More Photos Below!Gallery
…At least that’s what I think we saw.
Henry and his pal and I were out driving up near Flint, an hour away from home where we usually don’t drive.
We tried visiting one certain destination after our errand was done — Guns Galore in Fenton — and it closed a minute before we got there. Drat.
Then we checked out a cool local bike shop. I got to show the boys a 29er and a one-legged-fork bike and ask them what was different about those bikes. That was fun. (Big wheel! …One side of the fork!) They liked fooling around with the newstyle chopper bikes, too.
(Ya know, a 29er looks reel good to me. I’ve ridden a couple lately, too, and they’re SMOOVE. …Someday!)
So we were wondering what to do next, given our semi-thwarted mission so far from home, at the end of the day, when a camo “wrapped” Jeep with winch pulled into the parking lot. It was pretty cool. The guy said he was headed to the big hot rod cruise just down the way. Hey! There’s something to do!
So we went that way, too.
Man, what an eyeful!
But I left my cam in the car! These pics I just found online…
Near the intersection of I-475 and Bristol you’ll find Rocky’s Great Outdoors — a big sporting goods store with everything AND motorcycle paraphernalia! Dang! “Motorcycles, Camping, Archery!” says its big sign. I love diversity. Inside, there are dozens of vintage collector motos of all kinds on display on top of the merch racks throughout the store. It was great! (Penton, Bultaco, flat-track, 70’s 125’s…)
But the really big deal was that there were hundreds of people lining the street in lawnchairs hootin and hollerin at the hot rods cruisin’ on by. It was basically like a Woodward Cruise, I spose. Only this was Thursday. They said it goes from 5-10pm. Is it every Thursday? I have no idea.
But it sure was fun!
There were ALL kinds of cars and motorcycles in this parade. Different hot cop cars, too, every 50th vehicle. Everyone was there!
I loved seeing all the exotic junkers and crazy, finned 50’s rustbuckets. And the period military stuff. And the 70’s Chevy Vegas. And the drivers and passengers in monster masks. …Plus all the glitzy metal, too. Michiganders are good everything people.
We saw a lot of a particular kind of people, too. I’m not sure I should call them “Americans.” I think “mass consumers” is a better term. Pro sports apparel, tattoos, missing teeth, hee-hawin’, hats on sideways, shoes unlaced. …I’m just not sure about that whole scene. I’m thinking these kinds of folks are global at this point. I can’t quite see the upside of the demographic. All I can think of is the movie “Idiocracy.” I spose one might say these are the folks who “get things done”–in between car wrecks and hospital stays and jail terms. I’m not sure how much “getting done” actually happens. Maybe this is what the turnkey, button-pushing stay-up-late 24-7 Mart reality results in.
But the cars were cool!
One end of the Flint Car Cruise (courtesy of the Detroit News).
Rocky’s! …Without the classic cars and junkers and partiers in its parking lots.
