Vince Morris from Farmington is a regular at the Four Corners Motorcycle Rally, and he’s glad to see it’s returning to its full glory.
“I used to volunteer at the rally every year. It’s nice to have it back, and to have an opportunity to gather with other bikers,” he said.
Trevor Bird, owner of Durango Harley-Davidson and the organizer of the event, said he didn’t yet have an estimate about how many people attended, but based on his sales Saturday, the best day in four years at the dealership, he thinks the event was a boost to the local economy.
“We know it’s been a tough summer, so maybe this helps,” said Katie Bird, Trevor’s wife.
Bird said more than 1,000 people attended the flat-track race Saturday night at La Plata County Fairgrounds, and more than $2,000 was raised for the Elks Lodge during the Veterans Poker Run.
Several hundred motorcyclists throttled up Main Avenue on Sunday morning for the Law Tigers Motorcycle Parade, which drew another couple hundred spectators.
Morris credits Bird, who bought Durango Harley-Davidson in June 2017, for bringing the rally back to life.
Bird brought in John Oakes of Freeze Management, which puts on concerts and motorcycle, motor sports and other lifestyle events, to market and manage the 2018 rally. The partnership with Freeze Management, Bird said, will be for years.
“We’d like to do this thing for 20 years,” he said.
Bird said Freeze Management and Oakes provided the accountability, follow through and execution to make the 2018 rally a success.
“They’re focused on safety first, and then making sure everyone is having fun, and I think that’s what you’re seeing.
With only weeks to prepare, Bird had organized a much smaller rally in 2017 after purchasing the name of the rally from the previous owner, Johnny Valdez.
“Trevor’s relatively new to the community. So, to have him invest like this as quickly as he did is incredible,” Morris said.
Both the Durango Police Department and the La Plata County Sheriff’s Office reported a relatively trouble-free weekend as of Sunday afternoon, with neither reporting any serious accidents involving motorcycles.
The rally featured a motorcycle show, short-course oval dirt-track races, kids BMX races; live music; poker runs, stunt driving performances, a vendors plaza; a mixed-martial arts card at Sky Ute Casino and a return of the downtown Durango bikers’ parade.
Mars and Bren Raiska from Vancouver Island, British Columbia, were in Norwood, in the midst of a 21-day motorcycle tour across the American West, when a couple in the neighboring room told them about the rally.
“It was a nice surprise, and we were planning on coming to Durango anyway. We did see a lot of bikes on the road, so we figured something was up.
parmijo@durangoherald.com
