By Lulu

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I travel all over the state with the magazine and have only had a few encounters of negative words about bikers. On a recent trip to investigate Okeechobee County I had one of those situations. I won’t name the bar/restaurant because I try not to hurt anyone’s business with the magazine, particularly since in this situation it was the bartender the daughter of the owner whose statements certainly did not represent the rest of those employed there or her father. They were all very nice and happy to have us eating one of the best burgers in town. I also want you to know they are not mentioned anywhere in the magazine including the article about Okeechobee County. I simply will not encourage bikers to spend their money there.

Now for the heart of this article, this 20 something year old girl’s exact words were “I don’t care if the first biker comes to town for the Okeechobee Bike Festival”. I am certain their establishment will reap financial rewards from many who do visit their area. And for her father who spoke highly of many segments of the biker population, I hope they do. Her beef with bikers is the inconvenience we cause when we try to stay in a pack. She feels that we don’t have the right to inconvenience her, particularly, by blocking traffic, which she pointed out is illegal. I tried to school her on the importance of safety while on a bike and that being together as a group increases our odds against cagers that often don’t see us. I also tried educating her that often the parade of bikes are doing charitable works for their communities, not even related to motorcycles. She couldn’t care less. I then tried to explain the money bikers bring into a community, and that, in this economy she should be a bit more gracious in her comments.

Reflecting back on being 20 something, I am certain I had opinions that have changed and softened over the years and told her one day she may be one of the very people she is angry at, pointing out that I had never ridden on a bike until 50. In an adamant and rather bratty way she went so far as to say “That will never happen and I have the right to just pull right out in front of them and run the whole bunch over”! Which I pointed out is equally illegal. There was a point when quite frankly I just wanted to deck her, but figured the financial consequence of losing a mention in the magazine was going to have to suffice.

As we all know there is no reasoning with a young opinionated girl. So I gave up, we paid our tab and vowed not to visit this establishment again. But it does give cause to think about our impact on traffic when we do try to block intersections without police escorts. Someone may actually act on their road rage and that would be tragic.

Enjoy this beautiful riding weather, buy a stranger a beer and don’t forget your sunscreen!