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This event was put on by the Lake County Iron Pigs MC assisted by CMA. This year's BOTB included a poker run with dinner. Thunderstorms were predicted for Saturday, I figured it would be a repeat of Friday's weather which had little rain but a lot of thunder. I was wrong.
At 9:30 am Ducati Tim and I met Kawi Tom at a gas station/store called Kit's Corner (29 & 281) which is 2 miles from my house. We waited around for the Redwood Empire Star Riders who were coming up from Santa Rosa and expected to arrive at 9:45. They blew in at 9:55 and we all rode up 29 to the Lakeport Catholic Church for the blessing. Tim and Tom had never ridden in a formation before but I had previously coached them on the staggered riding protocol so they fit right in. Nice to have outriders blocking intersections for the whole formation. Not exactly legal but tolerated by law enforcement in the interest of keeping traffic moving. Nice too to see the smiles on the faces of the children and old men as we pass by. Somehow people just light up when a big group of bikes goes by. Of course there are a few who disapprove but they are few and far between. I even enjoy the frowns of those whose lives must be pretty bleak. I once saw puritanism defined as the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, is having fun.
We got in line to sign up for the poker run. A lot of meeting and greeting going on. The friendly folks of CMA handed each arrival one of their imprinted shop towels. The message reads: "For simple clean ups use this rag. For tough messes follow the enclosed instructions." A printed page with an exploded drawing of a Triumph twin explains how one can clean up big messes with the help of Christ. Before the day was done the shop towels came in handy for wiping the rainwater off of our seats before mounting up.
There must have been at least 300 bikes and riders at this event. Clubs represented that I noticed were various chapters of CMA and of course the Iron Pigs MC. The Iron Pigs look just like a "3 patch" outlaw outfit except for the small "99%er" patch worn on their colors. The club is made up of public safety officers...police, fire, rangers and paramedic personnel. It is surprising to note the number of non DOT approved beanie helmets and loud pipes sported by these law enforcement types. It seems this group of riders is just as non conformist as any other bunch of riders. Then there was Star Chapter 159 with whom we were riding and of course XS Eleven with me as the sole representative. A fairly large contingent from Old Coots On Scoots were there. I saw a few Gold Wingers and Abate members as well. The Gold Wingers I assumed were from Clear Lake Road Riders, Inc. who don't wear colors. Also several Gold Wing trikers, dunno if they were a club but they seemed to hang together. The vast majority of the bikes were Harleys with a bunch of metric cruisers thrown in. Exactly 2 sport bikes, one was a ratty old Gpz 750 and the other was Tim's Ducati ST2, the Blue Duke. The only bike I saw with a pre 1987 blue license plate besides the Gpz was my XS11 Special.
Star 159
After short speeches from Iron Pigs and CMA honchos, Father Ted Oswald led us in prayer with the assembled multitude reciting The Lord's Prayer and after a short biker's prayer from Father Ted we all rode in single file past Father Ted and received a sprinkling of Holy Water, possibly a foretaste of the drenching we would receive from the heavens later on in the day. Apparently his prayer for good riding weather was only effective for the duration of the poker run.
As is customary in these events, all of the stops had food and drink available with the exception of a stop at The Iron Doctor, an independent Harley shop run by a member of Iron Pigs. I did notice that only some Iron Pigs members (including a road captain) were drinking beer at the stops. Everyone else seemed to be maintaining a strict sobriety. One stop was Blue Lakes Lodge, which establishment I have played with my band many times. After that we rode briskly down Scotts Valley Road towards Lakeport, at least as briskly as low slung cruisers can manage. Surprisingly the Star group kept a tight staggered diamond formation even on this tight stretch of scenic twisty road rather than breaking into single file. This kept things interesting to say the least. My did we look stylish though.
Here's some of the Star Riders at the Lampson Airport Skyroom stop. The threatening skies can be seen in the background with rain falling in the distance. How about that big Kawi 2000cc?
The last stop was at Kelseyville Lions Club where we enjoyed a meal of barbecued burgers, salad and firehouse chili. The first thing to greet us in the food line was a big pile of...you guessed it...donuts! Everyone got a laugh out of that one. Who says cops have no sense of humor? The band was excellent as well, playing classic rock from the '60s. Turned out the drummer was an old friend, John Rizzo, who I've played with many time, one of the best drummers in Nor Cal.
Soon after we arrived at the Lions, a huge clap of thunder announced the start of the downpour. There were some dismayed looks on the faces of many who had ridden long distances to get to the event. Many of the Iron Pigs had ridden from as far away as southern California and there were a bunch from the Oroville chapter as well. The Star contingent were dismayed as well since, thinking positively, they hadn't brought rainsuits. I talked with the President of Oroville Iron Pigs who had discovered that his new genuine Harley Davidson XXL rainsuit wouldn't fit his substantial girth. He had tried on the jacket, which fit fine, in the store but had just discovered that the trousers were useless. He was looking at a 150 mile ride sitting in a pool of water.
Tim and I on the other hand were only looking at an 8 mile ride to my place. Tom had a 20 mile ride home to Clearlake. I had a rainsuit in my saddlebag but assumed (correctly) that my leathers would keep me dry for the short ride home so I didn't bother with it. The 3 of us set out in the downpour after waving goodbye to the Star contingent who were mounting up. Tim and I peel off at Kit's Corner for a quick 2 mile blast to my house leaving Tom to ride home solo. I called Tom later to see if he'd made it safely and he told me he ran into a marble sized hailstorm right after we'd left him. Said the visibility was no more than 100 yards. Of course the Star group ran into the same hail. They stopped to gas up and hide from the storm at the Shell station in Lower Lake (junction of 29 & 53). These pictures are from the club website:
The 2 big 'uns, President Steve's Roadliner 1800 and the big Kawi 2000.
Steve's neoprene mask to scare the rain away.
The 1400 Suzuki belongs to the other Steve, who did such a professional job with traffic control at intersections.
I'll be attending this one again next year and recommend it to Nor Cal XSives who want to have a really fun ride.
At 9:30 am Ducati Tim and I met Kawi Tom at a gas station/store called Kit's Corner (29 & 281) which is 2 miles from my house. We waited around for the Redwood Empire Star Riders who were coming up from Santa Rosa and expected to arrive at 9:45. They blew in at 9:55 and we all rode up 29 to the Lakeport Catholic Church for the blessing. Tim and Tom had never ridden in a formation before but I had previously coached them on the staggered riding protocol so they fit right in. Nice to have outriders blocking intersections for the whole formation. Not exactly legal but tolerated by law enforcement in the interest of keeping traffic moving. Nice too to see the smiles on the faces of the children and old men as we pass by. Somehow people just light up when a big group of bikes goes by. Of course there are a few who disapprove but they are few and far between. I even enjoy the frowns of those whose lives must be pretty bleak. I once saw puritanism defined as the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, is having fun.
We got in line to sign up for the poker run. A lot of meeting and greeting going on. The friendly folks of CMA handed each arrival one of their imprinted shop towels. The message reads: "For simple clean ups use this rag. For tough messes follow the enclosed instructions." A printed page with an exploded drawing of a Triumph twin explains how one can clean up big messes with the help of Christ. Before the day was done the shop towels came in handy for wiping the rainwater off of our seats before mounting up.
There must have been at least 300 bikes and riders at this event. Clubs represented that I noticed were various chapters of CMA and of course the Iron Pigs MC. The Iron Pigs look just like a "3 patch" outlaw outfit except for the small "99%er" patch worn on their colors. The club is made up of public safety officers...police, fire, rangers and paramedic personnel. It is surprising to note the number of non DOT approved beanie helmets and loud pipes sported by these law enforcement types. It seems this group of riders is just as non conformist as any other bunch of riders. Then there was Star Chapter 159 with whom we were riding and of course XS Eleven with me as the sole representative. A fairly large contingent from Old Coots On Scoots were there. I saw a few Gold Wingers and Abate members as well. The Gold Wingers I assumed were from Clear Lake Road Riders, Inc. who don't wear colors. Also several Gold Wing trikers, dunno if they were a club but they seemed to hang together. The vast majority of the bikes were Harleys with a bunch of metric cruisers thrown in. Exactly 2 sport bikes, one was a ratty old Gpz 750 and the other was Tim's Ducati ST2, the Blue Duke. The only bike I saw with a pre 1987 blue license plate besides the Gpz was my XS11 Special.
Star 159
After short speeches from Iron Pigs and CMA honchos, Father Ted Oswald led us in prayer with the assembled multitude reciting The Lord's Prayer and after a short biker's prayer from Father Ted we all rode in single file past Father Ted and received a sprinkling of Holy Water, possibly a foretaste of the drenching we would receive from the heavens later on in the day. Apparently his prayer for good riding weather was only effective for the duration of the poker run.
As is customary in these events, all of the stops had food and drink available with the exception of a stop at The Iron Doctor, an independent Harley shop run by a member of Iron Pigs. I did notice that only some Iron Pigs members (including a road captain) were drinking beer at the stops. Everyone else seemed to be maintaining a strict sobriety. One stop was Blue Lakes Lodge, which establishment I have played with my band many times. After that we rode briskly down Scotts Valley Road towards Lakeport, at least as briskly as low slung cruisers can manage. Surprisingly the Star group kept a tight staggered diamond formation even on this tight stretch of scenic twisty road rather than breaking into single file. This kept things interesting to say the least. My did we look stylish though.
Here's some of the Star Riders at the Lampson Airport Skyroom stop. The threatening skies can be seen in the background with rain falling in the distance. How about that big Kawi 2000cc?
The last stop was at Kelseyville Lions Club where we enjoyed a meal of barbecued burgers, salad and firehouse chili. The first thing to greet us in the food line was a big pile of...you guessed it...donuts! Everyone got a laugh out of that one. Who says cops have no sense of humor? The band was excellent as well, playing classic rock from the '60s. Turned out the drummer was an old friend, John Rizzo, who I've played with many time, one of the best drummers in Nor Cal.
Soon after we arrived at the Lions, a huge clap of thunder announced the start of the downpour. There were some dismayed looks on the faces of many who had ridden long distances to get to the event. Many of the Iron Pigs had ridden from as far away as southern California and there were a bunch from the Oroville chapter as well. The Star contingent were dismayed as well since, thinking positively, they hadn't brought rainsuits. I talked with the President of Oroville Iron Pigs who had discovered that his new genuine Harley Davidson XXL rainsuit wouldn't fit his substantial girth. He had tried on the jacket, which fit fine, in the store but had just discovered that the trousers were useless. He was looking at a 150 mile ride sitting in a pool of water.
Tim and I on the other hand were only looking at an 8 mile ride to my place. Tom had a 20 mile ride home to Clearlake. I had a rainsuit in my saddlebag but assumed (correctly) that my leathers would keep me dry for the short ride home so I didn't bother with it. The 3 of us set out in the downpour after waving goodbye to the Star contingent who were mounting up. Tim and I peel off at Kit's Corner for a quick 2 mile blast to my house leaving Tom to ride home solo. I called Tom later to see if he'd made it safely and he told me he ran into a marble sized hailstorm right after we'd left him. Said the visibility was no more than 100 yards. Of course the Star group ran into the same hail. They stopped to gas up and hide from the storm at the Shell station in Lower Lake (junction of 29 & 53). These pictures are from the club website:
The 2 big 'uns, President Steve's Roadliner 1800 and the big Kawi 2000.
Steve's neoprene mask to scare the rain away.
The 1400 Suzuki belongs to the other Steve, who did such a professional job with traffic control at intersections.
I'll be attending this one again next year and recommend it to Nor Cal XSives who want to have a really fun ride.
At this rate of increase it'll be $5 by June followed by a 1 dollar drop before the elections and then back up, any bets it won't be $6/gallon by the end of the year? That would mean that minumum wage workers hourly take-home pay won't even buy a gallon of gas. This could bring a lot more demonstrators into the streets than the immigration issure did.
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