Bike Week, Schmike week

Well, it’s time again for the loudest week of the year. I say “week” but today they rolled in and will be here for at least ten days. If you live near or have even ever heard of Myrtle Beach you probably know what I mean.

BIKE WEEK

Harleys have been steadily rolling past my office since about 8:30 this morning. I am going home early today. Don’t get me wrong – I have nothing against motorcycles. I have ridden many and enjoy the thrill of the open road. I don’t like Harley Davidsons.
They are based on an antiquated design that is underpowered, overloud, leaking, rattling, obnoxious and is loved by people who enjoy people noticing that they are on a motorcycle more than riding a motorcycle.

I get a big kick out of these “bikers” that come down to “bike week” in SUVs with trailers on them. A couple hours after arriving they get a team of people to help them get their “bike” out of the trailer and park it in front of the house. Then they spend the next week riding a few minutes between stops at bars where they cackle and crow for hours. When it’s all done, they pack their “bikes” back into their trailers and get into their family car and turn on the A/C and the stereo and roll up the windows to insulate themselves from the road on the trip home.

Then they have the audacity to look down their noses at a couple guys who show up with a duffle bag tied to the back of their BMW or Honda. These are the ones who enjoyed 8 hours cruising from New York or Michigan or wherever, wind in their face wheels on the road.

It’s not so much the Harleys that piss me off as much as the holes planted on them. Many of these people (I know a few) abandon their school age children for a week – telling them that grandma would like to have them visit; or “wouldn’t it be nice to have a sleepover at Jamie’s for the next nine nights?”

Every bike week we average more deaths per day by motorcycle wreck than the military has by Iraqi bomb over the last two years. Still we have no uproar over having bike week be called off – Maybe it’s because soldiers are more valuable to the U.S. than a-holes.