Cyclists Raid Analysis

Bikers “Cyclists’ Raid”

Cyclists’ Raid by Frank Rooney is an interesting and dramatic short story. First of all, because it’s about bikers who are traveling all over California and they stopped at San Joaquin Valley a small quiet town. These bikers think they could do whatever they want just because they have their own motorcycle club. In the article “Commodification and Popular Imagery of the Biker in American Culture” by D. Mark Austin, Patricia Gagne, and Angela Orend they states:

Each year, hundreds of thousands of motorcyclists from all over the

United States ride or drive (with their motorcycles on trailers or truck beds) to a small city in the Black Hills of South Dakota for a week-long rally known simply as ‘‘Sturgis.’’ Similarly, other annual major mo- torcycling events occur in places such as Laconia, New Hampshire;

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; Hollister, California; and Daytona,

Florida. (943)

Since he is drinking and talking to Mr. Beeker while his gang is getting drunk and doing dumb things they shouldn’t be doing in a place that isn’t theirs. “Simpson pulled sternly at his drink, and Bleeker had the impression that Simpson was repressing, openly, and with pride, a vast sparkling ecstasy” (Rooney 334). The effect of what Simpson was doing made him lose control of his gang because he was drinking and doing drugs. His gang was out of control they were drinking a lot and just staring at the girls and touching them because they were scared to talk to them. “In the final analysis, we show evidence to support our claim that the contemporary biker image is one that was born of grassroots rebellion, amplified by the media, sanctioned by the government, … as it was in riding” (Austin, Gagne, and Orend 944). By this said it, shows us that mostly all bikers get out of control or try to act like bad