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This year’s Louisiana State HOG Rally was the weekend of March 24th through the 25th, at the Shreveport Pavilion Park in the downtown area.

All the rally events with the exception of the Poker Run were held in this area. Tucked away right in the middle of the downtown area, the Rally site was sandwiched between 2 bridges over the Red River. There was a definite carnival-type atmosphere with the vendors tents set up surrounding a massive open-sided circus type tent with plenty of chairs underneath. The large tent area was used as a meeting place; a resting place, and with a stage set up at one end, a place for the bands and the ceremonies for the weekend.

Our itinerary for this run was organized by Boxcar of the Los Carnales MC and consisted of other members of the Los Carnales MC; members of the La Familia MC; and independent riders that are friends of the 2 clubs. Invitations went out to all riders that wanted to join in a weekend of riding and fun.

We left the Houston area promptly (and surprisingly for those of us familiar with these 2 clubs) at 9:00 a.m., the morning of Friday, the 24th. Heading northeast up Hwy 59, we stopped for a lunch break at Nacogdoches, to meet with other East Texas independent riders who wished to ride with us. After a long, leisurely lunch with many margaritas, we resumed our journey to the HOG Rally.

Unfortunately, we did not make it to Shreveport in time to register for the Rally that evening. But it was a good road trip as the riders learned to ride together as a group. The weather was beautiful, and we were all ready to get out of town for the weekend. We took it easy and had several long breaks along the way. Backed up by 2 chase trucks, we had no shortage of adult beverages iced down for the long haul. Even counting lunch and beer breaks, we covered the 300 miles +/- from Houston to Shreveport in a blinding 8 ½ hours! Approximately 16 motorcycles, 24 people, 2 trucks, and 6 ice chests made the journey, with another truck and trailer, 2 motorcycles, 4 people, and 2 more ice chests met the group at our motel. This was a nice, rowdy crowd by any standards. And the Shreveport police were not even called out for our group until Saturday.

Certainly a clear lack of communication with the non-drinking motel management caused this misunderstanding that was quickly resolved with the admonition that we party as long and loud as we wanted. It just doesn’t get any better than this! Now for the details about the HOG Rally. Well, I truly hope you were not expecting all the minute details of every happening, because things did not work that way. In fact, very few of our group went to the Rally Site the whole weekend long. The only ones I know for sure were Magnum of the La Familia, and myself of course. The many thunderstorms in the area all weekend long kept the crowds to a minimum. Magnum and I registered at the site, and headed out on the 110 mile Poker Run for MDA. It was tough with no passenger, especially since they did not give you a map, just written instructions.

But the ride was beautiful with all the wisteria, dogwoods trees, redbud trees, and azaleas in bloom. We crossed Caddo Lake and several streams and rivers along the way. I may have placed in this run with a 5-high straight. We did not make it to the awards ceremony because of.... well....we were busy. I do not know what the winning hand was, nor do I know what the prizes were. Maybe they’ll contact me? Yea, right.

Because of the weather, there were not many people on the Poker Run, which should greatly increase the chances of winning. Apparently, due to our charmed lives, Magnum and I were the only ones that day that did not get rained on whether on the Poker Run or not. Most of our group spent semi-productive days and nights at the many gambling casinos in town. Magnum and I did risk the threat of storms to run by the Rally Site in hopes of photographing some nubile young Harley Inspectors.

We didn’t even stop when we saw maybe 35 people listening to the band playing their asses off in the tent set up for thousands of people. A team of John, Kim & Kyle, Charlie & Noe of the La Familia MC got a limo to take them out for the evening while the rest of us had a “pool party” that ran nearly non-stop all weekend, and featured the antics of Big Rick and Boxcar as the headliners. (See note about the police above.) Of course, as has become the expected, we were also entertained by the site of several new (to us anyway) showings of Harley Inspector’s mammary glands. We nearly all gorged at a free seafood buffet at one of the casinos and were generally treated very well during our stay. Even met a few of Shreveport’s Wild Pigs MC that will be coming here to Houston for the Texas State HOG Rally and we promised them an introductory party on the Friday night the Texas Rally starts.

We had a beautiful ride home on Sunday, choosing to take the back roads through Louisiana and East Texas! We endured a bright, sunny day, gentle curves, rolling hills, and light traffic. We even managed to cut 3 hours from our previous world record run up there! This gave us plenty of time for adult beverage breaks and a long unwinding time at the Hilltop Ice House in Point Blank. There we ate hamburgers and drank beers and said our good-byes until the next time. This was a time of bonding between old and new friends. We even took the time to stop and smell the bluebonnets. Our group of regulars did include some new lovers that didn’t realize you do not have to ride 300 miles to spend the weekend in a motel room since there are motels in the Houston area. Houdini of the Los Carnales MC learned that he sure did miss sleeping with his wife Pam, even for one night! One notable new addition to the regular group was Mike on his new Road King who fit right in, made many new friends, and served well with traffic control for the ride home. Maybe, just maybe, next time we’ll get involved in more Rally activities. Yea, right! Buddy….”blow’n in the wind…..”