Went to Vegas with the Vietnam Vets MC

Well, a lot has happened since my last entry. I have been "hanging around" with the Vietnam/Legacy Vets MC for a few weeks now, but I'm not an official "Hangaround" as of yet. I was invited to go to a regional meeting of the club's. It was in Vegas, and we rode down from Lake County, CA. It was a killer ride, with the exception of a crazy asshole trying to run us down on I-580, in Castro Valley. We were riding in a "side-by-side" formation of 6 bikes, when we came up to a slow car in the fast lane on a 2 lane overpass. He immediately started slamming on his brakes so hard that the rear end of his car is flying up in the air. It is a new, silver Chev Impala, with plastic dealer plates that say "Dub" on there(for Dublin Chevrolet). It was a black male driving, whom we could all identify now. After his intitial attempt to get us to hit the rear of his car, the "P" took a run around him to just continue on and ignore him. Then the car tried to run him down. At this point, we had just gotten through a junction, and the highway is 5 lanes wide. We were about to climb a hill toward Dublin, and no cars were ahead of us, so it was clear ahead, because all of the cars had hung back due this idiot. By this time, he is swinging his car across 3 and 4 lanes to try to hit us, and we are scattered around him. We backed off again, and this dude stops on the freeway to try and get us to catch up to run us down again. Then we rolled fast, toying with him as he tried to catch up, and then we started to catch up to traffic, and he raced up and mixed in with them to get away from us. The rider in front had just been rushed after a 3 lane offensive maneuver by the idiot, so he decided to pull over on the shoulder by the guardrail. When he did, another rider in our group didn't slow down in time, and side-swiped the one who'd already stopped. I was about 40 feet in front of this, and watched the HD Bagger bite the dust after the collision. The rider who was hit was sandwiched between the side-swiper and the guardrail, and smashed his leg. Once this all happened, I was parked and ran up to the one who bit it on the bagger. He was pinned beneath it, and another one of us was already trying to get the bike off of him. I ran up to help and on the way, passed up the rider whose leg had been squished. He was running as fast as he could, but was hurt too badly to run as fast as I was, so I got there, and helped the first guy on-scene to get the bike off this guy. We got it up, and him out, and his foot had been smashed, but was able to ride, and the bike was okay. We called CHP, and they came up and told us to pull off the next exit, and started to give him details, when he said we shouldn't even bother giving a report because we didn't have a plate number. It's very upsetting that this is the case, when this should have been consdidered Attempted Murder, and with all of the cameras we know are on that freeway, it wouldn't be very hard to find that scumbag. This idiot is an obvious danger to society, and should not be allow to drive. We did nothing to provoke him, yet he went off on us like we had been after him, and most definitely would have killed at least one of us if we weren't experienced riders. Well, after the cop "didn't" do his job, we continued on, made a stop in Tracy for gas, and then went just south of Modesto for a visit and some grub. The rider whose leg was crushed sat on a recliner, and when he put his leg up, we noticed it was swollen and bleeding. Everyone agreed he should go to the hospital, and they made him stay off the bike for the weekend, after he'd been preparing for the trip for months. It was a very sad thing having to leave him behind, but he was in good hands, while we continued on to Vegas. It was a crazy ride, with threats of rain almost every moment, but we actually only spent a total of about 15 minutes in the rain.
So, we arrived in Vegas, my bike never left the parking lot until that next Sunday, when we left for home. We were in the Hotel the entire weekend, and I met some of the best people I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. Everyone treated each other with respsect, and there was love everywhere. All bikes were safe with Prospects on duty, and I think our story of the crazy idiot was the worst travel story we heard out of all the other people who'd ridden or caged it to the event. Word of our experienced definitely preceeded us. There were many good suggestions as to how we may have dealt with the crazy ass in more "permanent" ways. With the exception of losing our brother from the pack, it was a great weekend. Thank you again, VNV/LEGACY VETS M/C. You guys are all awesome! This last weekend, this chapter of the club put on a charity "Spaghetti Dinner" for GI Moms. It raised over $11K for packages to be put together to be sent to our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. This money went straight to them, and the event went off without a hitch. Everyone had a great time, enjoyed the food, and all made it safely home. I am proud to have been a part of it. My Girl won about $200 worth of prizes in the raffle. During the event, the only negative comment I heard about was from a cop who mumbled something out of the window of his car as he drove by. I would like to also thank all of the people that donated any help, or prizes, and especially the food. The food had been donated by a local restaurant by the name of Zack's, and was spectacular. I was dying when I had to serve that spaghetti, and stand right next to the guy serving the spaghetti sauce, when I hadn't eaten since early that morning. Great stuff!
So, it is late, and I am tired. Good Night!

The Couple of Weekend Rides

It's been great riding the past couple of weeks. The weather has been in our favor, especially for this time of year. This weekend was very busy. My "better half" spent the day with her son, and I went on a run to benefit a new fund called the "Fallen Rider's Fund". It was a great time, and everything went really well. I have a few photos of the event, and WHOA!, the cops were out in force.
I found it really strange on Friday, when I pulled into the bank parking lot downtown Kelseyville, and a Sheriff's deputy pulled in a minute after I did. Another motorcyclist, on a Road Star, also pulled in right after me, and parked immediately next to me. He happened to be someone I've known for a few years, and is an upstanding member of this community. I am a local, and I own a home here in Kelseyville. I am also a local business owner, and have no record whatsoever ("knock on wood"). The cop pulls right up behind our bikes once we're in the bank, and he gets on the radio and calls one, or both, of our plate in. I could see him reading them off into the mic. He wasn't trying to hide it, for sure. So, I thought it was strange, and I still feel harrassed buy it. It is disturbing to be "judged", or even "accused", merely by the fact that I ride a Harley-Davidson. It's sickening, and this blatant activity should be grounds for policy change, or punishment. I have nothing to hide, but still feel like I'm a criminal in a cops eyes because I wear leather and have a motorcycle that they don't have the heart to spend the money on. Many M/C's were founded on the very concept of "individual freedom", yet we're "prisoners of the system". It's IGNORANCE!!!!
I am not usually the "whiney baby" type, but either because of the fact that the Hell's Angels had their 50th Anniversary in Oakland this weekend, or because of the Vagos being the main sponsors of this run on Saturday, there were WAY more cops than there should've been. I saw cops almost literally on every other street corner all the way around Clear Lake. I heard several people mention at least 2 different CHP helicopters hovering over a few of the run's stops. As usual, in reality, people are actually safer than on an average day, and the "authorities" make it look like we're a bunch of terrorists. Grrrrr...that pisses me off. They had to have spent 10's or 100's of thousands of dollars for their little "show of force". I couldn't believe all of the unmarkeds driving right by us as we are standing outside the places we stopped on the poker run. It almost made it more fun, because the cops looked so stupid standing there when nobody's doing anything wrong, and it made us want to taunt them(lol). The good thing is, most of them were friendly, and they didn't start trouble with any of us. That was a surprise, but it made for a fun day, and no one went down, or got a ticket that I heard of. There were definitely hundreds of bikes, and the weather was perfect.
We ended the evening on Saturday by going to see Eddie Money at Konocti Harbor. He put on a great show. It was our friend's birthday, so we met up with several of our close friends and had a great time. HAPPY B-DAY B!!!
I will try to post some pics of the ride on this blog. Today we saw Disney's new movie with the bikers. It was great! Hats off to you guys!

St Patrick's Day 2007- Hell's Angels Run

Hello to everyone. We had a killer weekend for St Patrick's Day. We went on the Sonoma County Hell's Angels Poker Run yesterday. It was a fine time. We started out at the Wagon Wheel Tavern in north Santa Rosa, and then we rode to downtown Sebastopol, and then to Gigi's in Santa Rosa, and finally to the clubhouse. Once we got to the clubhouse, they had a raffle with our run tickets (I even won a shirt!), and then a corned beef and cabbage dinner. It was a great time. As usual, no one got out of hand, and no one went down that I know of. I am not sure about the actual turn-out, but it was definitely in the hundreds. I never got to see the whole pack go by at one time, since I'd been given the honor of blocking, which was cool too. This was the first time I've "officially" blocked for an HA run, but I had a great time doing it. It's cool when you feel like you can get away with riding aggressively, and help people out in the process. There were a few dummies in rolling cages, but for the most part, people were in awe of the spectacle of the massive pack creating such a distinctive thunder. It is powerful, and I love being a part of it. Most of the time, when you're blocking intersections, the people in the cars are having a great time watching the river of shining chrome flow by. The kids in the cars are always excited. It's funny to watch the families in the cars, and the kids jumping up to watch over their parents' shoulders from the back seat. So, after hanging out at the clubhouse for a while, and winning the shirt, eating great grub, and enjoying all the other bikers' company, we headed home.
We had to ride back to Lake County from Santa Rosa, and we left right when it was just getting dark. It was also getting kind of chilly for those of us who can't ride in the cold(WAAAaaaa!). So, we went over Hwy 12 to Calistoga Rd to Calistoga, and then cut over to Hwy 29. We went over Mt St Helena on 29 to Middletown, and then the rest of the way to Lower Lake where we stopped at John Henry's Pub for a visit before my lady and I broke away toward home. The drastic temperature change when we hit Hidden Valley was a nice surprise. I think the temp rose about 8 degrees within a 20ft distance. So, we are getting ready to go for a ride now, so I will get back to this later. I hope you're all out riding right now. Read this later! ;)

Well, I have been very bad about blogging for a few months now. This is mainly due to the weather, and the fact that I bought a new "2007 Harley-Davidson FLHX Street Glide" in November 2006. I went into McGuire's Harley-Davidson in San Ramon, CA after a refi, and saw the same model, color, and add-ons that I'd been looking for...fresh off the truck. I said,"Sign me up!"
The day after I first saw it, I picked it up. Today is the 15th of March, 2007, and I just finished doing the 5000 mile service today. When I first picked it up from the dealer, it had 6 miles on it. It's been a great 5K miles so far, but they were wetter than I would've liked. I haven't dropped the bike, nor have I had any "close-calls" as of yet(KNOCK ON WOOD>>>). Now the plan is to try to make Sturgis this summer. We are also going to try and make the Laughlin weekend with some friends. My lady wants to get a new SoftTail, so who am I to stop her? We have a Hells Angels St Patrick's Day run this Saturday, and lots of events coming up in the weeks ahead. I will make a real effort to blog more often this season, and maybe someone will read this and recognize my writing skills and offer to finance a European Motorcycle Expedition for me :D

Love and Respect

Kickstand's Motorycling Blog

Well, I've been too busy with all these things I have going on. We went on a run on Sunday that was quite a day. The Sonoma County Hell's Angels put on a run they call the "End of Summer Run". It was a great day for everyone. No accidents,harrassment from the cops, Attitude, or general stupidity. All went smoothly, and the weather was perfect. We did have a chopper circle around overhead at the starting point, but we didn't see them again all day. We met some great people, and saw a killer little "stunt show" from a guy who was a member of the club. I was in awe of the fact that a guy his size could handle a bagger like that...or anyone else, for that matter. It was a nice addition to what was already a great day. We had to go on Barbara's Honda because my Harley was waiting on a part that BikeBandit.com took a couple of weeks to get to me. I didn't want to ride the Ninja with that group. so we doubled up on hers. Get this!...I never pulled my digital camera out of my bags during the day. When we got home, I couldn't find my camera. I had the case, but no camera. So, I told Barbara that it was missing, and she said the Hell's Angels had been announcing all day that they'd found a camera outside their clubhouse. I thought I'd check to see if it was my camera they had, but I had no phone number for their clubhouse, so I emailed them. I described my camera, and the next day I got a reply from their webmaster confirming it was my camera, and he said they'd hold it for me to come pickup anytime. I will be picking it up when I go to their next event early next month. It cracks me up how shocked people are when I tell them this. They usually say,"Wow!...Hell's Angels?" There's such a common misconception about them, and I have to laugh at the ignorance. They are, on average, very upstanding people, and usually the most fun to hang out with. We always have the most fun on their runs. So, don't believe everything you see on TV, and watch out for the PO~PO!!!...and Thanks Sonoma Co HA!

Kickstand's Motorycling BlogI went to the Dr. He took X-Ray's on Monday. No new breaks or fractures, but there's a possibility that the original break cracked again. I was told to put physical therapy on hold for a week. The Dr. also instructed me not to ride my bike for as long as 3 months...OUCH!!!
That's right! I won't be riding for a while. As a result, I won't be attending Street Vibrations this year. Sorry guys. I was planning on doing an extensive photo gallery out of it. This really changes my plan. Even if I were to drive there, my foot is not in good enough condition to be able to cover the ground I'd need to cover to make it worthwhile. Maybe in a wheelchair!....Naaaaa. I also had to miss another Old Coots meeting yesterday, due to my foot being so swollen. I learned through the beginning of this foot thing, you elevate and ice immediately. It will speed overall recovery. Listen to the doctor.
SO, the way I was hit on Saturday was as follows:
We were at Konocti for the Train concert, and while there I met a guy on a "Repsol" Honda. We got to talkin' cuz I was on my Ninja that day, due to my broken oil pump cover on my Sporty. When the concert was over, most of us were going to go to Richmond Park, so I told him about it, and he followed along. When we got there, I was second to last in line, and he was behind me. I stopped to look behind me to swirve right and left to park with the rest of the bikes, and the guy on the Honda hit me at a 45 degree angle on my right side. If you remember, my left foot is the one that's broken, and upon impact I was shot off the bike to my left. While in motion I was making large hops on my left foot. When it was over I hadn't fallen, but my bike had, and my foot hurt like hell. The guy who hit me was still upright, and his wife was on the back saying,"Car door, Dude!...Car door!...Car dooOOoor! Well there were two females in a car that was illegally parked, and the driver opened her car door after I'd passed, and this startled the rider of the Honda. That is apparently what distracted him enough to look away and hit me when I'd stopped. When this happened, their security guard was watching whole thing, along with several friends of mine who'd just parked before the incident. Several witness saw and heard him telling the two females that had opened to the door to leave immediately. They took off before anyone could stop them. After that, the security guard disappeared too, and people that were seen talking to him at the time of the incident were now claiming he was never there. Others in my party identified him, and I know I saw him with my own eyes as I was flying through the air. He wasn't 10 feet from where it all happened. I really didn't care about my bike, or anything other than my foot. I didn't want to extend my recovery time another day, and it was hurting pretty badly after all of this. Anyway, it was an interesting evening, as later there was more excitement. My buddy got in a fight with a friend's friend over some drunken words of stupidity. Even my buddy's wife jumped in to help her man. Everyone seemed to be letting them go at it for a bit. They broke a table and there were some cuts and bruises on one of 'em. I must go now...I'll add more to the story later.

Kickstand's Motorycling Blog

I had an eventful weekend. Saturday night I was hit by another rider, and the same night there were lots of fights among friends. Pretty exciting. I may have re-broken my foot. I'll find out today when I get another X-Ray. It feels broken again. I'll explain how it all happened as soon as I have time to write more. I am looking for a motorcycle lawyer. If you know one in Northern California who's good, please post it to the comments link below this blog entry. Talk to ya'll soon.