Ohio Amish Spyder Rally set for Aug. 6-10

A lot of people are afraid of spiders. Spyders? They’re another story. They’re friendly, safe and fun.

LaVonne DeBois discovered Spyders about eight years ago and quickly developed an affinity for them. Now she’s running rallies for the three-wheeled machines.

“I had friends that convinced me to do that,” DeBois said. “It was a little bit of a hard sale. I didn’t know a lot of people who rode, so it was a whole new community with me.”

What’s a Spyder? In simple terms it’s a three-wheeled motorcycle with two wheels in the front. That’s not to be confused with a trike, which has its pair in the back, like a tricycle.

Spyder also is a model name, produced by Can-Am, a Canadian company that first launched the Spyder in early 2007. A little more than half a year later, 2,500 had been sold.

As far as anyone knows, Spyders are called that because that’s what Can-Am decided to call them. One theory is their wheels remind some of actual spider legs. “Spider” has been a generic term used to describe open-top vehicles for more than a century.

Now all similarly styled bikes bear the Spyder moniker, much like all personal watercrafts are called jet skis even though Jet Skis, as a brand, are quite different than versions from Sea-Doo, WaveRunner and others.

Some estimates say more than 100,000 Spyders are on the road, though many believe that number is on the low side. As Spyders become more popular, so do Spyder rallies and clubs.

Among those rallies is the Ohio Amish Spyder Rally 2025, hosted by DeBois’ Amish Table Talk, billed as the “longest running backroad tour company in Holmes County.” The 25-year-old company first offered hourlong buggy tours. A few name changes and some technology updates later, it became what it is today.

This will be the third annual Spyder rally in Holmes County. This rendition will take place Aug. 6-10, kicking off at the Berlin Grande Hotel. There will be rides all four days.

“We’re going to see a lot of Spyders running around in Holmes County for three to four days,” DeBois said. “We’ll have a lot of riders from the Catskills in upstate New York. It’s a subgroup. They do rides on their own. I give them destinations like Mohican Country, Sugarcreek, Lehman’s. I lead a ride on Friday called the Tusky Twister. Saturday, there’s an Amish Country ride. We have 42 people registered. It’s a lot of Spyders.”

The niche is still somewhat small, but the momentum is growing, and the word is getting out about the rallies. It’s the three-wheeler version of Mini rallies, which you’ll see from time to time being held by Cooper enthusiasts.

“Each year we add a little something, but the riding is still great for our areas,” DeBois said.

DeBois said the Spyder “bikers” are getting more and more acceptance among their two-wheeled counterparts.

“The politeness is pretty good,” she said. “They’ll still give the two fingers down, you know, ‘ride safe.’ Some might have an opinion about us. It doesn’t bother us. We still get the same enjoyment as riding the two-wheelers. The majority of them accept us. A lot of those two-wheel riders eventually go to a three-wheel. As you get older, it’s harder to hold the bike up. We don’t have to hold our bike up. It’s a growing community.”

More than 20% of their owners were women, and more than a quarter of Spyder riders never owned a motorcycle.