Laughlin, for the Love of the…Ride

Laughlin, for the Love of the…Ride (2018)

The gang at Cool Springs
(photo on Karen's phone with Crazy Ray as photographer)

For the love of…

…good wine. Some of us enjoy the fruit of the vine and we go places with friends to share it in new ways and perhaps to raise the level of appreciation for the really good stuff in one or two others.

…good friends and what each of them adds to the other. We like to celebrate – celebrate life and loss, laughter and grief, while we tell old stories and are busy making new ones.

…new love, because some have found it in unlikely places, or so we think, and others of us like seeing it happen. Dilly dilly.

…old friends, rekindled love, and feeding of the flames for both.

…a spacey friend even if you had to get there in a cage.

…local color and spice in the form of friends at the destination.

Even familiar roads are a joy for us because we remember a good time we had here, a curve we had a fright on there – and aced this run through. Topock, AZ provided our lunch stop while we talked and watched coots and grackles on the water and in the air as they angled for food all while we were perched on seats that gave me the best looking butt I’ve had in some time. (see the photo below) A common feeling was that breakfast last year was better than lunch this year.

We left Topock only roll past another Victory group rolling in. They took a longer ride and basically only in reverse of our direction. We had tinges of regret that we could not hang out with our friends for the meal break. Such are the vagaries of the road.

We passed through Oatman without stopping, parking being a pain there on Saturdays. The donkeys were out in fine form. Very fine form indeed, much to the delight of all who passed by the young one just hanging out in the opposite lane from us while bringing traffic in both directions to a stop. Amazing.

Cool Springs was our official rest and exploration stop. The place is under new management and netted us a new friend in Crazy Ray. They have big plans for Cool Springs as a destination and place for great fun and experiences. Best of luck to them. Our group photo was taken there by Ray and you should note the similarity to ‘Radio Springs’ from Cars. Disney used this location as the model for their movie and theme park section at California Adventure.

We had a sober reminder of the serious nature of riding while at Cool Springs. Within minutes of our arrival first responders arrived from both directions to give emergency aid and transport a sport biker who’d gone down and over his bike. Good Samaritans had brought him to Cool Springs in their car. We reminded ourselves and each other to stay sharp on the road as we left a few minutes after the emergency crews. Amazingly, as we road along in our tight grouping the downed rider’s two buddies zipped past us doing 90+ and over the double yellow lines. It erased any surprise we might have had that one of their party would have gone down.

Now, more of the love of… I asked for a couple of direct quotes from some of the group that I’m in regular contact with and here’s what I got:

For the love of…

…the road and camaraderie. (Shawn Frausto, my roomie)

…the laughs and smiles of good friends. (Kevin Shaw)

…spontaneous actions and revelry. (JSPriders)

…dilly. (Tim Robertson)

…the time we have on this earth with good friends. (Bev Hope)

If I might expound, and I will since it’s my blog, let’s explore ‘dilly, dilly’ if only because I love the exploration or words. If I were any smarter and disciplined I would do amazing things with words and their meanings. Dilly-dilly, as the Urban Dictionary describes it, is: “A word that shows approval of an action.” “The best kind of person or thing.” “an interjection used to declare some a 'true friend of the crown'.” They have others but they’re unsuitable for my post.

Budweiser would have us believe that this phrase originated in the time of and by the original Shakespeare, the more eloquent and handsome Shakespeare, I might add. I am now off to verify the origins of Dilly-dilly and may not return for some time.

And finally, for the love of…the ride. For us, there’s nothing quite like it. We can’t exactly explain it, certainly not in a simple blog post. Even the movie Why We Ride and the Facebook page of the same name leave us wanting further definition. If we could tell others why and adequately define it, we’d probably stop riding. Every time we say “this is why we ride” we find something else that makes us put the kickstand up and roll.

Remember to ride well, so well that others are inspired to a rousing “dilly-dilly!” Keep the iron side up my friends.

Jerry ‘Shakespeare’ White

The butt seats at Topock, AZ. Oh, and the very cool view.

Pandemonium at the Majestic

Majestic view from Shawn and Jerry's room

According to my friend Webster, pandemonium is the following: “not capitalized (and this is important): a wild uproar”. Capitalized, it is the capital of Hell from Milton's Paradise Lost. For the purposes of this post let’s not capitalize it, shall we?

Webster also has something to say about ‘majestic’. He says majestic is having or exhibiting majesty or ‘stately’. I suppose we need to look at majesty: “sovereign power, authority, or dignity, royal bearing or aspect: grandeur, or b: greatness or splendor of quality or character.” Okay, now we’re getting somewhere, though our Majestic Suite might be loftily named. Especially after dinner with fifteen bikers.

Pandemonium is spot on the event and started at Casa Serano for dinner. Really, they shouldn’t have put us at separate tables across the room from each other. We wanted to communicate, and so we did with toasts and boasts devolving into cheers of “Dilly dilly!” Other tables joined in and the place was not a quiet night out for any couple or group of various description. There is photographic evidence available on the Southern California Victory Riders Facebook page. It’s all there.

As we completed dinner our fifteen were made when Pam and Loren (not a lesbian couple – not that there’s anything wrong with that) joined us. They live just across the river from the Aquarius and the rest of Laughlin, NV. We trekked back to our suite for after dinner drinks of wine and spirits, nuts, Lemoncello Almonds (aka big nuts dipped in lemon cream), and peanut brittle from Eddie World. The decibel level in the room increased as the bottles were emptied, not an uncommon occurrence. By observation, I’d say the groups congregating at the bar contributed the most.

This was not unexpected after a day of disciplined riding with friends who seem to spend too long apart. My day started early and tentative. I’m nursing a painful back and once I woke I needed to keep moving. Shower, shave, dress, keep moving; pack the bike, check the pack, move on and leave ten minutes early for the meet spot in Santa Clarita, a hop that took twenty minutes less than anticipated. Six of us left the station an hour or so after I’d gotten there, Jed in the lead, Sue, Tim, Bev, Shawn, and I following - all of us on Victories.

We made our breakfast stop at Molly Brown’s Country Café in Barstow for a hearty, aka huge, breakfast and catching up with the  mixed-bag group that had come up from the south; Kevin, Mike, Karen and Keith, Andy and Jane, and Jeannie in from Bakersfield. We mounted up on a variety of Victory bikes, a new Harley (Keith), a new Can-Am Touring (Karen), a new BMW 1600 touring model (Mike), and a Lexus (our poor Jeannie busted her hand but not while riding). The ride was notable for the ease with which we all fell into formation and held it while in traffic without doing stoopid things.

We did some sections of the old Mother Road, route 66 and made our gas stop a new watering hole, Eddie World. The selection of candies, jerkies, and goodies is majestic. It goes along nicely with the huge fountain drink with the Eddie World logo. It could house two or three families.

I heard comments from our group that their favorite parts of the ride are the long sweeping curves on Nevada State Highway 93 known as Laughlin Highway leading into, you guessed it, Laughlin. We can maintain speed as we bend around the turns and wind our way to a view of Laughlin along side the Colorado River. I came in last as Keven, Keith, and Karen gave themselves over to the joy of the road. I remember Karen came by on her Can-Am on a curve that tightened as it went. She scooched over in her seat while maintaining her center steering position and it was a classic three-wheeled turn exquisitely executed.

I can think of three things you can do when faced with pandemonium – there are others, but I don’t recommend trying to throw a bucket of ice water on it. You can gleefully join in, sit back and observe and enjoy the scene, or you can run like the wind.

Now, as we get ready for our Saturday ride, I have a word for the day: Instauration – restoration after decay or lapse.

Remember to ride well, do what your mother told you and play well with other, and to keep the iron side up.

Jerry ‘Shakespeare’ White

The Third Wheel to El Rio

The Third Wheel to El Rio

Man, it's a scene at El Rio

No, I didn’t ride a trike, a Can-Am, a Slingshot, nor even a bike with a sidecar to the 2017 El Rio Toy Run. Yes, I know it’s 2018. More on that later. I do confess to thinking about slapping a sidecar on my Victory in the event I need to take Oliver with me in order to get rides in.

One of the many colorful definitions for ‘Third Wheel’ found in the Urban Dictionary is: “One who deters the socialization of a couple, perhaps when being invited out of pitty [sic] or through a feeling of duty.”

Tim Robertson and Bev Hope, the couple, and I met up at our frequently used meet-spot for rides in Northern L.A. County and on northwards. Now, Tim and Bev are not usually given to pity for Shakespeare and none was required for this event. The three of us were moved by compassion for an all but forgotten segment of the American landscape, the children of migrant farm workers. Yes, we get to feel good about ourselves for having brought a bit of hope and happiness to children with the simple gift of a toy. We can allow ourselves to let go and feel, shed a tear or choke them back all while we look over 500 or so kids as we wonder how we can make more of a difference for them.

Our brief run from Thousand Oaks to the El Rio Plaza Elementary School, home of the Chargers, gave me an ideal opportunity to observe the riding style of Tim and Bev. There were no other riders for me to consider while they rode in a harmonious stagger formation in front of me. Their movements were perfectly syncopated while they anticipated each other’s actions in traffic. A Dancing with the Stars tandem couldn’t have looked better. I can imagine other couples I know that each ride doing so with equal grace. While we don’t all have spouses or significant others that ride by our side, I’m willing to bet that nearly every rider-reader has at least one person they ride with that they feel that sense of ease and comfort, a unity of movement on two machines where you feel like they might be one. Mine is my friend Jim. Today I slipped in and out of the feeling riding behind Tim and Bev.

Who is your riding compadre?

The 2017 El Rio Toy ride was originally scheduled for December 9, 2017 and would have included close to 200 bikes had it not been postponed due to the Thomas Fire and the horrific effects it had on the area. Bikers for Christ (BFC) host the event and did not let the fires burn out their desire to bless the children of migrant farm workers in the Oxnard/Ventura area and we had Christmas in February. Nearly 80 bikes met at the school campus, did a little circle and came around to the playground to pass by 500 or so elementary school kids and their teachers.

We delivered our toys, at least two per rider, to the cafeteria/auditorium where BFC reps and Girl Scout troop 60408 received the toys and made some order of the chaos. Maggie Taylor led the charge; cheerleader, organizer, and roustabout, gloriously resplendent in her purple Santa Hat. As the bikes cooled in the playground the kids cheered the riders while the riders waved and greeted the kids. It was difficult to tell who was happier to see the other. Once the bikes cooled the kids were ushered through the rows and returned to classrooms. Mostly.

The children were then brought over to the gift collection a classroom at a time in descending order of grade level. The three of us joined other riders in the seats arranged for us to view the distribution of toys. Small groups of each class where let in and guided through the toy selection. I think it was two per child but as I watched I heard various kids ask, “Can I get one for my little sister”, “my cousin”, or “my friend at Catechism”? There didn’t appear to be greed here, only wonder at getting their first doll, toy truck, or a new soccer ball. Santa awaited them at the end of the toy selection for sweet treats and a photo op.

It was a miracle of the Loaves and Fishes all over again. The piles atop the tables never seemed to diminish. I asked Maggie what would happen with the left over toys and she told me the games will stay with the school for teachers and programs, teachers will have their pick of items for classrooms or children they know who weren’t there, and then the rest will be given to other toy collections for the needy. Nothing will be wasted; no toy, no heartfelt offering.

I moved over to follow the kids with their toys and met two of the outstanding Girl Scouts from Troop 60408, Strummer and Ellen. They were handing out a toothbrush for each child. A local dental group had donated boxes of them, enough for all the kids. Strummer, Ellen, and the troop were indefatigable and never let their smiles drop. These are the faces of a caring generation that doggedly pursue compassion over isolationism.

I found Robert Guynn, Principal of El Rio Plaza, directing the classes via hand-held radio. Robert rode in with us on his hog, a beautiful Harley. As the kids existed the room he greeted them and shared in their joy at the toys and great day they were having. At times there’d be four or five kids all opening their bags of goodies, eager to share with this rock star of a Principal. The deep care he has for the students was evident in his face as he oversaw the whole operation looking here and there to make sure everything was running smoothly with the various classes. The heart of a good shepherd guided his every action.

Robert told us a little of the plight of these children and their families and how many were housed two or three families in a two-car garage with primitive toilet and water availability at best, a hot plate for cooking for so many. I was reminded of the shoe story where two brothers were never at school on the same day because they shared a pair of shoes until the issue was discovered and shoes were made available.

I looked out beyond the bikes and playground equipment to the grass field beyond and saw some small groups sitting and sharing their newfound bounty. A soccer scrimmage had broken out with a new ball.

This is why we rode on February 3, 2018.

Ride well, keep the iron side up, and ride with compassion.

Jerry ‘Shakespeare’ White

Could be an artist, a Nobelist, a pro soccer player in the mix. Without a doubt, big hearts.