Cody Wyoming Goes to Hells Angels - Day 3

Filed under: Korea — Jeff in Korea at 3:22 am on Monday, July 31, 2006

Shaun Strickland, left, gives Hells Angels member ‘Wild Willy’
some pointers on how to ride a bull at the Cody Nite Rodeo.
Wild Willy was bucked off and broke his arm.

Hells Angels Arrested!!!!

Finally! There have been arrests in Cody, Wyoming! What evil deeds have the fearsome Hells Angels committed upon the innocent citizens of Cody, Wyoming?

The Angels’ Arrests

  1. One Angel pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of driving with a suspended license and was fined $300 and was ordered to pay $10 in court costs.
  2. One Angel pleaded guilty to misdemeanor possession of marijuana and was fined $300 and was ordered to pay $30 in court costs and a $100 victim surcharge.
  3. One Angel pleaded guilty to misdemeanor possession of methamphetamine. He was fined $400 and was ordered to pay $30 in court costs and a victim surcharge of $100.
  4. One Angel from Harlingen, Holland was charged with misdemeanor battery and breach of peace. A beating? Not really. Tthe charges were related to an incident Thursday during the Old West mock gunfight at the Irma Hotel. The Angel believed a person was photographing him and knocked the person with his elbow while reaching for the camera, Krone said.
  5. One Angel was charged with felony possession of methamphetamine, and made his initial court appearance.

The Non-Angel Arrests

According to Lee Haines, a law enforcement spokesman, there were 21 arrests not involving Hells Angels members on Wednesday and Thursday. Those arrests included 10 DWUI charges and one arrest for speeding in excess of 100 miles per hour.

In other Hells Angels news:

A bunch of the Angels went to a rodeo and some of them volunteered to participate in the bull riding. Accidents ensued.

  1. Before the mood could build past a roused crowd and a few introductory bass thumps from Black Sabbaths Crazy Train, the H&B Trading Post chute opened, the bull bucked, Wild Willy fell, and his left arm buckled. Broken. Badly. The crowds applause died quickly as Wild Willy, shaking from shock, kneeled back down on the dirt and waited for a stretcher to take him to the EMS station, located next to the rodeo clowns changing room. An ambulance later took him to West Park Hospital.
  2. Jose G. took a nasty spill during his ride, in which he dislocated his hip from a vertebra.

One emergency worker had this comment:

“The helmet protects the skull that protects the brain that decided to ride a bull”

Cody Wyoming Goes to Hells Angels - Day 2

Filed under: Korea — Jeff in Korea at 3:27 am on Saturday, July 29, 2006

Day 2 of the Hells Angels World Run in Cody, Wyoming. Let’s check in with this little town and see what problems are being caused and who is causing it.

Talk in Cody doesn’t seem to be about the Angels. Who are they talking about? Law Enforcement.

“talk here this week hasn’t focused much on the Hells Angels, but rather on the scores of police officers their presence brought, and the number of tickets those imports have handed to cars with County 11 license plates.”

So, what are the cops doing that is annyone everyone?

citations and stops for going 3 mph over, 3 mph under, driving with a cracked window and more.

*********

One of the Nite Rodeo cowboys got pulled over for going 3 mph under the limit. Another, Tuckness said, received a ticket for driving a Missouri-plated vehicle while working in the state of Wyoming.

How bad of a job are the law enforcement officers doing? Apparently, it is so bad that the townspeople are begging the city to make the police go away.

the announcement from the police spokesman said the law enforcement presence, at the request of numerous citizens’ comments, would drop 50 percent.

Nice going… ticket locals and tourists. That will make everyone happy and want to come back to town.

Note that apparently NO ONE is complaining about the Angels and none of the Angels have been arrested for doing anything.

Cody Wyoming Goes to Hells Angels - Day 1

Filed under: Motorcycles — Jeff in Korea at 1:18 am on Friday, July 28, 2006

Wednesday, July 26 marked the beginning of the Hells Angels annual World Run. Each year the Angels pick one city for their event and show up whether they are wanted or not. This year, they chose Cody, Wyoming, named after Buffalo Bill Cody. Seems like a good town for a group of outlaws to gather.

So what happens at an annual World Run? Why are the Angels there? Murder? Rape? Pillaging? Theft? Creating havoc? Mayhem? Violence? No.

They choose relatively small towns in out of the way places to be left alone. They just want to get together, drink, and have fun as a group without being bothered and without bothering others. Does it always work out this way? No.

What goes wrong? Virtually every problem the Hells Angels have at rallies and runs are caused by one of two things: Over-excited cops or alcohol-fueld locals with something to prove.

Months before the World Run, federal, state, and local law enforcement converge on the town to plan their security tactics, prepare for Armageddon, and generally go way overboard in just about every respect possible. What do the locals think of this? They generally hate it. Just like the everywhere else, the people in the towns realize that the presence of too many law enforcement officers all waiting for something to happen creates unnecessary tension amongs the town and it drives out the other tourists.

So. How are things going in Cody, Wyoming?

According to a quote in the Cody Enterprise:

“We’re not expecting any problems, but on the other hand we’re also prepared,” Police Chief Perry Rockvam said. “They’re excited and we’re excited. We’re looking forward to a fun time.”

What is meant by a “fun time” to officers in the Northwestern Wyoming town of around 9,000 people?

Let’s see whose coming to have fun:

Team Hells Angels - The Players
At most 1,500 Angels (most likely a highly exaggerated estimate)

Team Cop - The Players
Officers and SWAT teams from the following Wyoming areas: Cody, Big Horn Basin, Gillette, Riverton, Rock Springs, Laramie, Wheatland, Douglas and Jackson
Officers from Montana
Officers from Utah
Officers from Colorado
Federal agents
U.S. marshals
FBI
Immigration and Customs Enforcement
State Division of Criminal Investigation
Homeland Security
Wyoming Highway Patrol
Soldiers and airmen from the Wyoming Army and Air National Guard
A Blackhawk helicopter (my personal favorite overboard item)

Team Hells Angels -The Money.
Angels will drink and spend their own money to have a good time.

Team Cop - The Money
They Wyoming government will use 500,000. The National Guard will receive $75,000 for extra security, and $15,000 will go to Big Horn, Hot Springs and Washakie counties for their help with extra patrols.

Team Hells Angels - The Activities
Club members have been observed in many Cody businesses, frequenting Granny’s for breakfast, the Silver Dollar and other downtown stores, bars and restaurants. A number of the bikers have visited the Buffalo Bill Historical Center. Many have also attended the nightly gunfight show at the Irma Hotel and then stayed on at the hotel’s Silver Saddle Saloon. Others have enjoyed the Cody Nite Rodeo. A large party tent has been set up on the west side of Ponderosa Campground and club members have established a compound there. The Cody Ministerial Association and a Christian riding ministry are offering a free pancake breakfast daily for Hells Angels

Team Cop - The Activities
Standing in the doorway of the former law enforcement center and armed with a rifle, Sgt. Evan Bock of the Guard’s Cheyenne-based 115th Field Artillery Brigade said some of his unit were sent only to control access to and from the building.

Responding to a widespread public perception that officers have been pulling over many locals and tourists, Haines said that’s probably true.

“They are just being extra cautious,” he added. “Any time officers see a traffic violation, they are going to make a stop.”

In recent days law enforcement vehicles have been observed traveling in convoys of three-five cars on most highways leading into Cody.

The Reaction From The Locals
Gail Nace, owner of the Silver Dollar bar, said a good number of Hells Angels partied Monday night, with no incident. She said it’s like the Fourth of July all over again. All her liquor and beer distributors are on call for the week.

Spike Sheehan, owner of a Christmas decor store said:

“Everyone we’ve met from the group has been very polite,” said Spike Sheehan, owner of the store, who adds she was surprised to have Hells Angels members shopping in her Christmas store. “I think they were going out of their way to be friendly to us.”

“You’ve got to have some bucks to buy those bikes,” said Gene Bryan, executive director of the Cody Country Chamber of Commerce.

Cody Resident Ray Burns said:

“You don’t want families. They show up in a car. They go to Albertsons, buy a quart of milk, buy sandwiches and a loaf of bread, go back to the hotel and don’t spend a penny. You do not want families.

Retirees? You don’t want retirees. They pull up in their RV. Park at Wal-Mart for free. Buy their food and leave.

You want bikers. They show up. They eat. They drink. They raft. They go to the museum. They drink. They go have breakfast. They go up for a day ride on Chief Joseph. They’ll come back, they’ll drink and…” he stretches this part out a bit, “it’s allll cash.”

Barbara Hoy, an Arts and Crafts dealer believes the police may be stirring things up and that if anything hurts the “family trade,” it might be them. She says:

“I don’t think there will be a big problem if the police force shuts up. They’re making it too big a deal.”

Those Crazy North Koreans

Filed under: silliness, Korea — Jeff in Korea at 5:48 pm on Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Ever wonder why North Korea is so good and America sucks so much? Just ask your friendly neighborhood North Korean Propaganda Machine.

Look for a cameo by comedian Ari Shaffir, aka “The Amazing Racist”.

BEHOLD! the “Majestic Image of the Great Son of Partisans”, Kim Jong Il. who has apparently brought about great innovations “that no one can presuppose or imagine”…which, from the video appears to be snow, dirt roads, and fantasy art.

In “Girls In My Hometown”, we learn why “Happiness Is……North Korea.” Although I am not sure I follow the argument, it seems to go something like this: In other countries, they are only seeking pleasures, not spending their time fighting for revolution, and emancipation. Therefore, other countries are in a terrible state and our ancestors would be horrified to see such abominations. On the other hand, North Korea is the best country in the word because they have persimmons, carrots, and lovely girls who can sing and who talk like evangelical ministers on speed.

ON THE OTHER HAND… Maybe it’s not such a great place and is more like this:

Just as an added bonus. A light-hearted look at North Korean news reports about their recent missile launch.

Aborted Trip to Seoul

Filed under: Motorcycles, Korea — Jeff in Korea at 9:41 pm on Monday, July 17, 2006

The plan was simple. Give my old, currently unused, motorcycle to my brother, Adam, ride up to Seoul together, and ride down alone. That sounds simple enough.

My brother had never driven a motorcycle before so I had to teach him to ride. The planned schedule for Saturday was:

  • 09:00 - 11:00 - intensive motorcycle training
  • 11:00 - 14:30 - ride from Pusan to Taegu
  • 14:30 - 18:30 - ride fromTaegu to Daejeon
  • 18:30 - 20:00 - ride from Daejeon to Seoul

Of course, nothing ever goes exactly as planned. I was expecting this, so I made some preparations. Early start time, rain gear, extra time, and other preparations. I thought I had contingency plans for just about everything. How wrong I was.

I had to work Saturday morning. I went in early, but wasn’t able to leave the office until after 10:00 am. I began training my brother to drive a motorcycle at 11:00 am. We go off to a fairly rocky start. At first, the training was progressing more slowly than I had hoped. However, after getting the hang of being gentle on the clutch while simultaneously opening the throttle, and becoming familiar with using the clutch in the braking process, he mastered first gear fairly quickly. Thankfully, he knew how how to ride a bicycle and drive a standard transmission car, two big assets when learning to ride a motorcycle. The remainder of the gears came without a problem.

We hit the road under gray rain clouds at 1:15 pm, more than two hours behind schedule. We drove 10 minutes to a restaurant where we ate a late lunch. We were on the road again at 2:00 pm. The rain started at 2:05 pm. From there, things went downhill very quickly.

We parked under a bridge to put on our rain gear while the rain poured down around us. It was hot and humid, the bikes’ engines were getting warm, and we pulled our heavy rain gear over leather jackets and jeans. We got back on the road around 2:30 pm, just as the rain stopped. The rain gear designed to keep us dry becoming personal saunas, and the sweat was soaking us inside our rain clothes.

About 20 minutes later, as we were worked our way through Pusan toward the open roads to Kimhae, it started raining again, cooling us off a bit. That is when it happened.

I caught a flash of yellow out of the corner of my eye. I turned my head in time to see my brother rolling across the asphalt into the next lane and his bike laying on the road just behind mine. He quickly got to his feet, which was a good sign. He was over to his bike and picking it up before I could get my kickstand down to help him. We got the bike upright and to the side of the road.

The damage was limited to one bruised ego, a dirty rain coat and pants, a broken mirror, and a scratched clutch cable cover. I was ready to call the whole trip off at that point. However, my brother insisted that it was a fluke and that it wouldn’t happen again. They say there are two kinds of bikers, those who have laid it down and those who are going to lay it down. My brother quickly joined the ranks of the former. After some heavy questioning, I was convinced that he wasn’t too shaken up. So, we climbed aboard the bikes and set off once again.

Our trip proceeded normally into Kimhae. The rain stopped just before we got to the park that was to be our first scheduled rest stop. It was 5:15pm. We were 5 hours behind schedule. As we took off our rain gear and packed it away, I proposed that we give up the ride. The rain had stopped, so I suggested that we continue on another 45 minutes or so into Miryang, have dinner, turn around, and head back to Pusan. We could chalk the whole thing up to a good introductory ride and plan for a future trek to Seoul.

My brother, who had just been bitten by the biker bug, was noticeably disappointed. After a significant discussion, he insisted that we go on to Taegu and decide what to do at that point. I decided that we would proceed to Miryang and decide whether to continue on to Taegu or not.

The trip to Miryang was uneventful. The weather was nice, and we paused to take a couple of pictures.


Adam near Miryang


Me near Miryang

Everything was going smoothly when we arrived in Miryang, so I agreed to continue on to Taegu.

During the next hour or so as we pushed on toward Taegu, my spirits were lifting. I began to think that it was possible for us to continue on to Daejeon, stay there for the night, and move on up into Seoul early Sunday morning. Of course, just as things were starting to look very good, things again began to go very badly very quickly.

We were on the final approach to Taegu. Normally, it would only have taken us another 30 minutes to get into Taegu. but the rain started. It was the kind of rain the is not there one second and pouring the next second. In a matter of within a minute, we went from dry to very wet.

Up ahead, the expressway passed over the road we were on. I decided to make a run for the overpass to take shelter there and put on our rain clothes. Very quickly, it became clear to me that we would be totally and completely soaked well before we got to the overpass. Instead, I made for a small gas station that I noticed was nearer to us.

We pulled up next to the restrooms and began stripping off our wet clothes and putting on our rain gear. As before, it stopped raining just before we finished putting on our rain gear.


Bikes in the rain near Taegu

We were just about to mount up and start moving again, but the rain started to pick up once more. We decided that we had no choice but to press on to Taegu. As I fueled up at the station, the station attendant asked where we were going. When I said “Seoul,” he looked at me like I was crazy. He said that everything North of us was very, very bad and several roads and bridges were out around the country.


My brother, Adam looking disgruntled

We pressed on. With each passing minute it rained harder and harder. As we reached the outskirts of Taegu, the lightning started.

It was 8:00 pm. The skies were pitch black. We were nearly 6 hours behind schedule. The lightning was getting closer and more frequent. The puddles were getting deeper and deeper.

At one point, the water in the road came up almost to the top of the tires. The water flooded into my horn and silenced it. The idea of being knee deep in water sitting on 700 pounds (300+ kilograms) of steel in the middle of a lightning storm was not very appealing to me.

At that point, I made a command decision and pulled the plug on the entire adventure. I said we were going to hole up in a motel in Taegu for the night and then head back to Pusan as soon as we were able to do so the next morning. I was actually surprised that my brother put up no resistance and supported my decision. Apparently, it was the big puddle that broke his spirit.

We pulled into a motel near the Dong-Taegu train station. After changing into dry clothes and laying out our wet clothes, we ordered some chicken for dinner and went to sleep.

Sleeping was not that easy. The room was stifling hot. We turned the air conditioner on, but within minutes, the room was too cold for comfort. We both woke up several times during the night to either turn the airconditioner on or off.

After that fitful night, we woke up Sunday morning to cloudy skies, but dry roads. We ate a quick breakfast of cookies, onion ring snacks, and pepsi, packed our gear, and headed back to Pusan.


Our room in Taegu

Prior to leaving, we checked the weather report and learned that the storm was intensifying and moving South toward us. We decided that we needed to move as quickly as possible to get back to Pusan before the weather become too bad for travel.


Me on the road out of Taegu to Pusan at 100km/h

While this would be a perfectly acceptable place to end the story of a rotten weekend ruined by accidents, weather, time, and other problems and mishaps, unforuntately, this story continues, and it continues to get worse

As my brother and I continued our run to Miryang, the skies darkened and the wind began to pick up.


Me and my brother on the road to Miryang at 105km/h

Exactly 12 kilometers outside of Miryang, the clounds opened and the rain began to pour. Within 30 seconds, we were soaked. We had gotten so wet so quickly that it was basically pointless to put on rain clothes. We both threw on our rain coats just for comfort. Predictably, the rain stopped the second we restarted our bikes.

We made it into Miryang under awful conditions. No rain, but muddy, puddly roads and the front tires kicking up dirt and spray. Each approaching car misted us with wet and dirt.

My plan was to grab a quick bite to eat at McDonald’s then drive the final two hours into Pusan. However, I missed the turn to McDonald’s. Rather than doubling back, I decided to pull into a convenience store next to the Miryang train station for a quick snack, then make the run to Pusan and eat dinner at home.

While enjoying food and conversation, I looked out the window saw something that made me do a double-take. My bike’s rear tire was flat. I ran out of the convenience store and checked it. It was scompletely flat. I rolled the bike forward to see if there was anything sticking in the tire.

My brother noticed that a tiny rock had embedded itself in my tire. Upon extracting it with my fingers, I discovered that it was a very sharp, pointy rock that has apparently pierced mytire as I drove up and parked in front of the convenience store.


The rock that brought our disastrous weekend ride to an end.

I quickly called the Harley dealership in Taegu and asked if they new a place in Miryang where I could get a temporary patch and some sealant to seal up the puncture until I got back to Pusan. That is when I got a surprise. The dealership’s reply was, “nowhere.”

I asked what he meant by “nowhere.” He said it was impossible because the tire has a tube, and the tube was punctured. That thought had never occurred to me. I had no idea that anyone still made tires with tubes. Tubless tires can be quickly and easily repaired - basically anywhere - with a temporary patch and sealant. However, in order to repair a tire with a tube, you must remove the entire rear wheel from the motorcycle, take the tire off of the wheel, put the new tube on and then reverse the process. Replacing the tube on a Harley is not something that can be done just anywhere. Apart from the technical aspect of it, there is the problem of not having the proper tube. The weekend ride was over. This was absolutely the end of the line, one way or another.

I asked what my options were. The Harley-Davidson dealership advised me that one option was to send a truck From Taegu to Miryang, take the bike back to Taegu, fix it, and I could pick it up later. That was not an option because of my brother’s bike. I could not go back to Pusan on the back of my brother’s bike because the bike wouldn’t make it, and I couldn’t go by myself and let my brother come on the bike because of his lack of experience riding alone on the roads in that area.

I asked for another option. I was told that the other option was to have someone from Changwon come and pick up the bike and go through the same process in Changwon. As Changwon is only 30 minutes from Pusan, I called the guy in Changwon.

After discussing the matter with the Changwon repair shop and my brother, we all agreed that the guy from Changwon would come and pick up both my bike and my brother’s bike, take them both to Changwon. My brother and I would then take the train from Miryang to Pusan. Because the Changwon shop didn’t have the tube in stock, they would have to order it, and the bike would be ready by Wednesday night. I would go to Changwon and pick it up on Wednesday night.

As my brother was leaving for Seoul on Monday morning, that still didn’t solve the problem of how the old Daelim 125cc bike would get from Changwon to Pusan. It seemed that I would have to make a special trip just to pick up the horrible little motorcycle. As I thought about this for a while, I came to the conclusion that I could not, in good faith and conscience allow my brother to ride that motorcycle. It had about 12,000 kilometers on it, it needed repairs due to my brother’s accident, and within the past severl hours had developed a serious rattle in the engine that was only worsening over time. I really didn’t have a solution other than taking my bike back to Pusan on Wednesday and then going to to get the little bike at some point in the future.

We waited approximately an hour for the guy from Changwon to arrive. While helping him load the bikes into his truck, I made the offhanded remark that I hated that old, broken down 125cc bike and wanted to throw it away. He looked at me and said, “I can help you with that.” We agreed that he would take it to a place in Changwon and see how much money he could get out of it. I told him that my target was around 100,000 Won (about US$ 100), but he was authorized to get whatever he could for it.

It just so happened that I had the 125cc bikes registration documents with me at that time. I turned the bike’s title over to him on the spot. The old bike was now his problem, not mine. I would never have to see it again.

The repair guy drove away with the bikes in the back of his truck. Then, dressed in our leather gear, carrying our helmets and our bags, we walked to the train station and purchased two tickets to Pusan on the Mugunghwa train, the lowest class train currently in service in Korea.

We then proceeded over to the tracks and waited dejectedly for the train to come and bring our disaster of a weekend to a very ignoble conclusion.


Waiting for the train to take us back to Pusan.

On the Road to Taegu

Filed under: Motorcycles, Places, Korea — Jeff in Korea at 4:17 pm on Thursday, July 13, 2006

If you sit in your airconditioned cage and drive on the expressway while playing chicken with the other cars on the road, you can drive from Pusan to Taegu in about 45 minutes. However, motorcycles are not allowed on the expressways in Korea. Travel is limited to regular highways and local roads. The downside of this is that the drive from Pusan to Taegu takes about 3 hours. The upside of this that you get to see things that you can’t see from the expressway.

The first hour of the trip is spent driving through Pusan city traffic, past the airport, and down the highway to Kimhae. Once you get through Kimhae, the countryside opens up and you are free from the noise, smell and dust of the city and into a state of quietude and the natural smells of water, dirt, dung, and vegetation.

Gone are the block after block of highrise apartments and buildings. They are replaced by paddy after paddy of rice and other crops.

Crowded, tight, asphalt alleys give way to empty, wide open dirt roads.

Five minutes outside of Kimhae and you are utterly alone. Occasionally, you will pass an old man or old woman working the rice paddies in the distance.

Another 15 minutes and the road leads to a one-lane, steel bridge across the river. There should be someone at both ends of the bridge controlling traffic to make sure that the scattered traffic is flowing in only one direction at a time across the bridge. However, this is the contryside, and things don’t always work out that way.

The next quarter of an hour is spent driving through Samnangjin village and up into the mountains. Upon reaching the top of the mountain pass, the gorgeous vista of Miryang valley stretches out below you. (Read on …)

Ghost Rider

Filed under: Motorcycles — Jeff in Korea at 3:28 am on Wednesday, July 12, 2006

While browsing the archives at Riding Sun, I stumbled across some information that I found incredibly interesting and exciting.

Let me backtrack a bit. In 1973, Marvel Comics released a cool comic book character, Ghost Rider.

The series ended in the early 1980s. But, it was brought back in 2005.

Now, I learned that Ghost Rider will be released as a motion picture in February 2007.

I think I know what my next motorcycle purchase will be:

Visit the official website for cool trailers and teasers.

Typhoon Ewiniar

Filed under: News, Korea — Jeff in Korea at 2:22 pm on Monday, July 10, 2006

Here is some video of Typhoon (now tropical torm) Ewiniar taken from my office window in Pusan, Korea at 1:43 pm today, 10 July 2006. Click here or on the picture below to see the video:

Dokdo Rider Blues-Part 2

Filed under: Korea — Jeff in Korea at 1:08 am on Monday, July 10, 2006

Click on the following links to read the previous Dokdo Rider articles:

  1. They’re HEEEEERE!
  2. Dokdo Riders. Yeah. THAT’s the ticket!
  3. Dokdo Riders On The Road To Dallas, Texas
  4. Dokdo Rider Blues - Part 1

While the Dokdo Riders were in the Bay Area, the president of an Oakland motorcycle club, the East Bay Rats, saw an article about the Dokdo Riders and the unfortunate fact that nearly all of their performances had been rained out. In a seriously cool move, that is increasingly uncommon even amongst bikers, the president of the East Bay Rats contacted the Dokdo Riders and offered the Rats’ club house as a venue for the Dokdo Riders to put on a show.

I was very concerned from the beginning of the Dokdo Riders trek that they would run into a motorcycle club and get themselves into trouble. If you are going to find trouble with bikers, Oakland, origin of the legendary East Bay Dragons and Hells Angels, would be the place to do it. Luckily, they met the East Bay Rats and their president, Trevor.

At this point, the Dokdo Riders had received some huge steel containers in which to store their literature and other items. However, they had no way of putting this steel boxes on the back of their bikes. Trevor helped them out and took care of it.

Although the Dokdo Riders speak very little English, Trevor’s girlfriend is Korean and was able to translate for them.

After hooking up the containers, the Riders and the Rats rode around together. According to Trevor, after the boxes were attached, everyone was staring at the Dokdo Riders and asking about what they are doing. As Trevor said in an email to me:

you should have seen the way people starred and everywhere we stoped people asked about them and we had to explain about the islands and what they where doing this isnt a huge way of speading the word but for the money its not bad

As the time came for the Dokdo Riders to leave the Bay Area, Trevor had a very interesting exchange with the leader of the Dokdo Riders. It appears that the Dokdo Riders learned a valuable lesson. I hope that the lesson stays with them upon their return to Korea.

The Dokdo Rider asked Trevor why he, his girlfriend, and the Rats helped them so much. Trevor replied that it is a tradition in the US for bikers to help out any other bikers on the road and to extend a very, very high level of hospitality.

The Rider said that in Korea he had never ever helped anyone before and had never helped anyone before and had never wanted to, but now, after meeting the Rats, if a stranger ever needed help he would definitely help them.

The Dokdo Riders left the Bay Area into a blinding rain storm and nearly lost their way. Eventually, the weather cleared and they continue on up Highway 1. were they shouted their Dokdo message from the mountain tops.

With storms on their tail, the Riders continued the journey across the United States.

The Dokdo Riders headed on to Santa Fe, Dallas, Atlanta, Washington DC, Boston, and New York.

(Read on …)

Dokdo Rider Blues - Part I

Filed under: silliness, Audioblogs, Motorcycles, Blues, Korea — Jeff in Korea at 10:50 pm on Wednesday, July 5, 2006

Click here to listen to the Dokdo Rider Blues

The little bits of rock islands of Dokdo, which continue to be a diplomatic issue for Japan and a life-or-death, nationalistic struggle for Korea, are in the news again.

South Korea launched a research vessel from here in Pusan to antagonize Japan conduct research. The Japanese Coast Guard chased the vessel. The vessel finished its antagonization research and is returning to port.

With that bit of news, I feel the need to check in on the Dokdo Riders. When last we left the Dokdo Riders, they were meeting the East Bay Rats Motorcycle Club and preparing to ride to Texas. Updates coming soon.

In order to celebrate the return of the Dokdo Riders to my blog and the public conscience, I have recorded a song that I call “Dokdo Rider Blues.”

Click here to listen to the Dokdo Rider Blues
To save bandwidth, please right-click the link or picture and save the link/target to your hard drive.

Lyrics:

Now tell me where my Dokdo Rider’s gone?
Won’t you tell me where my Dokdo Rider’s gone?
Well, everywhere these Japanese are always wrong.

Dokdo rider, he ride out on the road.
Dokdo rider, he ride out on the road.
I’m a poor boy here and I got nowhere to go.

There will be a time when we don’t need no Japan.
There will be a time when we don’t need no Japan.
So shut your mouth and don’t be raisin’ no sand.*

Bike I ride don’t burn no fuel at all**
Bike I ride don’t burn no fuel at all
The fuel I’s burnin’ some say is the cannonball

I went to the Island and put my old flag down.
I went to the Island and put my old flag down.
Dokdo blues overtake me and tears come rollin’ down.

Island I love it must be Korea land.
Island I love, it must be Korea land.
People say it’s Takeshima, and my face it in a terrible frown

I know a guy he protestin’ all of the time.
I know a guy he’s protestin’ all of the time.
Man if you don’t stop protesting you goin’ lose your mind.

Said fair brown what the matter now?
Said fair brown what the matter now?
Japan tryin’ to take my island and he don’t know how.

*“Raisin’ sand” is a blues term that means “causing trouble”, “making problems,” or “arguing.”

** This is a fairly inuendo-ridden sentence. In blues terminology “ride” is very commonly used to refer to an intimate act. “Cannonball” is used similarly.