Come for the rides, stay for the people watching: Something for everyone at Laconia Motorcycle Week

WEIRS BEACH — The 102nd Laconia Motorcycle Week kicked off with a bang Monday morning as 43 riders geared for the Mae West Memorial For the Love of Pets Ride, led by event Executive Director Charlie St. Clair, Deputy Director Jennifer Anderson and Laconia Police Master Patrol Officer R.J. Bassett. 

Before the ride, a mass of motorcyclists had already convened on Lakeside Avenue near its intersection with Tower Street — there on the boardwalk is where you’ll find rally headquarters. 

Setting out at 10:30 a.m., riders would make their way to Notch Biergarten by Beans & Greens in Gilford. It cost each rider $25, and each passenger $20, and in return they received a T-shirt, and all proceeds benefit New Hampshire Humane Society. 

The ride is named in memory of St. Clair’s pet cat, Mae West, who died in 2013 during Laconia Motorcycle Week. This year marks the 12th ride since its inception. 

The Mae West ride is an important piece of Laconia Motorcycle Week, one of several of the event’s popular organized tours which make the world’s oldest motorcycle rally an iconic festival year after year. 

Tom Veronesi, a heavy equipment mechanic from Bristol, Connecticut, made the three-hour drive down to the Weirs from Grafton, where he’s also got a place to stay. He rode into town on a 2019 Harley-Davidson Ultra Limited, a premier touring motorcycle renowned for its comfort on long hauls. Veronesi said his bike’s got 30,000 miles on it. 

“I don’t know how many years,” Veronesi said when asked if it was his first time at Laconia Motorcycle Week. “A lot — it’s for the love of motorcycles, brother.”

Veronesi leaned against his bike, the sun beating down on his back as he watched other riders make their way down Lakeside. For him, the excitement of the rally hasn’t changed a whole lot over the years.

“This is all the same,” he said, noting he’ll attend the hill climb at Gunstock Mountain Resort on Wednesday, starting at 9 a.m. “This is my fill for Weirs Beach.”

In 47 years of riding — Veronesi started when he was 13 years old — he’s owned 39 motorcycles. The one he’s on this week is his favorite, he said, though his first bike, a 1971 Yamaha 250 enduro, made for some great memories, too.

“I remember I got in trouble with the f****** thing,” Veronesi said.

Ed Laraway didn’t have to travel far to get to the rally at all — he lives right here in Laconia. He works in the aviation manufacturing industry by day as a chemical cleaner, but said he’s a grease monkey in his spare time. He said he’s been attending Laconia Motorcycle Week for about 40 years. 

This year, Laraway rolled in aboard a 2017 Harley-Davidson Road Glide, a long-distance touring motorcycle known for its distinctive sharknose fairing. His hog’s got 19,000 miles under its belt.

“I’m glad it’s this week and not last week,” Laraway said. “I just like looking at all the different bikes."

Just down Lakeside sat Bill Cooney, astride his 2013 Cory Ness Victory Signature Series, No. 116, complete with Autobot stickers. He’s a retired electrician from Methuen, Massachusetts, and has a place in Waterville Valley; Cooney rode into town Monday morning.

He’s owned four bikes before, but said the Victory is his favorite, it allows him to pack for five days' travel.

“It’s been a good bike,” he said, noting he’s only ridden a motorcycle for around 10 years. “Been coming since I started riding when I was 40.” 

But every year, Cooney can’t count his time at Laconia Motorcycle Week complete until he’s purchased a tie-dyed T-shirt from Boot Town.

“It’s a local shop,” he said.

Though the rally offers visitors nearly unlimited opportunities for boozing and schmoozing, for Cooney, it’s all about his hog.

“I’m simple,” he said. “Watch the bikes roll in — I can’t see sitting around all day.”

He’ll start with breakfast at a local joint in the Weirs in the morning, drinking tea while looking at other hogs and watching the new arrivals roll down Lakeside. Monday, Cooney was about to strike out on his own for something new. 

“I’ve never been around the lake,” he said. 

“I don’t drink when I drive,” he said. “I’m pretty tame.”

As a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers — Conney just retired earlier this year — he’s always looking around for union benefit rides. They’ve taken him around the country, from New York to Indiana, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and beyond, and even up to Canada. 

“Everyone does a different event, all different times of the year,” he said. 

At a recent event in St. Louis, Cooney said another guy drove from Los Angeles, across the Rocky Mountains. 

“You get some crazy weather out there,” he said.

Cooney said a friend named Lynn, age 78, and took a ride out to Indiana with him this year. They pulled 600-mile days, and she couldn’t get enough of the experience, he said. Lynn would ride a bike herself, were she able. 

“She loves it, the faster I go,” he said. “I want to go to the West Coast, see the rest of the country.”