Dear Editor,
Myself and every fellow biker I have talked with will not be attending the “official” Hollister rally on the ridiculous new dates of a week after the Fourth of July weekend. Many of us will be there as usual for the July 4 weekend, though. The stated reasoning for having the date a week later is “problems with recruiting adequate law enforcement.” This is not a justification which will sit well with the bikers. Duh!
You had such an overwhelming and unnecessary law enforcement presence in 2007 that the rally was squelched anyway. Having the T-shirt vendors and not the bikes on the main street was wrong and shows the level of disconnect between what the rally-goers wants and what the promoter delivered.
Know This: The bikers are not coming for the vendors. We are also not attracted to being hassled by legions of bored cops. So long as the bars are open, and other bikers are there, we will come instead during our usual Fourth of July long weekend. Not having the main street taken over by T-shirt vendors and possibly having fewer bored cops around makes the regular July 4 weekend even more of the time to be there.
That’s the way it is, and to heck with the rationales of your organizer.
Ken Doyle, Mojave
