Snowshoe — Lots of motorcycles rumble through Pocahontas County in the summertime. Anyone  living along a main road sees and hears dozens of bikes pass by every day.

On July 15-17, hundreds of cycles cruised through the county on their way to Freedom Fest, a three-day biker convention and party at Snowshoe Mountain Resort.

Riders at Snowshoe said they love the scenery, the winding roads, the cool mountain air and the pothole-free highways of Pocahontas County.

Freedom Fest is a true melting pot for the biker community. The only thing riders have in common is the love of motorcycles. All respectable bikers are welcome - no matter what brand of motorcycle, where they're from or what kind of haircut they sport.

Bikers of various ages on Suzukis, Harleys, Hondas and every other breed of motorcycle cruised up and down Snowshoe Drive at Freedom Fest. Vendors sold patches, helmets, riding clothes and hardware from a long line of tents below Rimfire Lodge. A concert stage was set up in the Village and motorcycles lined the streets.

One of the most popular activities during the weekend was simply strolling about and admiring the hundreds of custom and stock machines, which most riders had carefully detailed to show off at the event.

On Friday and Saturday, bikers set out on planned, guided rides on the winding country roads of Pocahontas County and surrounding areas.

After returning to the resort on Saturday, several bikers described why a ride in Pocahontas County is something special.

Jack Southern, a retired coal miner from Clarksburg, has been riding for 67 years. He owns a Harley chopper but was riding a Honda Gold Wing trike at Freedom Fest because of a sore hip.

"The ride is nice up here in the mountains," he said. "You better believe it. Most of the times, they got the roads in pretty good shape and you don't have those potholes to hit. I always enjoy riding up here. The curves and stuff and the scenery is nice. You get up in the mountains and can look way off."

Southern recalled riding a 1945 Harley through Cass in 1947, when he was 16 years old.

"Here come this train, down in the evening, coming down through that yard with those flat cars and those guys jumping off the cars. Great big, long beards and sacks on their backs," he recalled.

"What was so funny to me was the women in the pool rooms shooting pool. Back home, if a women wanted her husband in the pool room, she sent a guy in after him, but these gals were in there shooting pool."

Sixty members of the Apache Motorcycle Club rode to Snowshoe for Freedom Fest weekend. Despite their tough-looking appearance, the Charleston-area bikers would rather raise money for charity than cause trouble.

Apache Roger "Bullseye" Holt said community service was a big part of the club's activities.

"It's a mom and pop club," he said. "We do charity work - poker runs for charity and stuff like that."

Holt, a Vietnam veteran, said every Apache from the club's two chapters in Logan and Mason counties was required to make the ride to Freedom Fest.

"This was a mandatory ride for us," he said. "Every year we take a mandatory ride and everybody in the club has to go. We ride formation - there was about 60 of us that came up. It was a good ride - one of the best I've ever been on. The scenery is great."

Carson Fogg, of Buckhannon, and several other members of the Christian Motorcyclists Association (CMA) were enjoying a tailgate picnic at the Biker Games of Summer on Saturday.

"We're doing a little ministry to motorcyclists and just enjoying the day," he said. "We're about 30-years-old and were formed in a place called Hatfield, Arkansas. It's grown over the years and it's in every state in the union now and in Canada and in something like 30 other countries."

CMA state coordinator Ken Gill, of Parkersburg, said the winding roads of Pocahontas County were tailor made for motorcycles.

"It's a beautiful place to ride," he said. "It's beautiful scenery. We really enjoy it. Motorcycles love the curvy rides because it's a lot more fun than the interstate. The interstate is good when you want to get somewhere but the curves is what we like to ride."

CMA members provide support at Freedom Fest and other motorcycle events by serving water, flagging races and picking up trash. The group has 15 chapters in West Virginia and 130,000 members nationwide. For information on the CMA, see www.cmausa.org.

Gary and Arlene Hoover, of Valley Head, rode their Honda Gold Wing trike to Freedom Fest on Saturday.

"We just came up to look around and see how the party is going and what's going on," Gary said. "We look at the bikes. I think it's pretty nice."

Both Hoovers said they enjoyed riding in the cool mountain air on a hot, summer day.

"I like riding in the mountains," Arlene said. "It's cool."

Jeff "Animal" Drown, of Wayne County, won the People's Choice Award with his beautiful blue Harley Screaming Eagle 110 in Saturday's Bike Contest. He rode with a group of hunting buddies to Snowshoe.

"It's been a blast," he said. "The people - everybody's great. You couldn't ask for a better crowd of people. It just seems like the bikers have had a bad reputation but it must have changed because I've met nothing but good people."

Drown is a featured bowhunter on Campbell's Outdoor Challenge, a television program on the Versus channel. The outdoorsman echoed other rider's comments about riding in Pocahontas County.

"The curves are just one right after the other and it's just beautiful," he said. "You're just looking at mountaintops and clouds and everything together is just beautiful."

Campbell's Outdoor Challenge airs Wednesdays at 1 p.m. on the Versus channel.

For more information on Freedom Fest, see www.snowshoefreedomfest.com.