Journal Star
BARTONVILLE. On any given weekend, when the spirit of adventure and danger call, the mean streets of Bartonville quake with the menacing rumble of two-wheeled mayhem.
OK, maybe that's overstating the case a tad. It's not so much a menacing rumble as an annoying whine. And as for the mayhem, it's really more of a silliness than anything else.
But yes, there are two wheels involved, along with a gang, leathers, nicknames and other trappings of the biker culture. The thing is, these riders don't sit on hogs, but scooters.
Meet the Ghost Riderz, the baddest - and goofiest - scooter gang ever to hit the Peoria area.
"We're the furthest thing you can get from a motorcycle gang," says a chuckling Mike "Snake" Bredernitz, founder of the scooter squad. "A few people have asked, 'Why didn't you just buy a cheap motorcycle?' Well buying a motorcycle isn't funny. But buying a scooter, that's funny."
Bredernitz, 45, doesn't exactly live a life of lawlessness. Married with three kids, he works as a risk-management consultant for an insurance company. Months ago, he saw a kid putzing through his neighborhood on a scooter. Bredernitz thought the modest vehicle might be a cheap way to get around town. So he bought a 150-cc scooter.
He caught the eye - and derision - of buddy Bret Henry, 39. The sales manager would chide Bredernitz for his milquetoast mode of transportation. Eventually, though, Henry saw humor in the notion."One scooter is dorky," Henry told Bredernitz. "But two is a gang."
Soon, Henry bought a scooter and took on the moniker of Bulldog. Soon, three others joined the scooter lifestyle: Jason "Spider" Walker, Loren "Blaze" Peacock and Steve "Iceman" Christiansen. They adopted a decidedly unintimidating logo: the name Ghost Riderz surrounding the image of Casper the Friendly Ghost. They put the logo on black T-shirts, plus black flags jutting from their scooters.
The pack soon took to the streets, leaving local residents recoiling - not in abject fear, but in head-scratching wonder about the curious quintet of nerds. "About 90 percent (of observers) get it," Bredernitz says. "The others think it's a mid-life crisis."
Mostly, though, it's a reason for the fivesome to hang out. Often, they pop into Hammer's pub, which has become the scooter clubhouse - so much so that a banner on the wall proclaims, "Official Home of the Ghost Riderz."
As Bredernitz promised the owner, almost seriously, "If there's trouble in here, we'll take care of it."
When they're feeling crazy, they'll mess with real bikers. Recently, they arrived to see a lone, top-line Harley out front. As a gag, they hemmed in the hog with their scooters. Later, when the biker left the saloon, the Ghost Riderz hoped he'd get the joke. "He came back in, bent over laughing," Bredernitz says.
The gang has taken on a public profile. At Limestone Community High School's Homecoming variety show, the Ghost Riderz brought down the house with a tongue-in-cheek skit about the scooter crew.
Next, they plan to help civic groups by appearing at fundraisers. They also hope to launch a charity golf outing. But it'd be not just for scooter riders; civilians would be welcome as well. "It'd be a small crowd if it were only scooters," Bredernitz says, laughing.
PHIL LUCIANO is a columnist with the Journal Star. He can be reached at pluciano@pjstar.com, 686-3155 or (800) 225-5757, Ext. 3155.
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