Ironhorse Roundup Bike Show cancelled at the last minute
What should have been fun for thousands of bikers instead turned into a major disappointment for the bikers that did show. The Ironhorse Roundup Bike Show had been scheduled for this last weekend but was cancelled at the last minute by police and the mayor of Grayslake just a day before the event.
Their claim for cancelling the event was because of two rival motorcycle gangs planning on showing up to rumble at the event.
Here is the letter from the main sponsor of the event:
My sincerest apologies to all of the vendors, bikers, supporters of this event for all of the time and efforts
that have been put forth; I feel this is more of a discrimination against bikers instead of a threat. For anyone
that knows our organization you will be familiar with the attention to detail that we take in each and every
promotion that we do and at no time would we ever put anyone in harm’s way.
Due to circumstances out of our control with the outrageous cancellation of the Ironhorse Roundup.
Mark Khayat
Owner- Austin’s Saloon & Eatery
Here is the press release from the local police department: http://www.austinsaloon.com/IronHorse.htm
With no event happening, the belief was of course that the two rival clubs would not rumble and while they did not rumble this weekend, it still remains unclear how the police department recieved the information.
Some people are claiming that the mayor was profiling bikers and just wanted to have the event cancelled. But the mayor and police may have tried to avoid a similar incident that happened at the Laughlin River Run in 2004 where two rival clubs fought inside a casino and even shot at each other.
While public safety might have been the top concern, the backlash for cancellng the event may fall squarely in the mayor’s lap and may mean the Ironhorse event next year will be smaller and less attended as bikers decide they do not want to risk having the event cancelled as they travel to the event. This of course will result in a loss of income for the city not only in taxes, permits and other income from the event but bikers may shy away from the town because there is a general feeling of the town not being biker friendly.
Just remember that the main sponsor of the event, Austin’s Saloon & Eatery, could not host the event once the permit was pulled and it was truly the government that cancelled the event.
