Bikes On The Bricks
It was a Thursday night and we were at our favorite place enjoying our bike night. Jim mentioned that the Police escorted ride was going to be on Saturday at 11 am starting at a motorcycle dealership and ending at the bricks in Flint. He was wanting our group to join him and go on the run. It was supposed to be a nice day and it was always a great event. Everyone was available and wanted to go. We decided to meet at Mike and Linda's again as it was the closest house to the event. We wanted to get their fairly early since the turn out was usually fairly large and we didn't want to be stuck in the middle of such a large pack. We agreed to meet at Mike and Linda's house at 8:30 am which meant we would meet Tom and Cindy at 7:15 am at Scott's Quick Stop.
Saturday came quickly and we were up and on our way ahead of schedule. We arrived at Scott's about 7 am giving us time to gas up and grab a snack. Tom, Cindy, Jim and Joey pulled in a few minutes behind us. We headed out and took a back route to Mike and Linda's. We made really good time and arrived at 8:15. Mike and Linda were ready to go and the rest of our crew was there waiting for us. We left as quickly as we arrived. We got to the dealership where we discovered we were some of about 30 who arrived early to get in line. This meant we would be near the front of the pack where we wanted to be. After signing our paperwork that we pre-registered with we got our bikes in the line up for the run. Now we had time to kill.
We wandered the dealership to see if there was anything we wanted to purchase. I asked my husband if we could go get something to eat before the run. He told me that was an excellent idea and was going to see if anyone else wanted to go. Everyone was hungry since it was such an early morning for all of us. We walked to the IHOP that was just a little ways away, since we couldn't take the bikes or we would lose our place in the line-up. It only took us a few minutes to walk there.
The food was ok, I was a little disappointed but everyone else seemed happy enough. Our waitress didn't care for the sarcasm of our group either. I don't think she had her coffee for the day yet. We finished our breakfast and paid our bill. We walked back to the dealership only to find that over 200 motorcycles had arrived and more were coming in by the second. I was both amazed and shocked by the amount of motorcycles arriving.
As 10:00 rolled by I was beginning to wonder if there was going to be enough space in this parking lot for all the motorcycles. There had to be over 1,000 motorcycles here. While we wandered around I noticed that the lot looked really full and more motorcycles were still pulling up. They were being directed to the lot across the street and behind the building. This was crazy I didn't even recognize some of the motorcycles that were pulling up. There were Harley's, Honda's, Suzuki's, Kawasaki's, Vicotry's, Indian's, Buell's, Big Dog's and like I said a few I didn't know. My husband explained that some of them were custom built and didn't have a specific brand.
At 10:30 you could feel a shift in the crowd as people moved to be closer to their bikes. It wasn't long and the announcements came. They thanked the crowd for their support of some charity (I couldn't hear what it was). Finally they were done and said "Riders fire up your engines". This was the coolest thing ever. I don't think I have ever heard so many motorcycles running at once. The sound was deafening yet thrilling all at once. I was grinning from ear to ear as my husband asked if I was going to get on the bike. I didn't even realize we were leaving. I should have realized but I was so awe struck by the rumble of motorcycles I was mesmerized.
They let the motorcycles go row by row and as we pulled out I felt on top of the world. This was one of those things that I feel every rider should experience at least once in their life. The ride was a decent length and along the way we met up with another group that had gathered at another dealership. They were going to add on to the end of our pack. As I looked back I realized I couldn't see the end anywhere in sight. We made our way to Downtown Flint and pulled up onto the Bricks of Saginaw St. bringing with us a rumble that could rattle windows. We parked our bike and just sat there watching the motorcycles pour in. There were so many motorcycles everywhere.
We walked up and down Saginaw St. checking out event shows and vendors. There was so much to see and do that before we realized it, we needed to head home. We located our crew and said our goodbye's to those who lived closer and didn't need to leave yet. Our ride home was quick and easy as we were so close to I-69. We parted ways with our companions with a throttle roll as we came upon their streets and continued home. It had been such a great day and the weather could not have been better. I was grateful for my bed though as it had been a very long day.