You may have heard about the fiasco that was supposed to be a super fun time, Austin's Ironhorse Roundup in Grayslake, Illinois this past weekend. If you didn't hear how the Grayslake mayor shut down the event at the 11th hour, you can find many stories from the past week in the Chicago Tribune and the Daily Herald. Here is a link to one of them:
Grayslake police chief stands by motorcycle show cancellation. If you read the story, you'll see that many people lost a lot of money due to this late notice cancellation and many feel that discrimination against bikers had more to do with it than anything. I am one of those people. I was supposed to share a booth with my friends at
Racer Cafe. My company,
VaVaVroom-Motorcycle Clothing and Gear for Her, was all set to hawk its wares and have a great time. Vince Neil was supposed to perform to a crowd of over 40,000 people. So how did this all go to hell in handbasket? It is rumored that two biker gangs were supposed to "rumble". Okay, they don't call it that anymore but you get my drift. Chances are they would not have caused a problem. For at least the past two years, the Super Cycle Show has had heavy police presence due to suspected gang activity. As far as I know, there hasn't been an issue. If given the opportunity, Mark Khayat, owner of Austin's, would have provided adequate security to assure a smooth event. Stay tuned on this one folks. I think some lawsuits will be hitting the courts soon.
Now how did I turn this lemon into lemonade? Well, I hooked up via motorcycle with my good friend Stevie. I met him
and his buddies for a nice day of riding. In the picture here, we have Alex, Tim, Tom and Jorge in the front row and Stevie and I in the back. After a leisurely breakfast, we headed over to
Zylstra's Harley-Davidson in St. Charles, Illinois where they were having a pig roast to raise money for the
Green Ribbon Rally which will be held on June 7, 2008 and will raise money for University of Illinois Medical Center. I was interviewed by Gina Woods of
Open Road Radio and told the listeners about awesome Mother's Day presents that they can find at
http://www.vavavroomonline.com/. I'm going to be a guest on the show again on Mother's Day this weekend. The Open Road Radio show airs every Sunday at 11:00 am on the Nines (92.5, 92.7 and 99.9) in the Chicago area. After filling ourselves with pork, we stopped by to visit our friends at
Racer Cafe in St. Charles, Illinois. Rob was manning the ship himself since Eric was working off a hangover from his time at a wedding reception the night before. We then headed up to Grayslake with the grand plan of harassing the folks of Grayslake for canceling our big event. With the Lake County Fairground (the intended location of the Roundup) completely empty, except for the hoards of police at each entrance, we ended up where we began our day - at a McDonald's. Big talkers we are! Except for a minor row between Stevie and Tim, it was a thoroughly enjoyable day. I went to bed with a smile on my face at the sheer joy of a great ride with friends.
riends, Sandra, Ingrid, and Christy. Christy did a great job leading us on routes along the river and into Sterling, IL for a healthy lunch at the Organic Bite Deli & Cafe. You can see from our picture that we left satisfied. After racing after Christy for a bit, we felt we had earned a stop at DQ before heading home. We had a full day, leaving home at 7:30 am and returning at 7:30 pm - very tired.
riends, Sandra, Ingrid, and Christy. Christy did a great job leading us on routes along the river and into Sterling, IL for a healthy lunch at the Organic Bite Deli & Cafe. You can see from our picture that we left satisfied. After racing after Christy for a bit, we felt we had earned a stop at DQ before heading home. We had a full day, leaving home at 7:30 am and returning at 7:30 pm - very tired.
