‘We are the event’: Bikers make the most of week despite the cancellation of Black Bike Week

George Gause has been going to Black Bike Week for over 20 years. He usually parks his recreational vehicle in one or two spots in Atlantic Beach in view of the ocean, and greets passersby and old friends.

Gause, who arrived earlier this week from Bucksport, came this year by himself, but is expecting family and friends to come join him over the weekend. He said he’s planning a fish fry since there won’t be much to do with the small crowds and lack of vendors.

“We’ll be here regardless, whether they have vendors or not,” Gause said. “We’ll do our own thing.”

Bikefest usually brings tens of thousands of Black bikers to the Grand Strand during Memorial Day weekend. But Atlantic Beach canceled the event in March for the second year in a row due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The festival draws people from around the country and has given the Black bike community a space to congregate and hangout since the 1980s.

The influx of bikers and visitors have been welcomed by the Grand Strand’s hospitality community in the first holiday weekend since city and state officials lifted mask regulations, allowing 100% capacity in restaurants, bars and hotels, and as vaccines have rolled out across South Carolina.

Only 42% of the South Carolina population 12 and up has been fully vaccinated for COVID-19. Among people aged 20-24 in Horry County, just a tiny sliver of the population, 871 people, has been vaccinated.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still recommends wearing a mask in crowded spaces indoors, like bars, and when around unvaccinated people.

Since the start of the pandemic, Horry County has seen nearly 30,000 COVID-19 diagnoses.

Atlantic Beach city officials worried that number might increase if they approved the event, and said the move was to keep everyone safe. Atlantic Beach is one of few towns that still has a mask requirement, which will be in effect at least until June 1.

“We didn’t invite them in our town this year because of the pandemic,” Councilmember Jacqueline Gore told The Sun News on Thursday. “Whenever it was time for us to start doing our planning, the shot wasn’t available to the majority of the people in the town.”

Gore said she is not sure if there will be an unofficial gathering of people but noted the city will be ready for whatever happens.

“We’re always prepared for a crowd of people,” she said. “Maybe not to the extent of the bike crowd, but our chief of police and his staff are really good about getting things set up.”

In 2018, the NAACP filed a lawsuit against the City of Myrtle Beach and their police department, saying black tourists face discrimination during Bikefest.

The lawsuit focused on a 23-mile traffic loop implemented in 2015 during Memorial Day weekend. It came after the 2014 violence which left three dead and seven injured, after eight shootings were reported along Ocean Boulevard. The loop turns Ocean Boulevard into a one-way road and funnels traffic out to George Bishop Parkway and back to Ocean Boulevard. Last year a judge ruled that the city’s decision was discriminatory but legal.

Mark Kruea, a spokesman for Myrtle Beach, said the extended loop will not be implemented this year.

“The police department has the option of managing traffic by redirecting it at any point as they’ve done pretty much every weekend so far this year,” Kruea said, noting that there will be over 320 additional law enforcement officers from a variety of agencies in Myrtle Beach helping officers with the weekend crowd.

Though Atlantic Beach is not seeing the crowd it normally has during the annual bike festival, some bikers have still decided to come hang in the town and other parts of the Grand Strand in hopes they might still get a taste of a pre-COVID-19 Black Bike Week.

Lenny Brown, of Long Island, N.Y., has been coming to South Carolina for the bike festival since 1998. He said he is disappointed to see that the event is not happening this year, adding that he thinks the city cancelled the event prematurely.

“I’m hoping by the weekend, we can catch some people out here selling some t-shirts or some food,” Brown said. “Whatever they’re selling, we’re here to support.”

Brown’s friend, James Garrett, agreed with his friend, saying it’s sad to come down to Atlantic Beach and not see the crowds of people.

“This is like the hangout spot. Everything is going,” he said. “There is music playing, a bike car and a car show. It’s like a deserted island over here now.”

During their stay in the Grand Strand, Brown and Garrett plan on taking advantage of all the area has to offer. They’ll ride, of course, but they also plan on going to the beach and riding go-karts.

Gore said Atlantic Beach serves more as a venue and a place for people to congregate, adding that canceling the event doesn’t affect the city’s budget too much.

“Our town is open to them. It’s never closed,” Gore said. “We just don’t have vendors or a festival this year.”

Joshua Walker, who is a member of Black Dragon Kings Motorcycle Club and has been riding for five years, is not worried about the small crowd this year. He said “we are the event.”

“Regardless if they don’t have the vendors up and all the other stuff that, we’re here for each other,” Walker said. “We’re doing what we do. We got food on the grill. We got drinks, and we got each other.”

This story was originally published May 29, 2021 at 10:15 AM.