Republic of Texas Biker Rally rumbles into Austin

AUSTIN, Texas (KXAN) -- The record-breaking heat is not keeping bikers away from their biggest rally in Texas.

About 50,000 bikers are expected to be circling the Travis County Exposition Center and Downtown Austin this weekend.

"You've never seen so many bikers all in one spot," said Kasey Cantu, a biker from Aransas Pass. "It's really cool."

The annual Republic of Texas Biker Rally, or ROT Rally, is recognized as the largest gathering of bikers in the state and continues to grow every year.

"When you have to start making your reservations in January at midnight and in 20 minutes, you're not going to get an RV parking spot, it's a big deal," said Johnny Shotwell, who has been coming to the rally for the past six years. "A lot of publicity, word of mouth, year to year, it's just growing every year."

Yet the rally's 14th year may be the hottest for bikers as they deal with triple-digit temperatures.

Still, the heat hasn't driven anyone away.

"I'm used to it," Shotwell said. "I officiate football out in the sun a lot, working with kids, so you just hydrate, stay out of the sun as much as possible."

First aid stations were set up throughout the grounds at the expo center.

More than 100 volunteers from the Motorcycle Special Events Team and Austin-Travis County EMS workers were also out on golf carts, making the rounds to ensure everyone is OK.

"Our biggest challenge is access to where the patient is, and so what we've been able to do over the years is we have specialized golf carts, the providers are on site and are able to access them on the carts and extricate them out to where the medic unit is," said Michael Wright, district commander for Austin-Travis County EMS.

The rally parade on Friday will leave the expo center on Decker Lane and will work its way to Downtown Austin, ending on Congress Avenue.

During this time, Second to 11th streets between Brazos and Colorado streets will be closed. The streets are scheduled to reopen Saturday morning.

See a complete listing of this weekend's road closures.