Muskegon MC's Pro Hill Climb

Muskegon's Hill Climb is an age old tradition in Michigan. This Weekend long event was known for years for the assorted bike clubs rolling into town and the rowdy parties and shoot outs that come along with that crowd.

Today it is still a hardy bunch of crazies rolling in for the bi-annual event. It is a nice break from the "Bike Night at Applebees" crowd that has given bikers a good name.

The posers don't last long here. This party represents the true biker lifestyle that has been lost to the mid-life crisis crowd trying to reclaim the coolness they never possessed in the first place.

The race is on Sunday but the party starts on Friday. Admission includes camping and the array of campers and tents are a show in itself.

Everything from pup tents, quarter million dollar motor coaches to an old hand painted NASCAR school bus with the party deck on top and a lit stage in back complete with a stripper pole.

The collection of bikes was amazing. The custom home built bike ruled the day. the ingenuity was astounding. The roar of the engines provided the backdrop for the drunkenness and mayhem that never stopped.

Even with the craziness, CK and I noted that there were no colors being worn, no fights or arguments and everyone was respectful of each other. It was like going back in time to the 70s and 80s biker scene without the bullets.

Dave's house is only a few hundred yards from from the Muskegon Motorcycle Club's Mt. Garfield property so we pitched camp in his back yard to give us a retreat zone

CK, SweetnLow Dave and I cruised the campground area and hit the "$2 a beer" beer tent all afternoon Saturday people watching.

Dave being a local, grew up with many of the club members and as such we spent allot of time drinking with one club member after another.

Toxxic, the band in the beer tent was awesome. They were HARD driving metal! Not the obligatory top 40 classic radio fare. I don't think most of the crowd had ever heard a bar band play new marilyn manson and Ozzy's War Pigs from 1968 in the same set yet there were people in the crowd that identify with both eras.

We moved to the camping area after the Beer tent closed up and watched the madness unfold as the beers flowed.

We were hanging with the Muskegon MC President Russ and his buddies Vic and Brad on the edge of the crowd of guys drinking and cheering at the couple of girls that were egging them on near one of the many stripper poles.

The crowd did eventually get a girl to put on a show . although she had to take off the bandages from the boob job she got that morning first... It's a tough crowd here, hehe

The party was rolling strong when the boys and I decided to close it up around 4:30 AM'ish. Dave had worked out a deal with Russ to hook me up with a Press Pass for the race the next day and I had to report to the pits at 10am...

I bought a little $20 tent for this run that is 6 ft long me forcing me to squeeze my 6'4" fat ass kitty corner on top of an old sleeping bag for a cushion. The experiment didn't go well. I didn't sleep well between the hard ground and the wake up call only a few hours away.

Morning came with a groan. Dave was already up working the smoker and his magic on a massive chunk of venison. We grumbled good morning and off I went to climb the hill and set up my cameras for the race. I got an early start up the bastard and took the extra time to regain my composure once at the top.

The race was awesome from the best seat in the house. I was right at the top finish line and timing lights. I caught the first half of the race on the ZiggyCam live and video taped every racer up to intermission also.

I exhausted all my batteries by halftime since I wasn't gearing for full blown access and didn't come prepared for such. If I had known....

This worked out well though as I had a pocket full of Beer Tent Tickets leftover from Saturday nite that I needed to drink up so I made the trek back down to sea level, found CK and we went drinking till it was over...

Dave smoked a leg o'deer over some hard wood all afternoon and a yard full of his friends showed up to feast after the celebrations died down at the hill.

I will be back in two years ready to rock and roll. and you should be too!!