September 14, 2002

Hot Rod Extravaganza

I'd seen hot rod cars, and I'd seen Harley Davidson motorcycles. But I'd never seen so many of them in one place. The event was a fundraiser to buy school supplies for needy children, and hot rod enthusiasts brought more than 200 cars and motorcycles to show off and compare. They ranged from loud Harleys to 70-year-old cars equipped with manual horns, and they were all cleaned and polished to perfection.

One 17-year-old brought his racing car and was wearing his professional racing uniform. He's still in high school, but he competes in Nascar-style auto races. I assumed that was a rather dangerous sport, and he said it is. He's even seen fellow racers die on the track, but that doesn't stop him. He loves racing, just as each person there loved cars and bikes.

Overall, it was a chance for car owners to sit in lawn chairs, drink a few beers, and talk to other car enthusiasts. Many of the car owners were former motorcycle riders, but they'd resorted to car restoration when they started families. Working on one car for years is a much safer hobby than speeding along on a motorcycle, but they still admired the bikes and talked about the day they would once again own a big motorcycle.

The motorcycle owners, meanwhile, held contests such as the Slow Run in which they slowly rode between chalked lines to see who could take the longest to finish. One elderly man beat them all on his little Yamaha, and they cheered good-naturedly for him.

Those who didn't own cars or bikes could buy Harley Davidson gear, get tattoos, enjoy a barbecue, or watch one-act plays performed by a local Western drama group.

That day I got the idea for a future Discovery Event: I want to ride on a motorcycle. For that matter, some of those old-fashioned cars looked pretty fun, too.

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