Black Bike Week

Black Bike Week is an annual bike rally that takes place in South Carolina over Memorial Day weekend. Up to half a million predominantly African American bikers and revelers descend on the seaside vacation town of Myrtle Beach for several days of riding and partying. Each year the traffic comes to a standstill as the streets fill with brightly customized sports bikes, their riders taking advantage of the state’s “no helmet” law to perform burnouts and stunts up and down the main strip along the seafront.

Hordes of women—known as “huggers”—also flock to Myrtle Beach for the event, hoping to be picked up for a ride, and maybe something more. A girl will often perform the “pillion clapping” move as a passenger—essentially twerking on the back of the bike. Unfortunately, the combination of partying and biking without a helmet isn’t an especially safe one, and every year there are people who don’t make it home. The event also attracts a ton of prostitutes, but more and more women are starting to ride their own bikes and each year an increasing number of female biker gangs show up for the party.