It has been so crazy here that I totally space the update for the Slab City Riot. Courtney Halowell, editor of World of Rods and a close personal friend, sent me some of his shots from the day. When the guys dropped off their gear here, it seemed to be a adventure that I am sorry I missed.
Big thanks to Courtney for the images and his take on the event.
It didn’t matter what kind of bike you were on, as long as you just wanted to live off the grid for a couple days in the California desert. It was the Slab City Riot 2009 held at Slab City, an abandon military base just east of Salton Sea. You just strapped what you would need to survive in the desert for a couple days including some tools you might need – just in case.
The non-event was the brainchild of the guys behind Biltwell Inc. and Chop Cult and basically all they did was bring out plenty of fire wood, booked a couple of bands to play at “The Range” and a trailer full of kegs from Ballast Point Brewing Company and invited about 500 of their closest friends.
With people riding from Central California, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Orange County, Los Angeles and the “Valley of the Dirt People” – that’s the Inland Empire to you and I.
We got out there on Saturday afternoon and were shocked at the hospitality of the locals. We got a tour of Salvation Mountain, then headed back to camp to get an earful of free music and a belly full of free beer! For some reason free beer always tastes better than beer you had to pay for yourself.
Highlights included the tranny serving hot dogs, the free beer, the 500 really cool bikes, the free beer, the good friends (new and old) and the free beer. Here’s a couple extra pictures…
The Slab City Riot feature is already penned and the images are downloaded for an upcoming issue of Cycle Source. Sign up and receive it two weeks before it hits the newsstands.
