April 7-8, 2001
By Marc S. Gallin
What a weird but fantastic
weekend of riding and good company we all enjoyed in Joshua Tree this
month. Despite a rather wet Saturday,
it all worked out extremely well.
Everyone enjoyed the beautiful weather on Sunday and Joshua Tree Park
was dressed out in all of nature’s wonderful spring colors. Our vintage
machines seemed to like it as well, for they all seemed to be in top form with
the only exception being the bunch of bikes that Chuck and Vaughn brought
out. Even their trailer seemed to have
some problems, but that’s another story and you’ll have to ask them.
About 20 machines made it
out for the run this year. Several Club members came in from Arizona and we
even had a fellow come down from Northern California. Of special interest to
all was the return of our dear friend Harry Sucher. Who thanks to a devoted son
and his own never say give up attitude, was back in the saddle, with Vic Sucher
piloting their Ural sidecar rig. Though this time Harry might not have been in
the drivers seat, once again, the Suchers were back in the wind! All were
grateful and happy to have them amongst us. Bob and Shorty Stark joined us for
the run, riding in their Classic 50s Black Thunderbird. It’s seems that word of our great run is
spreading far and wide.
And now for the rest of my
story…. When I left my house on Saturday, it was raining hard in Orange County,
but I was determined to make the ride.
About an hour out, I decided to use my (web enabled) cell phone by
calling Mike Menezes for a weather and traffic report. Mike jumped on the internet from his home in
Simi Valley and proceeded to give me up to the minute rain information for the
next hour as I drove up the 91 and then the 60 freeways. It’s amazing how the web can be so accurate
about rain… I just wish Mike had gotten in his truck to drive out to Joshua
Tree too, but he had other plans for the weekend. Around Noon I arrived in Yucca Valley at Hutchins Harley-Davidson
and it was still raining hard. Since I
knew the group would head our around this same time, I decided to stop and eat
lunch at the Route 66 café and peruse the dealership. I’d been there before,
but had never spent an hour touring the place, and it was well worth it as
Hutch has several antique motorcycles and lots of memorabilia on display.
At around 1:30 PM I decided
to head out for Joshua Tree and whom should I see coming out of the rain, but
our own Lady Grace McKene. Seems Grace
had decided to leave the park when the clouds got too thick and being the
independent gal she is, she headed over to Hutches for lunch. Since I hadn’t seen her in a quite a while,
I headed back into the Route 66 café to join her for some hot coffee (which she
looked like she needed). After about 30
minutes of chitchatting… the sun came out and I decided to head down the road
to get some riding in. I bid my
farewell and set off down the lonesome highway. Arriving in 29 Palms about 30 minutes later, the sun was shining,
and it looked like everyone was bench racing and kicking tires in the hotel
parking lot. Thanks to Jim Falk’s
efforts, we had a new host hotel, the El Rancho and it worked out quite well. Maybe next year they’ll even have their pool
filled and we can take a swim if the weather cooperates.
After unloading my Indian
Chief and talking to the folks as to why they weren’t out riding, (which I got
numerous answers for) I decided to head out for a ride. I put on my leathers but not my chaps or
raingear as it looked great out…. However, after having ascended into the
Joshua Tree National Monument, I quickly knew why they were all back at the
hotel cause I ran into the clouds.
About 5 miles up into the park my jeans were getting damp and my spirits
were somewhat crushed. Oh well, I
thought, there is always tomorrow, so I spun my trusty steed around and coasted
back down the mountain and out of the park into the sunshine. Strange how the
weather works… However, instead of taking the left turn on the highway that
would take me back to town, I decided to take a little tour around town. I rode around the back streets of 29 Palms
and somehow managed to find my way to the Marine base. Stopping at the gate, I asked if they let
Visitors on base, and the fellow at the gate said sure… have fun!
Surprised, I took off to see what there was to see.
Now, touring a marine base
is something I’d never done before, so I was amazed at all the tanks and large
guns they had locked up behind fences.
They even had about 10 really neat armored vehicles on display along a
road…. Just with I had my camera… but that’s another story. As I was heading around the side streets, I
noticed a MP in a patrol car following me.
Didn’t think much about it until he pulled next to me with his lights
flashing…. “Pull Over” he motioned…. OH
NO, I thought… BUSTED! As I didn’t even have a base pass, I was a bit
concerned. Seems he stopped me cause I didn’t
have a reflective vest on, and I said they are not standard issue with Classic
Indians… after checking my drivers license, making sure I was clean (lucky for
me, I was) he escorted me to the edge of the base. Home Free I thought as I headed back to the hotel. Boy do I have
a great story to tell the guys.
Saturday night, most of the
group headed over to a local Mexican restaurant where we had a killer
meal. And several of us had 1-liter
margaritas, which really packed a punch.
And a couple of the guys, had more than one… won’t mention any names….
Dee… After dinner a few of us went bar
hopping to see what the town of 29 Palm has to offer and I tell you, I wish I
had just gone back to the room to watch HBO…. Boring! Now I know why I don’t go out much….
Sunday began with warm sunshine and the group set out for the ride around 10 AM. However, it got downright cold as we climbed up into the park. Lucky for me I was prepared with full leathers and I managed to make it through the day without a hitch. We took in the usual sites and the only problem we encounted was a 5 mile stretch of rode they were repaving. All in all, we had a great ride and by 1:30 PM were back at the hotel loading up for home. Everyone seemed to want to get an early start home and the lot was empty by around 2 PM…. All in all, I believe it was a truly good ride and very enjoyable.
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