You can't beat a deal like that.
Biker rallies are intellectually diverse. This one place is selling F*CK TRUMP patches right next to F*CK YOU TRUMP HATERS patches. There is widespread tolerance for varying political opinions, which is probably not what is generally assumed about biker rallies.
You can also buy brass knuckles. Other people's political opinions are generally less threatening when you have a good pair of brass knuckles.
We're all going to get soaked together anyway.
It’s a racially diverse crowd too. Lots of black bikers up from Atlanta to enjoy the Smokies. The first one I saw was by himself and looked nervous about the Confederate flags*, but I made sure to welcome him so he'd know he was OK. He clearly felt better and, in short order, would have found that he was in no ways alone. We're all Americans up here.
Usually the Redrum MC comes out, and they’re a Native American/First Nations led motorcycle club (not exclusive; white people can join, but they’re about honoring Native Americans).
Theoretically this is Outlaws MC territory, but everyone is welcome. I see Outlaws and Pagans and a Hells Angels support club here. It’s just a good time for everyone.
We did get soaked, though.
That one bike with her head turned is especially pretty.
I really appreciate motorcycle culture. People have their heads on right.** The political moment passes; every election is 'the most important of our lifetime.' But in the end, you pick your patch or no patch, sew it on or don't, and we all go ride the eternal mountains together. When all the dry land was one continent, these mountains were still here -- these Appalachians linked to the Grampians in what is now Scotland. They're old, and we're passing. We commune with them and are one with them.
That's what matters.
* Locally you see a lot of Confederate flags. This is because the Confederacy won the war here. At the end of the war, Thomas' Legion of Indians and Highlanders compelled the surrender of the last Union forces in the region. The Cherokee Nation declared war on the Union and allied with the Confederacy, for the obvious reason that the Union had been waging war on them since at least President Andrew Jackson, and for the less-obvious reason that they also were a slave-owning power. They joined with Scottish and Scots-Irish Highlanders to form a combined arms force that fought through the entire war. Together, they defeated the Union forces and obtained an agreement to surrender in the local town of Waynesville, North Carolina. As it happened, news of Lee's surrender to Grant arrived at about that same time, so they still held the surrender but reversed the polarity about which side was surrendering. However, the mountain folk were not only never defeated, they won. They remember that they won. The Cherokee often fly the Confederate flag too for the same historical reasons as the Highlanders.
** Funniest thing that happened today: as I was going to the head, a lady biker with a beer in her hand took one look at me and squared up her shoulders. "Wanna fight?" she demanded. I smiled and answered, "Shore." She put her beer aside, raised her fists, and said, "Let's go!" Then she laughed, tapped my shoulder, picked up her beer and went on about her business.
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