Friday, Jul. 18, 2008
Weekend motorcycle rally attracts smaller crowd
Event's organizer says recent violence and competing event hurt attendance
By Victor A. Patton / And Kim Yancey
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ReprintA weekend motorcycle event that put law enforcement on high alert ended without any major incidents, Merced County sheriff's officials said Sunday.
More than 100 officers from several agencies were on hand this weekend to monitor the Central Valley Motorcycle Rally--a three-day event at the Los Baños Fairgrounds that ran from Friday through Sunday.
Sheriff Mark Pazin and other law enforcement officials stepped up their presence at the event following a June 28 melée between two rival biker gangs in Los Baños. During that incident, one man was stabbed and gunshots were fired.
Sgt. Scott Dover of the Merced County Sheriff's Department said this weekend's rally was relatively quiet, with a much lower turnout than expected. Although officials were anticipating up to 3,000 people, Dover said turnout rarely exceeded 200 at any given time.
Steven Lopez, the event's promoter, said some people may have been apprehensive to attend because of the recent biker gang violence between the Mongols and the Hells Angels, but he couldn't pinpoint a single factor as the reason for the low turnout. "There were probably a lot of reasons why," Lopez said. "I'm just glad that everything was safe."
Dover said the sheriff's department had learned that rival biker gangs were planning to attend the event. Although some members of biker gangs did show up, investigators said they kept a low profile. "Fortunately for us and everyone, (the rival bikers) didn't cross paths," Dover said.
The sheriff's department, Los Baños police and California Highway Patrol provided enforcement at the event, along with officers from the Merced County Multi-Agency Gang Task Force, Merced County Multi-Agency Narcotics Task Force, Livingston Police Department, Merced Police Department and Atwater Police Department.
Officers also kept an eye on some of the hotels in the Santa Nella area, where some of the motorcycle riders were staying, Dover said.
Some motorcycle riders said the low turnout in Los Baños may have been because of a similar annual motorcycle event this weekend in Hollister. And according to people who had been to Hollister before coming to the motorcycle rally in Los Baños, there were thousands more bikers at that event than at the local fairgrounds.
King City resident Bob Garcia said he was staying the weekend at Balado Park in Hollister but rode his 2005 Softail Deluxe to Los Baños just to visit the town where he used to live.
"It's a nice day to take a ride over the pass," he said. "I come to these rallies to get ideas about how to fix up my bike by looking at other bikes."
Sal DiMaggio, owner of S&M Motorcycles in Monterey and one of the sponsors of the Los Baños rally, said he wasn't bothered with the beefed up security. "I thank them for making people feel more comfortable," DiMaggio said. "We don't want people to feel distressed in their own hometown."
DiMaggio brought some of his bikes to the event, including one customized to look exactly like the Harley ridden by Peter Fonda in the 1969 film "Easy Rider."
"The fairgrounds here is a lot nicer than the one in Monterey; it's a lot cleaner," he said. "I think this event has a real potential to grow."
Motorcycles customized by his company have placed twice in the prestigious Arlen Ness Bike Show in the Bay Area, he said.
Monterey resident John Greco brought his Harley, one formerly owned by the Sturgis, S.D., police department, to the local rally. The annual motorcycle rally in Sturgis is the largest such event in the country. "I still come back to visit my friends and family here," said Greco, a 1981 graduate of Los Baños High School. "My parents still live here."
Lopez said he's not sure whether he will have another motorcycle event in Los Baños next year.
Merced Sun-Star reporter Victor A. Patton can be reached at (209) 385-2431 or vpatton@mercedsun-star.com. Managing editor Kim Yancey can be reached at (209) 826-3831 or kyancey@losbanosenterprise.com.