Hedonism

Well I am back, and I made it all in one piece this time.

This weekend my buddy Ron and I went on a scooter rally called Hedonism. The rally is put on by one of four Bakersfield scooter clubs, even though there are only about twenty scooterists in Bakersfield; you do the math. Ron and I rode our Vespas from Sacramento, 275 miles to Bakersfield, CA, near L.A., to go to this rally. We scooted a total of 650 miles on the dot for this journey!

It was an incredible amount of fun. Road trips are usually a good time, but this is something else entirely. Riding around the country on scooter is cool! It is a whole different experience. You feel everything more, you smell everything more, you experience it all. It requires you be on point the whole time (more or less), and requires good communication between riders. We can read what each other is thinking and about to do.

We had a blast. It was beautiful weather for the trip down. It took us a little more than 5 hours to make the journey, and while long and tiring, we both felt that we had a lot left in us and could have ridden all the way down to San Diego, where Ron is from.

We arrived in Bakersfield after 6, I believe, and immediately commandeered one of the closest places to stay, the Vagabond Inn. We then ran around and grabbed a few pictures and something to eat. We went to Marie's, or something like that, which I have never eaten at before, but Ron swore was good. He was especially excited about the Corn Chowder. I had a burger, with the obligatory Corn Chowder, and Ron had a turkey dish, with the Corn Chowder. It was a very satisfying meal after a long days ride.

We then went to the local meet and greet and rode through part of Bakersfield with the other scooterists present to a bar. This, we figured, was where the alternative crowd went to hang out, as there were mods, greasers, punks, and this really out of place super old crowd. We hung out for a quick drink and bailed back to the hotel to chill for what was left of the evening.

I slept fine but it turns out that Ron had a rough night. He awoke with a start at around two A.M. and ran to the bathroom to return his drinks, dinner, and anything else he had to give. Poor Ron. I felt bad for him, and then passed out again.

We awoke the next morning, and after avoiding Ron's typical coffee crisis, went to find somewhere to eat, by randomly roaming. We ended up at a bagel shop, and guess what they had a big sign for? I found that funny and ironic. Poor Ron. We ate and were off to the rally meeting point.

We arrived moments later at the park where we were all supposed to meet. We arrived at 1 and didn't leave until 2. We were ready already by then.

The ride was a lot of fun. Lots of scooters and scooter people. The weather was pretty good. The views were most excellent, but I couldn't get photos of them as I was busy scooting! ;) The twisties in the canyon we went through were seriously intense. Very sharp, tight, slow corners, but people were hauling through them anyway. The only person, this time, that spilled was a guy I think was having a seriously mind altering kind of day... ;-0. I gave him some tape and a bandage from my first aid kit later that evening after we had setup camp, cuz I'm a boyscout like that.

We arrived at Lake Isabella and it was pretty much a free for all running and grabbing a semi-flat spot to pitch camp at. We got a good spot big enough for the two of us and far enough down the hill to be protected from the lake winds by the hill and the trees. We then went and mingled and got some food from the barby. That was another kind of free for all... it was reminiscent of sharks swarming on the scent of blood or vultures over a newly discovered carcass. There was loud music via DJ, I still don't know what to call it though. It was Ska I think, but people kept throwing around the term soul-something-or-other? Everyone seemed to me to be doing a ska wiggle-jiggle-shuffle, although I have never actually seen official ska shuffling first hand, from what I have gathered this must have been close. It was all very interesting.

They had a raffle, in which I won a pair of Pirelli tires for a scooter, and I promptly went to bed, probably at around 11:30. Ron followed shortly after, I think, and then I was out cold in two or three minutes, according to Ron, despite very loud music and many hollering drunk asses. Ron however, did not fair so well again; while not sick he could not sleep as easily as myself; I blamed his lack of beer appreciation. It began raining at about 2:30 A.M. and stopped precisely when we got up. The typical aftermath was found around the camp site, and the fire pit, which the night before had been about a foot deep, was now a modest 6 inches, completely filled with ash, coals, and still burning logs.

We packed our things, including the new tires, and bounced. The journey back was just as fun, but the motivation was entirely different. The way down was just out for a cruze to have a fun day, now it was to get home. This was immediately apparent as Ron at the helm was commanding an extra five to ten MPH average cruising speed than before. With our last fill-up out of the way and a meager 84 miles to go, it was a racing style tuck, full throttle bolt for home. With a friendly beep and flash of a peace sign I was off the road and back home.

This was one of my most satisfying events. What a great road trip. What a great friend. What a great experience. I would do it all over again in a heart beat, and look forward to the next ride with great anticipation.

LIFE... IS... GOOOOD! :)