Poker Run 2015
Hogging the Limelight
at the Island Fish Co.
BY TERRY SCHMIDA
“. . . With the throttle screwed on there is only the barest margin, and no room at all for mistakes. It has to be done right . . . and that’s when the strange music starts, when you stretch your luck so far that fear becomes exhilaration and vibrates along your arms. You can barely see at a hundred; the tears blow back so fast that they vaporize before they get to your ears. The only sounds are wind and a dull roar floating back from the mufflers.”
  • Hunter S. Thompson
The dull roar began to dissipate as denim-and-leather-clad riders lumbered their hogs up to Stop Number Three on Phil Peterson’s 43rd Annual Poker Run: the Island Fish Co., at Mile Marker 54, gulfside, in Marathon.
A herd of iron horses, adorned with skulls and playing card designs, spilled out from the parking lot and onto a jetty prodding the sun-smooched waters of the middle Keys, polished chrome and mirrors glinting in the mid-afternoon rays.
Voices and brightly painted engines buzzed contentedly, like a swarm of honey bees in a cloud of smoke; the former calmed perhaps by the anticipation of fresh seafood and cold beer; the latter, as if energized by the prospect of an oil change.
Inside the famed tiki bar, pretty waitresses in shorts and T-shirts darted about the cool, open-air eatery, carrying platters of shrimp, clams, and crab claws to tables of grateful bikers. A scattering of bemused locals admired the well cared-for machines and bikini-topped girls.
Rollicking roadhouse music filled the air.
“I’ll tell ya, I bought this bike for me, and brought it home, and now she wants it,” veteran Poker Run participant Jody Sullivan joked, with a nod in his wife’s direction. “I never should have left it in the driveway, where she could see it!”
Ivy shrugged her shoulders and smiled.
“Now, now,” she admonished her hubby. “I don’t mind sharing it with you.”
The Sullivans cheerfully gave their home port as Boca Raton, but most riders kept their cards close to their chest when asked their particulars.
“Dean,” one said cautiously. Parts unknown.
A few rides down, retired firefighter “Mike” from “South Florida” dismounted from his ’03 Kawasaki Nomad. He was more forthcoming when asked for his Poker Run motivation.
“I like the camaraderie,” he said brightly. “And the fact that it’s for charity. It’s just a really good time.”
Holding down the shoe at the card table were two friendly local faces who didn’t hesitate to reveal their identities: Acting Marathon City Manager Mike Puto, and Monroe County School Board Chairman John Dick. Like the bikers they were sweating it out for the Diabetes Research Institute, and the Sunrise Rotary of Key West.
“Both worthy causes,” Dick said. “Hey, hey.”
Island Fish Co. Manager Ryan Hafley concurred.
“Absolutely it’s a good cause,” he said. “We always enjoy hosting it. It’s really busy, with lots of bikes every where. Good food. Good times.”
As the sky prepared to rain, Individual riders exercised their freedom to roll out, like the mysterious rhythms of the tide, towards Key West, and adventures as yet unknown.
The roar began anew . . .

 

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