Frank “Long Rider” Calabro had 468,000 miles on his 1993 Harley-Davidson as he slouched back on the motorcycle shortly before this year’s Bike Blessing on Palm Sunday.
Calabro, a 75-year-old from Aromas, attended the Top Hatters Motorcycle Club’s annual event held outside Sacred Heart Church. The gathering involves hundreds of bikers lined behind people tossing holy water on their motorcycles as they ride off.
Calabro reflected on his many experiences while riding the past 45 years, the last 21 on his occasionally rebuilt Harley. Being at an event intended to underscore bike safety, Calabro said he has stayed “reasonably safe,” though he has been down a few times.
Most other bikers generally are impressed when they see the 75-year-old continuing to ride so much – he said the vast majority of his miles have been in the region, as opposed to occasional trips to places like Sturgis or Daytona – but Calabro has kept busy with other pursuits as well.
Calabro retired at age 53 from a 35-year career with the U.S. Postal Service, where he spent 34 years on the same delivery route in Los Altos.
“When I retired from the post office, they gave me a six-month bonus to retire early, so my license plate says, ‘Thank PO’,” he said.
Calabro also spent 17 years as a part-time guide at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. He got into it because he had worked security there for five years and taught scuba diving at the time, something he did for a decade.
“I didn’t now as much about the ocean,” he said. “It made it more interesting to know what I was looking at.”
Calabro continues to stay active. He is a member of the Santa Cruz chapter of Bikers Against Child Abuse – he was inspired to join after reading a magazine article – and the American Legion riders.
The veteran got out of the military, where he served as a medic, in 1965 and missed any Vietnam duty.
“They sent me somewhere worse,” he said. “They sent me to the Watts riots in Los Angeles.”
