the angels weren't angels after all

Okay, so maybe spoke too soon. It turns out that during the Hell's Angels visit to our town last week, a group of four "Banditos" ended up in the hospital after an armed altercation with the angels.

What remains to be seen is why a group of Banditos would want to visit the town during the Hells Angels rally, or if they even knew of it when they came through town. Were they here to simply start trouble with the HA? It's hard to say, but from eyewitnesses who saw the event, it leads me to believe that both sides were acting out in typical gang rivalry. Granted, it is a free country and these groups can go anywhere they want whenever they want, but visiting when their arch enemies are going to be somewhere sounds like pure antagonism to me. Perhaps it was just coincidence. After all, it doesn't sound like much of a smart move to bring a handful of your gang buddies to fight a group of 400 Hell's Angels, now does it?

Bye bye Angels, hello Christian devils?

Well, our visit from the Hell's Angels came and went without a hitch. Aside from all of the complaints lodged against the Arkansas State patrol for their incessant helicopter passes over the town (at all hours of day and night), I didn't hear about any trouble.

Next weekend is diversity weekend,along with an antagonistic visit from the "Jericho Riders", a Christian motorcycle gang intent on starting up trouble. How ironic would it be if we get a visit from the "Hell's Angels" that leads to no problems at all, and then have a visit from self-righteous Christian riders that ends up in violence and/or arrests? It will be interesting for sure.

For the record, I have nothing against Christians and in fact grew up in the church, but I do have a problem with people shoving their religious beliefs down anyone's throats and intentionally planning a confrontational visit to antagonize those who are different.

make way for the angels

Speaking of the fuzz, the local police force is gearing up for a visit by the Hell's Angels, and they're calling for backup from nearby cities and county officers. I'm not quite sure how I feel about this visit. On one hand, the web is full of nasty stories about Hell's Angels raising Hell wherever they go, while on the other hand there are many sites that make them out to be misunderstood bikers who are just looking to live their lives in a certain way.

I've known bikers before that were okay guys. in fact, my best friend hung out with a biker gang for a while - the "667" gang. Most of the ones we get around here are posers, though...weekend warriors with their shiny new leather jackets and reeboks. In fact, the posers act worse than the hardcore-looking bikers in my experience. There's nothing worse than some rich jerk on his loud straight pipes revving up his engine over and over again while going five miles per hour through downtown.

It will be interesting to see if the town has any trouble with the Angels when they come to stay here. I must admit that I am planning on keeping my wife and kids in the house most of the time just in case. Even if the Hell's Angels don't cause any trouble here in town, they're likely to attract the attention of several of their lesser known rival biker gangs - other "one percenters".