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Skis? Check.
Boots? Check.
Full body leather and helmets with spikes? Check.
When Dale, John, Bob, Tommy and Ricky — all gay men from Peoria, Ill. — were looking at ski destinations last summer they considered several factors including the snow quality, terrain, food and, most important, night life.
“We really wanted to find a place where we could leave the monotony of our 9-5’s behind and really let loose,” Tommy said. “So when Dale told us it looked like there was a great gay bar near Sun Valley, we all perked up.”
Tommy said when he learned the bar was named “Power House” he assumed it was a gay biker bar — “I still can’t believe that it isn’t,” he said — and immediately booked flights and a hotel.
The five men, who all say they live typical, boring lives dominated by monotony and routine, were looking to let loose and “explore our wild sides,” Tommy said.
“None of us have ever been to a gay biker bar,” added Ricky. “To that end, none of us has ever even been on a motorcycle, unless you count Vespas.”
So prior to their trip to Sun Valley, the five men made a special trip to Motorcycle World in Peoria, where they made sure they would look the part at Power House.
“We purchased leather jackets, leather pants, leather riding caps and motorcycle helmets — two of them with spikes,” Bob said with a grin and shake of his head. “Honestly I don’t know what we were thinking.”
After their first day of skiing the men rushed back to their hotel rooms in Hailey and began preparations for what was sure to be a memorable night out.
“We were so excited,” Bob said. “We didn’t know exactly what to expect aside from what we’ve seen in movies about gay biker bars, but we were pumped.”
The crew made the short walk from Wood River Inn and Suites to Powerhouse, “in our full garb,” Dale said, with a laugh. “A passing driver yelled out his window that Halloween was over two months ago.”
Still, the men believed they were on the cusp of an epic adventure.
“Then we opened the door and walked into Power House, and our jaws collectively dropped,“ Tommy said with a laugh. “There were kids and parents everywhere and a bunch of older white guys who wanted everyone to know that they were cyclists.“
Dale said the group stuck around “only because we’d been skiing all day and we were starving and it smelled really, really good in there — have you ever tried their parmesan truffle fries and fish tacos?”
An observant and sympathetic staff tried to ease the misunderstanding, bringing the men a round of beers on the house.
“That went a long way toward making us feel better,” Bob said. “But we still felt like idiots.”
The night took a turn for the better, the men said, when staff changed the house music.
“They put on Lady Gaga,” Dale said. “Another beer and two chardonnays later, I was dancing on top of the tables.”
The energy soon spread into an hours-long dance party involving nearly every patron in the restaurant — except, the men noted, for the “bike bros.”
“We must’ve played ‘Born This Way’ a dozen times,” Bob said, laughing. “It wasn’t the Power House we thought it was — but the night sure turned into a powerhouse.”
