22nd Annual A.B.A.T.E. of Iowa Freedom Rally

Traffic inside the perimeter of Freedom Park is restricted to motorcycles, trikes, and service vehicles. R.V.’s and autos are parked in designated nearby areas, and shuttle service from parking to campsites is provided by A.B.A.T.E. This definitely enhances safety, and I find it really nice not to be kept awake at night by someone’s generator. Those who attend must be 18 or over. Admission is $60 for a singles and $95 for couples, discounted to $40 and $60, respectively, for A.B.A.T.E. members. A Freedom Rally newspaper can be picked up at registration. It’s thirty plus pages of everything you need to know about the rally. This year, more camping area had been opened. An old wooden bridge had been replaced by a new one wide enough for two-way traffic. Another new addition this year was a large outdoor screen on which music videos were shown. Live bands included Full Blown Woodies, Cross Mojo, Magnificent Board of Directors, Pat Travers, Roze, Forgiving August, Loose Neutral, Diego Garcia, Mark Farner (formerly of Grand Funk Railroad), Blackfoot, Curtis Moore Band, Madder Daddy, Borther Turcker, Ski Band, Axis, and Ernie Peniston. Over thirty vendors were set up on the grounds and lots more could be found at Ernie’s Harley-Davidson and other places in Algona.

On Friday morning, Algona weather was fine, but thunderstorms raged to the south delaying the arrival of many bikers including my friends from St. Joseph. After my morning shower, I wandered over to an area called the Buffalo Camp that is inhabited by a number of friends I met at past rallies. While there, I met Janet Forsythite who was A.B.A.T.E.’s media contact for this rally and Wayne Wierson, Coordinator of A.B.A.T.E.’s Share the Road Program. Janet provided lots of useful information, and Wayne took time from his busy schedule for an interview about the tremendous success of Share the Road in Iowa.

If you attended last year’s Freedom Rally you no doubt heard about a V-Rod rider who lost control on a slippery slope and famously submerged his motorcycle in the stream that runs through the campground. This year, someone had commemorated that happening by placing a “V-Rod Parking” sign above the “No Dumping” sign in the stream along with a set of handlebars in the water. You would think that a rider who had achieved that kind of fame would try to maintain a low profile. Not so! Jon S. showed up at the scene wearing a T-Shirt proclaiming, “I’M THAT GUY. I SURVIVED ALGONA 05, BARELY.” The shirt featured a photo of Jon in the water. He talked about what happened and posed for photographs next to the stream. You have to admire a guy like that!

On Friday afternoon, the annual “unofficial” rally opening took place on the main stage. For years, Moody has served as master of ceremonies for the Cool Down, a wet T-shirt contest during which the contestants are divided into “Sportster” and “Big Twin” Classes and their T-shirts don’t stay on long. Moody’s son has teamed with him on stage for the last several years. This year, both were stunned when Moody’s future daughter-in-law decided to enter the contest and ended up winning a share of the prize money. History was made when Moody was rendered speechless. Understandably, he elected to turn the microphone over to his understudy and turn his back to the contest stating that, “there are some things a man just shouldn’t see.”

Saturday at the Freedom Rally is always an event-filled day. Wayne Wierson and Richard Archer put on a Share the Road presentation in the beer barn in the morning. Jess Tepner and other volunteers officiated bike games starting at 12:30. Lots of bikers entered, making for an entertaining rodeo that included slow ride, keg roll, ball snatch, plank ride, wienie bite, and a hilarious game called “Honey, I’m home.” That last one requires a bit of explanation. It starts with a biker and a young lady lying on an air mattress. When the announcer calls out, “Honey, I’m home” the biker jumps up, pulls on a pair of oversized pants, crawls through a window frame, jumps on his bike and heads for the finish line. One rider got a bit out of control during the “escape” and fell, but fortunately the ground was soft, no one was hurt. The afternoon was hot, and the volunteers deserve a pat on the back for being constantly on their feet, carrying beer kegs and window frames, and generally working their asses off so everyone could have a good time.

The bike rodeo was followed by the official opening ceremony during which Iowa A.B.A.T.E. State Coordinator Styeve Rector and several local dignitaries gave short speeches welcoming the audience to Algona nd the rally. Janet Berte sang the National Anthem beautifully, and one of the A.B.A.T.E. members sang a song honoring those who serve in our military. There was prayer, a blessing of the bikes, and a reading of the names of Iowa A.B.A.T.E. members who had passed from this life since last year’s rally. The Rally Committee gathered on stage for a well-deserved round of applause.

Immediately after the opening ceremony, as if on cue, an afternoon thunderstorm rolled through causing bikers to hastily head for the shelter of the beer barn. As soon as the shower ended, they all returned in eager anticipation of Saturday’s Cool Down featuring even more lovely and uninhibited ladies than the Friday version. The top three finishers in each class are rewarded with cash prizes with the amounts depending on the generosity of audience members who drop their donations into beer boxes circulated through the crowd. Sisters Lexie and Tristen represented the Missouri delegation well, collecting two of the top three awards in a very competitive 'Sportster' Class. Before and after the show, I had the rare pleasure of visiting with Biker Magazine Editor “Clean” Dean Shawler, an Iowa native, and with biker photographers Nate “Natanic” Ullrich and Terry Orr. For the rest of the day and night, entertainment included great music, mechanical bull riding, ladies on motorcycles flashing for beads, and the consumption of adult beverages in large quantities.

On Sunday, I was pleased to join my St. Joe friends for the ride home. Fred, the leader of the pack, preferred back roads to interstate, so the route home was a bit more scenic than my trip north had been, and we still managed to make pretty good time. It was another great weekend in Iowa. If anyone ever needs to find me during Independence Day weekend, there is only one place they will need to look.

Story and photos by Stripe