To be quite honest, I didn't know what to expect at the 2002 Charlotte Easyriders Show. After 9/11 and the new recession, would folks be going out and spending their very hard earned money? Would Billy Lane show up with his new hubless scoot? That aside, I had my own problems. Would the knucklehead chopper I'd been working on be completed in time for the show? Was I insane to drag half my art studio into the Charlotte convention center and set it up as a bike display? Would anyone eat the turkey club sandwiches I had made?

If to be patriotic was to go out and stimulate the economy by spending money at local m/c events, then a lot of proud Americans drove or rode into Charlotte, Jan 26. The sun was shining, the weather was unseasonably warm, and a record 15,000 folks jammed into the convention center, to view a record 260 bikes, making it literally feel like Main St in Daytona during Bike Week.

You couldn't move. It was that packed. The vender's booths did a brisk business. I even bought 2 pairs of earrings. Ya want some food? Forget about it, lines up the wazzoo. Every beer concession had a line. But no one seemed to mind. It was party time. You couldn't be in that room without feeling the adrenalin. Happy faces kicked back and took it easy.

But at the beginning of the day, something happened that should make most red-blooded males ashamed. I was walking up to the front doors of the bike show hall, and noticed 5 incredibly beautiful women trying to get in. They were dressed in skimpy bikinis, cowboy hats and boots. They pounded on the glass doors for 5 minutes trying to get someone to come over and let them in. A few feet away, many guys busily polished their bikes. They'd look up at the girls, then go right back to work. Finally, one brave dude put down his rag and let them and me, in. They turned out to be the Angels. They have a killer calendar and a few lucky guys got to pose with them for pictures. I got them to autograph a calendar for my painter, knowing he would be my slave after that gift. They did the fashion shows, sang, and danced for the cheering audience.