Bikers’ Critter Run Aids Agoura Shelter

Like most of the approximately 200 bikers who came out for the 10th Annual Critter Run on Sunday, Moose didn’t need much of an incentive to get on his Harley-Davidson.

“Just for the freedom, for the peace of mind,” said Moose, also known as Martin Teran, of Hollywood, as he readied to leave from the Cycle Rider motorcycle shop in Chatsworth for a 110-mile trek to the Agoura Animal Shelter.

“There’s no radio. No distractions. I talk to myself, thinking about the next paycheck, the next girlfriend.”

But Sunday’s excursion was also a fund-raiser for the animal shelter, yet more proof that bikers are interested in more than leather and chrome, organizers said.

“We’re very community minded,” said Steve Garcia, coordinator for the Critter Run, sponsored by American Brotherhood Aimed Toward Education, a lobbying group of motorcycle enthusiasts.

But the bikers--who included business professionals, laborers and “unemployed scooter tramps,” as Garcia called them--still had fun with their image.

For example, the directions on the flier that described the route into and out of Ventura County includes the disclaimer that the event was planned by “two guys with very bad hangovers, very dark sunglasses, a busted compass, no sense of direction and a very suspect map . . . their mother said the directions were accurate . . . but then she was behind two feet of bullet-proof glass with a sawed-off shotgun in one hand and her other hand poised over a 911 button.”

Organizers said they have raised about $15,000 for the shelter during the past 10 years. The money has been used for improvements such as fencing and a small amphitheater for animal care classes. Garcia said at the end of the event Sunday that they had raised $1,000 on this year’s ride.

Peter Daniels, owner of an art supply company and a biker since 1987, said that sometimes colleagues are surprised by his hobby.

“I don’t have long hair,” he said, pointing to Garcia’s ponytail and then to another biker’s beard. “I don’t have facial hair.”

But that does not keep him from identifying with the group that shares his love of motorcycles.

“These are all friends that I wouldn’t have without it,” he said.