Made It To Oyster Run '08

Against my better judgement we decided to go to the Oyster Run in Anacortes, WA on Sunday. It is the largest one day gathering of motorcyclists in the Western U.S. This year they expected over 30,000 bikes to attend. I estimate there were more......

We got up early and expected to get going by 9 am. From 7 o'clock on you could hear the drone of motorcycles off in the distance going up I-5. By the time we left home and merged onto I-5 heading North it was a sight to see. What a thrill it was to be on a 3 lane interstate surrounded by hundreds of motorcyclists in every lane, with only an occasional car squeezed in between the crowd. All you could see ahead or in your mirrors were motorcycles. I have never seen anything like it and it was an emotional and exhilerating experience.

We stopped about 30 miles north of home to drop in and see my son, who had a group of many friends who were gathering to go also. The gas stations in his town were filling up with hundreds of bikers meeting up. Nate and his friends were going to breakfast so we headed to the Oyster Run without them and said we would meet up later. We never found them at the event. We did, however, run into the friend who had sold Dave the Victory. What were the chances of that?

We went off of the interstate and headed towards Anacortes on the back roads which were scenic and rural. It was a clear blue day which turned out to be warm and sunny. As we neared the town of Anacortes traffic came to a halt. We crept into town inch by inch. That is when the fun ended for me. By the time we parked my clutch hand had a full cramp.

The event was interesting, with local vendors and bike builders etc. All the biker groups were there wearing their colors, but no incidents as far as I know. Everyone was happy to be there and appreciating looking at the motorcycles. We walked around in shoulder to shoulder crowds and made our way up the entire street and back the other side. There was one group doing a scheduled stunt show but we didn't wait to see it. Otherwise, it was just a large gathering. After I saw about the thousandth bike they all started looking the same.




Here is a lineup of Big Dog bikes.

Not sure what this was but when it was revved it was so loud people were covering their ears!

How's this for a motorcycle cover?


I liked this biker gorilla.

They said this bike was on Biker Build-off. They were giving it away.

As we tried to leave town the traffic was even worse than coming in. There were several directions to go but all were creeping or stopped. We headed east and found a back road with only a few bikers on it. It was a long ride home and I was very tired by the time we arrived. All day we only went a total of 155 miles, but rode for about 6 hours. My left hand turned purple from clutching. I guess I'm not as tough as I think sometimes.

I don't think I would ever attempt to go to the Oyster Run again, because it really had nothing to offer me. Crowds like that aren't my thing. I'm glad for the experience, though, and got my first bike event pin.