Today is the last day of bike week 2009, the end of one of my favorite yearly events in Mazatlan. I love the fat sound of a well-tuned Harley. I love the glint of sun off a well-polished bike. My favorite color is chrome. I particularly love bikers. A least the ones we get in Mazatlan.
I have read reports of other cities this year that aren't so lucky. Hollister, California has canceled their annual motorcycle rally this year. The bike rallies in Hollister date back to 1947, but the city has made the hard decision to cancel because they can't afford to pay the additional state police necessary to help control the violence that erupts between rival biker gangs. Other cities are seeing attendance decline. But the Mazatlan rally continues to be a rousing success and attendance grows every year. This year they were going for a Guinness record for longest motorcycle parade in the world.
The only rivalry I have seen has been based on the type of bike people ride – namely Harleys versus racing bikes. We were driving down the ocean road and several guys on racing bikes passed us. I could hear the high pitched whine of their motors long before they passed. The group of Harleys riding next to us gave their engines an extra rev – just to let the racing guys know what a real bike should sound like. Everyone gave each other the thumbs up, and the racers took off.
Friday was a long, hard day. We decided to walk down to Olas Altas to watch the sunset. I just wanted some quiet time to sit and be still. I had forgotten about bike week and was dismayed to see motorcycles lining the road and the Malecón packed with people and a stage. We took a seat anyway. Before long I was grinning. I just couldn't help it.
I was treated to the sights of people who are proud of their machines showing off. We also got to see people who had their bikes dressed up like sharks or wearing dolphin suits. There was also the regular selection of skeleton, gorilla and Luche Libre masks. One guy wanted to show of his new bike so desperately, but simply couldn't get it started. I am hoping it was new and he wasn't used to it, but he just couldn't put enough power into the kick.
The bikers were congregated around a Tecate tent that was dispensing paella and sodas. They had beer, too, but no many were drinking. There were so few drinkers, they only had a pony keg and just carried it across the street to the store for a refill the one time it ran low. There was a band playing the typical music you would expect: selections from Lynyrd Skynyrd and Mötley Crüe plus stand bys like Born to Be Wild. They were pretty good. And surprisingly quiet. We had no problem carrying on a conversation, which makes the biker rock band much better that the Greek restaurant next door to where we were sitting which usually blares paleá dhimotiká at such ear splitting levels it will drive us away.
When dinner was over, everyone cleaned up after themselves and threw trash in the trashcans. Even during the parade, I saw bikers picking up cans cast off by spectators and throwing them in the trash cans along the Malecón.
The bike parade was a little of a disappointment this year, at least the part I stayed for. It seemed everyone had a hard time getting organized. The streets were not blocked off and we constantly had city buses and cars coming through, intermixed with the riders. The riders came in sporadic groups. The crowd was impatient and clogged the streets, so that any riders that did make it as far as Olas Altas couldn't get through. The parade is supposed to go up Centenario and around the back of Cerro del Vigia, but a motorhome parked blocking the access that way and the owner of the vehicle was nowhere to be seen.
The parade was scheduled to start at 5, which means it should have hit Olas Altas around 6. We got there early and staked out our spot next to the street so we would have a good view. We spent two hours next to the road choking on bus fumes and saw only a few groups of riders. One rider – the same guy who couldn't start his bike Friday night - kept smoking his tires. The third time he did it right in front of me, I was ready to call it quits. We went home. We heard the bulk of the parade finally come by around 7:40. I still managed to take some pictures though. You can see them in the photo gallery.
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