oyster run

My mother's nightmare has come true....we've joined a biker gang. Or at least that's what she'd think if she'd seen us yesterday.

The Oyster Run is a local motorcycle rally up in Anacortes, Washington. It's the last Sunday in September and depending on the weather it can attract nearly 30,000 cycles to the small town just off of the Puget Sound.

Rick rode solo last year with a couple of other guys who had Harleys. This year, we joined up with a group of people we didn't know, but by the end were fast friends. Rick had met their friend Steve at the Harley shop awhile back, and although Steve wasn't riding this weekend, he got Rick in touch with some of his friends. Great group of couples who also had Harleys.

We were meeting everyone at the coffee shop in Kirkland at 8 am, and when we woke up to see the mist, you'd never guess the weather we'd have in store for the rest of the day. We made it down to the Kahili coffee shop for quick introductions and a cup of hot cocoa and needed to get on the road fast as the street was going to be blocked off for a 5k race that started at 9 am.

So we "saddled" up and hit the freeway in our cycle pack of four. Our first pit stop was Sound Harley Davidson in Arlington where there were TONS of cycles and riders there for a hot pancake breakfast. Part of this expedition is checking out everyone else's gear and bikes, and there was plenty of people watching to be done for sure.

On the road again, and we headed up to Sedro Woolley via the scenic route. Rick and I were getting a little nervous about running low on gas, so we pulled away from the group and turned off into a gas station to fill out. Cycles all over the place. What a scene! It took us a little while, and he had to wait for the port-o-potty. I wasn't going to subject myself to that.

Fortunately, the rest of our group had stopped just down the road at another favorite pit stop along the route for some drinks at the tavern. They were ready to head out as we arrived, so that worked out perfectly to ride into Anacortes with them. Otherwise, I don't think we would have ever found them.

Once in Burlington, traffic came to a slow roll as the cycles filled the streets to get to the rally. We were 8 miles out of town when we heard some honking behind us. Low and behold, Rick's friend AG managed to find us out of a sea of motorcycles. I still have no idea how on earth we just happened on each other. I guess he recognized Rick's pipes on his cycle.

It wasn't too much farther down the road when we came upon a terrible cycle accident that jarred us all. There was a group of sport bikes riding just in front of us when we got to Burlington. And as with most sport bikers, there's a bit of speed to match their ego. Well, it looked like one of the sport bikes hit a Harley, and both were still laying on the street bloodied and battered. There were a ton of people already attending to them, and many others just sitting on the roadside. After the wrecked sport bike was moved out of the road, we went on through and pulled over to assess. I have to say that was one of the hardest things to see. We rode slowly passed one of the accident victims, just feet away, and as people were sitting next to him trying to get him to respond. I just hope they're ok.

We figured there wasn't anything we could do, so we got back on the bikes and headed onto Anacortes. Definitely a sobering moment for all of us. But as soon as we got to town, we joined the thick of it. Cycles parked all up and down the main drag. It was like a "show and tell" of sorts with some of the wackiest bikes and characters I'd seen in a while. A guy with a fake IV bag hooked to his Harley. A guy with a parrot on his shoulder. A gal with her Border Collie sitting on the engine of her bike as she road down the street. Some guy in a wolf's skin. What??

We headed over to a tavern that was packed to the hilt. Somehow managed to get a table and an order of burgers that we ended up sharing. Walked around a bit to see if there was anything worthwhile to buy. No souvenirs this year.

Around 4 pm we were ready to call it a day, and decided to head back home via Deception Pass and take the ferry across to Seattle. My rear was so sore riding home. I'm just not conditioned for this kind of lengthy ride. But a beautiful sunset, and what an amazing sight to see all of the cycles on the lower deck of the ferry.

Home by 9 pm, and I was out like a light.