#Daytona Beach Bike Week hosts thousands despite COVID risks

Hordes of maskless bikers descended onto Daytona Beach this week to party, hangout with scantily clad women and defy COVID-19 health restrictions they believe infringes on their freedoms. 

“I refuse to mask. Joe Biden ain’t gonna tell me what to do. I have a constitutional right to do whatever the hell I want,” biker John Saxon, who cruised 550 miles from Biloxi, Mississippi on his hog to the Florida locale to celebrate the 80th annual Bike Week, told the Daily Mail. 

“I don’t believe in all that virus bullsh-t. I’ve had a friend who’s had it three or four times,” Saxon, decked out in a stars and stripe bandana and a sleeveless shirt with confederate regalia, insisted. 

“And if anyone should be worried about the virus, it’s me. I don’t have a spleen.” 

The annual party, which started as an informal gathering of rival biker gangs decades ago and has since flourished into an organized, $75 million tourist extravaganza, typically sees 500,000 guests but only 300,000 to 400,000 are expected to come this year, the Mail reported. 

Business owners along the main drag told the outlet they rely on Bike Week for at least a third of their annual revenue. 

“The numbers aren’t quite what we are used to but it’s a healthier event,” Janet Kersey, the Dayton Regional Chamber of Commerce’s executive vice president, which runs Bike Week, told the outlet. 

While the event has drawn comparisons to the Sturgis Motorcycle rally in South Dakota, which was accused of becoming a COVID-19 super spreader event, Kersey brushed off those concerns and said a host of measures were in place to prevent that from happening. 

“Before it tended to be people [sitting] inside bars listening to bands but this year we are seeing a lot of people enjoying the sunshine, riding around, walking around the town,” Kersey said. 

Measures include spacing out events and a deal with local venues to reduce indoor capacity in exchange for permits that allow outdoor drinking and entertainment. 

“The bars have moved the majority of the entertainment outdoors. There are safety plans on top of that as well as signage and messaging, stay safe, wear a mask, stay six feet apart,” Kersey explained. 

“The governor has declared Florida for business. The vaccines are rolling out, we are seeing the numbers decline, and if people are concerned about the event, it’s ok not to come,” she continued. 

“We are not trying to make light of COVID or what people have gone through by any means. But a lot of businesses here have already closed, people are unemployed, they can’t pay rent, they can’t feed their children.” 

Despite the best intentions, the measures were largely in vain, as few wore masks, the Mail reported.

“I don’t enforce the mask rule because I don’t want to be a hypocrite, I often don’t wear mine,” Louie Louizes, a local shop owner, told the outlet. 

“We took a beating last year. We were shut down for three months. We missed all of Spring Break, that’s 40 percent of our business… It’s quieter this year, more spread out, but it’s been good for the economy.”

On Wednesday, the most recent day where data is available, the Sunshine State saw over 5,000 new COVID-19 cases and 96 deaths, records show, but it was hardly a concern to many of the revelers who attended the event. 

“People are just ready to be out there with other people. Everyone is happy and excited to be around each other with no masks, no distancing,” said Vanilla Dawn, 43, an employee at Cruisin Cafe. 

“Social distancing has been hard on the world.”