Welcome Harley Riders

The Milwaukee area saw a sharp increase of ear plug sales late in the summer of 2008 as the Harley-Davidson company threw themselves a 105th birthday party. Man, Milwaukee knows how to put on a great summer bash! The powers that be at Harley invited every biker in the world to descend upon our fair city for a "homecoming" party that will not soon be forgotten. The week before the party started, every store and business in the town put up big signs to welcome the Harley Riders, and Kopps began serving motorcycle-themed frozen custard. And then came the bikers. And they came, and they came and they came. I'm not a Harley rider myself, mostly because I would definitely turn myself into a road burger, but I love seeing the motorcycles and hearing them purr. It was so cool to share my commute home from work with the most dedicated of all Harley riders.

One of the last days of the Harley anniversary, there was a great big parade from Miller Park to downtown. Sara, Zoe and I stood on that bridge that goes through the Miller Brewing Company's yard and into downtown to watch the motorcycles parade on down the road. We stood there watching them for nearly two hours and probably only saw a third of them go by. Back in 1983 Harley Davidson began sponsoring clubs for their customers called Harley Owners Groups (H.O.G.s), these clubs have been set up all over the world. We captured a great video of the Australian H.O.G. as they puttered by. That was pretty cool. Milwaukee is such a fun community to live in, there always seems to be some great event going on, and I love how Sara is always so willing to go to everything with me. The Harley parade was certianly a cultural event worth seeing.