Inaugural Bikes and Bites on the Fox a success, organizers say

There weren't a lot of bikers, but hundreds of people braved the rain to attend the new Bikes and Bites on the Fox festival Saturday at Elgin's Riverside Drive Promenade.

"It went really well," said Krisilee Murphy, director of marketing for the Elgin Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. "It didn't stop raining the whole time, but all the vendors are super happy with the amount of people that we got out here and they want to come back."

Organized by the convention and visitors bureau, the fest featured five food trucks, farmers market vendors, live music and dance performances, and several activities for kids.

Performers included a "Stomp"-like ensemble from the Boys and Girls Club of Elgin, belly dancers from Eastern Grove Studio and a guitar player. All of them had already hurried out of the rain and vendors were taking tents down when Claudia Gutierrez visited the fest with her family, but she still wanted to check it out because she lives so close by.

"We thought it would be fun," she said as her family ate hot dogs, brats and pulled pork sandwiches from the food trucks. "It would have been better, I think, without the rain. It's funny because it seems like every event they have (here) it rains. Hopefully the next couple of summer events that come up, it doesn't rain."

Mary Jo Gould, co-owner of MJ's Coffee Bar, a McHenry-based food truck that sells coffee, smoothies, cookies and other baked goods, said most of the attendees made their way to every food truck to sample a little bit from each.

"People came out," she said. "I think everybody has a little cabin fever with the rain all the time, so they're coming out no matter what, now."

Murphy said one of the goals was to get bikers off the bike trail and onto Elgin's Riverside Drive to enjoy the fest and also to downtown Elgin, where they could visit other businesses.

Even though there weren't many bikers on the trail, Murphy said there were still a lot of visitors who made a point to stop at some nearby businesses, such as Elgin Books and Chooch's Pizza.

"The people were going in there to try to stay warm, but also for the drinks because we don't have beer out here," she said.