When you LOVE to RIDE and Party!
Story by Keith "Windwalker" Schnyder
Photos

Let's go, it's Love Ride 17, an annual charity ride that takes place in mid November in southern California and just keeps getting bigger every year.

It's the largest motorcycle fund raising event in the world and this year the Love Ride Foundation raised over 1.3 million dollars for the fight against muscular dystrophy and various other charities.

To participate, a fifty dollar minimum donation is required and the idea is to get people to sponsor you on your ride by giving to charity. I called my partner in crime, Stormrider, the week before the ride to see if he had any potential sponsors. Negative. I told him not to worry because I was taking a container for donations to work and I'd probably raise enough for both of us. With over one hundred people working there, I figured if half the people donated a buck or two we'd have at least one ticket, maybe two.

Every day I went to work and saw my little jug displayed and I imagined all the money piling up inside. Friday came and I borrowed my friends knife to cut the container open and dump out all that pent up cash. We looked at the pile and then at each other and started busting up because it truly was a piddly amount. Eleven dollars and some change, mostly in change.

Well, after we got done laughing about it, I just figured I'd have to dig deep in order to go but the guys on my shift started kicking me down (mercy donations). That night I went home with almost enough for one ticket. Stormrider faired a little better and got a hundred dollar donation from the guy he happened to be working for.

Thanks to everybody who donated and a special thanks to my friend from down under, Lee Ann, for her donation. Sunday morning came and it was California cold, about 40 degrees, but at least it was dry. Stormrider, Marlon and I hooked up with everybody at Chas and Jeannines' in Covina and we headed to Glendale Harley, the starting point of the ride, thirteen bikes strong.

We got to Glendale about 7:30 a.m. and Steppenwolf was jammin' Magic Carpet Ride as we made our way along the streets to the dealership. It's like a gigantic bike show with literally block after block of streets filled with wild painted ponies. As we got closer, they broke into Born to be Wild. Steppenwolf doing Born to be Wild live at 7:30 in the morning works better than any cup of coffee I've ever had.

We made our donations, ate and decided to head to the lake before the official ride started along with a few thousand others who had the same plan. We passed people holding signs and waving to show their support on all the overpasses as we headed north on Interstate 5. Our ace in the hole was one of my best bros, Perry, who took us on a secret route when we got close, which led to a back way into the lake without all the traffic and congestion. Perry, you the man.

We parked the bikes, shook off the cold and hoofed it on down to the lake for the party. Castaic Lake and the mountains behind it provide eye candy as a backdrop for the days events. It turned out to be a beautiful day and as the sun began to warm things up everybody started peeling off their leather and getting comfortable.

There were lots of vendors, skydivers, motorcycle performers and live music to keep the crowd entertained. The grub was excellent, with some real friendly servers, and the beer flowed into the afternoon.

I tried to convince backstage security that Stormrider and I were "with the press" so we could rub elbows with some celebrities but, let's just say, they denied the request absolutely. After we got done with them we found ourselves by the front of the stage. Creedence Clearwater Revisited was belting out one hit after another so we moseyed on into the crowd and got lost in the music.

The tunes were great and so were all the people around us. Stormrider ran into some old friends and they were real excited about some postcards he sent them. He's become infamous for his "in the wind" shots on rides. If you fill out a postcard backing, he'll attach it to a photo and when you least expect it, there it is mixed in with the rest of your mail.

Pretty cool.

We ran into the rest of the group in the afternoon and the majority were ready to split so we made our way back up to the bikes.

On our way home we stopped at a cool little place called the Hideaway. It's a cowboy biker bar where people ride up on horses as well as harleys. As we sat around an outdoor patio, I couldn't help thinking about how much times have changed. Cell phones, beepers, leather outfits, $40,000 bikes, trailers. I'm told you either have to change with the times or go find a cave in the mountains to live in. I'm looking for a cave, but, in the meantime, I feel lucky to have friends who make riding more than just a ride. We said our good byes at the Hideaway because we'd be splitting off down the highway and we headed off to the end of Love Ride 17.

Story by Keith "Windwalker" Schnyder
Photos by John "Stormrider" Morgan