Love Ride (28th annual)

Glendale, Calif., Oct. 23—Arriving in Glendale under a soon-to-burn-off fog, I was surprised by the ease of parking adjacent to Glendale H-D. It was beginning to look a lot like the Love Rides of old, with the big stage positioned on San Fernando Road in front of the dealership and the bikes lined up 10 across, three blocks down, rather than tucked away on the back streets. The ride would also be returning to its former party zone up at Castaic Lake, a location much missed by most since it was removed from the Love Ride itinerary in 2007.

An impressive display of Memorial Police Cars was created onsite by Kevyn Major Howard to honor and celebrate our nation’s heroes of 9/11 from the fire and police departments, with the victims’ names listed across the panels of each car. The Max Mueller Band entertained the early morning registrants before Oliver Shokouh began introducing the long list of celebrities and dignitaries including, for his 25th time, Jay Leno as grand marshal. He praised Oliver for having moved the ride’s date up into October to avoid bad weather. Stars from Sons of Anarchy have become regulars, which might make them true bikers by now. Bryan Cranston was donating his beautiful blue Heritage Softail as the grand raffle prize. Robert Patrick brought Mickey Jones on stage, whom he described as one who exemplifies good grooming. But Mickey gave a heartfelt call out to those in the crowd currently serving in the armed forces, as well as the Vietnam veterans, saying, “I salute you!” Unfortunately the Davidson clan, perennial attendees in the past, were unable to attend this year because of a death in the family. Once again Autism Speaks was the beneficiary of the Love Ride and Philip Haynes spoke about the sharp increase in autism diagnosis cases. For Philip Haynes, his work with Autism Speaks is “not just a job, but a passion.” A real treat was when young Hunter Brown, who is autistic, sang, “Everybody Needs to be Heard.”

As the 10 a.m. kickstands-up departure approached, Oliver took the opportunity to thank the crowd once again for their continued support and also told them to ride safe… to which Jay Leno responded with an exaggerated biker version of “Break a leg!” He admonished the crowd to “Get drunk, drive off the road… fall down! Don’t forget we’re bikers! This crowd has become too damn political! We haven’t had one single incident. What we need is a real asshole—at least one—well, you got me! Ride safe, have fun!” I winced at the jinx, and rather than knock wood I instead “rub chrome” to dispel any bad luck. Jay’s lament at the mainstreaming of the Bad Biker was supposed to be a humorous call to restore that cachet to its rightful place in society and he was offering himself for that sacrifice. It just proved all too prophetic.

I couldn’t beat the bike caravan before they left the dealership, so I settled in behind the bikes on the freeway and was surprised at how smoothly traffic was flowing. But just 13 miles up the road in Pacoima, the traffic suddenly slowed and was reduced to two lanes. It wasn’t the road construction, but instead was a biker down, shielded from the bright sun by another holding a jacket to shade him. Bikes were parked across the right three lanes and flares had been set up by the escorts. Just beyond this accident was a clutch of cars parked on the shoulder, their inhabitants standing and looking back to the mishap. One car had a deep indentation in the trunk, which to me looked like it could have been created by a heavy bike rear-ending it. I never found out. But this incident involving the head of the pack sent two riders to the hospital accompanied by Jay Leno who would not appear at the Lake.

This accident probably precipitated the fatal second accident an hour later in the same spot when the traffic was reduced to a single lane. Riders Romarino Zeri and Julie Cameron were killed instantly when their bike collided with a tanker truck and they were run over. Oliver made the sad announcement on the stage at the lake, stunning all of us who had not heard about the second accident. “We are deeply saddened by this news and send our heartfelt condolences to the friends and family of Romarino and Julie,” said Shokouh. There was a noticeable decline in attendance of the 3,000 that had signed up, with some probably unable or unwilling to endure the backup while burning their clutches to arrive hours late.

On stage the Sean Wiggins and Lone Goat Band played to a nearly deserted field as everyone was up top ordering food from the eight gourmet trucks. When Mickey Jones introduced the Victor McLaglen Motor Corps team at 11:45 as “true motorcyclists” I could only think, “It’s too early!” In over 30 years of watching this team I have never seen them perform before 1 p.m.! Again, the sparse crowd was settled at a distance under the shade of sporadic trees. What a shame, as they were missing Janice Burgins’ final performance with the Motor Corps. Janice was all smiles, however, as she knows her son James will carry on the tradition. Though it was sad to hear that Big Mike had passed away they did have three new recruits performing today.

More music followed with the Time Bomb Band performing classic rock hits and Charlie Brechtel singing an acoustic tribute to the Love Ride and the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum. Oliver then introduced the ride’s sponsors and informed us that Jay was at the hospital with the injured riders. Bryan Cranston admitted to strolling into Glendale H-D and stealing his bike off the showroom floor, and finally Hunter Brown sang the “National Anthem.”

I trudged back up the hill to check out the more than 50 vendors, most impressed with the Glencoe Camp Resort’s incredible collection of antique bikes. Off in the distance I could hear Montgomery Gentry with their unique brand of country music. Beloved by fans for their story-telling music style and personal values, Eddie Montgomery and Troy Gentry both ride Harleys and lend their talents to other charities for cancer and AIDS research, Make-A-Wish Foundation and Camp Horsin’ Around for chronically and terminally ill children. By the time I made it through the vendors and trudged back down the hill to watch the award presentations, I realized I had missed the bike show entirely! The 10 a.m. departure from Glendale did not leave enough time to eat lunch and stroll the vendors before the Victor McLaglen performance. I was always attempting to be in two places at once and consequently missed a lot.

Once again Oliver got on the mic and said to the crowd, “We thank everyone who came out to support Love Ride 28. Their participation in this year’s event means a great deal to me personally, but more importantly to the families who have children diagnosed with autism. And without our sponsors and numerous volunteers, there would be no Love Ride, so thank you for your generous support.” This year $375,000 was raised, the weather was spectacular, and the Love Ride endured through tragedy.