Motorcycle Rallies versus Riding

I've come to a point where I don't care much for biker rallies, poker runs, and other biker gatherings.

One exception however, are bike nights. I still like going to those.

There was a time when I liked going to rallies and runs, paying my registration fee, getting my t-shirt, ride pin, and hanging out with other bikers. Over the years, it's just all the time same stuff, the same vendors, the same locations.

I don't mind helping out charity, and I do donate to charity, we just normally do it by writing a check and mailing it out.

All I want to do now is ride.

In the last riding club I was in, that was actually a bone of contention.

The Yuma Prison Run is coming up next month. Several folks I know around here are planning to go. It's basically three days of camping out at the Yuma Fairgrounds, and drinking beer. I've been there the last two years in a row. If you've never been to Yuma, AZ, the riding there sucks. The only roads you've got are Interstate 8, and highway 95, and they both run straight for miles and miles. It sucks. I do like the company of my friends, but I just get this itch to ride; I can't just sit in the middle of a fairground all day.

The reason why I still like bike nights is because they happen during the middle of the week, and it's just for a couple of hours. You go there, you grab a bite to eat, something to drink, and just chat for a little bit. You don't stay there all day long, and it's great way to bridge the weekend rides.

The irony of all this is that it's really tough to find riding buddies that want to ride a lot. You'd figure that people spend $10-20K on a motorcycle because they love the thrill of riding. Instead, most folks only want to do shorter rides.

Maybe I'm just out of touch with the rest of the motorcycle community. Maybe there's something I'm missing about the motorcycle culture. Maybe I'm destined to become a motorcycle loner.