Bikers Make --and Show--Their Marks

Displaying their devotion to chrome, leather and tattoo ink, thousands of bikers made a pilgrimage to San Buenaventura State Beach on Sunday for the 10th annual Beach Ride.

A sea of gleaming motorcycles, many festooned with pricey leather side bags and other accessories, glittered side by side outside the entrance to the all-day festival as the owners partied inside.

Since it started, the Beach Ride has raised more than $1 million for the Exceptional Children’s Foundation, which aids adults and children living with mental disabilities, organizer Scott D. Bowling said. The Los Angeles-based foundation expected to raise more than $100,000 from Sunday’s festival, said Bowling, who is the group’s president and chief executive.

As Bowling and others chatted with people buying tickets to get in, a biker’s paradise awaited them beyond the event’s chain-link entrance.

Bands belted out songs by the Allman Brothers and other classic rock groups, while on a smaller stage, men and women competed for best tattoo or gyrated in the “Mr. and Ms. Beach Ride” contest.

In the afternoon, a classic rock group featuring members of the Eagles, Steppenwolf and Journey took the stage.

Grand marshal Larry Hagman made the rounds of the nine-acre park, shaking hands, wishing people well and handing out condoms.

Booths sold every biker accessory imaginable, as well as candles, incense, wallets, cigars and several types of motorcycle wax and dirt remover.

“This is great for business,” said J.A. Ramos of Lil’ Zeke’s Bail Bonds as he sat at a large table covered with lollipops and his company’s business cards. “Maybe people will get a DUI by the cops coming out of here. They got our card. We can go right over and bail them out of Ventura County Jail.”

The beer flowed freely, but security personnel--who put attendance at nearly 10,000--said there were few problems. The mostly middle-aged men and women were happy to dance, try on the countless leather items for sale or chow down. A Summerland hamburger and hot dog vendor was nearly out of food three hours after the gates opened.

Sporting tattoos from his shoulders down, Bobby Fratto, 46, took the stage during one contest and raised his arms and a pant leg to reveal the results of 32 years of body art. On his chest was what looked like an orange sun in flames. On his leg, near his Marine Corps insignia, was a semiautomatic handgun.

Fratto, a Florida resident who is in Southern California on a construction job, said his tattoos are an expression of freedom.

“The government can take your car and your house, but they can’t take your tattoos,” he said. “They live forever.”