I rubs me wrong when anyone of us moto bloggers start slinging mud at others bikers and calling them names like Rub and Poser but I do agree about the donating thing and have come up with a solution.
We should rally up the troops to donate blood. It does not cost anyhting. It saves lives. And many of the lives it saves are bikers.
Every bro who gives blood will be a Blood Bro!
As much as I like to think I'm the "let's all play nice together" type, I can't deny that the terms "rub" and "poser" exist for a reason. I don't care how creatively mean-spirited you want to be, if the label you put on someone is just totally baseless, it's not gonna stick. I think I have enough time in the saddle to say without guilt that A) These people are out there, and B) The names fit.
This is an excellent piece, and is completely accurate, which is actually pretty sad. Then again, they say the truth hurts. You couldn't be more right when you say real bikers will not fork out big bucks to hurry up and wait. We want to ride and enjoy some scenery, not go barreling down the freeway with a bunch of wannabes who are such bad riders that long waits for food become secondary to not making it there in one piece.
We have a ride every year here that another local HOG Chapter sponsors to benefit the MDA. It's one of those rides that loads up with all sorts of independents, from rubs and posers to scooter and crotch rocket pilots. It's nice that they come and pay towards raising money for the MDA. Nothing else about them being there is nice.
They don't know how to ride safely in a pack. They leave huge gaps in the ride, just inviting an impatient cage driver to cut in, which is VERY dangerous.
They don't know how to block, and they don't know that if you can't block you belong in the back, not up front.
After I did this ride for the first time, I was all set. I had no intention of doing it again. But, this year the new lady in my life who also rides wanted to go. I knew that no amount of gloom and doom talk from me would dissuade her from seeing for herself, so I didn't even try. All I said was a prediction, and that was that afterwards she would tell me she was all set on ever doing this free-for-all fiasco ever again.
Not only did she say that, but she also promised to take my word on whether a ride was worth going on or not from now on. Not a bad accomplishment for me, and I got a fifteen dollar hockey-puck hamburger and about 7 potato chips to make it worth my while.
I'm with you - I'll bring a few toys to donate for the kids when we do our annual toy run. I'm done with contributing to the "rub fests."