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though George would
be there with the Batmobile ( at least from what I gathered in one
ad). This presented a different
dynamic for Vickie. I would probably have to stick around the
vehicle and she would not seem to fit in with the theme as well.
So, we gave our buddy, Wally, a call to see if we could borrow the
Batgirl suit for this appearance. We were already in the process of
getting a Batgirl suit of our own made, but it was far from being
complete for this show. Wally was infinitely cool about it and let
us borrow it.
Just before leaving to drive out there and crossing my fingers
about the weather, I checked my e-mail one more time. Bad news, it
seemed that the Batmobile was NOT going to be there, but we decided
to have Batgirl there anyways since she may go over big with the
motorcycle crowd. Wonder Woman didn’t have her own motorcycle like
Batgirl did.
On the way there Vickie looked at my photo album of Batgirl
pictures to study the poses and expressions. The poor girl had only
a few hours to prep for this thing while I had been walking and
talking like Batman for quite a bit by this time. Once again, we
were on the road almost completely dressed in our costumes. Due to
the wig piece, Vickie already had her cowl on. All she lacked was
her, belt, gloves and cape while in the car. I on the other hand
would need to don my cowl, belt, cape and gloves when we got there.
We were doubtful of a dressing room there. We were doubtful of any
toilet facilities other than a Port-O-Potty.
The weather looked dreadful overhead all the way there but the
rain seemed to stay away. The parking attendants got a kick out of
Vickie as we asked for directions to the event. Some strategic
parking away from any possible onlookers and we were completely
dressed for action.
It was 10:00 in the morning and this thing was scheduled to go
on from 7:00am to 10:00pm. I didn’t think we would hold up that
long for sure, but I at least figured that things should be getting
pretty underway by this hour or at least soon after. The venue was
a large section of the parking lot away from the race track for the
merchants, food vendors, live bands and cars being shown on display.
We instantly met up with Christina just outside the entrance, and
she was already in high gear keeping the thing running like a well
oiled machine. As soon as we walked into the main area we were
greeted by Lance, a photographer who I had met at the Barris Auction
as well. He proceeded to take our picture and complimented Vickie
on how nice she looked.
We walked around the entire location. It was a pretty spread
out event with lots of booths full of motorcycle stuff ranging from
leather goods, chrome plated manifolds to brass cleaners. The
latter would possibly come in pretty handy for my utility belt
buckle. Quite a few vendors asked us to come by their booth to get
our picture taken with them. Some asked Vickie where her bike was.
I knew Batgirl would go over well here. She told them that it was
being detailed and that proper maintenance was very important when
it came to motorcycling safety. She was a natural.
Some kids seemed rather excited to see us while some were a
touch nervous but generally warmed up to us pretty quick. Once
again we felt in our element of just spreading good will and
generating smiles.
The weather was still gloomy but this was a mixed blessing. We
were far from sweating in our tights so heat was not going to be a
problem, but I think the weather also caused a poor turn out for the
fund raiser. I guess people were reluctant to go to an outdoor
venue with the possibility of rain. That truly was sad.
On a cheerier note, George Barris arrived in his personal
Jaguar. He seemed to be surprised to see me and asked somebody “Is
that MY Batman?” But when he stepped out of the car and got a look
at Vickie he was asking a whole other set of questions. Things like
“Why didn’t you bring her with you last time?” “We need to get her
on the next gig for sure!” and “She’s great!” kept coming out of his
mouth. It was too funny that he was so excited. Old buddies of
George’s started coming around and it was off to getting pictures
taken with vehicles.
George wanted at least one picture of us with him for every
car, motorcycle and person we came across. And every time he would
have Vickie stand next to him and practically take her by the arm to
the next photo op. She was quite popular.
Pictures were taken to the sound of live bands from the stage.
Some local cable news came by for an interview with George and even
me about the event. Still, the crowds never really became crowds
and as the next hour or so came, George left.
You always have to work out your cape issues before a picture is
taken
A photographer for Quick Throttle magazine came up and asked us
if we would pose for some pictures by some bikes. Of course, we
agreed. There happened to be one particular chopper there that was
a purple/blue iridescent color and even had a slight bat-wing motif
going on with it. It seemed perfect for a modern day Batgirl. The
photographer did a very extensive photo shoot with Vickie with that
bike, while many people assumed that she must have been there to
help promote the bike since they looked like a perfect match. The
owner of the bike had not thought of Batgirl at all when he built it
but said that now he couldn’t think of it any other way.
Once again, she was a hit. Other than people getting her
name wrong with Catwoman and Batwoman being the most common
mistakes, people were very thrilled to meet the two of us and always
commented on our costumes.
Eventually, we were getting quite tired being on our feet so
much and the costumes were getting uncomfortable. We had been at it
for a steady five hours or so. We checked in with Christina and she
suggested that we return around 6:00 at the race track for the
evening’s races.
Since we were in about a ten mile distance from the place where
we buy our comics, we drove out and picked up our respective titles
in costume. Our friends got a thrill out of it and we were
definitely a bit of a spectacle.
After a quick dinner out of costume and then going right back
to the track in costume, we made our way through the people who were
at the speedway for the evening races. There were many more people
for this though we doubted that they actually knew about the Joyride
itself. Still, lots of handshakes, pictures and even autographs
took place. But as the sun started to set a good bit and the actual
race was about to begin, we felt that it was time for us to go.
So after a long day of public meet and greet we made our way
back home. It’s a good kind of tired.
Until next time…
A pic sent to me from the Quick Throttle photographer
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