The Culture

I love the biker culture. I love that a biker will help another biker at any time for any reason. I love that everyone that rides is a "brother" or a "sister."

I love the sounds of bikes, I love the looks of bikes. I love the leather and the tattoos. I love the diversity and I love the respect bikers show for each other.

There is one part of the culture that I really don't get, or maybe I don't want to get.

I was sitting at a bike event tonight listening to the band. It was the perfect night for a gathering, the weather was warm and dry and everyone was still celebrating summer. As we sat there I watched the girls.

There are always unattached girls around. Most scantily dressed with their short shorts, tight short dresses, high heels and torn t-shirts. It's easy to see they didn't get there on the back of someone's bike and they certainly didn't ride themselves. 

They're women hoping to pick up a biker for the night, or perhaps a little longer. They stand out, they really stand out. In the world of the biker these girls are called "pass arounds," for obvious reasons.

There are also what's called "biker babes." In the words of a "club" member  "a biker babe enjoys the lifestyle, has morals and will gut you for unwanted advances," and "a pass around welcomes them."

While the band played the pass arounds danced seductively to the music all the time holding tightly to their beer. They were doing their best to be noticed and hopefully picked out of the crowd by anyone that would give them the attention they were seeking. 

They are as young as those in their twenties and as old as late fifties, early sixties. I took pictures but decided not to post them. It was sad watching them do their thing. Watching those lonely women do everything in their power hoping to be noticed by someone that would most probably give them what they wanted and throw them away a few hours later was very sad.

I know there are people like that in every arena of life, but for some reason the biker world seems disproportionately filled with them. The girls are at every event, every gathering, every rally, and every biker bar. 

It's sad, very sad.

On another note, check out this bike. It is covered with pennies and nickels. Strange, very strange. Someone had a little too much time on their hands it appears. But in a way it's kind of cool being so different.

Then there's this shot I like.