Psychiatrist Union Lake

Americade revving up

LAKE GEORGE -- They roared into town on their chrome-plated choppers.

Draped in leather vests cut off at the sleeves and faded jeans, their women holding them tightly from the backseat, these bikers will reign over the streets of this village and roads around it for the next five days.

But first, they must register at the Holiday Inn . Fitted with light-blue Americade wristbands, the rugged road warriors are then free to cruise the town's main drag and stop at any of the week-long rally's festivities: the motorcycle demo rides, the comedy club, the scavenger hunts, the light shows, the boat cruises, miniature golf and guided tours of Warren County and Vermont backroads.

"This isn't a place that attracts that rough-and-tumble crowd," said Ed Liniville , an Americade public relations volunteer.

The 29th Americade rally kicked off Tuesday on the banks of Lake George. When it closes Saturday, it's back to work for the 50,000 who are anticipated to attend -- or back to life after retirement.

"Every year I take this week off for vacation," said Deb Wilson , a Rochester nurse who made the trip east on Interstate 90 in her 1984 Yamaha Venture with a half-dozen friends. "Even if I thought for some reason I wouldn't be able to go, I'd still request this week off, hoping I could find a way to make it out here." Wilson, 59, has attended 28 of 29 Americade rallies. The only one she missed was the first in 1983, when she was pregnant with her first child. Tuesday afternoon, she sat on the back patio of the Fort William Henry Resort Hotel , overlooking Lake George with two of the friends she is sharing a house just down the road with for a week.

"I tell my co-workers I'm going to a motorcycle rally, they ask me if I have any tattoos," Wilson said. "The answer is no."

Karen Fisher, making only her third Americade appearance, rode in Wilson's sidecar for the trip.

"I finally got my first (tattoo) at 66," said Fisher, a 68-year-old retired home health care worker. "And it will be my last."

She then pulled back her wristband, revealing a blue-and-yellow butterfly the size of an olive.

Fisher has yet to venture beyond motorcycle passenger. Wilson took her first spin behind the handlebars in 1974.

"A friend took me out for a ride in the country. After five minutes, he stopped and asked me if I wanted to try," she said. "I got home that night and told my husband we had to buy one."

When Wilson first made her way to Lake George in June 1984, the rally was dubbed "Aspencade," named after a New Mexico rally of then same name.

Homeless Veteran Of Microsoft: John D. Long Lake 25 October 1994

Andy: Okay. Okay. We're out there playing Hollywood Squares, right? There's all these dead fucks down there that totally look like famous people. You know, Jay Leno, George Clooney, Rosemary Clooney. Oh, Burt Reynolds. I had to waste Burt Reynolds. There was one guy, totally looked like Mr. Tomasini, my tenth grade gym teacher. I must of shot him, like, fifty times. There ain't nothing left of him except for his head stickout out of a puddle of red Jell-O. I mean, is this totally fucked up or what? But, you know, it's kind of cool. Because I get to smoke all these dead people but they're already dead. So, I'm not really killing anyone. I mean, is that totally fucked up or what? God, I wish Susan was out there. No, no, no. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to go there. But you know what, you bitch, you did? You took everything. You got the house. You got the cash. You left me with nothing. No. Not nothing. I got her. Got my baby girl. She would've dropped her at her grandparents. I mean, she had to. Please. She never wanted her anyway. First sign of any shit, she'd drop her at the grandparents, right? Oh, God. First thing when I'm done with this I'm going up to the cabin. Going up, getting on that lake. I'm not going to forget you though, baby girl, My baby girl. You're my baby girl. I'd never forget you. I'd never leave you behind me. You're coming with me, okay? God. Oh, God, she's got to be all right. Please. You don't need to hear this. Andy: Hey. So where the fuck are they? Where the fuck are they? You know, they started all this shit. Their fucking secret government labs. The fucking government. Fucking politicians and eggheads. Fucking liars. They're all fucking liars. They're fucking liars, these shitbag, motherfucking, cocksucking liars. Yeah, well, you know. Just means no more car payments, no more taxes. No more. I'm going to shoot some more fucking dead people, okay? Will you excuse me? Andy: Would you just tell me what you want, goddamn it! Okay. I'm sorry. No cussing. No cussing. I won't cuss. I won't drink. No more hashish, whatever. You just tell me what you want. God. I know. I know, you're trying to test me, aren't you? Well, I'll pass. Yeah, I'll pass. You trying to tell me something? You want another soul? You want some company up there with you? I mean, she'd be safe with you, right? So, is it okay? It'd be good for me. It'd be good - It's the right thing, right? It's the right thing.

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