RECREATIONS : Taking the High Road : A river of 15,000 motorcycles will flow north to Lake Piru in Sunday’s Love Ride benefit for Muscular Dystrophy Assn.
Psycho Ward, a laundry warehouse manager for Los Angeles County, will mount his Harley on Sunday and zoom up the Golden State Freeway to Lake Piru. He will be accompanied on the trip by 15,000 bikers, including comedian Jay Leno, actor James Caan, “Entertainment Tonight” host Mary Hart, KLOS disc jockeys Mark and Brian and cast members from “Married with Children” and “Northern Exposure.”
They are all riding for love and money.
Ward, 50, a member of the Tribes motorcycle club, is a participant in Love Ride, a fund-raising event for the Muscular Dystrophy Assn. Sponsored by Harley-Davidson of Glendale, the ride, held the second Sunday in November, has been an annual event since 1984. Ward, who raises more than $1,000 in pledges each year for the cause, never misses it.
“You never know who you are going to see out there,” he says. “One year I rode side-by-side with Motley Crue. Another year, I pulled into a gas station, and the guy who handed me the gas line was Billy Idol.”
Oliver Shokouh, owner of Harley-Davidson of Glendale and the creator and chairman of Love Ride, is surprised at the success of the event. “It just clicked,” he says from his office crowded with family photos, Harley regalia, motorcycle posters and a shiny black helmet and leather jacket dangling from a coat rack.
“I was amazed when we raised $42,000 the first year. I thought someone put an extra zero in somewhere. Then the second year we raised $91,000. And it just kept doubling every year. Last year we raised $850,000. I never realized it would become such a tradition.”
Love Ride participants must raise at least $40 in donations or per-mile pledges. Shokouh expects the event will raise $1 million this year.
The riders comprise an interesting cross-section of people, including many non-Harley motorcyclists, according to Shokouh. “Doctors, lawyers, college presidents, executives and blue-collar old loyalists come out,” he says. “Last year, one woman dressed like a Chiquita banana. And rock ‘n’ roll stars come out because if you are a rock ‘n’ roller and don’t have a Harley in your garage, you haven’t made it.”
Bruce Springsteen, Malcolm Forbes, Kirstie Alley, Peter Fonda, David Crosby, Eric Burden, Hulk Hogan, Barry Diller and Jackson Browne are a few of the big-name riders from previous years.
And who could forget Buffalo Biker? This modern cowboy straddles a fur-and-hide covered motorcycle, complete with buffalo head and horns. “It’s scary,” Shokouh says. “People were saying, ‘What the hell? Was that a buffalo going 60 miles an hour?’ ”
The riders gather at 8 a.m. at Harley-Davidson of Glendale, 3717 San Fernando Road. At 10 a.m., the procession begins. The thunder of 15,000 motorcycles “sounds like the beginning of the end,” says Tom Thate, a Glendale police sergeant in charge of traffic control at the start of the event.
By the time the last biker roars away from the starting point, the first biker will have arrived at Lake Piru, making a continuous 50-mile line of motorcycles, according to Thate.
A barbecue, concerts, motorcycle stunt teams and prizes ranging from bandannas and T-shirts to a 1993 custom Harley-Davidson await the riders at Lake Piru.
“It’s ‘Easy Rider’ and the Rose Parade all in one,” says comedian Rick Overton. “It’s Woodstock on wheels.”
Shokouh says the event helps combat the “bad boy” stereotype of motorcyclists. “In the nine years of Love Ride, we have never had any kind of incident,” he says, knocking on his wood desk. “Everybody is perfectly orderly and civil and united together for a common cause. Every year everyone goes away feeling great. We have 15,000 bikers out here doing a good deed--not raising hell.”
Where and When Event: The Love Ride, fund-raiser for the Muscular Dystrophy Assn. Location: By motorcycle, from Glendale to Lake Piru on the Golden State Freeway. When: Bikers gather at 8 a.m. Sunday at Harley-Davidson of Glendale, 3717 San Fernando Road; the procession begins at 10 a.m. Registration Sites: Harley-Davidson and other motorcycle dealers throughout California, or call the Muscular Dystrophy Assn. Call: Muscular Dystrophy Assn., (818) 986-1793, or Harley-Davidson of Glendale, (818) 246-5618.
