The weather, the gambling action, the leather and the chrome all attracted higher attendance for Street Vibration 2009. Maybe the lack of hype or the “sky is falling” press about impending club-on-club violence helped? There was a positive “vibe” in the city which I’ve not observed in a couple years. I ask and didn’t hear much from street vendors about the current recession is the new normal… yada, yada.
As I roared out of Reno yesterday on my way home I thought about this video — “Rockin’ The Beer Gut” — a bit of truth wrapped up in a humorous ditty that tells us even though we have dangerous unemployment and we may not be perfect, don’t work on Wall Street making millions, it doesn’t mean we can’t have fun! And fun at Street Vibrations we had! The 546 mile ride back gave me plenty of time to try and recall what stood out from years past — there was that monster jump at the Grand Sierra Resort by Ryan Capes who broke the standing 254 foot (ramp-to-ramp) record and then turned around and broke his own new record by clearing 316 feet on a motorcycle, then there were the Motorcycle “Clubs,” more than a dozen all getting along, but mostly it was about the scenic journey on two-lane tarmac with green mountains to sage brush desert which was fantastic. The weather (mid-90’s) didn’t hurt and put the FUN back into the experience. As well as tens of millions to the local economy. I certainly left my small share!
The event didn’t pass without incidents, however. More riders often means more accidents. First, there were several motorcycle accidents on US 395 related to the set up for the monster jump. Then there was a lady who was on the Harley-Davidson demo bike ride and wrecked. A couple on U.S. 50 who crashed just east of Spooner Summit which sadly resulted in the only fatality at the event. Then on our ride back from Virginia City we came upon a motorcyclist who struck a wall on Griner’s Bend, a sharp curve at the south side of Virginia City on State Route 342. It turned out that 6 people were injured Friday afternoon, two of them seriously, in four separate accidents all involving loss of control. The Nevada Highway Patrol (NHP) reported there had been 18 motorcycle accidents over the course of the rally weekend.
The final attendance tally and the economic $$ impact will be out in a few days, but from my perspective it seemed like more people and the street crowds were bigger. Not as record breaking as a few years ago, but none the less significant. I plan to provide an trip chronology and will post it up over the next few days.
UPDATE: September 29, 2009 — AP is reporting that there were 72 arrest made at Street Vibrations even though LEO consider the event largely peaceful. Most of the arrests were alcohol related, including 23 for public intoxication. The police issued 77 traffic citations and responded to six reports of stolen motorcycles.
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