Church Invasion

Today, I did something different.  I rode with members of the Roadhouse Biker Church and the Black Sheep Motorcycle Ministry for what they refer to as a "church invasion."  Basically, we meet up at the hideout and, as a group, ride out to the predetermined destination.

Today, that destination was a church in Perris, Ca known as Free Indeed.  They manage to have a decent turn out without counting the two-wheeled guests.  I suppose it's due to the excellent testimonies, Word, and music.

I cannot say enough about how excellent the house band was.  They played oldies, but changed some of the lyrics up to incorporate some good old fashioned worship notes.  They had a brass section with a horn and sax.  A man and two women provided excellent vocals.  The women sang with such soul you'd be as amazed as I was if you were to hear them.  Joe Jamez was on the drums.  Keyboard and guitars were also used with such musical perfection.  Our group was on its feet nearly the whole time - only during the offering did we sit.

The ride out was fun.  We had around 35 people in attendance and it made for some interesting navigation through Southern California highways.

After service, we gathered at a nearby diner named Harry's Cafe for some socializing and good food.  The food portions were large and the price was more than fair.

All in all, it was a great day of hanging out and having a good time.

AMC Gremlin

While out and about today, I found this AMC Gremlin sitting on a corner.  It was a very nice looking Gremlin - as far as good looking Gremlins go.

My dad had a couple of these monstrosities when I was a kid.  He loved them.  He swore by their reliability and if he could, I'm sure that he would own another today.

I have some memories of this car myself.  I actually learned to operate a manual transmission in one of these. I would put it's 6 cylinder through some serious tests, nearly taking out a mailbox one time - a feat that I heard much about for quite some time while "growing up."

When I was younger, we used to go to Ontario, Ca, a nearby city, to drag race our cars on the streets in an industrial area.  There was an older gentleman with one of these on what appeared to be stock wheels a tires - a real sleeper.  This thing had guts.  He would race often and I'd see him win plenty.  My friend had a 67 Mustang and would soon be humiliated by the old guy with the Gremlin and we wouldn't let him live it down.

Those Gremlins were something else.  They weren't pretty, but some loved them.

If you think the Gremlin was bad, I even drove my mom's pinto around for a while.

Here's a photo of the one on the corner in Big Bear Lake, Ca.  All that I had was my Blackberry.  Therefore, the image quality is not great.

What to do?

This time of year, there seems to be more rides and events than you have time to attend.  If only you could be in 3 or 4 places at once.  Perhaps with time travel we'll be able to enjoy life that much more.  Doc Brown, where the hell are ya?

It's getting tough to decide which ones to attend.  There are many factors in making the decision - the ride itself, the venue, the company, etc.  I seem to be struggling with this as of late.

There are also rides that I want to do alone or with just the wife, such as a trip to San Francisco.

I shouldn't complain.  It's actually nice to have choices.  I suppose it would be boring to do the same old thing every weekend.

I hope you are all having the same struggle as it's not really a bad thing.  Keep having fun and enjoying it while you can.

Born Free 3

A couple weeks back (I know. And I'm just posting now?!?), I went to Born Free 3.  What a cool event with tons of cool bikes, parts, and garments.

The ride out was interesting.  Most of the way was a breeze.  Unfortunately, there was an accident near our exit and backed traffic up for a few miles.  Fortunately, this is California and splitting lanes is perfectly legal for motorcyclists.

Once we exited the freeway, we proceeded through various surface streets to arrive at our destination.  We saw several cool bikes along the way.

Upon arrival, it exceeded my expectations.  The parking lot was filling with some of the coolest bikes I've laid my eyes upon in quite some time.  They were coming in constantly and my senses were being overloaded.

We walked through the vendor area, checking out many sweet bikes and perusing the goods being sold.

We proceeded to the bike show.  Most of the bikes were amazing, but I would bet some were there because the parking was good and it must have been cheap or free to enter the show.

I could not believe the creativity on display on the entire site - parking and vendor areas included.  Some of the most radical custom, home-built choppers and bobbers were on hand - some of which are currently featured in magazines and on some of the forums I visit.

After we left the event, we rode to Cook's Corner.  At Cook's, we enjoyed a chili cook-off taking place.  I also snapped a few more shots of some bikes in the lot.

Here are a few pics (of over 400 taken that day) to whet your appetites for cool custom rides.  This is the probably the most photos I've posted for a single blog entry.  That's a testament to the fact that there were so many cool bikes on hand.

This one was taken at Cook's Corner.

I recently spotted this one in a magazine.

I believe this one belongs to Gilby Clark of Guns N Roses.

Kind of steampunkish. Jules Verne would love it!

This one seemed to run fine.

This one was also recently spotted in a magazine.

Overall cool bike.  Love everything.

Tons of engraving on this one.

This was only the bike show area.

Currently on the cover of a magazine.