Axemen hit Woodstock |
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Gus Philpott
Woodstock Advocate
May 2, 2010
This afternoon the Axemen Motorcycle Club of Wisconsin (don't know which of the two chapters) hit Woodstock. After a meal at Tommy's they all decided to hell with traffic laws and roared out of Tommy's with no regard for either southbound or northbound traffic on Route 47.
They totally disregarded the traffic after the first few cut into the highway and caused traffic to stop. One biker stopped across the northbound lane, blocking it completely while the last 10-15 riders exited Tommy's and headed north on Route 47.
I guess those guys are one good reason I don't ride with a group and don't go on charity rides. The first rider might stop, for example, at a red light and then make a right turn, and then all the rest follow him, even forcing cross-traffic to stop, which is what happened at the red light on Route 47 at McHenry Avenue (Route 120). There they turned east and headed out of Woodstock.
Riders were proudly wearing their leather jackets and patches clearly showing Axemen and Wisconsin. Kinda reminded me of Hunter S. Thompson's book about the Hell's Angels in California. These guys, at least some of them, were complete bullies about interfering with traffic and impeding traffic.
I would have been willing to sign complaints on a couple of them; for example, the guy on the bike with license plate 8795B who sat right in front of me, stopping traffic and blocking the northbound lane, so that the last 10-15 riders could leave Tommy's without even slowing at the curbline.
I ride a motorcycle, and I generally like other bikers - the ones who obey the laws. I lost sight of them on Route 120 at Raffel Road. There wasn't any point in driving farther east, because I didn't have any reason to believe that even the slowest would be observing the speed limit. Hopefully, either Wonder Lake P.D. or McHenry P.D. was able to observe violations in their own towns and take action.
If they come back through Woodstock or McHenry County, I surely hope that Woodstock P.D. or the sheriff's department will stop them. Sure, greet them politely and tell them that there won't be any problem, so long as they obey all the traffic laws.