Mike Pence rides a Harley to a showcase of 2024 runners as he teases the Wednesday campaign launch

Former Vice President Mike Pence donned a helmet and sat astride the Harley Davidson motorcycle on Saturday, riding at the head of a motorcade to a large gathering of Republican 2024 hopefuls.

He hasn’t announced a run yet, but is expected to launch his campaign on Wednesday.

Pence joined Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former Governor Nikki Haley, Senator Tim Scott and other declared candidates in Des Moines, Iowa.

But the frontrunner, former President Donald Trump, was notably absent, continuing a strategy of avoiding events where he has to share a stage with rivals.

His former VP was the only hopeful to participate in the motorcycle rally, a part of Senator Joni Ernst’s Roast and Ride

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis mingled with supporters and signed books and posters at the fairgrounds near Des Moines, Iowa, on Saturday morning

And in his speech, he teased an announcement on Wednesday when he will return to the state.

And I must tell you that for the past two years, [wife] Karen and I have spent a lot of time thinking and praying about all that this country is facing and what we could do to serve,” he said.

“And I have nothing to announce today, but I can tell you, when it’s time to announce, arrive this Wednesday, I’ll announce in Iowa.”

Pence has made multiple trips to the early caucus state over the past year as he tests the waters, but has yet to formally enter the race.

He wore jeans, boots and a patched leather vest in tribute to his home state of “Indiana” and messages of support for the military as he joined Ernst at the head of the rumbling column of motorcyclists.

The second part of the event was a series of speeches to Iowa voters.

The meeting at the fairgrounds near Des Moines is one of the first opportunities for Republicans in the state to compare most candidates side-by-side.

Others appearing include former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson, Michigan businessman Perry Johnson, author Vivek Ramaswamy, and conservative talk show host Larry Elder.

Pence (left) was the only one of the runners or would-be runners to join Senator Joni Ernst (right) in the motorcade of some 200 bikers in Des Moines, Iowa

Senator Tim Scott, whose unique selling point is an optimistic message of unity, was the first of the candidates to take the stage

Trump was absent, even though supporters had posted his signs around the fairgrounds parking lot.

First to take the stage was Scott, who seeks to unify the party with a message of optimism based on his own rags-to-riches story.

“I’m scaring the hell out of the radical left and Joe Biden,” he said. “The evidence of my life destroys their lies.”

Pence, for his part, listed achievements from his time as vice president before criticizing the Biden administration.

“Under President Joe Biden and the Democrats in Washington DC, they unleashed the worst border crisis in American history,” he said.

Inflation is at its highest level in 40 years, energy prices are skyrocketing, all because of their war on energy and their weakness abroad.

“And that disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan has emboldened the enemies of freedom.”

Like other candidates, he hinted that it was time to put the divisive politics of recent years behind him.

“Republicans must offer a positive vision of the future based on … conservative principles and we must speak hard truths,” he said.

“Men and women, we must resist the temptation to choose what is popular over what works and has been proven over time.

“I believe we must resist the politics of personality.”