Wrong day, Wrong destination.....

[canamjhb]

On our weekly Sunday ride this last week, our group decided to do a short ride to Florence for lunch. The group was small and consisted of 5 GW trikes and me on my Spyder. We arrived in Florence without fanfare having taken back roads through farm country. For those not familar, Florence is a small town of about 26,000 people. It is surrounded by desert and farmland. It is considered one of the safest cities in Arizona. That's because it is home to the Florence Prison. By far the largest employeer in town. Well, as soon as we got to town, we were overwhelmed by all the motorcycle activity. We inadvertantly picked the day of the annual Hell's Angles sponsored "Prison Run". This was a gathering of over 2,000 bikes that line up and ride by the prison making as much noise a possible. The point is to let those incarcerated hear the noise from the bikes and know that they are not forgotten and have support from those on the outside. The locals line the street with their folding chairs and kids to watch the parade.

We didn't quite fit in. But, we did find a place for lunch and escaped Florence via backroads without having to do our "Wild Hogs" immitation..... Good ride in spite of the unexpected crowd..... Jim

[al0vely]

[Bob Denman]

I had a Christmas Day encounter with some Hell's Angels members a few years ago.
They were friendly to me, and we talked about our bikes.

[Grandpot]

When you said you "escaped Florence" what exactly did you mean? Is there one less prisoner?

[Chupaca]

That made for an interesting ryde...Still you made the planned trip and fared well. Now you will remember to the check dates.....

[ARtraveler]

Great story.

[Two cats]

That's was a good story, Some of the best rides are the ones that unexpected things happen. Happy Trails.

[Blue Star]

Reminds me of one time our ryding group went to have lunch in the mountains. Having to make a fuel stop several members of the group stopped at a gas station. As they came up to the gas pumps they saw a group of Vargo's, and could not leave without being obvious. As they were getting of their Spyders to fuel up, the President of the club, and his group walk over to them. Thinking "oh no" the group was a bit worried, but turned out they just wanted to ask questions, and admire the Spyders. Obviously a case of not what your ride, but that you ride.