Sacramento

My first trip to the California State Legislature was time well spent. Got far more accomplished than I would have expected, and this ain't the first time I've been to a state capitol. Pretty amazing.

When first riding in, it was impressive to see about a thousand bikes parked out in front of the Capitol building ... even though I ended up having to park several blocks away. All those bikes in one spot was a sight to see, in case anyone missed it. I didn't even get a chance to take a picture. By the time I rushed all the way back up to the Capitol building, the rally was just getting underway.

Unfortunately I was running about 5 minutes late for my first appointment, so I went straight inside to meet the freshmen legislators that I'd worked for last year. We usually ended up talking waaaaay longer than we had originally scheduled, so I spent several hours talking to one legislator after another, back to back. Even dropped by to see a couple of them who I didn't even have prior appointments with (but did work for last year).

Every Assembly Member, Senator, and their staffers were generous in giving us so much of their time and attention. They treated us like royalty. I know this was due to the hard work that all the campaign volunteers did for them last year (They said to say "Thank you!"). Also heard a really funny story from two staffers about Denise Ducheney, Abel Maldonado, and the Governator, but I just can't repeat it here. Let's just say there was one cigar, one horse shoe, and a whole lot of "F" words. (See you at the next Local 6 or 11 meeting for the "rest of the story")

Weird thing is, I saw hardly any bikers inside the building as we made the rounds. Of course I saw Sporty wearing off his shoe leather. He's got to be the hardest working and most determined activist in the world, so I didn't want to slow him down (not that I could, even if I tried). During one break in the appointments, I got to sip coffee and have a good chat with Deacon (what a great guy) as well as Ron and Dan, of course. There were about three other MC bikers (who's names and patches I can't remember) that I also saw inside the Capitol during the day, plus our lovely and talented ABATE staff from the state office.

Maybe I just spent so much time with the legislators, I simply missed seeing more bikers in the hallways. But by the time we finished all our meetings, and I went back outside at after 3pm, there was only one single bike left out in front. Everyone had already ridden back home, so I totally missed it! A couple of legislators didn't even know there was a rally outside, and two other people asked us what all the motorcycles were about. But I heard it was a great event, even though I didn't actually get to share in the experience ... this time around, anyway. I'm sure there are stories to tell for years to come.

But all in all, it was really good to see so many new biker-friendly legislators in Sacramento, fighting the good fight. And after the 2012 elections, no doubt there will be even more. I think next year, I'll schedule meetings with legislators on a different day than the rally, so I can get the best of both worlds.

-Ride2Repeal@gmail.com

PS: Be sure to send "thank you" notes to the legislators you met with.