In the United States, the last weekend in May – Memorial Day Weekend – marks the ‘official’ beginning of Summer. During that holiday weekend, some 400,000 bikers descend on Washington DC for Rolling Thunder, an annual ride that begins at the Pentagon, continues along Constitution Avenue, and loops back to end at the Lincoln Memorial.
According to its website, Rolling Thunder’s mission is to raise awareness of critical issues facing veterans and to demand action for the more than 82,000 service members missing in action, primarily in the Vietnam War, and for the 22 veterans who die by suicide every day. There is hardly a more worthy cause.
On Memorial Day Weekend 2018 I went to the Pentagon parking lot where the bikers were staging to begin their ride. I saw a sea of bikes, each positioned in neat, tight rows oriented towards the direction of the ride route. The camaraderie was palpable, as was the heat that day; in the 90s if I recall correctly. I snapped lots of photos of bikers, their families, their bikes and trucks wrapped to honor our nation’s vets.
Rather than say a lot about the photos, I’ll let them speak for themselves. They are divided into sections: Portraits, Wrapped Trucks, Bike Chrome, Human Interest and Videos.
These photos and videos were taken with the Leica SL2 and the Leica Vario-Elmarit-SL 24-90 F/2.8-4 ASPH lens.
Portraits
This section has photos showing the good will and family-orientation of the event. There were families with young children, partners, as well as single people.
If you click on one of the gallery photos, it will expand to fit your screen and you can view each one by click on the arrows to the right and/or left.
Wrapped Trucks
To my surprise there were large trucks ‘wrapped’ with patriotic images. For example, one depicted the Tuskegee Airmen – the renowned corps of Black pilots and airmen who flew in WWII; and another of the Navaho Code Talkers whose coded language was never deciphered by the Japanese during WWII.
Bike Chrome
The array of beautiful motorcycles with their gleaming chrome was a sight to behold. I include a few photos of these beauties.
Human Interest
Here I include a few whimsical photos that show the bikers at rest in the heat of the noon-day sun; the temperature was at least 90 degrees.
Videos
In order to really experience the sounds of these bikes, I have included several videos. One is of Superman on his Ducati, another shows the sea of bikes waiting to join the ride, and the last one shows the bikers peeling off their columns to join the ride.
Note: Please be patient while the videos load.
Conclusions
I have been to several Rolling Thunders over the years, and the sound of these bikes rolling down Constitution Avenue in front of the White House can be deafening. People along the route reach out to touch hands with the riders.
On this day I wanted to see the preparations for the ride, to see all the bikes lined up, to experience the camaraderie among the bikers, and to enjoy the welcoming smiles as I asked to take their photos. No one refused and they were eager to get their message out: Never forget the Missing in Action (MIAs) and to bring them home to rest.