I just got home from Port Dover where I experienced the town’s largest-ever Friday the 13th biker rally.
Since 1981, this quaint town on the north
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I spent most of the afternoon on Gisele's front lawn just watching the bikes fly by. There was every make and model there.
In the evening, after another tremendous meal at the house thanks to hosts Gisele and Rob we went into “downtown” again to see a much younger biker crowd cram beer tents and see musical performance, including Steppenwolf. (famous for the song Born to be Wild) and Jeff Healey.
Pictures courtesy of a friend. I broke my camera (will cost over $250 to fix). While taking a picture (perfectly sober) I stepped on some uneven pavement, stumbled and broke the shaft of my camera lens (not the lens itself) when it hit the seat of the motorcycle that caught my fall. Mores the pity, because some of the views were spectacular - literally thousands of bikes gleaming of chrome and leather!
Tomorrow I’ll be off to the camera repair shop to see whether it is worthwhile to have the camera fixed. Then on Monday its off to camp for four days!
10 comments:
Perfectly sober, eh...? I don't know...that sounds like the perfect drunkard story to me! :)
Do you ride a motorcycle, Lesley? Have I missed this in reading your posts? I always wonder how they can keep cool in all that leather during the summer!
Aw, bad luck about the camera.
Bikers en masse like this are an awesome sight (and sound!). They also often turn out to be really gentle people.
Two quick favourite biker stories:
No. 1: When my eldest was about three, we were at a seaside town and we became separated in a crowd. terrifying. She was missing for about 25 minutes, the longest of my life. The police weren't interested, ("she's just wandered off, someone will find her!"), but I asked a bunch of bikers in the beer garden of the pub if they'd seen her, and they all put down their drinks and came out to help me look! Beautiful.
No. 2: Early this year Colin and I stopped in a country town in the middle of a Harley Davidson rally. There were literally thousands of machines in the main street. We wanted to cross the road, but the mass was just starting to move - it was going to take ages. Suddenly two huge hairy guys with tatts all over their arms poking out of their leathers saw us and held up their hands to halt the mighty wave behind them and smilingly motioned for us to cross. Got to love it.
Sounds like a great time..
Steppenwolf? I didn't realize they were still alive!..
Hope you can retrive the pictures from the camera..
Glad to hear you had a good weekend away from it all.
Sorry to hear about the camera incident - I was looking forward to photos. Hope it can be fixed.
I'd have been more worried about the owner of the bike I launched myself onto being in the vicinity than the camera itself...
Margie, bikers can be quite the darlings - hairy arms, beer bellies, tatts and all!
In my 20's I hung around with a bunch of bikers and I remember having the time of my life with them!
They even let me ride my Honda alongside them on their Harleys...
The interesting thing about this crowd is that it was more of a mom and pop crowd than a rowdy biker crowd. I hear that the gangs were present, but stayed in the parameter and only made up 1% or so the total attendance. Mostly these people were just normal folk who had the joint love of motorcycles.
Bikers get such a bad wrap. And of course, there are a few sects that may be less than... um... salt of the earth.
But I have yet to meet one. I got my tattoo at the memorial bike rally last year for our dear friend Huey (I miss him so much Dale, and I know you do too), and from the moment I stepped on the rally grounds I was welcomed and treated warmly by all.
I frankly felt more secure on my own with those big burly bikers than I do going to the pub sometimes.
Big Hughie is sadly missed by all, Steph.
I couldn't believe it when I heard he'd been killed - he always seemed so indestructible...
sounds like a great time, sorry about the camera though. ouch! hope it is repairable.
enjoy camp xx
Hello Lesley,
sorry, because I was so long away from your blog. But now here I am.
I can't belief, so many bikers on one place. In Kassel I don't ride a bike, because we have some hills and I'm lazy. What a bad news with your camera. My camera is from 1979 (Canon) and I hope it will be working some years.
Now I wish you a great weekend.
Love and peace.
Stefan
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