Some weekends you just find yourself with a embarrassment of riches, as Seattle scooterists found out, when confronted with a weekend so chock-full of scootering events that would test the endurance of event the most redoubtable among us!
Last weekend gave local scooterists not one, but two major events to choose from: Mods & Rockers 6, and All City Scooter Day 2!
Mods and Rockers was hosted by the Cretins Motorcycle Club, as well as two prominent Seattle scooter clubs, Los Gatos Gordos and the Emerald City Flying Monkeys. Various clubs around the country host their own version of 'Mods & Rockers', which was inspired by the clashes between groups of scooter riding hipsters ('mods') and leather-clad toughs ('rockers') at several English seaside resort towns in 1964. These legendary brawls have been immortalized in song (example: "Rumble in Brighton" by Brian Setzer) and film (the seminal example being Franc Roddam's "Quadrophenia"
The weekend began with a Mods and Rockers prefunction at the Tiger Lounge in Georgetown. Many Westenders were in attendance enjoying the music and libations as Mods & Rockers mixed and mingled and got in the spirit of things for the weekend!
Saturday couldn't have been a better day for both events, as Seattle's streak of astonishingly good weather (for June) continued! Under sunny skies and the promise of temps in the pleasant mid-70s, a large group of volunteers from VCOS, SQREAM, The Capitol Hill Scooter Society, Northwest Ruckus Alliance, and the Westenders set up the venue for All City Scooter Day 2. All City Scooter Day is a event that promotes scooters and scootering as a fun source of alternative transportation and recreation. The event featured a large number of displays by local vendors and the aforementioned clubs. Seattle culinary phenom Skillet was on hand to whip up gourmet delights for the crowd, and representatives from the Seattle Department of Transportation were on hand to share information on two-wheel parking around the City and to listen to scooterists concerns. The event was MC'd by none other than KOMO 4 newscaster Elisa Jaffe, who is herself an avid scooterist!
The sponsors and supporters of ACSD2 donated a veritable Aladdin's treasure trove of merchandise and gift certificates, and it seemed like the event would have to run overtime just to give away all the goodies! The crown jewel of this collection was without a doubt the brand new Genuine Scooter Company Buddy 50, generously donated by Tour di Mari sponsor Valley Scooters and Ducati Seattle. The lucky winner turned out to be none other than Westender Safety Ed, proving that every now and again, nice guys do finish first!
After all the prizes had been given away, the 5 scooter clubs each led group rides around the City for interested attendees. Westender prime minister RogerTango led a large group of 30+ scooters on a tour of West Seattle and Alki, winding up at favorite hangout Cafe Revo for drinks and nibbles.
Meanwhile over at Mods & Rockers the scooters and motorcycles met and enjoyed a great ride followed by a fun gymkhana featuring a slow race, obstacle course, and even a hoop of fire for the more daring to ride through! We don't know yet who won the 'Best Mod' and 'Best Rocker' awards, but we're pulling for Jett or Pipes as rockers, and GrumpyGus for the mod award (his new Lambretta is really sweet!).
With all the weekend fun, it wasn't a surprise that only GrumpyGus and RogerTango could muster up the energy to head over to the Mix in Georgetown to check out a favorite Westender band, Laguna. As always, they gave the faithful an awesome set! Lead vocalist Lydia Nor has been described as 'Astrud Gilberto meets Swing Out Sister'; even when she sings Laguna's more uptempo songs, she still exudes cool!
The real surprise of the evening was local Seattle band MiniRex! This energetic quintet of charming young ladies put out a tight set of no-nonsense powerpop, and got the audience dancing in no time! Check them out at one of their next gigs; you won't be disappointed!
All in all, it was a great weekend! Looks like the riding season is shaping up quite nicely!
