Unless you watch MTV's Spring Break or live in Texas , you may have never heard of South Padre Island . South Padre Island (or "The Island" to the locals) is located in Texas near Brownsville just above Matamoros , Mexico , on the Gulf of Mexico . Known regionally for its snow white sand and crystal clear water, South Padre Island is also the home of the "Roar By The Shore" Bike Fest held each year in October.

The last time I went to the SPI Bike Fest was in 1999 when I was living in McAllen , Texas . I had just finished getting my 1952 BSA chopper together after three nights a week of working until one or two in the morning in Johnny's Custom Shop then going to my day job at 7AM . During that time, I became good friends with shop owner Johnny Gil. Since moving to Maryland four years ago, Johnny and 1 always talked about my coming back for the Bike Fest but some­thing always came up.

This year, I decided to go and see if the event had grown and if there were any tasty Tex-Mex scoots. Johnny always works franticly up until the last minute to finish bikes for the event. He told me someone would pick me up from the airport but was­n't sure who it would be. When 1 arrived on Thursday at lunch time, Johnny's wife, Bert, and two boys, James and Brian, greeted me. Southwest flies into Harlingen , which is about 25 minutes from the Island (25 min­utes the other way is Johnny's shop in McAllen ). The Gil Posse and 1 went over to the island to meet Johnny's crew at the booth they had set up in the convention center. Johnny was still finishing a bike and wouldn't be over until about 11PM . He promised me a loaner bike but only told me it was "fucked up looking" and that I would love it.

Just when I gave up on summer, I suddenly found myself in sunny 85 degrees weather in Texas . 1 shed my jean jacket for some shorts and a tank top. I got caught up with Johnny's dad and some old friends while drinking some cold ones and enjoying Jake Cantu's band play cover tunes MUCH better than the original bands. Jake is fuck­ing unbelievable with his acoustic guitar amplified - we definitely need to get him up to the Smoke Out.

The show this year was much bigger than it was in 1999. There were vendors sell­ing the usual patches and stickers as well as boots, hats, jewelry, pin striping yada yada yada. Some shops had booths selling Texas Choppers and another advertised Yamahas. An Internet Service Provider even had computers set up for checking email. I saw one guy in a WCC shirt checking the stock market.

While hanging around the convention center, I witnessed one of the Event Staff drive a golf cart into a brand new Yamaha on dis­play. This bump caused it to fall into another one and the domino effect took over. Sadistically, 1 took an action shot of them scrambling to right the bikes but, unfortunate­ly, the picture came out blurry.

At about 11PM Johnny and his cousin showed up with a trailer full of bikes. Among them was my loaner; a Rat Shovel Drag Kick Only 4 Speed Urban Assault Vehicle! I was like a kid getting his first porno mag. This bike had such atti­tude and soul; the yupsters on their sterilized show bikes would soon be shakin' in their ropers (cowboy boots)! Turns out a guy brought Johnny the bike to get it running well.

He just got it as payment from a debt owed and wanted to sell it. Johnny told him we could ride it around the island and get it some exposure. Boy did it get exposure. First of all there aren't a huge amount of white boys in south Texas , add that to the bike and I stood out like whiskey at a tequila bar.

I rode the bike all night Thursday, all day Friday and into the night Friday night before I got pulled over. The vendors and entertainment at the Convention center stays open until 10PM and after that, we all go to our rooms to regroup and meet at the bars about an hour later. It was 11PM and 1 had just left my room after taking a quick shower and throwing on some jeans when the Biker Cop got me. He pulled me over and said "What are you doing riding this on the street?" I said, "Why?" and he said, "This thing is not street legal, it belongs on a track."

I told him I flew in to town from DC and got the bike as a loaner. "It doesn't even have a plate on it!" he said. I got off the bike (knowing this) and walked to the back of the bike and said, "Damn, my friend said it was legal". "Go park that thing and if I see it again on the road, it's mine." He said. He was cool because I had no papers, no plates, no turn signals, horn, high beam, mirrors...etc, etc, etc. and he let me ride the bike back to the hotel.

I then went back to the hotel and called Johnny's cousins to come get me in the car. When we got to the bar, I told every­one what happened and they all laughed and bought me some beers. The bars were hop-pin' with hot babes and good bands. After the bars closed at 2, we all went down to the beach trailers where Ray and Johnny's cousins had trailers. Fajitas were being cooked on the grill and the beers flowed until 4AM .

Saturday, Johnny called me at 8:30AM and told me he was going to be at Schlitterbahn Water Park for the bike show. Since the hotel I was in was close to the Water Park , I rode the loaner bike there and parked it in the rat category. It was free to enter and I got to park right inside. I got a trophy for being the only bike in the class.

At the show I saw a real clean Jap bob­ber. The owner built it himself and the atten­tion to detail is evident. It was the only jock­ey-shift bike in the custom category. The rea­son I hate bike shows is the judging is always racked up. "Stock" Studio Choppers won the awards and this bike didn't get squat. For what it was worth, I told him I thought it was the best bike there. Jake and his band played again at the show with palm trees in the back­ground. Did I say this guy rocks?

When the show was over around 2 pm , I had to get up to the convention center somehow and Johnny's shop trailer was there. It was decided to make a run for it. I rode the bike with four other guys the five miles up the main drag hoping not to run into the same cop or any other uniforms. Luckily, I got the bike back without a hitch.

I met some people I saw at Ocean City , MD , DEIMARVA bike fest and other vendors I have seen that making the nation-wide cir­cuit. It's kinda cool seeing the same people everywhere; like a family atmosphere.

Credence Clearwater Revisited played Saturday night at Schlitterbahn and I heard some of it when I went back to my room to change. It sounded pretty good but we had party plans. We went back to the bars and took some shots of the babes while we hung out and enjoyed the bikes and bands. It was only natural to go back to the beach trailers after closing time. At the trailer there were a bunch of guys already there and one of them had a brand new Confederate with 1700 miles on it. There was also a rat ironhead Sporty chop with like fifty-five degrees rake. I got to ride it around the trailer park trying to keep the front wheel from flopping every second. When I got off that one, the dude with the Confederate showed me how the drag pipes shot flames. Then, at 3AM , he

said, "do a burnout on it." I said I don't want to be responsible for fucking up a new big money bike and he said, "I take full responsibility, go for it." Well that's all it took; I smoked the shit out of the tire stop­ping only after taking some serious mileage off of it. Everyone was digging it. When I got back to my room, 1 noticed I burned a hole right in the cuff of my jeans (forgetting all about the flame throwin' pipes).

As you can see from the pictures, there were some killer bikes, great weather and hot chicks there. The schedule of events included an organized ride to Mexico , Gambling cruise, constant live music, games and other things to do. I would definitely say it was a place where the Party-Rat Horse Readers could have a blast and the RUBS had their sanctioned events to keep them busy. Did I mention the food? Excellent Tex-Mex food was available at the vendor's booths outside the convention center.

I would like to thank Johnny and the whole Gil Posse for their incredible hospitality, Adam at SPI Rentals, Mark Lacy and the other event organ­izers and the senoritas who weren't afraid to show a gringo their fine breasteses!