BY BILL FREEHLING

Fredericksburg-area residents should expect to see a bunch of Harley-Davidson motorcycles around town the next few days.

The Harley-Davidson Owners Group is holding its 18th-annual Virginia rally here starting today and continuing through Saturday. The Fredericksburg Expo and Conference Center will be "rally central," said Rally Coordinator Dick Becker.

About 1,440 people pre-registered for the three-day rally, which includes a variety of events at the Expo Center and around the area. Another several hundred people are expected to register in person, Becker said.

Becker guesses that attendees will arrive on between 900 and 1,100 Harley motorcycles. They'll be coming from all over Virginia, with about 70 from outside the state.

Registration starts this morning, and the rally ends Saturday night. A band will play at the Expo Center each of the next three nights. Harley dealers will set up vending booths, and the Expo Center will cater food and beverages. Harley-related contests and classes will be in the parking lot.

Only registered attendees will be allowed into the area around the Expo Center, but there will be vendors for the public along Carl D. Silver Parkway outside the gates. Spectators can view the outdoor events from there. Becker said many of the spectator-friendly biking events will be Saturday.

Not all the action will be at the Expo Center. Becker said Fredericksburg was chosen for the rally partly for its proximity to a number of sites--including Washington, Richmond, Civil War battlefields, Colonial Beach, Skyline Drive and more.

There will be a "poker run" event at Harley dealerships in the area as well as in downtown Fredericksburg each day. Becker said eight downtown businesses are participating in the poker run. People go into the business, get a card and try to make the best poker hand.

The poker run in downtown Fredericksburg will be on foot, said Victoria Matthews, who works in Fredericksburg's Department of Economic Development and Tourism and has helped coordinate the rally.

"It won't be a Sturgis or anything," Matthews said, referring to the annual motorcycle rally in South Dakota that draws hundreds of thousands of people.