2010 Rallies & Events
Dirtbag Challenge Part 1
Story and photos by Rodent
We’ve covered the great Smoke Outs in Arizona for a few years, but when an invite came to cover the Dirtbag Challenge in San Francisco, I had to go. In a city that lives every day wondering when, not if, the earthquake that will destroy San Francisco like The Great Earthquake of 1906 did and the 1989 Loma Prieta tried to do, people tend to live on the edge and create the weird, insane and unusual. This event as been a staple in the San Francisco motorcycle scene for seven years and this is my first opportunity to attend this happening. Man, I thought that the Arizona Smoke Outs were the ultimate act of innovative, unusual, expressions of the art of making a different motorcycle. You ain’t seen nothing; San Francisco’s Dirtbag Challenge wins hands down.
Rule one, read this. If you hope to be in the show, come to the end of Revere Avenue at 9 AM Sunday Nov 14, for registration. Hopefully we’ll leave by 10 AM. DON’T show up to “ride along”, you will not be welcome, the ride is for Dirtbags only. If you complete the ride, you will be eligible for the show. No ride ― no show. This would be great if other motorcycle shows would adopt this rule. I showed up at the check-in uninvited to nose around despite the following rule. I ain’t known for following rules.
We hoped to be back at the end of Quesada St. by 2 PM, that’s when the partying starts. The non-promoter explained to the assembled non-participants that this run was not organized, sponsored, or sanctioned in any way, shape, or form before sending the non-participants on the ride to Pescadero on the Pacific Ocean Hwy 1, then up to Hwy 35 to Alice’s Restaurant and back to the party site. If they got stopped by the cops, nobody would help them or admit that they know them. Have a good ride! Most survived the ride.