Bikers Roar 2-Wheeled ‘Hogs’ Into Reborn Hog Ranch, Pig Out on Ribs

True to his word, Joe Teresi was back in business Saturday, mixing pork with black leather at his newly reopened Malibu Mountains Hog Ranch in Latigo Canyon.

A former tennis ranch temporarily closed by neighbors’ complaints this spring, the hog ranch was host to a crowd of about 300 Harley-Davidson devotees who celebrated the Fourth of July listening to country music and devouring barbecued chicken and ribs at the aptly named Le Cafe Bubba.

Others took in the ranch’s newest attraction--livestock.

Bikers browsed through a tennis court turned bird coop, where they could purchase what had been advertised in brochures as “The New Edible Pet,” live turkeys for $12 or chickens for $6. But the main attraction was two tamed boars, billed as “attack pigs,” held in nearby pens. They cost $500 each.

Teresi, who plans to sell the pregnant sow’s piglets for $250 apiece, said raising the hogs is a business venture he’ll pursue if county officials choose not to renew his permit to operate the ranch as a private club.

Teresi lost his operating permit in April after neighbors complained that the former tennis ranch had degenerated into a rowdy motorcycle hangout. But Teresi, a publisher of hot-rod and motorcycle magazines, has appealed that decision and can continue to operate the ranch until the appeal is heard.

“If they won’t let me use this property for a private club, then I’m going to have a hog ranch,” Teresi said. “I’m not going to fight the county or my neighbors anymore.”

After Teresi announced that he was supplementing motorized hogs, as Harleys are affectionately called, with real ones, representatives from a variety of regulatory agencies met last week to brace themselves for the three-day celebration that started Friday.

Authorities said they feared that as many as 5,000 motorcycle riders would clog mountain roads. But the giant crowds did not materialize Saturday, and the event was boisterous but orderly. Teresi said he was expecting larger crowds today, because Sunday is typically a big day for Harley riders.

Teresi said he still wants to operate the ranch as a recreational haven for hog riders.

If he wins a new permit, Teresi said, there’s a good chance he’ll leave the ranching business behind. If not, he also intends to raise rabbits and beefalo--half-buffalo, half-cattle--at the ranch.

Few bikers seemed to worry about the controversy Saturday. Although not referring to food, Bob Hart of Malibu seemed to sum up the crowd’s enthusiasm for their bikes and their party. “It’s a really pigging-out time,” he said.

A biker “rodeo” was the day’s main event, held in an open field where a gazebo was set up for shoppers to purchase ranch T-shirts for $15 and rubber hog snouts for $5.

Among the games was the “Slow Rider” contest, in which bikers tried to see who could creep over the finish line last without their feet touching the ground.

And then there was the “Weeny Bite” competition, where Harley passengers tried to bite a mustard-drenched hot dog dangling from a piece of string as they passed underneath.

Those who missed their target got a face full of mustard. But others, such as Jenene Vigar, 22, of Thousand Oaks got a bite and a two-month club membership.

“It was slimy and kind of gross,” said Vigar. “So you’ve got to like mustard if you’re going to bite it.”