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OPINION
> EDITORIALS
Los Banos rally bound to hurt
Timing could be a serious blow to Hollister Motorcycle Rally's success
Organizers of a Los Banos-based biker festival delivered a potentially serious blow to Hollister - and a cheap shot at that - by scheduling their 2008 event on the same weekend as the long-running, local biker rally.
In its second year, organizers of the Central Valley Motorcycle Rally moved the event from September to July 11-13, the same weekend of the Hollister Motorcycle Rally.
Hollister's rally, commemorating the 61-year-old biker "invasion," began as a sanctioned event in 1997. The local rally had been a July 4 weekend festival until 2007, when the city allowed the private promoter, Horse Power Promotions, to move it to the following weekend.
Los Banos stands to gain from move
The Hollister rally promoter and city officials have downplayed the significance of having the motorcycle festivals overlap because they have little to gain at this point by openly bashing the nearby city and its biker rally. The bottom line, though, is that the little-known Los Banos event stands to benefit from a long-established base of attendees the local event attracts, while Hollister could only lose revenue - and inevitably will - from some of those bikers either solely visiting the Merced County rally or, at the very least, spending a portion of their money there instead of here.
Steven Lopez, whose American Marketing Productions company is promoting the Central Valley Motorcycle Rally, told the Free Lance it's another option for riders in the area that weekend. "I want them to come to Hollister," Lopez said, "and I want people from Hollister to come to my event."
That's precisely the point - Los Banos is a scenic, 45-minute drive over the hill - and the reason why his event should get a convenient boost with San Benito County's help.
And by the way, Los Banos, thanks for asking.
Poor showing of regional cooperation
Business is business, and Lopez has every right as a private promoter to maximize his earning potential. But government leaders in the relatively close Los Banos community, while not legally bound to gain clearance from local officials, apparently made a conscious decision to compete with Hollister and its ability to attract thousands of devoted bikers to town each year.
It's akin to two neighboring churches scheduling the pancake breakfast on the same morning.
Whether the Central Valley event succeeds or fails miserably, any business gained there is tax revenue lost here. There's no way around it.
In the name of regional cooperation, Los Banos never should have allowed the switch to July 11.
The Free Lance Editorial Board
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