BREAKING

Event Reports

The Boot Ride

Article And Photos By: Jack Shit

Originally Published In The December 2012 Issue Of Cycle Source Magazine

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My birthday is always during the Sturgis Rally. My wife’s birthday, Diane, is always during the Daytona Rally. Our wedding anniversary falls on the Laughlin River Run, and so my life goes. We’ve learned to not so much worry about the “actual dates” of these things, but in how we celebrate them, not when. We’ve begun this tradition that after the Sturgis Rally, I take a week to recover and then we load up the bike and head for California. Summertime in California is the thing songs are written about and dreams are made of. Last year, we had learned of an event called the Boot Ride, and if you folks know anything about me, then you know how much I care about the troops and what happens to them M upon their return home to America. For a great many, this transition back to “normal life” is worse than the time they were away and the things that they have gone through. As it turned out, not knowing much about California and California traffic, we didn’t quite make it to the Boot Ride. To say that I was bummed out would be a massive understatement. This year, I was not going to allow this to happen again.

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Regardless of how you feel about the show Sons of Anarchy, it has become a phenomenon and people go absolutely nuts over it. The Boot Ride gives the average person a chance to mingle with the stars they love so very much. They even get to hop on their bikes and ride along with them through the Hollywood hills then party with them afterwards, a formula for one hell of a great day. As much fun as this sounds, I wanted to learn more about the group who was sponsoring this as I am by nature a cynic. The group is called the Boot Campaign and for those of you who don’t believe that one person can make a difference, then I suggest you go to their Website and read all about them. Who are these people you ask? They are five women who after reading the book Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell, were humbled by what our service men and women have to endure and they wanted to make a difference. They say don’t ever judge a person until you’ve walked in their boots, and no truer statement could be made than that for these ladies, the myriad of celebrities who endorse it, and the army of volunteers that help to pull off events like this one. I’m lucky enough to have a good friend who works on SOA and he called two days before the ride and said, “Hey, what do you say we meet on the set of the show and ride from there with a few of the cast members?” I replied, “Well hell yeah. I’m in; let me run it past the little woman.” The huge smile on her face was all I needed to know that on this day, she would not mind getting up at 7 a.m. for this ride and that is how it went.

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I was more or less shocked when I arrived at the location of the set. Smack dead in a purely industrial area of West Hollywood was Teller-Morrow, the shop on the show as well as the clubhouse. Driving by you would never even notice it. With the exception of the armed guards, one would think it was just an average repair shop. We hung around there for a while waiting for others to arrive, shot some pics on the set and then took off for the start of the official ride. The ride was to begin in the parking lot of a fairly small bar and grill on the outside pad of a strip mall. The crowd took over damn near the whole lot. One after another, the cast members rolled in on their bikes and each time, the crowd went nuts. For at least two hours, they shot pics with anyone who came up to them, they signed anything put in front of them and were pretty much, some down to earth good ol’ boys that you would hang and ride with anytime. The ride was escorted by an array of bike cops as we rode down freeway after freeway and then destroyed traffic in a five block radius of the Sunset Strip. They did a stellar job at keeping the pack together, keeping us from getting killed by LA road raging drivers and getting us all there in one piece. We rode not only with the cast but with a news’ anchor who had 18 Emmy awards, a few rock stars and even the real “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” Until someone pointed this out to us, you would have never known that they weren’t just dirty-ass bikers. The ride ended and the party began at the Happy Ending Bar and Grill right on Sunset. The typical Hollywood red carpet deal went on with press from all over the world covering the event. This included your humble Cycle Source correspondent – me – along with Bart Mitchell our official Source photographer, somehow trying to fit in amongst these Hollywood types. To say we stuck out like a sore thumb would be underselling it.

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In the end, the day could not have been better, well that is until my friend scored us some much sought after VIP passes and then the party really began. Within moments of that, Blackberry Smoke took to the stage and blew the proverbial roof off of the joint. This, my friends, is one amazing band that deserves superstardom! So from here on out, it looks like my birthday will forever be celebrated with a ride to California and a day at the Boot Ride! This is a legitimate, grass roots organization that is doing great work to help our returning veterans begin life again in the nation that they gave up everything to defend. God bless the American soldier and each and every single person who respects and tries to help them upon their return home! A few years ago, a Marine took a knife and removed a patch off of his cut and gave it to me as I walked off stage, and as long as I live, I will remember that moment and what the patch read: Forget the War, Never the Warrior!

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