“More people than ever, more bikes than ever.”
The words of Anacortes Police Captain John Small in describing Sunday’s 27th Annual Oyster Run. Picture perfect weather no doubt contributed to the tremendous turnout.
My own Oyster Run experience began with breakfast at the Hometown Cafe in Sedro-Woolley. There I joined members of Star Touring & Riding Chapters 154 (Burlington) and 5103 (B.C., Canada). Combined the group numbered around 50 riders and over 40 bikes. We filled the upstairs dining room.
Full credit to the staff at the Hometown as our meals were delivered promptly and correctly. The only hiccup was checkout as the the credit card machine had some intermittent trouble that delayed the proceedings.
Filled with good food, we mounted up and divided into two groups. A round-about route to Anacortes via Edison had us joining a thickening stream of bikes headed West on Highway 20. We made the turn onto Commercial Street around 11:30. The streets North of 12th were already full of parked bikes. We threaded our way through all the way down to 2nd street where we were directed to park on one of the blocked off side streets.
After securing gear we set off in smaller groups to see the sights. We arrived a couple of blocks away just in time to see the Seattle Cossack perform their first of two demonstration shows. Every time I see these guys I am impressed. There is some serious bike-handling skill in this group.
After the show we set off in search of ride pins and t-shirts for other members of our small group. The crowded sidewalks made staying together challenging and it was not long before my son and I were separated from the rest of the group and on our own.
We walked both sides of Commercial checking out bikes and vendors. We were hoping to find some gloves for my son, but being a more sport-bike leaning youngster, we did not find the carbon-fiber-knuckled gloves that he was seeking in the seas of black leather cruiser accessories.
I did notice a large number of Christian riding groups with booths in the vendor areas. I’m not sure why there were so many, but they seemed to be at every turn. Also with a larger presence than I recall seeing were members of the Bandidos. The club had a booth and one end of one of the side streets setup as their base camp for the event. There were no problems that I observed; there just seemed to be many more out in their colors than I recall seeing in prior years.
I have learned from experience to try to get out of town by 3:00 or be stuck in a stop-and-go crawl. So we headed back to the bike around 2:30 to saddle up and move out. Bikes entering town still outnumbered those exiting and there was a great deal of congestion getting out of the parking area. I accidentally grazed another rider’s leather saddlebag with my highway peg when I was pinched by another rider who wasn’t looking. The peg folded right up and there was no harm done.
Finally reaching the highway I found myself being followed closely, too closely, by a VW minivan. I waved the driver to back off. No change in following distance. I waved again. Still no change. Finally finding room in the right lane I moved over to let the van pass and gave the universal WTF signal. The passenger in the van returned the gesture along with a dirty look. As the van passed I saw a sticker in the window: Share the road, with BICYCLES! Ah, the irony.
On the whole it was a good day. There were a few accidents and one fatality on local roads. I’m sure the business owners in Anacortes had a big day. My wife had the digital camera in Florida so did not get any pictures. Fortunately one of the Star riders posted his photos and Jeff over at the Hog Blog has some great photos and video of the event.