Juggernaut Annual Desert Pilgrimage: True Grit 2017
"Wu-Tang is for the children" - ODB
After Dyno had recovered from his trance, he opened the bottle of bourbon and poured us each a shot into a shallow teacup. I accepted the cup with my right hand—to receive anything with your left can be a grievous insult—and before drinking, I made an offering to the spirits in three directions. I lightly dipped my fingers in the liquid, flicked a few drops into the air and then toward the ground, and finally dabbed my forehead.
Benevolence is not something you’re born with, Dyno said, slugging down a large shot of bourbon. You can’t just decide to become a Juggernaut—you must be chosen by the spirits. Juggernauts, from the womb, emanate an aura of increased dexterity and physical prowess. Their race day gear is infused with the holy spirit by osmosis ; it becomes “alive.” Gorka’s kit includes a reindeer-hide drum, a mouth harp, colored strips of cloth, and his awful swimsuit yoke.
Dyno was looking hangdog and gripped by a deep melancholy. The Juggernaut is above all about serving the community, he told me. “The Juggernaut is for the children. When you become a Juggernaut, you have the responsibility of taking care of people around you.” That takes a heavy psychological toll, and it may explain why alcohol abuse seems to be common among Juggernauts. “Sometimes you have to do black things,” he said, falling silent.
The Juggernaut 2017 Western Onslaught of Benevolence World Tour. Boom! So much beer. So much riding. We played a freaking concert. Are you kidding me? Juggernaut live music. Sounded awful but was highly energetic. There was blood. There was greatness. The largest Western gathering of the brethren to date.
This is where we rode:
