Mountain Rendezvous: Bikers Rouse the Town!

Juke Daddys rockin' the Shame.

Out of Caldwell they ride, looking forward to good times in this mountain town. Lonnie Willis sits with friends in the Dirty Shame Cafe, an arm around a pretty lady and a smile on his be-whiskered face. The Juke Daddys, out of Idaho City, are hitting the room hard with their rockabilly blues and guys are clearing a space for the motorcycle ride-through.

L-R: Glen Rockwell and Lonnie Willis enjoying the festivities they
 helped organize. Debbie works for the Press Tribune, in Nampa.

 Willis hollers over the din, “We have a team of people to help to organize the Mountain Rendezvous—we’re an association for hot rods and motorcycles. We like to put together cool events. This is our Third Annual Rendezvous, where we get people into Garden Valley, have a lot of fun and the locals make some money.”

Fellow organizer, Glen Rockwell, shouts from the other side of the table, “We might be dirty bikers but we clean up after ourselves.” Willis agrees, “We’re your guests, we take care to do it right. We also get people here from Idaho City, Lowman and Northern Idaho. Our rides started in 1994. A lot of us are day riders. Basically, we’re a bunch of guys that get together and have a lot of fun. We’ve made some friends here, without making a bunch of enemies! The biker community needs to have good relations with other communities.”


Shame manager, Dana Hinson, never slows down.

  Willis says they encourage people in the town to help them: “I really enjoy the music and we try to get the bands to have some exposure. Some of the guys playing here this time are Last Man Standing, Steve Wall Band, and Desert Moon. The Dirty Shame is our major sponsor—the manager, Dana Hinson, really helps us.”



Marcie is always fun to party with.

The boyz line up to Roll the Keg.

Over at the Starlight Mountain Theatre campground, the Bike Rodeo is getting ready to start. Glen Rockwell says that typically, they plan a lot of silly games—a poker run or a tricycle drag race, where guys cut up the bikes and “do crazy things” to them.



Nikki probably doesn't need this bullhorn.

Today, the men are “Riding the Plank”. Not too many are brave enough to get out there. A few more attempt to “Push the Barrel”. This consists of nosing the darned aluminum beer keg along the grass and over the finish line. Nikki grabs the bullhorn, which she doesn’t seem to need, and hollers, “Ya mean there’s no one else? Ya friggin’ #*!X#*s, get on the bikes and get out here!”

  “Honey, I’m Home!” brings out the philanderer in the tough guys, so we see a lot of variety in how to jump out of a bedroom window. Nikki explains that they are being timed to get out, don an obnoxiously oversized, bright red robe, and cycle to the cone.



He raises the most dust in his peel out.

 

 

Catch the Hot Dog will be awhile coming, and it’s too hot to stick around but this is the one where the motorcyclist rides by and catches the dog in his mouth.

 

"This may not be the first time I've jumped out
of a woman's window!"

 Lonnie Willis loves this event and says, “The Mountain Rendezvous takes on a life of its own—I hope that between the different bands and people from out of town and out of state, they keep coming. We work hard to make it successful, so we have a good time.”  






The ladies have arrived!