Thunder in the Redwoods
The Redwood Run rolls on
(June 24, 2010) Kelly Patrick has lived in Redcrest his whole life — he calls it “Home Flat” — and he’s just the type of person you want to run into at a small-town diner. The gravel-voiced 57-year-old is part of the fabric here, the sort who’ll grab the coffee pot for tourists when the tables get backed up at the Eternal Tree House Café.
Lately, Patrick’s been worrying about the fate of another fixture around here: Redwood Run, the massive biker rally held each June at the Riverview Ranch, in Piercy, just over the Humboldt/Mendocino border. The Run’s organizers, Sciandra and Doug McCauley, are calling it quits. They say this is the last year the Run will be at Riverview Ranch — and that it might be the last Run, ever.
“The thing I’ll miss is the thunder,” Patrick said, inside the Eternal Tree a couple of weekends ago as the 2010 Redwood Run was underway. He recalled one of the first runs, whichhe’d taken his dad’s truck to. “It was at the old French’s Campground. Of course, we proceeded to have a cocktail for hours and hours. That’s what it was — a gathering. Now all these years later, it’s folding up? That’s terrible. It’s going to be missed. The noise, a lot of people like the noise. A lot of people don’t. The people are beautiful. The bikes are beautiful.”
The Run’s demise would mean more than just the end of an era of big noisy bikes and beautiful people. Dotting the Avenue of Giants are small towns, once the pit stops of U.S. Highway 101, with roadside businesses still clinging to summer traffic. Miranda, Phillipsville, Myers Flat — they all rely on the annual influx of visitors, especially the surges during festivals like Redwood Run.
In the weeks leading up to June 11, the first day of the biker festival, and throughout the festival weekend, things were not exactly reminiscent of the good old days. Pre-order ticket sales were way off. Numerous complications had created internal strife. In backroom scenes reminiscent of the other big SoHum/Northern Mendo events — Reggae on the River and Reggae Rising — ancient histories and bad feelings led to rifts, petty and big. Through the course of the Run’s 33 years, the players and organizers have come to know each other real well. In many cases, way too well.
And then there’s the fatigue factor. “We’re tired,” said Sciandra McCauley. She and Doug have been running the Run for the past 18 years from their McKinleyville-based Riverview Productions. Dealing with health issues, malaise and the loss of the event’s site at Piercy’s Riverview Ranch, the couple responded like most would who’ve been shouldering an event that requires year-round attention. They started spreading the word in the days leading up to the party that the Redwood Run was having its last stand. “This is the last chance to make the run,” they announced on their website, redwoodrun.net.
Riding down through the Avenue of the Giants — the traditional poker-run route of the Redwood Run rally — the typical Humboldt County biker-to-biker two-finger waves began to drop away. There were simply too many motorcycles to acknowledge, and attempting to resulted in a sort of spastic jerk that made handlebar operation perilous.
Dropping through the 32-mile redwood-lined State Route 254, the temperatures fluctuated through sun and shade. Small elevation dips found microclimate pockets that go unnoticed inside a four-wheel vehicle. Along turnouts, their bikes parked, leather-clad men took photos of one another in front of the Immortal Tree and Founder’s Grove. Big men dwarfed by bigger trees, smiling.
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on the cover
Railroad!
Proposed lines ‘set rich blood a-tingling’ in early 1900s
Some Other Proposed North Coast Railroads
Choo-choo Fantasies
Exposing this east-west rail nonsense
seven-o-heaven
Undeterred Will
Will chides Andrew for lack of attention to detail and makes plans for his inevitable victory.
Recent on the cover
May 17
Ring of Fire
Sun and moon will perform a rare pas de deux in Humboldt skies on Sunday
May 10
District Soup
Racing for the top county seat in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd districts
May 3
A Place in the Woods
As park closure deadline nears, a scramble to save what we can
Today
44th Annual Kinetic Grand Championship Race
STAFF PICK / events, art, outdoors, sports, for kids, free / 9 a.m.-6 p.m. A 3-day, 42-mile kinetic sculpture race over land, sand, mud and water! LeMans start at the Noon Whistle on the Arcata Plaza. Follow the race through Manila, Eureka and into Ferndale on Memorial Day for the Glorious Finish. kineticgrandchampionship.com. 889-3024.
Flow 2012 Fashion Show
STAFF PICK / events / 8 p.m. Arcata Theatre Lounge, 1036 G St. Student designed and produced clothing. Fundraiser for Arcata Arts Institute. $35/$25 students. artsinstitute.net. 822-1220.
Woodside Preschool's Rummage/Bake Sale
events / 8 a.m.-noon. Woodside Preschool, 900 Hodgson St, Eureka. www.woodsidepreschool.com. 445-9132.
Lanphere Dunes Restoration
STAFF PICK / outdoors / 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Meet at Pacific Union School. Help remove non-native invasives at the Lanphere Dunes Unit of the Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Tools and gloves provided, wear work clothes and bring water. Carpool to the protected site. 444-1397.
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13 Comments
Comment / By IN THE KNOW / June 24, 2:15 p.m.
Just an FYI about some of the info presented in this story—particularly the WET T SHIRT CONTEST The woman who won the event was NOT a ringer and had not even SEEN a wet tshirt contest prior to the event, let alone participate in one. She DID NOT walk away with the $300 from the man who won the “auction” for the privilege of pouring water on the contestants. THAT $300 went to a charity (in this case, I believe it was for Horse rescue, but I am not entirely sure) and the woman (Leslie) won $150 that was put up by RiverView Productions The Redwood Run is an amazing event that encompasses a logistical nightmare behind the scenes. The shuttles, the hot showers, the entertainments, the recycling, the crowd control…….it takes a huge amount of effort and time. Thanks Doug and Sciandra for all the hard work throughout the years!
Comment / By Terrence McNally / June 24, 3:44 p.m.
OK, ITK. Leslie won $150. Thanks for the clarification.
T
Comment / By jmacs / June 25, 9 a.m.
Hey Terence, do your boss know you are working for the competition? Or is there an Eye/Jounral merger happening behind the sceenes? We wanna know or at least have an explanatsion. The Reporter would have fire someone for working for the Sub and vice versa. WTF dudes?
Comment / By Terrence McNally / June 25, 10:15 a.m.
The Eye doesn’t cover Piercy, anon poster, so this story doesn’t compete with the Arcata Eye’s coverage… it being Arcata. What other “explanatsion” do you desire? In the meantime, it’s good to learn about the defunct Eureka Reporter’s management policies. Didja work there, anon poster?
Comment / By Hank Sims / June 25, 10:25 a.m.
On the plus side, Terrence was not allowed to have any food or drink at his desk while composing this article, and we insisted that he wear a tie and suit jacket at all times.
Comment / By Terrence McNally / June 25, 10:48 a.m.
Yeah, well… I am filing a claim on all those coffee mugs you threw out, Hank. I really miss my “I’d Rather Be Blogging” mug.
Comment / By Jennifer Savage / June 25, 9:29 p.m.
“we insisted that he wear a tie and suit jacket at all times”
Right. But then what happens is, he leaves off the pants. It’s quite disconcerting.
Comment / By Emily / June 28, 7:17 p.m.
I was under the impression weeks ago that the ‘event’ described in the article was for charity and therefore did not think badly of it, that is until I saw this obscene article. Besides the very obvious fact that it is sexist, foul, and offensive I had to come to another more important conclusion. Now, I’m actually surprised that it’s not illegal to have such an article that violates basic decency and shows the images where woman are being treated like pieces of meat. In this day and age, that is in more civilized areas, indeed it would not be allowed. But I had another revelation. That is that the sleazy, degenerate, drug paraphernalia culture that has unfortunately held this county hostage for the last couple of decades has now been allowed to work in journalism too.
Comment / By Ted / June 28, 11:24 p.m.
Emily, you dont understand runs so just step aside and shut your pie hole. Its a great event that raises alot of money. Good job of the Kiwanis to say they are going to keep it going! You guys rock. Next year why dont you guys just roll it back to have an old school run . I am sure we will all be back and we can work on a good run. Emily, one more thing.. Why dont you stop on by next year and enter the contest? I am sure we would accept you. Its ok. Like I always say, “Once you have ever seen one pair, you want to see them all.” There is no reason to hide them. Set them free!
Comment / By Buzz / June 29, 8:26 a.m.
It could have been worse. I could have shown my tits.
Comment / By Jessie O / June 29, 2:40 p.m.
I had a blast!!! It’s been awhile since I got a shirt painted on! Even better, the whoooollle weekend was completly free! And everyone there was totally AWESOME! Can’t wait for next year! Yayyyy Cheetah print!!! haha:)
Comment / By Terrence McNally / June 29, 3:35 p.m.
I hardly do any drugs when I’m writing about degeneracy.
Comment / By Kiwanis / July 23, 7 a.m.
For the latest information on the Kiwanis of the Redwoods new/original RUN, please send your name and email address to kiwanisoftheredwoods@yahoo.com