Labor Day Weekend, 2010, Saturday

I had no damn plans a week ago, and now the weekend is now jam-packed with stuff to do, places to go, people to see, etc.....having to make some tough choices, here and believe me, I'm not complaining! It's all good.

Today, Linda and Charlie, along with John and Cathy, met me here in Alexandria, and after a few "starter" beverages, we hit the road, running west on Route 50 through Aldie and into Middleburg to meet Angel at the Red Horse Tavern, which is a pretty cool biker hangout, improbably located in a high-end Virginia horse-country town. But bikers have money too, right?

All of us were just at East Coast Sturgis, so it was good to have a reunion so soon. We could compare notes! "Did you see those people?" LOL.

Angel is the newest of our crew, and she is soooo cool . We just had to adopt her.

Unfortunately, husband Jim was out of town, but Angel invited us over anyway to see one heck of a collection of cool bikes she and Jim have put together. So off we went to Purcellville!

Angel and Jim live in a great house, tucked in next to a dairy farm, with a basement full of surprises....motorcycles everywhere....and a tractor! Angel gave us a bike-by-bike tour, telling the story of each one, including obscure details that made them even more interesting. It's cool to see interesting old bikes and hear all about them from a rider's perspective.

But hey, it wasn't all about bikes....Angel suggested we get some target practice in and she broke out the guns! The kitchen was quickly converted to a firing range and the games began. No squirrel was safe! (Ok, so the target was actually a metal squirrel, but you get the idea, right?)

So after target practice, I started drooling all over the Panster again......

...., and then allowed to pick my new ride....but only if it was a tractor! The face-saving moment came when the lady of the house agreed to a photo op!

After another tour of the bikes (I could have looked for hours), we decided to roll out, but not before failing miserably to convince Angel to join us for Sunday's ride into the Baltimore area. Down the road we went.

Thanks to Angel for being an Angel and making the day special. We had a great time. How often do you run into someone so cute who also is a heck of a rider and also knows so much about cool bikes.

Cowboy

PS Stay tuned for pix of Bamboo Bernie's Biker Bash, Labor Day, 2010.

Reader Stats, for those who were wondering. All three of you.

So here's the statisitics of who's reading Southern Comfort! I really think the UK support is dreadful, and I want some quick answers from Linda and Charlie about readership over there. Don't people in the UK care about anything but fox hunting!?!?! And China ahead of Canada? Geez. And I won't quickly forget that South African dropout. Here today, gone tomorrow.....

United States 1,144
Germany 29
China 26
Canada 18
Japan 18
Denmark 2
Australia 1
Switzerland 1
United Kingdom 1
Israel 1

And then.......

Going to be hard to top the recent events in this blog. No, I don't mean the blog posts, although I am certainly flattered by all the terrific complements about the writing and narrative. Thanks to everyone for all the nice notes about it. I'll mention my belated success to my creative writing teacher at University of Baltimore.

What I mean is that I can't imagine another event remaining in the Northern Virginia riding season that is on the same level as East Coast Sturgis, and I damn sure ain't up to another 3,000 mile ride anytime soon. But believe me, if I had the money and the time off from work, I'd sure as hell try it.

So without another ride or event, I don't know if I'll keep up the blog or let it collect some dust. I think I'll update it now and then, just to see how it goes. No one wants to hear what I think about stuff, and I refuse to discuss religion or politics (on here, anyway), so that leaves just women to talk about, and I damn sure ain't going there. My future ex-wife may be one of my readers! Hey, maybe I could write some posts about relationship advice, or about online dating! LOL

I will mention that the Delmarva Bike Rally down in Ocean City, Maryland, was on and off my schedule for months. I kinda wanted to make that one, if for no other reason, it was the last of the year. But the hangup....actually there were two....was mainly the heavy-handed attitude of the Maryland State Police and the Ocean City Police.

The city hosts the event, and then the police do everything in their power to make your ride in, during, and back out, as miserable as possible. WTF? The cops seem to want to ensure no one gets home without a ticket. Last year, there was...without any exaggeration....a cop every quarter mile on RT 50 just waiting, and they had folks pulled over everywhere. As my friend Bev says, when Ocean City starts becoming biker-friendly again, she'll consider going back. John and Cathy say the same thing, and I can't disagree.

There's also the not-so-small fact that the regular tourists are mixed in with the bikers, meaning you run a slalom course around mini-vans driven by distracted folks from God-knows-where, and they damn sure ain't watching out for motorcycles. They're watching the kids, the GPS, plus that little cutie on the corner in the bikini (OK, me too...).

And last year, our hotel was split about 50-50 between bikers and some senior senior-citizens..."walker-class". They stationed themselves in the lobby and just watched, pointing and laughing right along with us. That was actually fun, and I think they had a ball. We got along great.

And I also have some family stuff going on down in Texas that requires a little attention, and that's the other reason I ain't going. Might need the time or money (or both) for that.

Hey, when I was in Texas last weekend, I couldn't help but notice there's no helmet law, and there were more than a few bobbers on the road, telling me that the laws to get tags for a scoot aren't so strict. A+ for Texas!

Still, I'll miss those Cancun Cantina girls in OC! Damn, damn, damn....... Who knows, maybe I can run down for the day......Riding V E R Y slowly. Yeah, right.

Cowboy

East Coast Sturgis, Event of the Year

Rain on the way up.....

Well folks, as they say, you just had to be there to appreciate it. It's absolutely amazing just how fucking crazy a bunch of bikers can actually get when left alone, unsupervised, for 4 or 5 days.

Now, I'm sure everyone has been to a wild party or two (you have, right?) and maybe even flashed a little. (Oooo la la) Or how about attending a little sexy fantasy party? Well, kids, that was Sunday School! East Coast Sturgis is a party to end all parties, and it's not for the easily-offended or weak-hearted. I've always thought I've been around and seen a little more than the average Joe Citizen, but this place had me mesmerized, and this was my second ECS! Do you ever get used to this?

Here's the crew......What a great bunch of Bros and Babes!

Everything after this is bad.....The map for the Poker Run.

 

You start with about 5,000 people, and put 'em all on bitchin' Harleys. Then everyone checks their restraint, morals, and strict religious upbringing at the gate. Now add unlimited booze, and maybe some controlled substances, to that mix. Rev up the crowd with kick-ass bands and crazy contests, including a motorcycle demolition derby! What you end up with challenges your senses, and you just can't believe some of the stuff you see people wear, or don't wear, and the things they do.

You get some idea of the event's tone when you read the flyers: No colors, no dogs, no kids, and no attitudes! For the entire weekend, I never saw a single confrontation of any kind, and nothing was stolen, even though bikes were unlocked, helmets hanging on the bars, and saddlebags loaded with stuff. Bikers may be a little nuts, but we get along for the most part, and we respect each others stuff. Society could take a lesson from that! Cops (they had an outpost outside the event) stayed outside the gates, letting the promoters and the bikers handle themselves!

 I took loads of pictures of the madness, but you always knew when something was REALLY going to be off-the-hook when someone said, "Watch, but don't take any pictures!" By the end of ECS, nudity was no longer noteworthy except in certain very good and very bad cases. And yes, not everyone that was running around half-naked should have been! Guys and girls, some of you should cover that stuff UP!

Most of our crew left the event every night, heading back to the comfort of Town Hill Bed and Breakfast, but not even that setting was uneventful. We had a load of laughs watching a husband and wife go at it, each daring each other to a stripping match. One-for-one, items of clothing were removed! It was brilliant! And no, they didn't go all the way, but they were down to the "bare" minimum before it was over.

We also ate some incredible food, went on great motorcycle rides (without getting lost) and made a bunch of great new friends. And the bikes up there were just awesome. Something mechanical to appeal to everyone, and even a Panster! (Sportster bottom end / Panhead top end) Coolest bike ever! What a terrific time we had.

The ride home was less than perfect, and practically all of us rode the 100+ miles home in pouring rain. I even had to buy a coat up there to fend off the elements! But I'll say this: The memories of the previous 4 days kept me warm and smiling every mile of the way. If you ever get a chance to attend East Coast Sturgis, don't miss the opportunity. You may never seen anything like it. And yeah, go with a group of terrific friends, and if you're real lucky, you'll have friends like mine. They're family, they're the best, and I love 'em.

Cowboy

8/17/2010