
Rodney Crites, of Fayetteville, rode to Hot Springs this weekend with his girlfriend to attend his first motorcycle rally and visit family.
"It's been great. My dad and mom live here and they both ride, and my girlfriend's family lives here so we took some vacation time to come down. It's a lot less expensive when you don't have to worry about a hotel. Got a good home-cooked meal for the first time in a year last night and then we all came downtown on the bikes," Crites said.
The rally continues through tonight, and vendors will be set up from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. in Hall D of the Hot Springs Convention Center where motorcycle enthusiasts can browse various motorcycle-related merchandise such as apparel, patches, jewelry, hair accessories, bandannas and caps.
The rally will close with entertainment by Live 80 at the convention center from 8-10 p.m.
From Lubbock, Texas, longtime Hot Springs visitors Sher and Mario Fortanelli said that since they both retired a few years ago, traveling to different motorcycle rallies is how they spend their summers.
"We retired a few years back and now our friends and family can't ever find us -- we're never home!" said Sher Fortanelli. "We've been coming here for rallies for as long as I can remember and we haven't had a bad experience yet. We went to a rally in northern Arkansas a couple years back and now we won't go anywhere but Hot Springs. The people are warm and friendly, always something going on. The rides are beautiful here too, can't beat the Arkansas scenery."
Visit http://www.arstatehogrally.com for a full schedule of rally events.
Local on 06/25/2016