Last Brass Monkey Run 2024
Each year you go to the Last Brass Monkey Run you receive a brass nut. Sometimes they even have monkeys on them.
I looked at the outside thermometer on Tuesday morning (28) and asked myself what I was trying to prove to who? I drove my car to the Last Brass Monkey Run. I knew that on a sunny day with no ice on the road there would be a good number of hard-core folks heading to the Rock Rest on their bikes, but I was not going to be one of them. A final temperature check (36) as I was getting ready to leave made me reconsider but nope, I drove.
ABATE of Colorado’s Last Brass Monkey Run is always promoted as the last ride of the year, and is held on December 31, regardless of the weather. It is held these days at the Rock Rest Lodge in Golden, and I generally go.
So I got there, and yeah, there were bikes parked outside. Oh well. Some people are more hard-core than me. I have ridden some years.
The event used to be an actual poker run but nowadays the poker is set up inside, with games you play to receive your card. I’ve never had even a decent hand at a poker run so I never expect much. But this time was different. I drew three 2s. A pretty low three of a kind but still a three of a kind. Who knows, I might win something.
There are always door prizes as well and in recent years there have been enough door prizes for everyone there to get one. Of course, due to simple reality, someone is destined to be the one with the last ticket drawn. Last year that was me. And my prize was pretty much the dregs of what you might receive.
This year I was not last. When I arrived they were already calling numbers but very soon afterward announced there were stopping the drawing to have lunch. I got some lunch and was sitting with Kathy and Mike, holding ticket number 699. People finished eating and they announced a resumption of the door prize drawings and Mike said “OK Ken, get ready, it’s gonna be 699.” Larry looked at the ticket and called out “699.” No bull.
My prize was OK, nothing great, but really something we had no use for. I didn’t care, I was waiting for the best poker hand.
Larry got up to announce the winners and he said he had never seen such a lousy bunch of poker players. That gave me more hope.
And the top winner was . . . three of a kind 8s. Dang. Well, there is a second place prize as well. Second place was three of a kind 5s. Double dang. My 2s were just too low.
Meanwhile, another Kathy, Larry’s wife, had joined us at our table and remarked how she had hoped to get what I had gotten. I gave it to her.
So it was an enjoyable time, good to see a bunch of folks I don’t see all that often any more since I no longer go to ABATE meetings. Who knows, maybe next year I’ll ride. Maybe.
Biker Quote for Today
100 reasons not to date a biker: 51. We pay more for insurance than your car payment.
