Key West Poker Run 2014

When one says "Bike Week" one could be forgiven for thinking this:

 But in point of fact it's this:

They started coming to town on Thursday, collecting entry forms from the Peterson Harley Davidson dealer's two outlets in Miami and as they come they stop at five separate locations to pick up cards to create a poker hand, hence the proper term "Poker Run."

Whoever arrives and plays the strongest hand tonight wins a Harley Street 500. Because this is a charity event you can buy extra  cards and play extra hands but the point of the thing is to get people riding up and down the Keys at a typically slow tourist time of the year.  Apparently they succeeded with the newspaper saying 10,000 motorcyclists are expected in town. Duval Street yesterday evening  didn't seem particularly packed compared to years past.

I don't know how you rate weather for a motorcycle ride but I'm okay with 90 degrees and humid though I would prefer crisp blue skies as I find the heavy cloudiness of recent days to be oppressive. With helmets not required in Florida, and a preference for pirate wear among most participants the Poker Run is a mostly slow speed breezy affair with loud exhausts and, upon arrival, not much riding. As you can see a well laden Harley is no match for sharp cornering, of which there is not much in the Keys or indeed in Florida:

It's not all Harley Davidsons, though what one does with a 200mph sport bike in the Florida Keys doesn't bear thinking about. He was happy to show off his Suzuki Hayabusa (Japanese for Falcon, the well known lethal bird of prey) with the extraordinary custom paint job.

 In my perverse way I enjoyed seeing Not Harleys lined up on Duval.

And one Italian Stallion, a Ducati Multistrada which I rarely get to see in the flesh. Wish I were taller... 

This is the traditional Poker Run participant, with his idea of a smile when I asked for one, alongside his decorated fuel tank. He is attaching the green ticket that entitles participants to park on Lower Duval for the weekend.

My favorite Harley Davidson, the short lived XR1200, retro styled and capable of cornering but not capable of carrying luggage. Unless you count the blonde perched cheerfully on the back.

 Bandana - check. Tattoos- check. Chicks -check. Now where's the beer?

Yamaha's cruiser by Star Motorcycles, the Bolt: a thousand cc entry level (!) retro cruiser designed to steal Harley customers.

Key West denizen enjoying the action. A few more clothes wouldn't hurt but the Southernmost City has a zany reputation to keep up.

 Impractical therefore not suitable for me. I'm sure its monstrous pricey too.

 Style? Balls? Cheek? I like this exhibitor:

 I have no idea what work of art lurks under the tarp but I like the little Pagsta chopper.

 A whole line of baggers, classic American touring machines factory equipped with saddlebags and deep plush laid back seating.

Once they were the preserve of Harleys, then Japanese manufacturers built "metric cruisers" bolting them together with millimeter sized nuts and bolts instead of American inches. And nowadays the Canadian Polaris has got strongly into the act by buying the fabled Indian marque seen below, more than $20,000 of retro beauty.

Or Polaris' futuristic offering from their Victory line, aping Harleys with sharp lines, stronger engines, less vibrations, bigger bags, lower price and miles less mystique or charisma than the Harleys...Motorcyclists are a perverse bunch I never tire of saying! 

 Ride this and break your back, immediately after you break your bank account:

Be still my fluttering heart! I used to race these two stroke 350cc Yamaha demons on my 350cc Italian four stroke V-twin. My Morini lost but that just increased my respect for these 1970s sport bikes from Japan. I wish this one had fenders and original exhausts, but I love the seat and the ace handlebars that I am now too old to ride comfortably. Bone spurs in my neck..!

 This lot were chillin' on Duval with extremely loud...music! Hard code poseur for my phone camera.

Everything was getting caught on film pixels for posterity.

Warm and muggy perhaps but not a bad place to hang out and relax, was Duval Street before work yesterday. Could have used a beer myself.

Argh!

 

 

Every year I forget.

Bloody stupid really.

 

This year I almost remembered.

Woof like a pirate. If you must.

 

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September With No Name



People like to whinge about the summer heat in Florida, but given that September is the peak of hurricane season and so far - nothing; there's really not a lot to whinge about. Furthermore a few tropical depressions have swung by the neighborhood dropping tons of rain everywhere, which is what California could use, and that rain has cooled things off nicely. So much so I got Cheyenne out into the woods earlier this week.

It is hard for me to stress how pleasant it is o be in the Keys in September, despite the prolonged summer heat  (which I like), because this is the time of year one  gets away from it all. This is the time of year No One is Hiking or Cycling on No Name Key.

No Name Key is where you bring people who want to see Key Deer. They inhabit these forests, picking their delicate way through the undergrowth and from time to time they pop out onto the roadway so you don't even have to get out of the car to get a picture.

I like getting out of the car and recommend similar eccentric behavior to anyone who wants to enjoy the spectacular views that present themselves along the Overseas Highway. Get out of our cage, look around, you never know what you might see.

Considering how limited the landmass is around here, to have the ability to get on a trail and drag your reluctant Labrador away from civilization and its messy trash cans, is a wonderful ting.

I usually get to do more of it in winter but the past two winters we haven't seen many days with temperatures under seventy degrees.  

These woods are well known as he place where the Bay of Pigs landing in Cuba, in prehistoric times, was planned and where the anti-Castro insurgents/ terrorists/freedom fighters (take your pick) trained.

Of them there is no sign anymore. Nowadays there is, more incongruously a gravel quarry, a deer refuge and  commercial electric power.

There are no hills so the views are naturally restricted. Around here you don't see rivers and valleys, hedgerows and farmland.

 It's just miles of mangroves sitting in tannic water stained as dark as tea.

 Sometimes Labradors like to cool their heels in the high tide of summer storms.

 With more to come, looking west toward Big Pine Key.

 So dogs like to repair to their air conditioned comfort and the darkness of a rug over their faces.

Cheyenne doesn't notice thunder and sleeps serenely through any noise at all as long as her forehead is pressed up against something and no one has the temerity to touch her. She dreams of long urban walks, and the noise and smells of the city, dreams that cannot be ignored, even by someone who might prefer a wood to a parking lot, or a trail to a street. Dogs are stubborn things and they know what they like. More's the pity people don't pay attention to them when they indicate their preferences.

Scotland Votes

Today's the day that decides whether Europe in the 21st century resembles that of the last century or if self determination in a time of diminishing resources means a united Europe breaks into several small pieces. Catalonia has set a date in November to vote to ask Madrid for the right to vote on independence and Northern Irish leaders say they will review their future status in the rest of the United Kingdom if Scotland votes "Yes" today. The question? "Should Scotland be an independent country?" Simple enough with widespread implications. A sense of humor helps...seen at Gretna Green on the English/Scottish border:

In many respects the vote seems like a peculiar exercise in tomfoolery. Scottish leaders insist come independence they will continue to use English pounds under the control of the bank of England, and the Royal Mail will deliver the post and Scotland will be part of the European Union. All of which is in question as English leaders say they want no part of sharing anything with an independent Scotland, except their share of the National Debt; while EU leaders say Scotland will have to apply for membership and that could take a decade to process if Spain doesn't veto their application as vengeance for Catalonia's renewed drive for freedom.

At this point all the considerations in the independence fine print are left behind as just about every single Scottish resident is showing up at the polls today between seven am and ten o'clock tonight local time. (The UK is five hours ahead of US Eastern time). One thing the independence vote has done that is positive and worth noting is that it has generated debate, some violent, but this is as pure an expression of true grassroots democracy as any we have seen on either side of the Atlantic. Earlier this year European Union nations voted for their members of the European Parliament and we saw a huge upset with right wing anti-union members getting elected. Watching those results I tried to imagine an upset in a Presidential election in this country. And frankly I could not see that. Voter apathy in the US is the product of that electoral certainty. Scottish voters, as young as 16, are streaming to the polls because they know their vote counts. They have no electoral college to interpret their wishes, or multi year monstrously costly elections decided by money long before votes are cast. Money has been spent and claims have been made because the outcome of this vote, likely to be known in 12 hours, is in doubt, too close to call.

As you watch this vote ask yourself what the Federal government would do if Montana elected to vote to secede. Inconceivable isn't it? More to the point I'd love to see something as simple as a viable third party candidate run for President with an actual chance of winning. Democracy is supposed to allow for upsets and whether or not Scotland decides to end its 300 year old union with England there can be no doubt they have stepped up to vote in a race with no certain outcome. Watch Hilary Clinton's race for President and ask yourself how uncertain is that outcome by comparison. And how expensive. And how little policy will change after it's all over. And then ask yourself what it must be like to be a Scottish voter today.

All photos from The Scotsman newspaper website.

 

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