I am NOT one of those bikers. I am a member of the American Legion Riders, and we are a large group of motorcycle enthusiasts with ties to the military who are dedicated to supporting those who have served our country.
Through my involvement with this group, I've met some of the coolest people I've ever known in my life. Every single one of them would lay down his or her life to HELP someone else, not to harm them. This is true of most every biker I've ever met, even those not associated with military causes.
What happened in Texas was unnecessary and unfortunate. Frankly, and naively, I'd thought that those rough motorcycle clubs had died out years ago. Clearly, I was wrong, but I know that those clubs make up only a very tiny percentage of bikers.
In fact, a lot of bikers I've met in the past couple years are older people enjoying their retirement years from the seats of their Harleys, Hondas, Yamahas, Indians, etc. They are grandparents who take as much pride in talking about their grandkids as they do in showing off their bikes to other enthusiasts.
Most of us wear black leather vests, boots, chaps, jackets and gloves, and our bikes are loud, so when people see us coming in groups, we can look pretty intimidating. Approach us and have a conversation, though, and you'll see that we are just nice people out for a ride.
Don't let what happened in Waco stain your opinion of bikers in general. I'm not one of those people. I don't know anyone like them, and I know a lot of bikers.
I believe that I represent today's biker pretty well: I'm middle-aged, I'm female, I ride for myself and for a cause bigger than myself, and I look upon other bikers like me with pride.
Don't fear me or others like me. We are the majority in the biker world, and we are law-abiding, flag-respecting, military-supporting people.
Thanks for riding along!
