Applegater
Winter 2012 15
OPINION
High mountain country Vagos motorcycle Club
BY GAGE JOHNSON
This is my story of my first off-road
motorcycle race in the pro class at a
National Hare Scramble in Montana.
Besides going to school and working
at a motorcycle shop, I am a racer. Racing
anything from off-road desert races to
motocross, dirt bikes are my greatest
passion. I was born into the sport, and take
advantage of every opportunity to race at
new venues and ride different areas. This
last summer an opportunity of a lifetime
came up: a bucket list race at a ski resort
in Big Sky Montana. It would have been
senseless if I had not gone.
From Medford, Oregon, to Big Sky,
Montana, is one big, long haul. Estimating
a 1,700-mile round-trip, two of my friends
and I took to the pavement Friday around
six in the evening. Four dirt bikes in the
back of an F-150 Ford truck was definitely
one tight squeeze; the weight of the four
bikes compressed the suspension of the
truck so much that we looked more like
a moving truck from Mexico than three
friends heading to the races. The drive
through eastern Oregon and southern
Idaho is bland: bland like oatmeal without
brown sugar and raisins. At one point in
the drive I didn’t see one tree or a different
shade of brown for at least one hundred
miles. We drove all night, and even late
into the morning. Exhausted was an
understatement about what I felt like when
we finally reached Big Sky, but that was
just the beginning of our exuberant trip.
Picture tall green trees, blue skies,
and a 25-million-dollar beach resort at the
Bahamas at the base of a colossal mountain;
that is what Big Sky Ski Resort looked
like. My exhaustion was lifted from me at
the moment the doors of the F-150 were
flung open and I took a gasp of the cool
high mountain air. Exploring the resort was
first on my to-do list, and the first stop was
the bathroom. The bathroom was a little
too extravagant for a motorcycle racer like
me. It had at least eight dispensers for soap,
different scents of soap, lotions, and even
a mouthwash dispenser with disposable
cups. I knew I was in a “rolling-in-green”
environment.
After venturing around the resort a
while, I decided to call it a day and get
ready for the race. The event would take
place Sunday at noon. For a three-hour
race of the most grueling, high-elevation
terrain, preparing the motorcycle was very
necessary and so was preparing your own
mind. Race conditions were not the most
favorable: Big Sky had not gotten any rain
for a few days, leaving the soil dry and
dusty. I was a little nervous on the day of
the event: the race would be my first at a
national caliber in the pro class. It seemed
like a pretty big deal to me at the time,
which caused more anxiety than it should
have.
The start of the race was a long, rocky
ski run up the mountain. It would be a
dead-engine start, which is probably one
of the most common starts in off-road
competition, and also the most nerve-
wracking. There were 30 or so pros on
my start line, so the first turn would be a
little crowded, similar to the stores on the
morning of the Black Friday sale. Ready to
rumble, I practiced starting my bike and
pictured myself getting a good start. The
starting official finally raised the flag and
we were off and racing. Well, all the racers
except me.
A 2012 KTM 350 SX-F was the
motorcycle I raced that weekend. The
bike was new and fuel-injected, but the
bike was not alive and running when the
flag rose at the start. I ran my battery dead
while practicing starting my bike before the
race. Panicking, I pushed my bike through
the race classes behind me and finally got
it started by bump-starting it. I raced
through the crowd of spectators and was
off to catch up to the racers in my class.
The rest of the race was nothing
very interesting. Thick dust and a feeling
of disappointment was all I experienced.
The scenery was excellent, the atmosphere
fantastic, but my result in the end was
14th place. A finish in my mind that is
mediocre compared to what I know I can
accomplish. A bucket-list event is definitely
what this race was to me: A race that I
can’t check off my bucket list until I finish
promisingly.
Gage Johnson
541-890-4219
AUTHOR’S NOTE: I was raised in
the Applegate Valley for 15 of my 19 years,
and have been racing and riding for all those
15 years. It all started for me out here in
the Applegate, and 1 know that the valley
is better known for its beautiful scenery and
vineyards, but it also has some great riding
areas. The fight for the riding areas has been
going on for some time now and both sides
are working very hard to come up with
an agreement. My story about the race in
Montana is like a thank-you letter and proof
that the riding areas help fulfill dreams for
young adventure-seekers like me, and I know
that without all the hard-working people
behind the scenes keeping the riding areas
open, I would not be where I am today.
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Email: gater@applegater.org
outraged at court decisions
BY mARK “BADGER” SCHILLER
Recently my friend was on trial for
an alleged assault. It ended up he was
prosecuted for being a motorcycle club
member instead of what he was formally
charged with. They criticized him for
the color of the walls of his house, his
green shoelaces and slandered his friends,
his family and anyone connected to the
club he belongs to. This was done with
a malicious intent and open hatred of the
Vagos Motorcycle Club, green being the
main color of the club.
I’m a member of the same motorcycle
club. Law enforcement doesn’t have to take
photos from our Facebook pages, drag our
patch (vest) into court, or take pictures of
us when we’re not looking, just ask us!
Being a member of a motorcycle club
is not illegal! We teach our kids that law
enforcement is there to help all people in
trouble. We come from broken families
and good families so we understand the
hardships and struggles of parenting, and
what it’s like not to have parents ourselves.
We’re doctors, carpenters, lawyers, teachers,
and blue-collar workers, and our kids
all go to the same schools. We have the
same rights as every American in this great
country of ours. The right to associate with
people we want to, to wear the color of our
choice, freedom of religion and to speak
about how we feel and what we believe
in. The rule we all are taught is “innocent
until proven guilty,” which isn’t being
applied in these circumstances. “Guilty by
association” isn’t supposed to be the rule.
Grants Pass, Oregon, is more
interested in prosecuting a man for being
in a motorcycle club than the crime
he’s actually accused of. Their actions
are a form of discrimination known as
xenophobia. Now to have a court system
that’s allowing prejudice and hatred
to be the mainstay of a prosecution is
a miscarriage of justice and abuse of
police powers of the state. This is wrong.
Motorcycle clubs are not gangs or criminal
organizations and we’re not signing any
paper saying we are a gang in order to get
out of trouble. That would be a boldface
lie! We support several fundraisers, we help
when we can. Whether it be money, toys,
or just time and fellowship. We pay taxes
and vote, we have families, and we struggle
with all the things in day-to-day living just
like everyone else. As a club we have zero
tolerance for substance abuse, criminal
activity and anything else that affects this
club in a negative way. We constantly
defend ourselves in court for the civil rights
that our children are taught to appreciate.
This court allowed the media to be
present in the courtroom and to make
reports on court activities while telling
everyone else not to talk about the case!
This tainted this jury and any future
jurors. When the jury was polled, it was
eight “not guilty” and four “guilty.” The
district attorney’s office is allowing the open
prejudice of the assistant district attorney
(ADA) to rule the court’s time, money
and efforts. Whether it’s the ADA or false
information she’s receiving, it shouldn’t
be fast-tracked or thrown at anyone for
publicity/propaganda to sway a jury’s
opinion. To date my friend has not been
recharged nor has the case been dropped.
Not long ago discrimination and
segregation were ruled unjust and wrong!
Today these prejudices and hatred are being
redirected to different types of people. The
biker community is taking the brunt of
these actions.
We are not sure of the cost for SWAT
raiding a home. However, it would be less
expensive to pull an individual over for a
search warrant on their way to work. Then
they could take a couple squad cars back to
the residence to search instead of the high
cost of a tactical raid in the early morning
that affects the children in the households.
Had my friend not been a member of the
Vagos Motorcycle Club, this case would
have never gone this far and cost him and
the taxpayers so much in wasted money
and time; actions like this have not been
tolerated since segregation. Motorcycle
clubs are the least of their problems! It’s
been a long time since I was a Boy Scout,
but last time I checked, there’s no merit
badge for taking parents from kids or kids
from parents for a career advance.
Thank you.
Mark “Badger” Schiller
Vagos Motorcycle Club
badger609@msn.com
NOTE: For more information, see http://
salem-news.com/articles/december162011/
vagos-release.php.