Dokdo Rider Blues-Part 2
Click on the following links to read the previous Dokdo Rider articles:
- They’re HEEEEERE!
- Dokdo Riders. Yeah. THAT’s the ticket!
- Dokdo Riders On The Road To Dallas, Texas
- 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.
In Arizona, the Dokdo Riders, who had been subsiting mainly on ramen and hamburgers, decided to splurge and eat at Denny’s. They came away with a very negative impression of Denny’s service and swore never to go there again.
They preached the Dokdo gospel to the winds and sands of Sedona, Arizona.
I am so jealous that they were on this road and I was not… Can I be a Dokdo Rider too?
They took a breather in Santa Fe, New Mexico. After pausing long enough to strike a pose,
they took historic Route 66 on to Dallas, Texas.
While in Dallas, they got caught up in a severe storm. High winds blew the bikes over and the cargo compartments flooded, saturating the Dokdo propaganda documents.
Thankfully, the hotel had blowdryers.
According to their website, among the most common questions they are asked is “is there ice cream in those boxes,” and “What cc are your engines.” Usually the Harley-Davidson riders react with shock when they find out that the Dokdo Riders are on 250cc motorcycles and wonder whether the Dokdo Riders are crazy. As one Dokdo Rider said,
The more I think about it, the more I realize that they may be right. All five of our bikes put together don’t equal the engine size of the one bike they are riding. When it’s difficult for a motorcycle, it’s equally difficult for the rider. If the engine blows or if a chain breaks while we are riding, then the dinosaur-sized trailer behind us could turn us into 쥐포 (press fish strips)
In traditional Korean fashion, the Dokdo Riders were welcomed to Atlanta by a sign. Koreans love signs. Special signs are made for every occasion. This sign welcoming the riders to Atlanta was prepared by the Korean Consulate and a motorcycle association.
In Atlanta, they played and preached Dokdo in front of vast crowds:
ok… played for a mother and her baby during lunch.
They also spread the message that Dokdo is Korean land to a group of Korean youth at a basketball tournament.
Congratulations, the Dokdo Riders managed to secure a presentation at the chamber of commerce where there was actual, real “foreigners”, including a hungry one in the front left of the picture with three cans of soda pop and two plates of food.
Prior to leaving Atlanta, the Dokdo Riders swapped Nazi paraphernalia with some old Korean biker dude.
After motoring to the nation’s capitol, the Dokdo Riders staked out a strategically placed corner of a strategically placed supermarket parking and recruited other Koreans to help attract attention to Dokdo.
From DC, it was on to Philadelphia where they had what appears to be their largest audience yet. They spread the Dokdo message to a bunch of Korean kids in a Korean church.
Group hug:
The crowds were not so big in Baltimore.
In Boston they had a successful Korean dinner meeting with Koreans during a Korean association meeting.
While in Boston, they stocked up on ramen, rice, and other food for their European vacation crusade.
Dokdo Rider in New York, New York!
In New York, the Dokdo Riders said goodbye to their bikes, put them in a container, and took a plane to London.