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A visitor from the Boston Chapter of HOG gets
a shot of a huge crowd of riders and spectators.
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A bit further down the street, at approximately
Third and Wisconsin, people have crowded out onto the street, and made a bit
of a choke point. Bikes here have to pass by two abreast.
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The Wells Fargo bank stands on the other side
of the Milwaukee River. Riders here are about to cross one of our crooked
bridges. Note the skywalk full of spectators.
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There is quite the crowd gathered and motorcycles
are having a hard time getting by all of the people. The police are trying
to keep everyone back, but they are vastly out numbered, and no one wants
any trouble. They do their best to keep us back without ruining anyone's fun.
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A look up Wisconsin Avenue from the middle of
downtown. The bikes are still coming, but they have a bit of a tight squeeze
through ranks of welcoming spectators. We are on Wisconsin Avenue, at the
river. The first street to the right is Plankington.
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This is a six lane street, but motorcycles are
passing two by two here. Note the police officer to the right of the flag
in the middle of the photo. He is trying to keep people back, but they surge
forward as soon as he moves past.
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At the bridge across the river, people flock
to stand out in the sun and cheer the riders on. One man holds up a sign stating
that he will gladly work for a Harley. I wish him luck. New Harley motorcycles
can only be bought after getting on a waiting list. A police officer, just
to the left of the center of the photo, waves.
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The bridges in downtown Milwaukee cross the
river at sharp angles because the streets do not line up. There is actually
a funny story behind this. In the early days of settlement, there were three
trading posts which grew into small cities, on the site where Milwaukee now
stands When these three towns were integrated into a single city, bridges
were planned to link the cities across the river.
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Bridges built straight across would only
line up with streets on one side of the river. People from each side of the
river would construct bridges which lined up with their own streets.
These bridges would then be burned down by the people on the other side of
the river. This period, know as the Bridge Wars, continued until someone had
the good sense to simply build the bridges at an angle which connected streets
on both sides.
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A look towards the top of Wisconsin Avenue.
The crowd of people standing across the road are at Milwaukee Street, where
the parade takes a turn to the right.
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Heading across the bridge over the Milwaukee
River, reunion riders climb Wisconsin Avenue, passing under the banner of
the founders of Harley Davidson.
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Past the bridge, and on the way up the hill,
you begin to get some idea of just how large the crowds were.
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A look up the sidewalk is like a view of New
York City at rush hour. Note the Harley banner, and the Harley signs hanging
from each of the lamp posts.
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People are gathered here in immense numbers,
some having come the night before to pick out prime spots. Some have even
brought lawn chairs, and have made themselves quite at home.
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Another small group rumbles over the bridge.
We are past the choke point, and officers here are doing a much better job
of keeping the streets clear for the riders. It helps that the sidewalks are
very wide here, and the area is much more open. You might recognize this as
the same vantage I started out at during the 90th parade.
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The Milwaukee Fire Department raises the banner
of the Harley founders, and says hello.
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Near the top of Wisconsin Avenue, some riders
wait on their mounts for the end of the parade. There are riders positioned
like this all through the parade route and on nearby side streets, they will
crowd the streets after the parade has ended.
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This is the corner of Milwaukee Street and Wisconsin
Avenue. Here the parade route turns right making it's way south towards the
Summerfest grounds. We are at the last mile.
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A clown from New Zealand displays his flag along
with the of the US.
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A shot down Milwaukee Street, where the parade
route turns south. The street and parking structures are full of people.
This is a familiar sight to those who have seen previous reunion parades,
but can make quite an impression on those who are here for the first time.
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This couple rounds the corner looking like they
can not believe what they are seeing. More people gathered everywhere.
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