Hurricane Earl is expected to land nearby just as Canada’s
largest motorcycle rally gathers momentum on the East Coast.
The Wharf Rat Rally takes place in Digby, N.S., from now
through Sept. 6. Earl, a Category 4 hurricane, was off the coast of South Carolina on Thursday morning and is expected to make landfall at Grand Manan Island in New Brunswick on Saturday morning. Wind speeds of 140 km/h are
anticipated.
Organizers of the rally, which may draw up to 100,000 people
and 30,000 motorcycles this year, say they’re watchful but not worried about
the storm.
The Digby Arena has been reserved so that thousands of
motorcycles can be sheltered if the storm does hit.
"I don’t anticipate a problem," rally chairman Glenn Dunn
told the Chronical Herald newspaper.
"Bikers are used to riding in the rain, and they carry rain
suits."
Planned events for the rally include stunt shows by a
variety of performers, music, a show-and-shine, rider training, tours of the
region, a tattoo competition, demo rides, and more.
Local RCMP are geared up to nab speeders
while the rally continues. Police said in a press release that they’ll exercise
"zero tolerance for violators caught speeding." They also said they’ll be watching
out for people not wearing seat belts.
They’re going to nab a lot of those bikers not wearing seatbelts
That would be Canada’s 2nd. largest rally, after Fri. 13th.
Chronical Herald? Is that some sort of pot-smokers tabloid? 🙂
(the link is right – Chronicle-Herald – or as we called it, the “Chronically Horrid Mail-Star” – “Mail-Star” being the morning or afternoon edition, can’t remember which now)