Bikers’ patches at Spring Rally in Myrtle Beach tell a story. Here’s what they mean
Sitting down at a bar at Spokes and Bones, biker Rich Reidenbaker seems like the average bike week attendee.
He and his group of friends chatted in a shaded corner of the French Quarter while a band can be heard in the distance. Between members of the crowd who are swaying to the music and band members who are yelling into the microphone, he doesn’t really stand out.
He’s one of many people who are there to have a beer, listen to the music and then hop on their bike to go somewhere else. But take a closer look at Reidenbaker and there’s more to him that meets the eye.
He’s wearing a hat with a bandana, a faded T-shirt and a leather vest adorned with several patches. Some of the patches represent the different rallies he’s been to like one that reads “Myrtle Beach 2009,” while other ones have sayings like “Live to Ride” that can be seen as a form of expression.
Each patch, he said, creates a map of the different bike rallies he’s been to.
“It’s from just the years of riding. I just pick up different patches. It’s pretty full now — I got a few little spots left,” Reidenbecker said. “Wherever we go, we pick them up.”
The Myrtle Beach Spring Bike Rally returned this week, bringing bikers from all over to the Grand Strand. This year’s annual event is running from May 8-17. On Thursday night, bike week attendees took to bars across Murrells Inlet to kick off the weekend events and stepped out in their “biker outfits.”
Walking throughout the night, it’s likely you’ll see people sporting variations of Harley-Davidson T-shirts and jean shorts or come across others opting to wear leather outfits paired with tall boots.
But you’ll also most likely see longtime bikers — like Reidenbaker — proudly donning their vests and jackets. And, wherever they go, they carry the memories of their own club and of past rallies.
‘A rite of passage’
Reidenbecker has been coming to Myrtle Beach for bike week since 2008.
His friend, who also had his own motorcycle, suggested they make the 11-hour ride from New Jersey. They left at 4:30 a.m., and it poured rain the entire drive. After the long journey, he and his friend realized they mistakenly came the wrong weekend.
The Spring Bike Rally takes place over a week with many attendees staying the entire time. But for most of the bikers, the second weekend is where the crowd and events really pick up.
“We came the first weekend. It was good, but it wasn’t great,” Reidenbecker said. “And then we realized we did everything wrong.”
Despite that chaotic first trip, Reidenbecker has continued to come back to bike week for almost 20 years. This year, however, was special because he decided to break out his vest full of patches that he hadn’t worn in more than six years.
Ton Jaditts, a sower for bike week vendor PatchStop, said the patches the bikers wear initially began as a way for bikers to show off which club they’re a member at.
“Ever since that’s been a thing, people are really excited about getting either their club membership put on or just doing their own independent thing,” Jaditts said. “It’s like the rite of passage for them.”
Jaditts has traveled across the country to different bike rallies where people can pick out their patches, and she’ll sew them on. This is the third year she’s attended the Myrtle Beach Spring Bike Rally.
Some people will overlap their patches and cover up old ones just to keep growing the collection on their vest, she said.
The bikers don’t just have patches that show which rallies they’ve been to. Some have ones that designate what title they hold at their club, while others attach patches with words like “angel,” “brotherhood” and “lone wolf” to their vests.
Some jackets are even passed down from one generation to the next so families can keep adding patches.
“Even if you start when they’re real, real young, and you enjoy riding, and you have like members in your family or friends who enjoy riding, get them their own, give them a vest,” Jaditts said.
Standing with their club
For some bike week attendees, wearing their vest is not just about making new memories — It’s about being proud of who they represent.
Attendee Eddie Ferraro has been traveling with his group of friends from Long Island, New York, to Myrtle Beach since the early 2000s. Ferraro could be seen Thursday with his own vest, wearing the logo of his club from back home.
Ferraro and his friends first met during an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. They then joined their club that is known as a “clean and sober club,” he said.
“I’m proud of my club,” he said. “We always reach our hand out to somebody who needs help, somebody in alcoholic anxiety.”
Wearing the patches is a way for them to show their support for something, he said. In the same way that people get tattoos, it helps them communicate what something means to them.
Ferraro wasn’t the only biker there representing his club. Colorado native Michael Nelson donned a vest with patches associated with his club based in Greenville, where he now lives.
The vest is actually Nelson’s second, he said. He previously had to “retire” his first vest after filling it with more than 60 patches.
“It weighed about 15 pounds,” Nelson said.
Nelson was with his wife, Judy, on Thursday at Suck Bang Blow, a popular biker bar in Murrells Inlet. Nelson has been coming to Myrtle Beach for the Spring Rally for about four years now, but this year was actually Judy’s first time.
To commemorate the occasion, along with Judy recently joining Nelson’s chapter, she got her first jacket on Thursday. Now, Nelson and his wife are continuing to add more patches together.
“I’m part of a community, but more importantly, it’s family,” Nelson said.
This story was originally published May 15, 2026 at 10:53 AM.
