Biker-World Initiation

Peeking through the plexi-glass face shield of my helmet I see bikers littered throughout the parking lot. Bodies covered from head to toe in leather and tattoos, one hand busy smoking a cigarette while the other hand holds a cold cup of brew. Laughter, loud pipes and rock music fill the background.

Sheldon and I ride up on our hog, ok, well it's a Honda, but I think it's pretty cool. Eyes follow us until we park our bike. "Who are these new people," they wonder. I imagine myself hopping off the back of the bike with quick and precise movements, like a cat, and when I take off my helmet my blonde locks flow out of my helmet bouncing off the back of my jacket.

Reality check - I got off the bike early, before Sheldon parked it, and I hopped on one leg to avoid getting the other leg stuck on the back rest. Sheldon took off to park on the other side of the parking lot, so I'm chasing after him with my big helmet wobbling around on my head. When I catch up to him, we take off our helmets and our hair is matted to our heads. No flowing locks dancing in the wind, just sweaty bangs stuck to my forehead. This is why people where doo-rags, I think to myself.

We uncomfortably walk through the crowd of bikers and scantily-clad women through the front parking lot of the famed restaurant, Hooters. I never thought I'd set foot in a Hooters restaurant in my life, but Biker's Night was too tempting. We had to see what it was about.

Sheldon and I peruse the parking lot and check out all the bikes. There's everything from custom choppers to stock sport bikes (metric bikes is the term to use in BikerWorld). Tricked out bikes had "ghost" paintings of skulls within the flame paint job of the bike, various colored lights to bring out the paint job of the bike in the dark, and custom pipes that would rattle a house's foundation.

After browsing the bike lot, we stepped through the front door. We were in. A girl in daisy-duke spandex and a tight tank top took us to our table, where another girl in short shorts and a revealing tank top waited on us. After the initial shock of the employee uniforms I enjoyed the surroundings.

Everything was really laid back, the waitstaff was actually really attentive to all of our dining needs, and the manager asked us twice if we enjoyed the food and if everything was OK. I'll have to admit, the wings were actually pretty good. And so were the curly fries. And so was the hamburger. Sheldon and I split everything we ordered, so we didn't bottom out the bike on the way out. :)

All and all, the experience was a fun one. I would definitely go again, but probably just during bike night. Maybe next time I'll be donning more leather and I'll work on perfecting the back bike seat exit.