2017 02 v18 n10 the riders mag for web by The Rider's Mag

Jan 29th – Bacchus MC Woodstock Swap Meet

At the Beachville Legion 39 Zorra Line (corner of Zorra Line and Queen) in Beachville. 10AM – 3PM, Tons of vendors, Admission is only a $5 Donation with kids 12 and under free! For more Information call Hutch 226-339-5184

Feb. 5th - Motorcycle Swap Meet London

At the I.B.E.W. Union Hall at 6688 Tempo Road, in London. At Col. Talbot Road and the 401. 10am – 4 pm, Admission $10 with lots of Free Parking. Vendor Spaces available. All Makes and Models are Welcome. For more information call 705-321-0334

Feb 5th - Greely Motorcycle Swap Meet

Greely Legion, 8021 Mitch Owens Dr., Ottawa Ont. Vendors wanted, More Info Call (613) 295 6934, or (613) 724 8140 or even (613) 822 2480

Feb. 9th – Clare’s Harley-Davidson® Be My Valentine VIP Shopping Event

From 5 till 8 pm at Clare’s Niagara on the Lake, 590 York Rd. www.claresharleydavidson.com

Feb. 10 –12 – The Motorcycle and ATV Show Moncton th

At The Moncton Coliseum Complex, 377 Killam Drive, in Moncton, Friday Noon – 9pm, Saturday 10am – 8pm and Sunday 10am – 5pm. For more information check out www.monctonmotorcycleshow.ca

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Feb. 11th – ‘Duke’s HD Loves You’ Valentines Sale

All day Saturday at Dukes, 5 Classic Car Dr. in Blenheim. Check out www.dukeshd.com

Feb. 25th – Classy Chassis Shop Party

1399 8th Line Smith, Lakefield, 11am – 3pm. Come on out to the Shop and Join the Party! For more info call 1-888-292-8305 or email info@usedhd.ca or go to www.usedhd.ca

Feb. 25th – Clare’s Cycle & Sports Fenwick’s ATV Workshop

799 Hwy #20 W in Fenwick. ‘If Mud Ain’t Flyin’ – You Ain’t Tryin’. 10 am – 12 Noon. Learn safe riding techniques and have some fun at the same time. Door Prizes and Coffee available. RSVP www. clarescycle.com or call 905-892-2664.

Feb. 26th - The Annual Big Al’s Swap Meet

At the Dundas Community Center, 10 Market St. in Dundas. 10am – 3pm, $5 Admission, Kids under 12 free. For table information call 905-746-7077.

March

Mar. 4th - Classy Chassis & Cycles Road Captain Seminar

1399 8th Line Smith, Lakefield, 12pm & 1pm Must PreRegister call 1-888-292-8305 or email info@usedhd.ca for more info go to www.usedhd.ca

Mar. 18th – 6th Annual ABATE Charity Pool Tournament

June 4th – Birth Of A Nation Ride/ National Memorial Ride At Hustler Billiards, 1116 Dearness Dr., London. Registra- Celebrating the 150th Anniversary of Canadian Contion starts at 10:30am Games Start at 12 Noon, $15 Entry federation and The 100th Anniversary of The Battle fee. For more information Contact Joker: 519-671-0078, of Vimy Ridge. Deb: 226-456-1693 or Horse: 519-983-5324.

Mar. 25 – 26 – The 27 Annual Motorcycle Springshow Toronto th

At the International Centre on Airport Rd. in Toronto, Saturday 9am – 9pm and Sunday 10am – 5pm. For more Information www.motorcyclespringshow.com

April

Apr. 2nd – The Spring Motorcycle Swap Meet Peterborough

At The Morrow Building, 151 Lansdowne St. West, in Peterborough. 9am to 3 pm. Get there early and get the deals, Admission only $10, over Tons of Vendors, North American & Metric, Park and Sell your Bike or become a Vendor. For more Information call 705-340-2130 or email ptboswapmeet@hotmail.com or check out their Facebook Page www.facebook.com/ptboswapmeet

Apr. 29th – Hamilton Bikers Church Spring Swap Meet This event has been canceled for this year but will be back next year.

May

May 6th – International Female Ride Day

There are Rides set up all over the Country. Check your local area for the Ride Nearest you.

May 7th - Fort Erie Motorcycle Swap Meet

West End Arena, Ridge Road, Fort Erie. 10am-4pm For more info: Contact 905-347-2001 or email shawnmccooey@yahoo.com

May 27th - 5th Annual Ride 2 Reach Charity Ride

At Motorcycle Enhancements 427 Speers Rd. Unit 9, Oakville, For More Contact John at Motorcycle Enhancements 1-888-842-2123 or register online at www.ride2reach.com

May 27th - Classy Chassis & Cycles 11th Anniversary BBQ Bash

1399 8th Line Smith, Lakefield, 11am - 3pm. Where thousands of bikers meet each spring for an a�ernoon of fun to kick off the riding season! For more info visit www. usedhd.ca or call 1-888-292-8305

The Ride starts at Historic Fort Henry in Kingston, and will connect up with The National Memorial Ride at The National War Museum in Ottawa. The Ride then continues through Ottawa past Parliament Hill and ending at Beechwood Cemetery. Come out to Hall 1 at the International SuperShow at the Airport in Toronto Jan. 6-8 for more information. Or check out www.heroeshighwayride.ca or find us on facebook �.com/Groups/heroeshighwayride

June 11th - Quinte Ride For Paws Poker Run

At Centennial Park Amphitheater, 236 Couch Crescent in Trenton. Ride starts at 11am, $10 per Bike , BBQ and Live Entertainment to follow the ride. For more info contact: 613-392-0759 or 613-847-7670

July

July 1st –Lincoln County M.C. Show & Shine

At the L.C.M.C. Clubhouse, 4859 Hillside Dr. Beamsville. Gates open at Noon, Judging at 3:00pm, Awards at 4:30. $10 per entry, Trophies for the Winners. More Info: 905563-4267 or email lcmc1967@hotmail.com

July 8th – Annual Lucan Baconfest

Everything Bacon and Bikes, The Big Summer Event in Lucan Ontario, A Whole day of Family Fun with something for everybody! Bike Show, Swap Meet, Poker Run, Kid’s Zone, Vendors, Bands, Beer Gardens, and More Bikes and of course BACON! Check out more details at http:// www.baconfestlucan.ca or see or follow us on Facebook �.com/LucanBaconfest or Twitter @lucanbaconfest for updates and times.

July 14th – 16th – Rideau Rendezvous Motorcycle Rally

In Downtown Smiths Falls a full weekend of Music, Vendors, Stunt Riders, Show ‘N’ Shine, Poker Run (in Support of The Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario), Bike Rodeo and Lots More. Plenty of Camping is available so “Come On Out and Join The Party on The Rideau”. For more Info 613-406-RIDE (7433) or check out their Facebook Page at �.com/rideaurendezvous or email www.rideaurendezvous@gmail.com

August

June

Aug. 4th–6th - “Hogs For Hospice” Leamington’s 2nd Annual Motorcycle Rally

At North Kawartha Community Centre, 340 McFadden Rd., Apsley. 9a.m. - 4p.m.Ride, Show & Shine, Games, Awards, Food, Vendors, and much more. Rain or Shine, for more information check www.all-waysapsley.ca or Twitter/Facebook @AllWaysApsley

Aug. 27th - 6th Annual Quinte Ride For Paws Ride

June 3rd – The 3rd Annual All-Ways Apsley Motorcycle Rendezvous

June 3rd – 9th Annual Heroes Highway Ride

Starting at the National Air Force Museum, 220 RCAF Rd., CFB Trenton, Astra Ontario and finishing up at Memorial Park, Port Hope, Ontario. Come on out and Support those who Serve, Ride the Highway Of Heroes with Great Events to follow in Port Hope. Check it out at www.heroeshighwayride.ca or find us on facebook �.com/Groups/heroeshighwayride

A very busy weekend of events in Downtown Leamington. Check out their website for the full list and times of events. www.hogsforhospice.com At Centennial Park Amphitheater, 236 Couch Crescent in Trenton. Meet & Greet starts at 9:30am with the Ride starting at 11am, $15 per Bike , BBQ starting at Noon. For more info contact: 613-392-0759 or 613-847-7670

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Thanks for your support

We started this feature to thank our advertisers without whose support The Riders Mag would not exist. It is their advertising dollars that allow us to do this for you, our readers to enjoy. A few Months ago I started writing small blurbs about different advertisers in my Cruising with Critter column as their ads don’t always tell our readers exactly what they do, how they do it or for who they do it for, why they started doing it and why they continue to do it and so on. Rather than just sell them a bigger ad I thought it might be more helpful to give them a free plug. Apparently it got noticed and we’ve been getting more response and more requests. So in response to those requests we will randomly select one or two of our advertisers each Month and do a short write up on their business be it a new advertiser or someone who’s been with us a while. We can all use a hand along the way.

Mackesy Smye Lawyers

This long standing ad came to us directly through David Smye. Upon reading The Riders Mag and being a biker himself, David liked the whole premise of The Mag as being unpretentious what it was about or of its support of bikers and the biker lifestyle and felt it was worthy of his support. When he met the previous publisher, JR at a show or event of some sort, signed up for an ad and has proudly been with us ever since, right there on the back cover! We certainly appreciate the support. His firm has won a lot of cases for many of our readers and I have gotten a lot of feedback from them over the years. But David is a Biker who wants to give back to the motorcycle community and figures that supporting The Riders Mag is a good way to do that. David got his first motorcycle when he was 15 years old and immediately fell in love with not just motorcycles but the people that shared his passion and he has always had one or more motorcycles in his life ever since! He started in Criminal and Civil Law but decided to focus instead on helping thousands of riders obtain proper settlements for their injury claims. This provided David with tremendous personal satisfaction. During his long, successful and prestigious career in the Legal Profession he has achieved much success and notoriety. He is proud of his many achievements and the many awards he has won and Doctorates from The Canadian Law Society and all of his many great accomplishments that as a Lawyer, mean a great deal to him and his peers. They are marks of his success as a Lawyer and that being his chosen field he should be proud of them. As a biker, he has ridden across and throughout North America a time or two and thoroughly enjoyed the company of many different riders on those many trips and shared many experiences and adventures. He cherishes those memories, those friends and those experiences more than some of the many accomplishments, awards and accolades that he has received in

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his long career in Law. The miles and many motorcycles he’s ridden, the places he’s seen, the adventures he’s had, the true friends that he’s made, the adventures and experiences that he’s shared with those friends and the memories that will last a lifetime and beyond. Those are indelible marks on his soul and his life as a biker as well as the many lives he has touched along the way. I have met David Smye on several occasions and thoroughly enjoyed his company each and every time. When we meet I see him as a friend not a customer or the back page of my magazine. When I told him about this feature he wasn’t quite sure if he wanted it or not. He supplied me with some the facts and dates but I told him it is largely just my thank you to him and his firm for the support that he has shown The Riders Mag over the years and continues to show. In fact David has even submitted some material to us and we have used it and would welcome more of the same. David and I share many of the same friends and acquaintances and I’ve seen the way he treats them and everybody that he interacts with and that is with respect and honour. That goes a long way in our lifestyle! Sharing many of the same friends and acquaintances I also know how they feel about him and how they treat him, with respect and honour. Again this is just me trying to sum things up in my own words but if someone were to ask me what I thought of David Smye. Is he a Lawyer trying to be a biker when he’s not being a Lawyer? I would probably say, he has been a Lawyer for a long time but he has been a Biker even longer, one is his Living the other is his Life.

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Wow! The adventure continues! I’m now officially retired from my full time truck driving career at Canada Cartage that has kept my family clothed and fed and the Wolf away from the door for the last 44 years or so. I cherish the many memories of my years there, the adventures and misadventures as well as the many fine people that I had the pleasure of working with and for and all the many friends I made along the way. I am still in line to get a replacement for my funky shoulder, the result of a fall that occurred last March and I will see what that brings as 2017 unfolds before me. Other than that, things seem to be coming together slowly but surely! When the previous owners of The Riders Mag decided that they no longer wanted to run it and had taken it as far as they were willing to take it, I was charged with the task of “Taking it to the next level.” Over the course of the last four years we have strived to do just that! However, upon taking the helm it soon became painfully obvious to us that the road to the next level was under construction and there were many detours and rough roads between us and that destination! Part one of the problem of getting to the next level was that The Mags financial status which comes solely from advertising revenues was not keeping

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pace with its popularity with the readers and the demands for larger distribution. The other part of the problem was that I am not wealthy like the previous owner, I am in reality, just an old worn out truck driver with limited resources and retirement looming just around the corner and The Riders Mag received no subsidies or Government funding. It was kind of like inheriting a great old bike that had been well used but was in need of some serious maintenance, lots of Tender Loving Care and great big gobs of money! You look at the costs involved in bringing it not only, back up to snuff but doing all the other shit that would allow it to run with the big dogs (The new big bore bikes with all the bells and whistles.) and not break down and embarrass you, leaving you at the side of the road or in a ditch…. or worse! The smart money tells you; “Let it go! Buy one of the new, big inch, ready to go right out of the box beasts that in the long run will save you money!” Meanwhile you heart tells you to stay with “Your True Love” and pour dollar after dollar and every ounce of blood sweat and tears you can muster into keeping the old dog alive. In the end you are able to look at your accomplishments with pride and satisfaction and have something that others look at and appreciate your accomplishments but avoid looking at the bank statements or opening that stack of bills (It will only bring you down and that whole drinking thing will start anew!). Not the easy way! Not the cheap way! But in my mind, the right way! If I have to explain, you won’t understand! We knew that we had to make some changes to format and improvements to the Mag and how we did things if we were going to even just survive, let alone do any expansion. The advertisers have responded well to those changes and improvements, so we know we are on the right path. It is like some road trips that turn into adventures from time to time and you’re never sure just what will happen next. But like so many of these adventures, when you are sharing them with friends it makes them not just bearable but after you’ve gone through them, they make good stories. So my friends. We are no longer bogged down in the muck and mire. Our now customized and updated TRM machine built from solid stock, is running just fine and we hope that once we push it over the next hill we will be able to coast down the other side for a bit, get off the gravel section and only have to dodge a few more potholes and frost heaves and then glide onto the smoother paved portion and hopefully twist the throttle a bit and see what this baby can do. We’ll talk about it all over a beer or two down the road if you care to join me. Getting to this point however, has been a constant struggle that has caused more than a few sleepless nights, fraught nerves, intense conversations and serious doubts as to the Mags feasibility and sustainability. I have tried the patience and sense of humour of not just myself, my wife and Managing Editor and The Wonderdogs, but also The Bank, our Printer, our suppliers, our distributors and our volunteer crew. We have relied heavily on friendships and our own resourcefulness to

get us through and so far so good. We continue to do a slow but steady expansion throughout this Province and into the other Provinces to the East and to the West with the addition of another fine lady from Abbotsford, BC by the name of Stacy Stone joining Angela Young to our West Coast Crew. Check out Stacy’s first column “In the Corners” in this issue, I loved it and am sure that she is a perfect fit. These are large pieces of Real Estate that we are covering or hoping to cover and there is a lot going on so If you feel that you have what it takes to be a Riders Mag representative in any of our Provinces let us know. We are trying to provide strong representation to all areas of this Country so no matter where you pick up The Mag you will find out What’s Shak’n in the Biker Community locally and across the Country. We want to be there for your parties, your funerals and support your local issues but we need the support of the Biker Community in order to support the biker community in all these areas to make it work. Bikers have always proven themselves to be generous and are tremendous supporters of countless charities and causes. We have heard from all areas that the Bikers in those areas need and want a publication like ours, by real bikers, for real bikers who don’t sugar coat things and are afraid to take a stand on issues that affect real bikers! If that is so then you need to make it happen! We don’t need a lot, but we need some! Support Your Local Riders Mag! Do this for yourselves! Our Biker Friendly Directory is catching on well and doing what it was designed to do; let people right across the Country know where the Mag is available and that these locations appreciate your business. It is also an opportunity for these businesses to take advantage of low cost, effective advertising. It also helps us defer some of the shipping costs as we move into areas in which we have no advertising revenue whatsoever. For years we have had requests by our readers to expand further afield and found the costs associated with doing so with a free to the reader, print edition prohibitive. It is hard to convince businesses who are also struggling to survive in these harsh economic times that advertising with us is good value. It is too much to expect them to just jump on board with us with larger ads until they can gauge the popularity of The Riders Mag with their local Bikers. We have had loyal subscribers from across the Country for years and we know that given a chance and by getting good content from all these areas that we can and will be accepted. Give us a chance to prove ourselves in your area! We have just launched a new line of Riders Mag Support Items that include newly designed men’s and ladies t shirts, long sleeved t shirts, button up shirts, Limited Edition rings, pins, patches, stickers, knives and other items that will be available online and through Black Gold in Newmarket and we will soon be establishing other retail outlets as well. There will be more items such as bandanas and other items added as our budget permits. We have been asked to help support and promote a new three day Event this summer, out in “Sensational” Smiths Falls! The 1st Annual, Rideau Rendezvous that is being put on by the Town itself and it promises to be a spectacular event. There will be lots of entertainment and things to do with more being added all the time!

Dukes Calendar Feature Shoot We had made arrangements with General Manager, Chris Hall to get the shoot done on a day that coincided with their inventory which worked out well as this is normally a very busy shop which can be challenging at times to shoot around all of the customers.

I had been by Jenny’s fantastic little custom leather shop in the beautiful town of Orangeville a couple of days previous. I had also taken the ever lovely Anne along with me as I am trying to convince her to come on board with us here at the Mag. I would like her to work her magic with our Social Media Stuff and relieve our already overworked Managing Editor Al of some of the responsibilities that he has. He does them despite his claims that he is far too busy to do them! What a whiner! I’d replace him but nobody else wants to do all the stuff he does for free! Anne also has a keen interest in photography and displays a great deal of talent along

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those lines and she was to come along on the photoshoot as well. Everybody who knows her, knows that she would be perfect for this gig! We just have to convince her! Who could resist the long hours heavy work load for extremely low wages and non-existent benefit package that I offer? I may just have to resort to the old Shanghai method of recruitment! Jenny, had also volunteered (God! I love that word!) some of her amazing custom made leather outfits for our model to wear as well so we were all set. I had managed to secure the time and talents of Amazing Amanda the allegedly incredible Niece of Krystle from PD Restoration who had responded to my plea for a model out that way! I had not previously met Amanda but Krystle assured me that she was stunning and I’ve learned that you don’t question Krystle about anything. Our star photographer, JS and I loaded up the truck headed out early, enroute to Chatham (or Blenheim or whatever your GPS wants to call

it! They can all be rather persnickety at times so I just let the GPS call it whatever it wants! As long as it gets me there!), without the company of the lovely Anne however, who was under the weather and had to back out! So after making a quick stop in London to pick up Amanda (Incidentally, she is as stunning as promised!

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Thanks Krystle!) we continued on our way! The weather was decent so we made good time, arriving well within the established ETA. We unloaded all the lights, backdrops, reflective umbrellas, flash units and all the other stuff that a professional photographer uses and after introductions the lovely Amanda scurried off to the change room, big bag of clothes shoes boots make-up and whatever else in hand and immerged even more beautiful than when she went in. While JS went about setting up all the elaborate equipment, I just wandered around, camera in hand, taking shop shots and trying to stay out of the way of the professional. We shot with a number of different bikes and outfits and it was great to have the place basically to ourselves except for the harried Duke’s crew who were busy with pens, pencils, markers, pads of paper and calculators and other stuff necessary to do inventory. I did at times, feel like one of those snooty, well muscled, doormen/bouncers who sit out front of those fancy nightclubs behind the velvet rope, rejecting those simply not pretty enough or not on the list of attendees! As mentioned, this is a very popular and extremely busy shop and there was a constant flow of disappointed customers coming to the doors and upon finding them locked would peer in, spot us and plead their case as to why they should gain admittance. I would point to the closed for inventory sign and in most cases they would let out a heavy sigh, shrug and retreat to their vehicles. Some however, figured if they could give me a compelling enough story or look sad enough I would relent. No one offered me cash….that might have been a game changer. Anyhow we got the job done and headed back, retracing our steps to London and then back to the wilds of Newmarket satisfied that we got a good job done. The 2017 Motorcycle SuperShow This Show has always a favourite of mine as it is so damn big and offers so much to see and do and it is an opportunity to meet with so many of our readers, potential readers, advertisers and potential advertisers and we give away a lot of Magazines. This year we went through around 7,000 issues. I remember when I first started doing these shows with The Riders Mag we took a 10x10 space and our booth consisted of a white and black vinyl banner that was stretched across the back of the booth, a hunk of old carpet, an old collapsible wooden table that JR probably picked up from the side of the road on garbage day and had to do battle with several nasty racoons to get, (Those coons didn’t stand a chance against a 6’3” Scott trying to save a buck or two!) covered with some black velour sheets a couple of fold-up chairs and a plastic tote full of t shirts. Set up consisted of setting all the above mentioned items within the perimeter of the allotted space, piling the Mags under the table and hiding them with the velour sheets. Sr. and I would show up early in the morning and hand out the Mags until JR and JB would show up late in the afternoon with a coffee and a sandwich for us. Teardown was usually done by the time the Awards Ceremonies were done and I’d come back to find my stuff sitting in a pile where our booth had been and our crew was

already on the way home. How things have changed. We now take up a 10x30 ft. space and will soon need more. Our set up now involves as many people as we can muster but we get by with usually three including myself, my F150 loaded to the hilt, a 12 ft. v nose trailer also fully loaded with my trike, a 10x20 canopy, ﬂoor covering, 5 banners, a fold up bar and display case and several boxes of shirts, other support items and tools and other stuff to put it all together. Stuff that we forgot to bring and stuff that wouldn’t fit in the first load would come the next day. We have established a ﬂuctuating crew of Volunteers that can swell to over twenty over the course of the Show and rapidly dwindles to as few as two by the time tear down came around. On top of all our usual stuff that needs to be done and ready for the Show, this year, there was also a push on to help promote the Rideau Rendezvous, Motorcycle Rally that is to take place this July 14 -16, 2017 in Sensational Smiths Falls. They didn’t get all the stuff in to us in time

to run an ad in the Mag that was being distributed at the Show but we all knew that there definitely had to be promotion done at this Show. I hired some of the models that have worked with me before and a couple of others that I knew. We then designed ﬂyers, a banner and clothing for the models all at the last

minute and got it to my buddies at Alfagraph in hopes that they would be able to make good on their sort of promise that they would try their best to get it all done in time. I had even picked up clothing to be imprinted and personally dropped it off at their shop at the beginning of the week. I commandeered the Amazing Anne into going down with me to Pickering the week before and we picked up all the boxes of books that Donny Peterson was to sell and sign at our booth over the weekend. I thought that there may be an outside chance that it could all come together without a hitch. That was plan “A” and I had faith. However, it seems, that no matter how far ahead we try to plan for it and prepare for it, when last minute add-ons add to the number of moving parts that need to be coordinated, come move in day all kinds of Hell can and usually does, break loose! Kind of like Murphy’s Law on crack! The scramble to get everything done is on! We try to get all the moving parts to mesh nicely together with no grinding, crunching or cracking noises! We strive for no accidents no injuries, no escapes, no defections, no asylum seekers, no fist fights, knife fights, gun fights, nuclear attacks or use of any weapons of mass destruction, no frantic 911 calls and no suicide attempts!

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We were shocked to discover that most of our carefully laid out plans have been replaced with those more resembling a shit show produced by a collaboration of The Three Stooges, The Marx Brothers and the Crew from Rowan and Martin’s Laugh in using the Monty Python’s Flying Circus bunch as consultants! None of the moving parts want to mesh, some of our key personnel are MIA, we have more than fifty lbs. of shit to squeeze into the forty lb. box and it is snowy and as cold as witch’s tit! We watched in disbelief, disillusionment and disappointment as plan our “A” dissolved before our eyes and disintegrated and plan “B” was just to wing it and hope for the best. Anyhow that is all on our end! The Show people all tried their best to make things as easy as possible for us but sometimes shit just happens! Fred Hale took pity on us and came over and lent a hand at one point. Eventually though, it all comes together and things get sorted out, the gears eventually mesh (sort of) and there is once again peace and tranquility throughout the Land of the Trillium and a quick stop at the LCBO and Beer Stores on the way home provides the much needed stress relief that (For me) only Captain Morgan and his friend 50 can deliver as they wash down several Tylenol 3’s and I settle into my Lazy boy chair with the Wonderdogs as they cheerfully compete for the attention of my one free hand (The glass is in the other one!) and I try to watch TV with my eyes closed. Just before my eyes close and I sense that consciousness is now mercifully drifting away, I see the heartwarming sight of Godzilla rolling her eyes toward heaven and shaking her head muttering (sort of to herself) “I told him not to take over the fucking magazine!” I smile and say to myself; “Tomorrow is another day! Tomorrow is another day! I’ll be happy to see those nice young men in their clean white coats! They’re coming to take me away! Ha! Ha! To the Funny Farm! Where life is beautiful all the time!”

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The next day begins well as our crew heads down in several different vehicles. My mission was head to Alfagraph in Mississauga and meet with my buddies Daniel and Krys who do some amazing silk screening and vinyl graphics (They are the ones who did the graphics on my F150 that everyone compliments me on!) and load up The Rideau Rendezvous banner and promotional outfits for the models to wear along with our newly designed Riders Mag Support shirts, patches and stickers and bring them back to the show where I would meet up with the rest of the crew and finish setting up before the Show started at Noon. All went pretty much as planned and we managed to sort out a couple of details and all was well with only one or two minor mental meltdowns on my part. Showtime! I headed directly to the beer garden and one of my two favourite bartenders from these shows beamed her radiant smile at me from behind the bar as she had already mixed my favourite Show concoction when she saw me heading her way. Things were looking a whole lot brighter now! So I just wandered Hall Five visiting here and there. Checking out the Bikes that were competing for the trophies and cash at this year’s show. I dropped by many of our advertisers booths and there were many. Once again we were in good company The Hale Family; Fred Ted and Amazing Amy from Strictly V Twin in Pefferlaw were set up directly across from us once again and Roger from JCR Rentals who hauls motorcycles down to warmer Climes also from Pefferlaw was kitty corner to us. My buddy Alain the jewelry guy from Quebec was also in his usual spot beside us, Beau and his Celtic Brotherhood Crew were on the other side of us and Pace Law Motorcycle division and The Rideau Rendezvous booth were beside him. All together there were plenty of our advertiser’s right there in Hall 5 in close proximity to us. AM Sales, TombStones Motorcycles, Motorcycle Enhancements, Eagle Eye, Wildside Terez Leather and many more. Everyone had their jobs to do and got down to it. Our volunteer photographer “JS” had taken over the photography duties and was constantly on the move and Scott who does a tremendous job of advertising sales frequently

switched between handing out Mags to visiting both existing and potential advertisers throughout the day. There were only a couple of the Rideau Rendezvous ladies in today as it was Friday, Many of the Girls have full time jobs and couldn’t get time off and I knew the crowds would be smaller. Mad Mary who volunteered to make sure that all went smoothly with the girls took charge and made sure the ladies all had outfits ready for them when they arrived later in the day and that our initial crew of Briiana and Pam were outfitted and briefed as to what they were expected to do. Donny Petersen showed up and took his position at the table where his books were spread across it, pen in hand and poised for action as the doors opened and the crowds started to ﬂow in he had a steady line up the whole time he was there. He is an excellent writer, has published so many books, is a notable expert in his field, has a Worldwide following and it was no surprize to me that he is a huge draw to the booth and to the Show itself. We advertised in the Mag and through our Social Media outlets that he would be there and there were a lot of people who came to the Show just to see and meet him. He told me later that he feels awkward doing these things as he is basically a shy guy but once the people started to come around and he got into the ﬂow of things he settled in to be the engaging guy that his friends see all the time and he started to relax and enjoy himself. He felt at first that he may have been over optimistic with the amount of books that he brought to the Show. I think he underestimated his popularity as most of what he brought were sold. I’m proud to have him on board with us at The Riders Mag and glad he could come to the Show. I hope that he will be with us at The Spring Motorcycle Show in March. Paula, our diminutive firecracker from Campbellford (AKA) “Little Red” showed up early and got right down to it. She has been a tremendous asset to The Mag since she came on board and has developed quite a loyal following of her own. She had our new Support Shirts organized in no time and then joined in to help hand out tons of Magazines. There was a decent crowd on Friday but

we all knew that Saturday would be the Killer! We were right! From the moment the doors opened the place filled to insane levels and there was a constant audible buzz of activity right up until around six o’clock or so when the crowds begins to wane. To say it was a busy day would be an understatement and it was all hands on deck for The Riders Mag crew as well as the Ladies who now were joined by Brandie, Darlene and Texas doing the promotion for The Rideau Rendezvous

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Motorcycle Event that is taking place in Sensational Smiths Falls July 14-16, 2017. They were all there looking Sensational and they were everywhere at The Show travelling with armloads of flyers and making everyone they met aware of this great new event! The Riders Mag booth was a beehive of activity Tanya (The Mag Hag) Scott and Peppermint Patty who have been my Show Crew since I took over The Mag were all there and super busy. We were joined by our other cartoonist Mike and his Son Andrew, my buddy Bryan Davis so The Mags were now flying out of the booth. Tanya took charge of the booth which included the display case making sure all items were displayed properly and proper pricing and signage was in place and gave the booth a feeling of organization. One of our South Western guys, Bernie also stopped in for a while on his way back from the OCC meeting earlier in the day. We recently had another old friend of mine join our Riders Mag Crew to lend a hand with graphics and such. Kimber LaLonde is an incredible artist and I brought her in to occupy part of the table with Donny and display a sampling of her work. So yes there was a lot of activity at the Riders Mag Booth. The Show itself was setting record attendance levels and the parking lots were reportedly jammed to overflowing and the alternative

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parking lots at the Go station were also being used. The Show brought in reality TV Celebrities Dog the Bounty Hunter and his big breasted lady Beth in as this year’s Celebrity Guests. They didn’t hold any fascination for me personally as I have never seen the show, but there were long lineups throughout the event of people waiting to see them and get autographs and such. So it obviously worked out well for the Supershow who seem to be putting much effort to attract and entertain people with more than just Motorcycles. There were a lot of great looking motorcycles and as usual, lots of interesting concepts and radical ideas went into some of these creations that ranged from Mild to Wild and some moved closer to incredible! Such was the case for John Cosentini from Motorcycle Enhancements and his “Radical Rat Bike”. I had been getting glimpses of this beast as it came together in his shop for some time now and it is a definite one of a kind build! I couldn’t even begin to write it up in any way that would accurately describe it! A picture or even a series of pictures or video couldn’t do it justice! It needs to be seen up close and personal and you would need a good deal of time to take it all in and appreciate all the little intricacies, nuances, patience, time, imagination, talent, engineering skills, mechanical skills, fabrication skills and utter madness that went into this build. It is a cross between a mechanical and engineering marvel and a work of art and it will be ridable. I will call it incredible! It is still a work in progress and as they were waiting on a couple of components to put it on the road and runnable, was just assembled to display it at this show! I guarantee you that even when you see it close up you won’t see all that is going on with this beast in one sitting! While on the subject of John Consentini and Motorcycle Enhancements. I had John and his fine crew do a little project for me that was also brought to this show. I’ll share a short but very important bit of information with you before I get back to John’s part in this project. My Managing Editor AL was afflicted with a particularly nasty disease called Guillime Barre Syndrome. It is the same nasty shit that attacked another Brother of mine, CB a number of years ago. It is a disease that causes paralysis and nerve and irreparable muscle damage and it left both of them in in not the best of shape. Al was hit especially hard and didn’t recover nearly as well as CB. He was left in a diminished physical state to the point where he had to give up a very productive and active lifestyle and live on a very mod-

est Government pension and use a mobility scooter for transportation. I met him a few years before I took over The Mag and he helped me out with computer issues, sound equipment problems for the show and shines that I was running as Critter Country back then. When this whole Magazine Publishing thing reared its head I said I needed help if I was going to be able to pull it off as I knew a little about the programs needed to properly produce The Mag. The little I knew about the programs was what the programs were called and that I didn’t possess the knowledge to run them or the inclination to be locked away in an office working on them all the time! This was however right up his alley and the good part is when I told him that I couldn’t pay much, he said that’s OK I don’t need to be paid! Unbeknownst to me, he had promised Godzilla that he would help and try to prevent me from having another stroke as she didn’t want me to take over the Damned Magazine in the first place and has never forgiven JR for dumping it on me! Al came on board and found a real sense of purpose again and threw himself into it to the point where it was almost an obsession. He lets me do what I do for the Mag and it seems to be working! About four or five years ago I was delivering Mags and visiting with another very good friend of mine from Beaverton, Gerry Hurren, and I spotted this unusual looking three wheeled yellow scooter among all the other odds an sods, lawn mowers, bicycles, motorcycles and other such treasures that adorn his driveway and drive shed and asked about it. “You want it?” he asked. I told him I was just curious because it might be something that I could fix up for Al and asked if he wanted to sell it. Next thing I know he’d dropped it off in my driveway left me a message that it was free to me. I moved it around the back of my shop where it just sat getting dirtier and cluttering the place up for the next bunch of years. This is where John from Motorcycle Enhancements come back into the picture! I have always been very impressed with John and his abilities since I first met him at The National Motorcycle Show in Toronto and heard about his involvement with a brilliant young inventor by the name of Ben Gulak in the development of an unusual prototype motorcycle called the Uno. My Daughter Charlene (Godzooki) even rode it around the show! This was before Ben went on Dragons Den and scored a deal for $1,250,000.00 worth of Venture capital. Last Spring I took some pictures of the ugly yellow scoot-

er and sent them to John, told him the story and asked if this would be a project that he would be willing to take on. His response was “Get it here and Let’s Play!” Scott and I loaded it up and dropped it off and I just left it up to John be creative and get it done. I sent some $ for new batteries and such but hadn’t seen it completed until he presented it to Al on the Saturday night. We weren’t sure if it would be finished in time as they had some unexpected electrical problems occur. That night Al and I were sitting in the beer garden with Mike and Teresa from Hogtown in Lucan (Home to the World Famous Baconfest!) and a few other friends when Scott tracked me down and whispered to me that the scooter was now at Motorcycle Enhancements booth and was being kept under wraps. I needed a little subterfuge and enlisted Teresa’s help and she and Mike took Al outside for a smoke until I called Al and told him that we had huge problems back inside and he should meet me in the Beer Garden. The ruse worked and we got him back to do the presentation. As an added touch I grabbed one of the pretty, scantily clad young ladies who was wandering by at the time and set her on his lap for a photo-op. Al seemed incredibly surprized by the whole thing and seemed to love it. He convinced Teresa to hop on the back and the two of them roared off to explore the show on AL’s new and unique set of wheels. Thanks Al for all you do and have done for me, The Riders Mag and all of our customers who like Motorcycle Enhancements recognize all the extra things that you do for them and appreciate it! I was very impressed with all of the hard work John and

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his amazing crew from Elaine in the office right on down to Panda and his buddy Rocco because I’m sure they all had a hand or paw in it somehow! Thanks to you all! Sunday at The Supershow is a wind down day. I try to get in early and wander with my camera and get some shots and take in the other Halls before the heavy crowds come in. It was the first time all weekend that I even took my camera out of the case. I wandered out and checked in with Gord and crew from Black Gold up in Newmarket and was happy to hear that he was having a good show! I ran into Len from Len’s Auto from Jarvis who was setup in a different location this year and even his set up was different but those Rewako Trikes are instantly recognizable especially with all the monkeys all over them. I visited with Tim, The Bike Lawyer for a bit before venturing further all the way to Hall 1. It was configured differently this year too but I managed to figure it out and pressed on. I found Lou and the Highway of Heroes display and was able to stop there awhile before making it to the very end of Hall one! I had reached the apex of my trek without the benefit of a GPS, maps or Sherpa guides and would now head back and see who and what I’d

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missed on the return trip. I ran smack into David Purdy and his display for “Cannonball Rides” and he was extremely happy with the response that he was getting at the show. Bad Bob along with previous publisher of the Mag JR and his Dad, the affable SR. came in around noon and stayed for a while. Many people ask me about Sr. all the time and it was certainly good to see him! He loved doing these Shows and we had been partnered up together for a lot of years we spent a lot of time together and I miss him! Our Northern guy, Guy and his lovely, soon to be official, Bride Julie stopped in for the day on a stopover before heading down to Hell, Michigan to challenge whatever Deities who may be pissed off or whatever superstitions that exist by get married on Friday 13th at 13:13 hours. I wish them good luck…Or maybe that should be Bad Luck? It will be interesting to see what the future holds in store for this lovely couple. I almost made it back without buying anything but a lovely lady stopped me and talked me into a free demonstration of some, as she described them, amazing insoles, that would solve all or most of my obvious mobility issues. I was sceptical as I have bought many amazing products at these and other shows that have never seen the outside of the bag or box that I brought them home in. (Anybody want a deal on an pulsating electric pad kit that you attach to your body and can cure cancer, heal leprosy broken bones and protect you from knife attacks, bear attacks,

shark attacks and give you the ability to ﬂy?) Anyhow she put these miracle insoles in my boots and told me to walk a short distance and back (I knew she wasn’t going to let me walk far and probably had little transmitters in there so she could track me down if I decided they worked real good and just kept going!) They were marvelous! I bought them! I keep waiting for them to selfdestruct but they haven’t yet and my feet feel great! They are better than the expensive orthotics that I have bought over the years. They are called PLS Insoles and they are Canadian Eh! Tell them that Critter sent you! www.plsinsoles.ca. I found another incredible product on my walkabout as

well. Incredibly the product is called Incredible Spread’em. It is a garlic spread and it is as advertised; incredible!! I think I’ve had some on various things every day since the show and at the rate the tub of the incredible stuff is disappearing I know Godzilla likes it too and I will soon have to buy more! I’ll have to learn that when I find something that is really good I shouldn’t say “Hey ‘Zilla you have to try this incredible stuff! It’s incredible!” I’ve tried faking her out telling her she’d hate something but she knows I’m lying. www.IncredibleGARLICSPREAD.com . Anyhow, it was another great show but I was glad to see it end! I’m old and can’t take this much good exciting stuff in such large doses anymore. Thanks to the Supershow for doing such an incredible (My word for the day!) job! Thanks to my crew for putting up with my senile old crap! A special thanks to the newest member of our crew Miss Kitty! You did an amazing job and were an absolute hit with our entire crew, anybody around us and anybody who tried to get passed you without taking a copy of The Riders Mag!

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TAKE DAD WILL TRAVEL…

By Stacy Stone aka Armpit Sally

So I guess I’ll start with a little about myself as this is the first time I’ve written what seems to be an Essay since high school, which wasn’t that long ago…. (Snickering to self) I’m a mom of three handsome boys and a InLovingMemory of My Dad beautiful step daughter ranging from 31 to 16 JohnHoraceManning years old and the wife to Dec.08.1931–April.21.2013 an amazing man, my hubby Mike Stone which I give BIG PROPS to for putting up with me for as long as he has… Love you Baby… We live in Abbotsford B.C. and I work where we live as a Resident Manager (not one of those BAD slumlords) with my step daughter and 3 ferrets. Life is pretty slow here so I guess it’s time to fill it with some words of my experience as a rider/motorcycle enthusiast…. One of my greatest trips was in May 2013 with my husband, another couple and my Dad who had passed on April 21, 2013, so of course I had to bring Dad along cause I didn’t feel right leaving him at home by himself. I made a promise to myself that Dad would travel everywhere with me when I rode, so this was our 1st trip together. Dad is in an Urn not a coffin just so we’re clear on that. Plus Dad took up less space this way… It wasn’t really a planned trip, we decided that we would

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tent it and maybe the last night a hotel. It was basically ride until the sun came down then stop for the night kind of road trip. We geared up and headed out from Surrey to hit the Trans Canada, beautiful sun shining warm morning, the best start of a great trip. Our 1st stop was The Old Alexandra Bridge just outside Spuzum. I know I know, but I didn’t name it… I left a little of my Dad under the bridge just before we left. We proceeded down the highway doing a buck ten, wind in our faces and bugs in our teeth – You know the feeling Right…???

We pulled into the town of Lytton where our good friend Ken lives for a surprise visit. Ken lives just on the outskirts of town high up on a mountain off a gravel road and he owns some nice acreage. When you first ride into Ken’s

you are greeted with this tall wooden arch over the driveway that has the world’s biggest watch hanging off to the side, but that’s NOTHING compared to all the “Yard Art” he has everywhere. Boobies made from old satellite dishes to the BIGGEST Harley Davidson ever. Every piece of yard art has a meaning. This man is an absolute genius. Ken is an older very quiet to himself kind of guy, but if you “POP” in he has the time to explain the world to you. One man’s brilliant view on the world and in some quirky way it makes sense. We spent the night on Ken’s property looking and read-

ing everything in the yard. Tent pitched, bikes parked, wind blowing and cold one in hand. After a “rocky” night’s sleep, we rose to the sun kissing our faces and the warm May air blowing gently. We packed our tents up walked around one more time before venturing out onto the road again when Ken asked if I would like to leave a bit of Dad on

the property, of course I said YES. I walked over to the BIGGEST Harley Davidson and proceeded to put some of my Dad’s ashes in the carb of this HUGE motor. I blew my Dad a kiss as we left Ken’s property on our way to Spences Bridge. I would definitely recommend a stop in at Ken’s Place, whether your riding or driving it’s a definite MUST see. I have no idea of the address, but you can stop into any little shop in Lytton and ask for directions - just say Ken’s Place. Out here it’s not always how far you go but how you get there and where you’re going to…

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One for the road

Winter is here. And with the ice and snow that has spread it’s cold, cruel hands along our walkways, roads and even our back deck, it only fuels the need to attend the few motorcycle related events offered over this shitty season we call Winter. One of the biggest events is one that needs no longwinded introduction. The North American International Motorcycle Supershow. Ta-da! Ok, my intention was to be at the show early Friday, to help with the set up for our very own Riders Mag booth. In preparing and packing for the weekend, I contacted Al (our trusted editor) and informed him of my intentions to help. To my surprise, Al, Critter and Scott were already there…. on Thursday…setting up the booth! Damn it, even when I’m attempting to be helpful, I’m late. So, Friday it is, and I need to make up for my piss-poor planning from the day before. I hauled my ass outta bed and with Mike driving, we trekked to Toronto... in the cold…..Jesus its cold! Upon our arrival, Mike dropped me off as he had work to do and I had full intentions of working this booth and getting the Mag in everyone’s hand! Bright and early! Shit! Wouldn’t you know it, I’M LATE AGAIN! Getting in the door, the immediate feel of excitement from folks in line waiting to get in just built my excitement up more. I love Fridays at the show. It’s busy (not like Saturday) but you get time to actually speak with readers of The Mag and catch up with buddies. So, I headed to the booth and Critter had me working right away. We had new shirts and patches to sell. My job was to put all the shirts away so they were handy when being sold, plus I got to sport the new women’s fitted Riders Mag T-shirt. Love the v-neck! Our very own Donny showed up to get his books in the hands of people that needed his expertise, experience and advice. Al and Critter roamed the show, making sure Mags

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…..with Lil Red

were out at various other booths that supported The Mag. Scott and I manned the booth, and Pace Law had some lovely ladies roaming around the booth as well. Now for most of the day, I was the pain in the ass that you saw in front of The Riders Mag booth. I met a number of readers that knew (and read) my article, as well as catching up with some of my friends through the biz. Kim from the event up in Apsley called ‘Always Apsley’ was there. As was Chris and Brian Cairns from CC Cycles. And these guys do such great work on HarleyDavidson bikes (as well as other bikes, but I ride an HD so I’m biased as that’s all that’s important!) And Brian said their shop is moving. From what I hear (and have seen) they’re getting so big that their location just can’t keep up. My trusty chiropractor, Dr. Dan in Stirling was there with a buddy. A new group of guys that I’ve met this past year that do a nice, scenic poker run ride are the Redneck M.C. They stopped by to check out Donny’s book and said ‘hey’ on the walk-by. During this time, I was bugging everyone to get a Mag in their hands. Some folks thought I was the cover girl for

December (ﬂattered but nope, not a cover girl yet). Even had a few folks asking for my autograph, which made for a chuckle. I was keeping my eyes open for some new buddies I’ve met on facebook, like Jay Brown and Ed Frankowski (Ed

was crazy!) I would’ve loved stepping aside to shoot the shit and see what you ride! Walking through we decided to hit the bar. Wouldn’t you know it, Mr. Critter was sitting at a very busy table, surrounded by some lovely ladies. We did get to stop by the BACA booth (Bikers Against Child Abuse) and I encourage you to look these folks up. We’re getting some swag from them to get the word out and I gotta say, I’m contemplating talking with them to open up a chapter out between Ottawa and Toronto. I love what these folks do for kids, and we took extra time to introduce and speak with Duke and Anne (this girl is such a firecracker!!). If you’ve never been to this show, you really need to get

joined my new facebook page, ‘L’il Red “The Riders Mag” Central and Eastern Ontario’ and won a year subscription to the Mag plus a bunch of chocolate goodies over Christmas!) You should check out the page. Sometimes I give away stuff! When I finally grabbed a drink, it was after 3! The day just ﬂew by. Tomorrow I get to come back, meet more folks and roam with friends to do some admiring of my own. Now Saturday was fun! We stayed at a hotel so we met up with some friends to ﬂoat around the show with. I had lots of pics to take. And one of my friends (shhh it’s a secret) might just be buying something. Something shiny and BLUE! It was so busy that everytime someone tapped me on the shoulder in a group of people to say ‘Hey Red!, I said hi but had no idea who they were. (I’m sorry, the crowd

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your ass there. With people and bikes, it’s truly a fantastic weekend to catch up with friends you don’t see often and see some really beautiful bikes! The following weekend was an event at Classy Chassis, called the ‘Winter Sucks Open House.’

Walking in, I immediately noticed some of the major changes Critter previously talked about. All the bikes that were normally in the other building were now in the main one. I couldn’t find John anywhere, but I caught up with Charlene (this girl is ALWAYS busy!) She told me that there were a few staff changes, maternity and such, and mentioned their upcoming event, ‘Plan your Day Ride’ on Jan. 28th, and the ‘International Women Who

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Ride’ event coming up again in May. (If you remember, I took part it in last year and not only do you get a great scenic ride, but they took us to a couple of great little bakeries and shops to check out! Now for my informative and interactive section…..FYI…. the Quinte Ride for Paws that’s in August this year will be held at Centennial Park in Trenton (The same place as their popular Ride for Paws Poker Run is held!) CALLING ALL BADASSES!!!!! There’s a calendar being made, and it’s to benefit Ride for Paws. If you’re a badass, tough looking rider, then they need you to share the other end of the lense with a cute ‘n cuddly puppy, kitten, or even racoon maybe! Get in touch with me and I’ll send you to the chick that’s organizing it.

As always, if you have an event in the 705/613 and want my bubbling personality to attend, shoot me an email at L’ilred@theridersmag.com. I’ve also got a new facebook page for motorcycle events, funnies, informative pages and give-aways, like and follow and I’ll do my best to keep you up-to-date on events in and around the 705/613 area. Check it out at ‘L’il Red “The Riders Mag” Central and Eastern Ontario’.

Who knew a quick posting on Facebook would lead me here – the North American International Motorcycle Supershow? A few months ago, my friend Bear posted a group of riders were heading to my town and I subsequently joined them. They had come to visit Duke, the President of B.A.C.A. (Bikers Against Child Abuse) Simcoe Chapter; an organization I was interested in. Soon afterward, I had the pleasure of meeting the infamous and ever so charming Critter at one of the local restaurants. Fast forward to January, and here I am, now a member of B.A.C.A. and the Riders’ Mag, and putting on lots of miles between the two booths – what an amazing experience! In the past, I had been a visitor to the show, but now I was seeing it from the other side. The major highlights that stood out were the overwhelming support shown to B.A.C.A.; the presentation of Al Wolske’s new wheels, courtesy of Critter and John Costentini of Motorcycle Enhancements; the stories shared from others working at the show, and the camaraderie amongst everyone in attendance

(especially on Saturday when so many of my HD-ROC friends stopped by our booth). To my brothers and sister of B.A.C.A., it became evident how I had come to have the road name of “Hugz” – at one point, I even forgot a friend’s name, there were so many people to hug and I was on overload. I also had the pleasure of meeting members from the London and Niagara chapters of B.A.C.A, and spent a bit of time with Motorcycle Beau, learning a bit about traumatic brain injury awareness. But the most touching experiences were the sto-

ries shared by people who wished that B.A.C.A. had been around when they were children. Several of these stories brought tears to my eyes and highlighted, even more, the need for such an organization and how much of a positive impact we can bring to a child. No child should ever have to live in fear! And so, after three full days, it was time to go home. Thank you to all who stopped by, and to B.A.C.A. and Critter for this experience – it will not be soon forgotten. And for those of you wanting to know more information B.A.C.A., please visit us on-line at www.Canada.bacaworld.org. Until the next time! Gypsy Hugz

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Well here it is – Feb. issue and I feel I haven’t seen my bikes in years. Depression was starting to set in, but things started to happen that got my adrenalin running again and might be worth writing about. First off, we’ll tell you about “Atlantic Jeff ’s day in court”. Back in Nov. I had a verbal altercation with a local idiot who was chain sawing down the area behind our property (which also serves as a noise barrier between us and the main highway). After telling him what I thought of his project I walked away, I thought my job was done, but NO, later that evening 3 RCMP officers appeared and charged me with “possession of a weapon” (although, I did have my dewalt cordless drill in my hand because I was doing some house repairs at the time). He went to the RCMP and told them that I pulled a gun on him. Thanks to RCMP group who were looking after this , I think that “the biker with a gun” is over. (After all, if I had a gun he would have a hole!) Is anybody out there missing your village idiot? I know where he is! By the way If a Biker goes to a steak house , order the soup ‘cause if you pick up a knife??? And forget golf and baseball is defiantly out of the question.! OK let’s get down to important stuff. I want to let the readers know that we have a new distributor/writer on board with the Mag. His name is Rob Barrett from Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia. Having several conversations with Rob, I think he will be an asset to the Mag, as he has the determination and drive that will keep this Mag going! When Rob is not riding he wastes his time as a school teacher, building boats and instructing a woodworking shop, all of this while being a valuable member of B.A.C.A. Riding Club. We will be hearing a lot from Rob in the

welcoming issues. Welcome aboard Rob!

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Next, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re going up to Miramichi to visit with an advertiser and distributor of the Mag and the owner of Carter Customs, Ian Carter. Ian has been commissioned to do the art and paint for the Bacchus 1980 FLHC fully customized H.D. that is up for raffle. I will follow until completion, and draw to follow at the Riverview bike show (4th annual) on April 29th, 2017, more to follow. Proceeds will go to the boys and girls club and Hillsborough school breakfast program. In closing I want to thank all of the new advertisers for jumping on board and ask others to join in to keep this Mag a Ride free, Read free Mag. I will be talking to all in the near future (and writing about you!) Also thanks to 81 Atlantic for your new support gear, until next month. PS: Sorry Boss your not mentioned in this issue! Jeff, signing off

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Allan (Al) “Trapper” Boudreau Sept. 5 1967 – Jan. 11 2017

Al was amazing in so many different ways, to so many different people. With a great sense of humor, witt and sarcasm, but like a big brother that always looked out for his friends. ALWAYS. He was such a loving and caring guy who would give you the shirt off his back if need be. Never will he be forgotten.

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Terry Lyle a.k.a Bunga May 21, 1957- Dec 2, 2016 On Dec 2, 2016 God decided he needed another angel. Apparently nobody explained to God that we needed our “Doctor” and our rock! We followed as a procession of motorcycles escorted the king of our bikers to his �inal resting place. Apparently God didn’t understand we still need him to lead our future rides. Apparently God didn’t understand that a party without him is missing the life and really isn’t a party at all. We won’t forgive God for thinking he needed BUNGA more then we did. We don’t care God needed an angel.... Cambridge still needed their damn mayor. (According to Bunga) We’ve shed a thousand tears since you departed, but we’ll still try and laugh, share stories and memories as we toast in your memory with Bunga Juice.

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Duke’s Harley-Davidson’s® great looking shop gleams like a beacon as it comes into view from the 401 and it is always a welcome sight for any Harley Rider from near or far. The big, bold, bar and shield illuminated sign proudly and prominently displayed on the front of the building is a symbol of the quality tradition and heritage that the name and the logo have come to represent Worldwide since 1903. For Harley Owners anywhere it is a sign that they have come to a place that their prized motorcycles will receive the care and service that Harley-Davidson® demands of their dealers, that only genuine Harley-Davidson® parts are used and all work is performed by factory trained and certified technicians and is 100% warranty approved. That is key to the Harley-Davidson® dealer system and what you get from any and all Harley-Davidson® Dealers anywhere in the World. It is a guaranteed level of service and satisfaction. It is certainly comforting to know that when you are on the road and the unexpected happens or your motorcycle is just due for service, when you find a store displaying that sign, your needs will be met and you know that you have come to the right spot. That holds true for Duke’s HarleyDavidson® as well and they are ready willing and able to perform to all the standards that the factory sets for dealers and then some. To the local Harley owners and for the ones who have discovered how great this shop is and travel great distances to get here, Duke’s is far more than just another Harley-Davidson® Dealer. The crew at Duke’s have developed a special, personal, relationship with their customers and a way of making them feel comfortable when they come through the doors. Whether they came in for service or to buy a new or used motorcycle from the enormous selection of over 90 Harley-Davidson® units, in stock, all fully serviced, ready to go, and priced to sell or to look through the huge

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selection of the latest in Motorclothes™ and chrome goodies and accessories or to get some advice from the friendly, knowledgeable staff or just get together and swap stories with fellow enthusiasts in the comfortable lounge area, this is the place to do it. Duke’s Harley-Davidson® experienced a phenomenal 2016 and with the recent changes that Harley-Davidson® has done to their motorcycles has spurred renewed consumer interest and excitement and 2017 is shaping up to be even better. These factory innovations, combined with the ongoing, concerted efforts and commitment of the entire Duke’s crew from the owners to General Manager - Chris Hall, Controller – Dave Brooks, New Service Manager – Scott Merrill, Parts Associate – Jim, Motorclothes™ Consultant – Becky and Techs – JP and Russ who make up the Duke’s H-D family display on a daily basis are going to make sure of it! They strive to provide the very best possible service and products to their customers. They take pride and satisfaction in their work and their ability to be the best and they value their customers. The service area is second to none and they have a solid reputation for their performance work and upgrading that guarantees your bike will run at absolute optimum levels! They also offer some great deals on storage, detailing and other custom services in house and can arrange other custom work through their vast network of professionals. Duke’s is always on the lookout for deals on anything that they can then pass along to their customers and they are generous supporters of many local charity rides and functions. Duke’s run many helpful workshops going on throughout the Year that will benefit their customers. I have included the list of upcoming events that takes you through to the end of the year. This is constantly being updated so keep an eye on their website www.dukeshd.com Serving Customers since 2005 !!!

Duke’s Harley-Davidson® 2017 Events Calendar Feb. 11 Feb. 25 March 11 March 25 April 15 May 6 June 1O July 14 Aug. 26 Sept. 17 Oct. 17 Nov. 11 Dec. 2

Duke’s Loves You! SALE Performanceworkshop Helmet Clinic Break Out Of Storage Riding Gear Workshop Blessing Of The Bikes V.O.N. Event Demo Ride Bike Festival 2018 Model Open House Winter Storage Workshop Tech Talk New P&A Christmas Open House

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Part II: Riding the Baltic States

We begin the adventure. We are riding through Norway (Bergen to Drammen) to Sweden (Eskilstuna to Stockholm), boating across the Baltic Sea to Estonia (Talinn to Tartu), then to Riga Latvia,

Run to the Big Party 2016. We are riding the long way in a big circle through 8 countries and two overnight mega ferries.

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onto Kaunas Lithuania, to the big party in Warsaw, Poland, and then back to Norway through the rest of Poland, across Germany (Berlin), up the length of Denmark (Odense to Hirtshals) and then boat across the North Sea home to Bergen, Norway. We begin to ride over, around, and through the Norwegian mountains; traversing ocean �ords and riding around pristine lakes. Our first stop for the night will be at the Drammen, Norway clubhouse about 500 kilometers away on the other side of the mountains.

Preparing for the ride at the clubhouse in Bergen Norway.

Finally, the trip begins. The pass we need to ride through was closed by snow this time last year. The boys from Bergen are taking me on the scenic tour. They are proud of their country and righ�ully so. They are being too nice to me. I can’t take it. Someone or some people have been a�er me my whole life. Everyone being genuinely nice is diﬃcult to adjust to...as nice as it is. I need someone picking on me. I deal well with that. I am sure Egil, a�er reading this will try to accomodate me and try to be mean. He is so nice as all the Norwegians are and wants me to have a good time. We are in for a full day of mountain riding. Canadian terrain of both coasts is similar to Norway’s. Canada’s East Coast also has �ords like Norway. I have only seen pictures of Newfoundland �ords as they are further north, off the beaten path. Norweigian �ords seem to be everywhere until deep into the mountains. There is no such thing as traveling in a straight line in Norway unless ﬂying. One is always riding

over, under, through, or around the beautiful topography. Furthermore, there is no ﬂat riding as the roads undualte up-and-down. The guys are riding at speed. They like blasting around corners, bikes leaned over. I am new here. I am not so enthusiastic as I do not know what is around the corners or over a mountainous incline. Logic tells me that we are on a highway and all will be okay. However, riding off a highway into an icy �ord, canyon or mountain meadow would also be easy to do. I do not like my all time favorite bike, the Street Glide. I am riding the best one ever, a 2016 model with life saving ABS brakes, new shocks and all components behaving well because of their newness. The bike is loosey-goosey in tight handling situations. I am too used to my tight handling (soon to be discontinued) Victory. Andreʹ, who watches my every move to ensure I am okay follows on his VRod. He is nervous about me as I am. The Street Glide does not like the speed around corners and stuff as I try to keep up to our small pack. The two lane highway constantly winds around and back, up and down, never staying the same. Some switchbacks test riding skill. We start slow, adjusting to the twisties, soon adapting and picking up speed, leaning the bikes more and more, ﬂipping back and forth. Exhilaration abounds as man becomes one with machine. I realize that I am leaning over further than ever before on a big Harley. The new frame introduced in 2009 is a huge help in keeping the bikes stable. There are new tires in the last few years that grip the road better than before. The bikes build confidence. We ride faster and faster. A�er the first day, I forget my Victory and adapt once again, fully to the Street Glide. I can now keep up and stay in the proper lane as we pound the pavement.

We stop beside a mountain lake. It is still warm. Jorn decides to ﬂex for the camera. Andreʹ and I are in the background.

The mountain tunnels in Norway are hi-tech compared to those in North America. Radios still work and Wifi keeps people connected deep down. Many of the tunnels have traﬃc interchanges with intersecting routes. Instead of our intersections, they use roundabouts to change tunnel direction. The longest tunnel is 25 km. However, we took a different route through the mountains. We ride through one tunnel 7.5 kilometrers long. We burst into sunlight onto a long suspension bridge over a majestic �ord; igneous rock rising out of the sea, carpeted with bright green foliage; framed by a clear blue sky. As soon as the bridge is traversed we ride through another mountain tunnel with interchanges connecting to other tunnels. We emerge to ride around a mountain on a perfectly built highway, then enter a different kind of tunnel going under a �ord. I get an idea how deep these intrusions from the ocean are. Trucks must use lower gears as we descend and descend. We ﬂatten out before the long climb up the far underside of the fijord above.

The mountain pass: our feet are cold, our heads are warm. The air is fresh and crisp. The scenery is stunning. We are now at the snowy pass at the top. It is not as cold as it looks. We are surrounded by snow and ice but the sun is hot. A�er all, it is a summer June day. We are lucky. Last year, in the same June week, we took the ferry to Denmark on our trip to the big party in Greece. This same mountain pass was closed due to heavy snows. THE RIDERS MAG ----- PAGE 35

Jason Staham and I tanning our faces while we pretend not to be posers. Bikers only pretend, they do not want their pictures taken.

We have been mostly riding uphill until now where I have to adapt to high speed cornering while going downhill; a minor adjustment but an adjustment nevertheless. This is a thoroughly enjoyable ride. I can only imagine it in a cold rain. The most beautiful places seem to rain a lot but we are very lucky this trip. On the leeward side of the mountains, where we are now, it rains much less. We are protected from the North Sea, moisture laden winds that constantly soak the windward sides of these mountains in places like Bergen.

Mountain meadow; the mountainous terrain begins to ease. Pristine mountain meadows now delight our eyes more frequently. We are closer to Drammen, our first stop.

We arrive at the Drammen clubhouse, located off the highway outside of the city on a mountain lake. It is gorgeous. This is one small room of many. One of the boys is a great cook. We are served with two pork tenderloin roasts with vegetables and all the fixings. The unending dessert is not good for me. I can eat an awful lot. The sun is going down at 11:15pm. We are further north than home. We are ge�ng close to Sweden. The choppers are ge�ng more radical. The basement of the clubouse has doors to the rear parking lot. There is a full scale member bike shop. Shovelheads are everywhere. The one pictured is ge�ng final work for the ride. I look at it and think, no way this

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bike will make the run. It is out there; too radical. It will break down all over the place. Lo and behold, one more time. In Warsaw, 5 countries away, I see the bike parked outside a tent. The home made springer front end with a dampening shock and a disc brake is not rusty as it has been clearcoated.

Drammen Shovelhead chopper geďż˝ng ready for the ride. We have gravitated to the basement work shop. There is no better place to congregate over a few (or more) beers.

The next day we head out to the Eskilstuna, Sweden clubhouse for the night before leaving for Stockholm, Sweden and the mega ferry across the Baltic Sea to Estonia.

Donny Petersen The Ironhead Sportster: 1957 to 1985 (1036 pages) is finally available. www.iUniverse.com, Amazon, online everywhere

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Like years past my column will start with the annual trip to Toronto for the International Motorcycle Supershow that takes place the first weekend in January and held at the Toronto International Centre. By far the Biggest Indoor Motorcycle show in North America. The ride down and back is almost always as memorable as the show itself. This year I had an incident with my van so we made the journey down with Chuck driving Hark and myself in his pickup truck and while the back of the truck held everything we needed for our booth and the inside of the cab was just a little too tight for the three of us. Just hooking up our seat belts brought howls of laughter and a whole new meaning of intimacy that men should never experience. Once we arrived there were the usual problems when setting up at the show but we figured that we actually handled it pretty well and once the booth was up we headed out to find our hotel and get settled in our rooms. When we showed up the next morning we took a little time to take a peek in the salon we were set up which conveniently happened to be the same one that has most of the custom bikes and builders. Again this year, the show pulled in some really interesting concepts in show bikes. We could have spent the whole day just admiring the bikes in our hall alone. Our booth was situated between the Mag booth and Pace Law, Motorcycle Division so we were able to help

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out in both of them while greeting people who came by our TCB Busted Bucket Challenge booth promoting traumatic brain injury awareness.

The days get long when you are doing a show and the appearance of friendly faces whether they are new ones or familiar ones, make a big difference in how fast time goes by. This show had its moments. Even though Eastern Ontario was going into a deep freeze there was still a very large number of people that came to Toronto to take in the show and for many of those who chose Saturday it turned into a very long wait on Hwy 401 east of Oshawa where there was 100 plus vehicle pileup. For some of my friends and readers it was well over 4-5 hours before they could get on their way again. Lucky the weather towards Toronto was not as severe as back in the east and everyone we knew that made it to the show was still in good spirits because most folks from the east make the whole journey a one day event and some were concerned that they might have a similar issue going home. Each year I am both amazed and humbled at how many people drop by to say hello that I have never met before but because of the Mag and them reading my articles they feel like we are friends and add to that the people that I am friends with already. It is no wonder that I love doing what I do. On the Saturday alone there had to be over a 150 people

from the Ottawa Valley and Seaway area that made a point to stop by and check in and say hi while they were enjoying the show. I went off to the refreshment area to discuss with a number of them plans for promoting their particular ride or event this upcoming season. One of the many positive aspects of the Riders Mag is that it is expanding the awareness in the motorcycle/biker community. Rides and events that once were only local events to where they are getting riders from all over. We like to encourage motorcycle riders from other areas to come and participate and in turn we want to ride out and take part in theirs. I suppose you could say ‘more miles makes for more smiles!’ During the day some of the people that stopped by were John Putnam from the Star Riders, accompanied by Wayne Leeman founder of Kingston’s Ride for Kids who happened to mention that he may be delegating some of the responsibilities for the ride to others. I can certainly understand that because putting a ride together is a monumental task. and sometimes, like this past summer his ride took a beating from the rainy weather. Interestingly, Wayne had a number of gift cards etc that he didn’t give out during his event so he kindly gave them over to another one that took place later on in the season (Which in my books is the mark of a class act.) and we wish Wayne and the Ride for Kids the very best for 2017. Not long after they left we were visited by Cindy and Scott Johnston who just a couple of months ago hosted a swap meet that was mostly directed at the metric motorcycle community. I am glad that it worked out because there are so many metric cruisers out there now and the issue over American or Metric is becoming old hat. It is all about the person riding the motorcycle not the motorcycle that is being ridden that counts! Hopefully you will be seeing a small ad in the Mag for their next venture. Good friends Perry and Geneane Montgomery stopped

by accompanied by Scott Stewart and some of the other members of the Dedicated Few MC out of Cornwall who are strong supporters of both Riders Mag and The Celtic Brotherhood. I found out that once again they will be involved in the Annual Ride for the Children’s Treatment Centre that takes place in Cornwall this year on May 27th. Last year, along with a number of other Ottawa riders including members from B.A.C.A Ottawa I had the pleasure of attending this ride. It was one of those charity events that include everything from a motorcycle ride to a bicycle event and they all start out and end up on the shore of the scenic St Lawrence River. Saturdays are always busy and there were a number of very attractive ladies who The Riders Mag had brought in on behalf of The Rideau Rendezvous Motorcycle Event

to hand out promotional material for the event that will take place this summer in “Sensational” Smiths Falls July 14 to 16. We and Pace Law Motorcycle Division’s crew were busy fielding questions from all the interested parties concerning this great new Motorcycle Event throughout

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the event. Pace Law is one of the Main sponsors of the Rideau Rendezvous and volunteers, Ray and James are working very hard co-ordinating with the Town Council to see to it that this is truly great event for all the motorcycle riders who come out. When you combine bands, the motorcycle rodeos, all the motorcycle related vendors area together with the warm hospitality of the town of Smiths Falls and Eastern Ontario you have all the ingredients necessary for (As I often say,) “A freaking good time!”. Ray and James have promised to keep me continually updated on how everything is progressing for the event and as I get more information of what will be taking place I will most certainly post it on my social media sites and keep you all updated in my articles in the Mag as

we get closer to that July date. Duane, Tommy, Muffin & Brodie of the Simple Men MC came down and pay their respects and they were the first people I talked to who were actually caught up in the pileup

on Hwy 401 and they were tied up for nearly four hours. One thing I enjoy about these guys aside from making great brothers is their incredible sense of humor because most people who in a similar situation would still be fuming about it. While we were catching up on what’s happening I found out that Muffin aka Sean Guest is heading out to work for HD in Fort Mac and while we all wish him well it is a certain bet that his presence will be missed by all his brothers in SMMC. We were lucky enough to have our new friend Brenda Norton come by the booth so that we could finally meet in person. This lady is a rider and also the Director of Operations at DAREarts, a charity for high risk children and is supportive of TCB’s brain injury awareness project

because after all head concussion amongst children often goes undetected while the results of those same concussions cause these children great difficulty. It doesn’t surprise me that so many bikers including those in BACA and others are pro-active in children’s causes not only because they are parents themselves but also because Bikers have a stronger awareness of a sense of community. Later in the afternoon we were visited by Haiji Wilson & Carolyne Kift, lady riders who belong to the Durham Divas Motorcycle Group. They were kind enough to pose for a picture to help our Busted Bucket Challenge project for promoting brain injury awareness and over the weekend we were visited by other members of their group. We are pleased to promote any rides or events they have in the future because

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one of the fastest growing dynamics in our motorcycle communities are women riders and those women are either participating in other riding clubs or forming their own and I welcome and support their presence. Throughout the show Bozz, Chuck & Hark went around checking out both the motorcycles and the booths in all five halls and keeping track of any they thought I might

be interested in because most of the time I found myself talking to the public and trying to answer any questions they had about how the Busted Bucket Challenge works. It was kind of amazing how many of them couldn’t wait to sit on the trike we had brought for display. It is always surprising how much fun they have sitting on the trike and actually get a kick out of their friends taking pictures of them on it. As at every motorcycle show they are a number of ladies who are hired as models or to distribute information to the public and all throughout Saturday and Sunday we had many of them dropping by our booth to pose on the trike. This has partly thanks to Hark who went all over and asked them if they would come over when they had a chance to pose with the trike and support the cause. Everyone may kid Hark, who many of us refer to him as the TCB Leprechaun but after all the young ladies who came by to pose, much

to the enjoyment of the male audience standing nearby. After about the tenth young lady we were considering changing his club name to “You Da Man Hark!” Later Saturday afternoon Andrew Farnell SMMC and Bryony Etherington came by looking for the rest of the boys and they mentioned that they had also been held up on the 401 for hours due to the pile up and later that night when the boys and I were back at the hotel we saw some phone video footage of some of the vehicles crashing into each other it is amazing that nobody was killed. It was a busy and

sometimes hectic weekend because this show has lots in motorcycle related stuff for the public to see. It also has become the unofficial harbinger that while winter isn’t over yet, it is on its way and riding season will return in a few more months. For TCB it was well worth the effort for us because we were happy that so many groups involved in brain injury awareness and PTSD. They came by to meet us and discuss the possibility of TCB coming to their area to participate in a ride. Or perhaps even putting on a demonstration of the BBC for their community. Everyone at the Mag never gets tired of people telling us how much they appreciate and support it. I personally want to thank Ray & James of Pace Law Motorcycle Division and our good friend Joseph Nammari for not only the booth but the brotherhood and the opportunity to add to our list of friends, Stan Pace. The issue this column is in will be out before the date and I want to remind all the riders in the Ottawa and area to be sure and come to the Greely Motorcycle Swap Meet on Feb 5th at the Greely Legion on Mitch Owens Rd. I’d

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like to mention to the motorcycle community in eastern Ontario this year the Syracuse Motorcycle Super Swap Meet is on Feb 11th -12th.

As always, I remind you to please support the rides & events that are created by riders in your area and their clubs because they are the same people that come to support your events & rides and please remember to spend your money with businesses that advertize in our Mag and/or have proven they are truly Biker Friendly because they have shown their support for our lifestyle and deserve our support in return.

At The Riders Mag we are all about the people who ride the motorcycles not the bikes and we want you to be proud that you are Bikers and you can’t get any better than that! If you have an event/ride or you are a business that deals with either motorcycles or the people who ride them that you might like to advertise. If you’d like to become a distributor of “The Riders Mag” please contact me by

email or by phone or through the main contact information for the Head Office of The Riders Mag. As always, please remember that we make our motorcycle communities stronger ...by making them better! Brotherhood! Motorcyco Beau! Email: theridersmag.beau@gmail .com Twitter: Riders Mag East @Motorcyco_ Beau Instagram: motorcyco_beau Read us online: www.theridersmag.com/online

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As most of my closest family & friends know, I’ve been on holidays for the past few weeks starting on the last day of the Toronto Motorcycle Supershow. However this has not prevented me from my contribution to the February edition of the Mag. Whether sitting at 38,000 feet over the Pacific Ocean going an astounding 829km/hr or on a Streetglide going 45mph on the road to Hana, Hawaii, my dedication to this publication is second to none. Although it has been a few hectic weeks leading to all this, I feel I owe my loyal readers a great story every month, well this month is no different. Let’s start by hoping that everyone has somewhat recovered from the holiday season and are gearing up for the upcoming spring rides. Whether you’re installing new parts or fixing old ones, doing a full rebuilt like Taylor at Mitmen Motorcycles, to which hopefully we’ll see in a later edition of the Mag, just chilling around town or on a tropical vacation, the biker community of Northern Ontario is very well active although we can’t always ride as much as we’d like to in winter. This past month, we were fortunate enough to have had a Friday the 13th and although many of us couldn’t ride, we still celebrated in various different ways. (As you will read later on in a great article from Rebar, Rider’s Mag Northern Ontario newest contributor, a great article along with photos

of the Friday the 13th activities in the city of Sudbury). As for myself, without going into too much personal detail, it’s been

one for the record books as we celebrated the day in a town called Hell, Michigan followed by a trip to the island of Maui to ride the Road to Hana. For those following our Facebook page have seen most of the activities, the details of the trip on the Road to Hana will be highlighted in next month’s edition of the Rider’s Mag along with a word or two about the Motorcycle Supershow as the technology availability this month is rather limited and instead of doing a half-assedt job, I would rather wait until the next edition. As the Rider’s Mag is growing in popularity in Northern Ontario, we

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are looking for dedicated people to help us out with as little as a couple of hours a month to as many as you wish to dedicate, so if you’re in the area from Parry Sound to Sault Ste-Marie or Manitoulin Island to Elliot Lake and even in the region of Greater Sudbury and the valley to North Bay or anywhere else in Northern Ontario and are interested in making a difference by helping the communication for the biker community, I want to hear from you. As simple as a text or email to a phone call, I will get back to you and let’s chat. Here is my contact info. 705-662-1526 or

email ThatNorthernGuy144@gmail.com In conclusion, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who support the Rider’s Mag and their contributors as we all stride to make the biker community the very best that we can although the occasional setback ranging from a stereotyping uninformed individual or group to someone that doesn’t understand the true meaning of brotherhood except only when in their own interests. We all learn from these events whether they are pleasant

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or not and then we move forward. Unfortunately, not everyone has the ability to do this.

Always go with the choices that scare you the most. Take the road that has more curves, because these are the choices that are going to require the most from you. Never stop challenging yourself.

Climate Change and Ten Commandments NULL AND VOID????!! What?? (My religious friends are ge�ng very nervous...) Regardless of the soothsayers and naysayers, the only healthy attitude is, “Let’s check this out for ourselves!” This applies to life itself in general, unless you are an ostrich and just want to stick your head in the sand. So I’m going to the polar icecap this summer in Greenland with my wife, Angie, and we are going to see for ourselves just what’s going on (plus see musk oxen, reindeer and fish for arctic char...do that short tour). Yeah, I walk to a different beat: while others go south to sit on the beach, I take Angie north for big adventure. Change is always inevitable and habits of checking things out factually are good for us, not just listening to the latest mindless rant on Facebook and thinking that it’s the whole truth. I lost a Facebook friend (boo hoo...) because I suggested that he had not looked at the research behind the crazy posts he liked. Maybe I’ll lose a few more after myth busting the Ten Commandments a little bit. Email me with questions... But first, a word from our sponsor. “O taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him” (Psalm of King David 34:8). God has made it easier than ever to trust in Him by the death of Jesus on the cross and His subsequent resurrection. All you need to do is believe that! That was a game changer that puts us in a whole new era, cancelling some 637 rules and religious regulations and putting changes to the Ten Commandments. (I wonder how many Christian Bikers are on the edges of their seats now...) The fact is, the 10 Commandments and all subsequent rules were never written for us Gentiles (substitute the word “Infidel” if you want to poke the bear..). They were written for the old time Jews! In the New Testament, the 10 commandments have been modified and guess which one is mostly le� out: Keep the Sabbath day Holy?! The reality is that Jesus simplified how best to have faith in God in honest and practical ways like “treat people the same way you want them to treat you” (Matthew 7:12 The Golden Rule). He spoke of being kind to our neighbours and in many cases that is easy! Even the great council in Jerusalem not many years after the resurrection boiled the commandments down to something like, those who believe in God should “live morally good lives” (see Acts 15:20ish). Meanwhile, even if you have been turned off of anything to do with church and religion, I want you to consider starting or continuing faith in God through Jesus Christ who said, “The time is now when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth” (and it doesn’t matter where you are), John 4:23). Pray with me now: God of Heaven and Earth, I believe in you, yet still in my own small faith way, that Jesus is your Son. Please increase my faith a little so my spirit can be more complete in your Spirit. Thank you for your grace through your Son, Jesus. Amen. God bless you all this winter!

Pastor Ken 905 870 8584 kenang@cogeco.ca hamiltonbikerschurch.com I’m on study leave this year but am available for your spiritual services or needs.

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11th West Coast West Coast Blues and Bike Show, Labour Day Weekend 2016 – Goderich, Ont. Early morning riding has always been my favourite part of the day to hit the road. The air is clean and crisp with little in the way of traffic. It was the perfect Saturday to head out to one of my favourite towns of Goderich, Ont. You probably know Goderich as the location for one of the largest salt mines on the planet. What you probably don’t know, it’s also the home of the 11th annual, West Coast Blues Fest and recently added motorcycle show and shine. After a great morning ride I rolled into town and made my way to courthouse square. It’s where I met a few of the boys from abate (association of bikers for education, training and awareness)

and steel horse riders. The guys had just returned from a motorcycle/car crash re-enactment in the town. They along with various 1st responders created the event in an effort to highlight motorcycle safety on our Provincial roads. Surf from abate said the scene was chillingly realistic with paramedics, cops and fire fighters treating victims with serious injuries at the scene. It was well attended by town’s people who provided positive feedback and said it was a

Blues 2016

by Irish

“powerful” message. Unfortunately for a lot of riders and their families, it was reminiscent of the carnage that occurred on our roads this summer. In any case, it was so well received, the crew decided to expand their efforts next year and take it on the road. So look for it at your favourite rally next year. The motorcycle show and shine component of the 2 day festival is a relatively new addition. It was started three years ago by a local rider, Bill Hoy. He approached the organizers and pitched the idea that a bike event will likely drive attendance numbers and therefore revenue and interest in the community. He was right! Bill said year one a handful of riders dropped by. The following year the number grew to 75 and this year more than 200 bikers registered. About half of the

square is now devoted to bikers and their machines. The show featured custom jobs, imports, vintage and American iron. Great looking prizes and trophies were up for grabs. I could be corrected on this but, I’m pretty sure registration was $5 which allowed participants free entry to the beer gardens and fantastic live blues from 1:30 to 10:30pm. Bands like the Empty Threats and the Bill Durst Band

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were simply outstanding. In fact it was my first time seeing Bill and I was so caught up in the sound and performance I bought their latest cd “Good, Good, Lovin.” I can’t close this article without mentioning the Friday evening kickoff and what organizers call “Walkabout Blues.” I know – WTF is that right? Here’s how it works; buy a $10 wristband which in turn allows free access to 10 licensed blues venues located downtown. Simply drop by a watering hole, ﬂash your wrist band and check out the band. Hang around for a set and drop by another

pub – repeat until hammered. 1,200 fans signed up this year and had a blast. I’m down next year and if you are make sure to book early. Hotel and B&B’s sell out early. Overall, it was a well-organized event and a great day for the thousands that attended, however, a few more vendors wouldn’t hurt right Bill? It was awesome to see my buds from Kitchener, you guys rock!

TheOrganizingCommittee

Later, Irish Irish@theridersmag.com Remember – if you’re not living on the edge, you’re taking up to much room.

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”On the Run” with Gypsy Hugz Who would guess a quick visit to Critter & Black Gold’s Annual Show ‘N’ Shine for Alzheimer’s on Sunday, August 28th, would turn into an all-day event? Sure as hell not me, but then again, nothing to do with bikes and myself ever is quick. I should have realized I was embarking on another adventure. I arrived early and, as there were not too many people or bikes around at the time, the walk

through the venue was fairly short except for the booth containing ladies tie-dyed tee shirts and leather hair accessories, which I have to admit, was my original reason for attending. It’s a girl thing, at least on my part. After visiting with several friends, who had arrived to show their support, it was time to move on.

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challenge. After changing into a Rider’s Mag tank top (I figured I should at least look the part), meeting the other two judges, Bad Bob and Butch, and receiving instructions on how to handle the paperwork, it was time to begin judging the bikes. There were numerous different classes and, as we moved from one class to another, I did my best to take in everything being discussed about

On my way out I ran into Critter, who, after greeting me with his undeniable charm, asked if I would be willing to help out. I jumped at the opportunity and, all of a sudden, there I was, one of three judges for the Show ‘N Shine. Whoops! Once again, I was living up to my tattoo … “Do one thing every day that scares you”. I had never judged anything, let alone motorcycles, so “yes” a scary thing, but I was up for the

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the various bikes. Slowly, I began to see, and appreciate, what the other two judges were looking for. It was a new experience for me and it took quite some time to look closely at each entry. There was a wide variety of bikes to view, and the pride each owner had taken to ensure their ride presented well, was clearly evident. It was a long and arduous task and by the end of the judging, I had learned to appreciate the work each rider had put into their bike. Depending on which class the bike was entered into, only certain aspects were judged and other aspects were required to be put aside in the decision making. Finally, it was time to present the winners with their trophies and that was another new experience for me. As Critter announced the winner of each class, I presented them with a trophy …. all the while thinking “now what have I got myself into.” I’m much more comfortable in the back ground, cheering others on, than being “front and centre”. In spite of feeling a bit awkward, I took great pleasure in seeing the smile on each winner’s face as their name was announced and they came forward to receive their reward. There were approximately forty-five trophies given out this year and, at the end of the day, that’s what counts. They’d worked hard to showcase their talents and it had paid off.

As the day came to a close and the participants, vendors, and organizers of the Show and Shine were beginning to pack up and leave, I realized that, once again, I had pushed myself beyond my comfort zone and had thoroughly enjoyed it. Who knows what adventure will occur next!

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While stitching a cut on the hand of a 75 year old farmer, the doctor struck up a conversation with the oldman. Eventually the topic got around to Donald Trump and his role as the Republican Nominee for President. The old farmer said, “ Well, as I see it, Donald Trump is like a ‘Post Tortoise’.’’ Not being familiar with the term, the doctor asked him what a ‘Post Tortoise’ was. The old farmer said, “When you’re driving down a country road and you come across a fence post with a tortoise balanced on top, that’s a Post Tortoise. “The old farmer saw the puzzled look on the doctor’s face so he continued to explain. “You know he didn’t get up there by himself, he doesn’t belong up there, he doesn’t know what to do while he’s up there, he’s elevated beyond his ability to function, and you just wonder what kind of dumb ass put him up there to begin with.” An Arab Sheik was admitted to Hospital for heart surgery, but prior to the surgery, the doctors needed to have some of his blood type stored in case the need arose. As the gentleman had an extremely rare type of blood that couldn’t be found locally, the call went out around the world. Finally a Scotsman was located who had the same rare blood type. After some coaxing, the Scot donated his blood for the Arab. After the surgery the Arab sent the Scotsman a new BMW, a diamond necklace for his wife, and$100,000 US dollars in appreciation for the blood donation. A few months later, the Arab had to undergo a corrective surgery procedure. Once again, his doctor telephoned the Scotsman who this time was more than happy to donate his blood. After the second surgery, the Arab sent the Scotsman a thank-you card and a box of Quality Street chocolates. The Scotsman was shocked that the Arab did not reciprocate his kind gesture as he had anticipated. He then phoned the Arab and asked him: “I thought you would be more generous than that - last time you sent me

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a BMW, diamonds and money, but this time you only sent me a lousy thank-you card and a crappy box of chocolates ?” To this the Arab replied: “Aye laddie, but I now have Scottish blood in me veins”. Several days ago as I left a meeting at a hotel; I desperately gave myself a personal TSA pat down. I was looking for my keys. They were not in my pockets. A quick search in the meeting room revealed nothing. Suddenly I realized I must have left them in the car. Frantically, I headed for the parking lot. My husband has scolded me many times for leaving the keys in the ignition. My theory is the ignition is the best place not to lose them. His theory is that the car will be stolen. As I burst through the door, I came to a terrifying conclusion. His theory was right. The parking lot was empty. I immediately called the

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