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The Slimey Crud Experience
by Gary Charpentier |
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The
rider sat tall and straight in the saddle. Burbling along at
a reasonable pace, he was oblivious to the five rip-snorting
Ducatis chomping at the bit behind him. His mount was a
mid-sixties Triumph 500 Daytona, and he rode it with a style
that bespoke many years experience and an intimate
familiarity with his machine. At one point, noticing the
eager Italian entourage behind him, he attempted to wave
them on, but the leader of those Dukes declined the offer
and remained a respectful distance behind thinking, "We're
riding with The Man, Peter Egan. We shall not
pass." For those of you
who read Cycle World or even Road & Track, Mr. Egan
needs no introduction. This is the guy Road & Track sent
to Italy to test drive the new Ferraris! His columns are a
window on a world most of us can only dream of, yet meeting
him impresses upon me the fact that he is really just a
gentleman gearhead like the rest of us. He's also a great
writer, of course, and some of the obscure references one
finds in his columns and articles reflect an education rich
in variety and depth. But deep down is a fascination with
fine machinery with which his readers can readily identify,
which makes him a really cool guy to talk to. I left him
with a copy of this magazine (with my first column in it)
and a very fine cigar, both of which he promised to enjoy
that evening while sitting in his latest acquisition: an
early Jaguar E-type roadster. I met Mr. Egan at
the Slimey Crud Motorcycle Gang autumn cafe racer ride. It
was a perfect setting with perfect weather and a perfect
bunch of people to share it with. That about sums it up. The
roads around Madison, Wisconsin are a fascinating blend of
curves and elevation changes all set in a bucolic
agricultural scene made all the more dramatic by the season
in which we experienced them. Autumn is a time of brilliant
color, nature showing us its best just before bedding down
for another long, cold winter. It is also the time of the
harvest, which means that farm machinery can lurk around any
given curve or over the top of the next hill, and large
clumps of dirt and other organic matter dropped from tractor
tires lie right in the middle of your apex-strafing line.
Gotta be careful out there! Several hundred
bikes were on display in the parking lots of the two meeting
places: Jakes bar in Leland and Sprechers bar in Pine Bluff,
Wisconsin. Every genre and era was represented, with the
emphasis on sporting motorbikes from Europe and Japan. There
were a few Harleys, as always, and some of the "other"
cruisers, but anyone with an appetite for the obscure or
exotic was not disappointed at this gathering. There was no
organized time or route for the run, simply a map with the
two "marshaling areas" and a maze of tasty routes in
between&emdash;all the better for variety's sake as well as
for keeping the local constabulary guessing. As things began to
wind down for the day, I adjourned with Gene Rankin (who was
riding his gorgeous DB-2) back to Jakes Bar to get
acquainted with the members of SCMG and learn a bit of the
history of this august group of motorcyclists. It seems that
the Slimey Crud Motorcycle Gang was hatched by a group of
graduate students at UW Madison as a way to share their
favorite pastime with like-minded individuals. The name
itself was selected rather tongue-in-cheek, making fun of
the biker-mania which was prevalent in the popular media of
the time. These gentlemen are neither mother stabbers nor
father rapers, however their idea of a good time doesn't
always agree with the strict definition of law and order.
Membership is a hazy affair, as there are no "colors" to
speak of, and my host Gene was even uncertain of his status,
though he had been "hanging around" since the second meeting
way back in, well, a long time ago, anyway. Everyone I met
who was associated with this group would be a fascinating
interview in his own right, but they all had places to go
and... you know. I have promised myself I will visit them
again. I believe they have another ride planned for the
first Sunday in May. Anyone care to join me?
GaryC-racer@email.msn.com
M.M.M.
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