Roots

It all started on our way back from the 1991 Joust. The Joust is a California thing. ....OK, I'll explain more. It's Pasker's fault. Really. Bob Pasker wanted to have a ride for folks to visit from the far corners of the world, in this case Los Angeles and San Francisco. The thought was they'd meet someplace in the middle. Get it, a Joust. Vic Swan and I heard about it on rec.moto and decided to go. We were both new to riding and thought it'd be fun to attach a few faces to all the rec.moto names we knew.

We got to the Joust, learned the secret DoD butt-shake from Jay Cena, and had a great time. The only problem was that it was too short. Far too short. Everyone rode in on a Satyrday evening, scarfed down a meal and then left for home on Sunday. On the way home, we decided to do it right. We do have some of the most spectacular scenery in the US, possibly North America right here in Washington. We'd have a Gather that would allow folks the delights of cooking their own food, socializing as much as they wished and riding in God's Country. A full weekend gig. We decided to call it the Great Pacific Northwest Dryside Gather (GPNDG). I found a campsite, reserved it in the name of the DoD, which for local Forest Service folks stood for "Darlings of Democracy" and invited a few friends. About 30 showed up.

We've been doing it ever since. We still have the greatest roads around. Folks got tired of doing there own cooking, so the latest BOSS, Terry Powell and his lovely wife Laurel did the food prep last time and did it so well (grilled salmon, roast turkey, all the trimmings, kegs and kegs of home brew, the whole nine yards) that we gave him the honor of feeding us all again. A great excuse to party, as if the WetLeather folks ever needed an excuse.

Funny thing is, Vic never got to one. Just before our GPNDG I, he had a get-off and broke an ankle. Been coming up with lame excuses ever since. One of these days, I'm gonna just drag him to one. [Vic did finally make it to a GPNDG, although it wasn't until the 5th one in Republic, WA — Ed]

There it is, the true unvarnished history of the GPNDG. At least my version.

Ride Free,
Bill Johns
rider@wetleather.com