SPI festival cancels bike run to Nuevo Progreso

NUEVO PROGRESO — South Padre Island BikeFest will not be leading a guided tour across the border this year.

But while there will be no official, sponsored BikeFest ride to Mexico, there is nothing to prevent the hundreds of bikers from going on their own or organizing their own groups to visit this border town.

Merchants here hope bikers will still ride to Nuevo Progreso for a day of music, dancing and food.

Businesses in this tourist town have been feeling the economic recession, which they say has been exacerbated by new, stricter passport regulations.

Organizers of BikeFest, which starts on South Padre Island today, canceled the 12-year-old Mexico Fiesta Run, scheduled for Friday, citing safety concerns and the new travel rules, which went into effect June 1, according to the SPI BikeFest Web site.

Event coordinator J.G. Garcia said scores of bikers called his office asking if they need a passport to re-enter the United States.

The June 1 rule change means citizens of the United States, Canada, Mexico and Bermuda must have a passport or PASS Card in hand to re-enter the U.S. through a land port of entry like the Progreso International Bridge.

Concern about that onus, plus reported shootings and violence in some Mexican border towns, prompted event organizers to call off the cross-border run.

“It’s up to the (bikers) to go to Mexico, but BikeFest canceled the event this year,” Garcia said. “I don’t know of any bikers going across. But we are telling them that if they go, they should have a passport.”

The new regulations are part of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, which arose out of border security concerns following the 9/11 terror attacks.

But Eddie Perez, a spokesman with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection office in Brownsville, said no U.S. citizen will be denied entry into the United States even if they don’t have a passport with them.

“We will need some sort of identification, though, to prove their status,” he said. “That might cause a delay, but they will be allowed to come back.”

More than 400 BikeFest participants made the trip to Mexico last year, Garcia said.

Businesses in Nuevo Progreso look forward to the influx of a large crowd.

For the last five years, a group of merchants and avid bikers has organized its own version of BikeFest, which it calls Biker Fiesta. The event will take place Friday, Saturday and Sunday — roughly the same dates as BikeFest.

Despite the gloomy outlook, Nuevo Progreso merchants are optimistic.

Signs that read, “Welcome Back USA to Mexico Biker Fiesta in Nuevo Progreso, Mexico,” are taped to utility poles and store windows. Organizers of the local event said they will have many activities with or without their U.S counterparts.

“We hope to see several hundred bikers this weekend,” said Jesus Bautista Villarreal, president of local bike club Los Tequileros. “We know the passport regulations are going to impact us, but we are hoping for the better.”

Villarreal owns Las Flores Inn, the home of the bike club and the headquarters of the annual event.

Federico Gomez, the local chamber of commerce’s assistant director, said businesses should have a good turnout this weekend, even without the official sponsorship.

“Our merchant community has been operating at 20 percent of its capacity,” he said. “They depend largely on the tourism industry, and this Biker Fiesta could provide a much needed shot in their arms.”

The many events scheduled for this weekend include folkloric dances, live music, motorcycle drag races, a pig roast, wet T-shirt contests, an acrobatic show and a ride to the nearby town of Rio Bravo.