Indian Lookout Country Club: Home of the Harley Rendezvous By Alexander Borsody  Growing up in New York City, I had heard of music festivals that went on upstate at a campground called Indian Lookout Country Club (ILCC). Little did I know this was also home to “The Harley Davidson Rendezvous,” toted as one of the largest motorcycle gatherings ever. In my senior year of high school me and some friends packed our bags to go up to Indian lookout country club to hear some music. Little did we know we were about to enter a different world, an autonomous state within a state, where bikers on ATVs were in charge, rather than the police.
A place where yuppies and pacifists would look to Bikers and Hell’s Angels for safety. Interestingly enough there has never been a violent incident involving a weapon or even a violent fight. Everyone seems too scared of getting tackled by one of the 200 pound Hell’s Angels who have a presence at the campground. Since the 1960’s the Hells Angels have gained a reputation for running security for famous counter culture rock bands. This has lead to the musical “hippy” counterculture being engrained with biker culture. The sense of peace felt at the ILCC was stronger than anywhere else I have ever been and contrasted to other festivals such as “Woodstock Two,” where someone got stabbed, or another similar style music festival, where someone got pistol whipped. At ILCC the bikers take the place of the police presence, selectively enforcing security limited to only violent or dangerous crimes. This creates a sense of physical safety and at the same time encourages personal freedom rarely found anywhere else. I did not know at the time that this sense of civil liberties is a deep part of biker culture. At the gate to the festival the security was tight and the searches thorough. This is an intricate part of keeping the festival safe, word has it they have found everything from spiked bats to handguns. Though stories circulate of being hassled by bikers on Harley motorcycles or ATV’s, the feeling I got and the general consensus is that as long as you abide by the “law of that land”, which basically states “be peaceful and no glass,” then no one will bother you. The biker motto "Live and let live" Is reflected in the feel of the campground in which a sort of peaceful anarchy takes place, where pacifist music fans and bikers coexist in a peaceful symbiosis. This is what one anonymous ILLC staff says about what it means to be a biker: “Being a biker is a way of life as much as it is riding a bike. You don't stop being a biker when your bike blows up and you spend a year or more rebuilding it. No, you're still you. Happy just to be alive. And we have our priorities straight. We don't dress to impress. We don't care if someone disagrees with our preference of Levis over Dockers or well-worn boots over Gucci’s.” ILCC is officially a “no-colors zone” also referred to as “neutral territory”, this statement is made on many publications put out by ILCC to remind those visiting that it is a place where violence will not be tolerated. One of the phrases at the festival that I saw printed on some biker propaganda was: “No one here is a stranger, just a friend you haven’t met.” I enjoyed this phrase and it contrasts sharply to the common notion people think about bikers, that they are rude, aggressively violent, neo-Nazis. I had heard stories of good deeds done by the bikers, helping younger stranded campers find their group or offering work exchanges for someone that had arrived with no money or ticket (imagine that). I personally participated in the work exchange program at one of these festivals; we were served meals three times a day by a friendly “vegan chef” and intermingled with the biker staff. I was surprised at the vegan food and that all these other biker stereotypes were breaking down all around me. Numerous music festivals are held at Indian Lookout country club touted as “the only country club exclusively for bikers”. The number one event at Indian Lookout Country Club is still the “Harley Davidson Rendezvous” or “the vouz” as it is endearingly called by the bikers. Founded by Kemp O’Connell, who is no longer riding, the tradition is passed on to the younger generation as older bikers inevitably take “that last highway off ramp”. The good times spent in the nation state of ILCC will never be forgotten, a place where libertarian beliefs and basic respect are the foundation of a well functioning society.  |
