Armenia

Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Hetq Online 2006

Hetq Online has published the article on Armenia’s Hye Riders that was based on the interviews I posted in the past few days. This was undoubtedly one of the most enjoyable stories that I’ve spent time on in recent months, and maybe even in the past year or two.

YEREVAN, Armenia — It’s midday on a typical Saturday towards the end of May, and after a cold and almost dehabilitating winter, Armenia has started to come alive. Government officials and their business associates or relatives have already started to open up the scores of cafes that have decimated Yerevan’s parks and green areas, and as the heat increases, hemlines have already started to get shorter. Soon the city will be awash with the colors dictated by the latest “fashion.”

Which must make a dozen Armenians dressed from head to toe in black leather seem odd to a population that considers evening dress wear and pointed walking shoes the norm for everyday apparel. Of course, the leather-clad group of men assembling by the side of a road leading down into Yerevan’s Hrazdan Gorge are not your average Armenian. The motorcycles resting on their side stands give that one away.

[…]

After the prep talk that will outline the route the 12 bikes will take around the city before departing for the birthplace of Mesrop Mashtots, creator of the Armenian alphabet, in Oshagan, and later the former health resort town of Arzni, the sound of four-stroke motorcycle engines fills the air. Touring the central streets of Yerevan, heads turn and some pedestrians, especially children, smile. Only a few onlookers seem shocked by the sight of a dozen bikers riding down the road.

The Hye Riders are the local chapter of the motorcycle club (MCC) with the same name founded seven years ago in the United States by Armenian-American biker Berj Kasbarian. According to Martirosian, Hye Riders has over 50 members in the United States now, as well as over two dozen members in France and Syria combined. A year ago, Martirosian formed the Hayastan branch, which now boasts 15 members.

The full article can be read here, and just to remind you again, the founding US Chapter of the MCC have a really nice web site here.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 22nd, 2006 at 10:10 am and is filed under Bikers, Transport, Caucasus, Armenia. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.