More than 1,000 motorcycle enthusiasts rolled up to the Capitol Monday morning.

Standing out among the slick suits and loafers at the Capitol were more than 1,000 motorcycle enthusiasts dressed in their rugged leather jackets and boots.

The roar of their choppers drowned out Austin downtown traffic in the morning and the bikers jammed the galleries for the House floor session.

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Why do these bikers come to the Capitol each session? “We have several bills that are pressing us as bikers, as free-thinking citizens, that we don’t agree with,” biker activist Paul Landers said. “The equal access bill, the failure to yield bill, we’re pushing for legislation that will make it more of a criminal offense if you run into a biker.” “We just want to let them know that we’re a voting power just like anybody else,” biker activist Gimmi Jimmy said. “We’re a bunch of grandfathers and grandmothers and people that run out there and work every day and pay our taxes, and we want to be treated like regular citizens.”

The bikers come to the Capitol every session to support their key legislative issues, which this year include toughening failure to yield citations and blocking a bill calling for sobriety checkpoints.

The bikers came from all over the state, including a group called the Mad Hatters from El Paso.

“We come up here, take the place by storm, and let the legislators know what we're looking for,” Dusty Warden, 27, who works at an immunization clinic in El Paso, said.

Rep. Norma Chavez, D-El Paso, who introduced the group of bikers in the House, rides a big chopper of her own and wore her leather jacket on the House floor.

		WATCH THE VIDEO
	Motorcyclist issues News 8 Photojournalist Mitch Hinrichs captures the essence of the biker experience at the Capitol Monday morning.

Chavez rides a Harley-Davidson Sportser 1500.

“It's fast,” Chavez said.