FEATURE EVENT:
Bike-Night at the
Starting Gate
Los Alamitos, CA

Every Wednesday Night

"The Largest Bike-Night in Southern California!
It was just an ordinary wednesday in June and I ventured out on the scooter with some new parts I got at Cyclepath Cycle earlier today.

I heard that The Starting Gate Bar and Restaurant had a good following of bikers each Wednesday and when I rolled down Katella looking for it I got blinded by the chrome from the sunset sky. With long shadows prevelant I parked the bike to meet up with some friends and join in the fun and mainly the 50/50 raffle which boasts almost $800.00 for the winner!

About 90% of the bikes were Harleys and most of them weren't over 5 years old. Of the remaining 10% about half of them were custom bikes from the likes of Big Dog and West Coast Choppers. There were a couple of "home-built" bikes too including one from this dude; James. It is a flat black chopper with red rims and seat (pictured at right). The green bike next to it is owned by the red-head standing. I didn't get a chance to talk to her about it, but she said the paint is Mustang Lime Silver, the same color as her Mustang.

What an eclectic group of people at this show. There were reps from many clubs. Hardcore riders and the weekend warriors were there all together and having a good time. This one guy I was talkin' with said he just rode his new Springer down from Oregon. I know of that ride and it starts out really nice then you get over the grapevine and just want to get home and out of the LA traffic.

This week the raffle prizes were really wierd. I was hangin' out with Eric from Cyclepath Cycle when they were calling out the winning ticket for a Fanny Pak. I said if that was my number I wouldn't go claim the prize and he agreed. The next prize was a HD Teddy Bear and sure enough one of Eric's numbers were called. He wasn't going to go up until I pointed him out. They had a neat Craftsman work center as the main prize and we hung out till the 50/50. The first number of the 50/50 there were no takers. The first call of the evening without a taker. So the next number went out to this blonde who we were kidding about rolling in the parking lot.

Got nothing to do on Wednesday nights in So-Cal? I would say head down to Los Alamitos and spend the evening with some friends at the Starting Gate. 5:00pm - 10:00pm $2.00 domestic drafts rain or shine. The Starting Gate is at 5052 Katella Ave. Los Alamitos, CA 90720 (562) 598-8957.

T-Bone