The Riders Mag August 2017 v19 n06

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Every Thursday: Classy Chassis & Cycles Weekly Ride Dinner

Join Josh & Charlene for our weekly Dinner Ride, Kickstands up at 5:30pm, a New Destination each week!

1399 8th Line Lakefield for details call 705-292-8300 or see FB for weekly destination. www.usedhd.ca

Clare’s Bike Night Thursday

At Clare’s Harley-Davidson of Niagara, 590 York Rd. Niagara on the Lake. Every Thursday starting June 1 – August 31 (weather permitting). Live Entertainment, Special Guest Clubs, Ladies Nights, Rides, Food drives, Bike Games, Show ‘N’ Shines, Vendors, Draws & Prizes.

Qualify to WIN a 2017 Harley-Davidson® Iron® 883® Motorcycle the Draw will take place on August 31st at the last bike night of this year.www.claresharleydavidson.com

Everyy Saturday in August On Classy Chassis & Cycles Sunny Saturday BBQ

Looking for a destination that’s Biker friendly on a Sunny Saturday Afternoon, Stop in between 11am and 2pm for a BBQ with us, 1399 8th Line Lakefield. Aug. 19th Special Guest are CMC and on the 26th it’s HDROC day. To find out more check out www.usedhd.ca

July

July 29th & 30th – 1st Annual Tay River Rally

Supported by Eyes of Odin for PTSD Relief. Event at 279 Canal Bank Road, Perth. Live Music by ‘The Last Supper’, Bike Games, Pig Roast with Rough Camping Available.

Starting at Noon, Cost $20. For more info contact Wayne Leblanc: 613-559-0985

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August

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

A very busy weekend of events in Downtown Leamington. Registered Ride, Biker Games, Stunt Show, Vintage, Custom and Antique Motorcycle Show and Much More! 2 Great Concerts Friday it’s “HAIRBALL” and Saturday “OUR LADY PEACE”. Vendor info at 519-919-2547 Event Info at www.hogsforhospice.com Aug. 4th – 7th - A.B.A.T.E Ontario’s 27th Annual Final Frontier At the ABATE Grounds. Live Bands All Weekend, Camping, Bike Games, Show & Shine, Vendors, Mud Wrestling, Wet T-Shirt. For tickets Call Surf: 519-282-2978, Chico: 519477-4365, or Horse: 519-983-5324.

Aug. 5th & 6th - Rockin on the River in Blind River Show & Shine Weekend

135 Royer St., off HWY #557, Blind River, Ontario, P0R1B0. It’s going to be “Over the Top”Weekend. Pass before May 1st $25 after May 1st $45, For more information and Listed bands check out www.rockingontheriver.com.

Aug. 5th - Redrum MC Annual Community Charity Ride In support of The Royal Canadian Legion Branch #300 Restoration Fund. Meeting at Classy Chassis, 1399 8th Line Lakefield, Ride leaves at 10am Sharp!

Scenic Motorcycle Tour, 50/50 draw, Show & Shine, Live Bands, Beef Dinner Silent auction & More! $25 per Bike $15 per Passenger includes Beef Dinner at the Legion. Contact 705-761-5360 for further details.

Aug 11th – Clare’s Bike Night PORT DOVER

At 334 Main St. Port Dover. Friday, June 16, 2017.

6pm – 9 pm. Live Entertainment , food catered by VIP Event Services, select in store savings (excluding motorcycles) Draws & Door Prizes. Check out www. claresharleydavidson.com for more details.

Aug. 12th - Bacchus MC Chatham’s Poker Run

At Kent Belgium Dutch Canadian Club, 34 Byng Ave in Chatham. Registration from 10am till 10:45am. Ride Leaves at 11am SHARP. All Makes and Models Welcome! For more info call 306-202-7522 www.BacchusMCOntario.com

Aug. 12th - Oshawa’s Bikes on Bond

A Free event in Downtown Oshawa Bond Street open to Motorcycles Only, 2pm till 8pm. Vendors, Music Featuring Paul James, Open to All! For more info www.bikesonbond.com.

Aug. 18th, 19th &20th – The Cowpaddy Boys 27th Annual Rodeo and Roast

Biker events, Live Music Friday and Saturday Night, Prizes, Tattoos, Camping, Showers. $40 Donationfor All Weekend, $20 after 7pm Saturday. All Proceeds to Charity. More Info call Steve 613-213-9607

Aug. 19th - Aces & Eights Annual Corn Roast

Music, Food, Camping, Prizes, Come on out and join us for a great day with good people, $20 donation see a Club member for Tickets.

Aug. 19th – Hawks MC Show N Shine

At the Lotos Event Center, 275 Barton St. Hamilton. Open to all makes, Cool prizes, Good people, Good times bring your bike out. More details www.hawksmc.com

Aug 19th – B.R.O. Port Colborne Dawgs Days of Summer Bash

Registration Starts at The S-Bend Resturant, Hyw #3, Sherkston, from 9-11, costs are $10 a rider- $5.00 at the door, and the bash is located @ Sherkston Family GoKarts. Always a great time between; the great food, poker run, live music, prizes and on-site camping. For more detail call Ray: (905) 658-0856

Aug. 26th – Ride for Big Brothers Big Sisters Chatham-Kent

Meeting at The Blenheim Legion Parking Lot, 34 Catherine St, Blenheim from 8:30 – 9:45, Blessing of the Bikes at 9:45, Kickstands-up at 10am. An escorted ride through Chatham-Kent ending at Bikefest CK in Tecumseh Park around 11:45. For More info contact 519-351-1582 Extension 200 or www.bikefestck.ca/ride

Aug. 27th – The Rider’s Mag & Black Gold’s Annual Show ‘N’ Shine

Join Critter & The Mag Crew at 1228 Gorham St. in Newmarket for the day and Enter your Bike to Win. Trophies for All Classes, BBQ and Live Music. Starting at 10am and going till 4pm. For info and vendors call 905235-5353 Ext 2 and talk to Al. See you there

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

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: 613-847-7670

September Sept. 1st & 2nd - The Annual Snake River Motorcycle Rodeo

468A Faught Road in Cobden, Gates open at 5pm Friday, $25 per person, Bike Games on and off All Day, Live Music , Rough Camping (Tents and Trailers welcome), Food ven-

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dors on site and of course The Pig Roast. For more Info: 613-808-1388 or Facebook SnakeRiverRodeo

Sept 16th – Bacchus MC Hamilton’s ‘Poker Run’

Blues All Weekend Long in Downtown Goderich. Friday do the Downtown Shuffle Walkabout Blues Wristband just $10, Saturday’s Show and Shine from 2 – 4pm in the Middle of the Square.

Check them out at www.westcoastblues.ca .

Sept. 23rd - Iron Cowgirlz 4th Annual Memorial Ride for Ms. Dazzle

Sept. 2nd & 3rd – Goderich’s West Coast Blues Festival

Sept. 8th - Classy Chassis & Cycles Bike & Band Night

At 1399 8th Line Lakefield, 5:30 pm till Dusk at Classy Chassis & Cycles. Come on out and enjoy some Live Music under the stars. 1399 8th Line Lakefield On. 705-292-8300 or www.usedhd.ca

Sept. 15 & 16 – 15 Annual Biketoberfest Th

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Be sure to join us in Welland this weekend for the ever famous Biketoberfest! This even is being held by the Welland County M/C at 603 Netherby Road in Welland.

This event starts at Friday at 9am with free admission and parking. Bike show entry is $10 per bike, and you won’t want to miss out on all the bands, vendors, and games.

And as always a chance to Win a New H-D Bike. Tickets for the Bike are $20 and only 6000 have been printed.

Contact Bruce Bissell at 905-714-6885 or check out www.biketoberfest.ca

Sept. 16th - Classy Chassis & Cycles Annual Swap Meet

1399 8th Line Smith, Lakefield, 9am2 p m Vendor Tables Available, Call to Reserve Your Space!

1-888-292-8305 Used Parts, Accessories, Clothing, Everything Bike Related For All Makes & Models! Jonny’s BBQ Lunch. For more info visit www.usedhd.ca or call 1-888-292-8305

Starting at 30 Arden Ave., Hamilton. Registration from 9:30am till 11am. For more information go to www.BacchusMCOntario.com Meeting at Thurst-t’s Cycle 298 Pretty River Parkway, in Collingwood. Registration 9:30am till 11am, $20 per rider Donation, The rain date is Sept 24th. ALL RIDERS ARE WELCOME. For more information and sponsor sheets contact Marcy at 705-466-1131 or email ms.dazzleride@ gmail.com or check them out on facebook at www.facebook.com/ms.dazzleride

Sept. 24th - Black Hawks MC 13th Annual Show ‘N’ Shine

At Bobbies Bar & Grill 2965 Homestead Rd. Mount Hope, 1pm till 4pm. Come on out and join the party you’ll have a good time. More info at www.blackhawksmc.ca

October Oct 13th – Friday The Thirteenth 2017!

Whether you’re going to Dover or Lakefield or any other place in the Country…Just get out and have fun!!

Oct. 21st - Toronto Swap Meet

Be sure to join us Saturday at The Royal Canadian Legion, located at 3850 Lakeshore Blvd W, West end of Toronto!

Great times to be had, don’t miss out. For more info or Vendor spaces Call 705-321-0334 or check out www.motorcycleswapmeet.ca Oct 29th - London Swap Meet Off to London we go for the next swap meet at IBEW, 6688 Tempo Road. You won’t want to miss out on all the great people, and bikes. Look forward to seeing you there! For more info or Vendor spaces Call 705-321-0334 or check out www.motorcycleswapmeet.ca

November Nov. 5th – Big Al’s 5th Annual Swap Meet Chatham

Sponsored by Bacchus MC, At Kent Belgium Dutch Canadian Club, 34 Byng Ave in Chatham. $5 Admission, Kids under 12 Free. 10am till 3pm. For more info or Table space call 306-202-7522 www.BacchusMCOntario.com

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I won’t stoop to any Noah and the Ark references but it has indeed been a soggy summer thus far. Many of us, instead of working on tans are trying to find the perfect degree of prunyness for our skin or discovering that our riding gear never had the chance to completely dry out and is now ten pounds heavier than it ever was before. We leave a constant puddle wherever we stand still for a few minutes and keeping your bike clean is an exercise in futility. The wet weather has certainly played havoc with many events too, which includes the Thursday Riders Nights at Kosmos up in Newmarket. I decided just to cancel them as I have a lot on my plate as it is and I think my time could be put to better use.

The rain doesn’t diminish our schedule at all as the events go on with or without good weather, but having our new contributors really does really make a huge difference in my own agenda and they are all doing a great job.

Speaking of new contributors, I just brought another into the fold. Her name is Angie and her first article will be in this issue. She is an interesting lady with quite a story to tell. It is a tale of determination and positive thinking, overcoming adversities and enjoying life to its fullest! She is living her dream! I have given her space to tell her inspirational story and of her quest to get out in the wind. I will be giving her assignments and sending her out to cover events as well. Please watch for her and say hi!

Chantel is proving to be a natural born Riders Mag Volunteer and is a real asset to us and continues to amaze us with her initiative, drive and thirst for knowledge. She is amazing with sales, organization and has quickly picked up on graphics and photo editing and is starting to learn layout! It looks like my efforts to reduce the stress and strain on my volunteer managing Editor Al, may well have paid off in the form of this fantastic young lady. She has even taken the initiative to write a column of her own this Month in which she chronicles her first few weeks with us here. She is certainly a breath of fresh air!

William Wayne (Grizzly) Waddell 1944 – July 17, 2017 RIP

I got word that my old friend Grizz had passed away.

The news wasn’t totally unexpected as Grizz hasn’t been in the best of health over the last several years. He was a character to say the least and was well loved and respected in the Biker Community. This was evident by the number of bikes that showed up at his house in Scarborough to escort his urn containing his ashes along with an array of flowers that were loaded on his Trike and ridden to the Legion on Warden Ave. Grizz was a long-time Member of that Legion

and as well as a Member of the Scarborough Hog Chapter and they had a great turn out for the ride!

I was unable to get away from the office in time for the ride but headed right to the Legion where a large crowd was gathered to celebrate the life and times of Grizzly.

There was lots of food and plenty to drink! They did a fine tribute to the man we had come to love over the years!

My sincere condolences to his friends, family and extended family! He will be missed!

Goodbye Grizzly, my old friend! Sorry to see you go!

RIP. L&R. GBNF! If there is an afterlife and a Heaven, keep the 50 on ice and we will one day sit down reminisce over a few cold ones and ride off into wherever together! If not, it was a pleasure to have known you!

Dave (Potsy) Gibbons – GBNF –RIP I was taken aback with word that the man we all knew

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as Potsy had passed away at his home on July 16th. Dave was 57 and poor health due to diabetes had plagued him the past several years.

Dave was well known and respected in the World of motorcycles, hot rods, racing cars and his shop Virginia Auto up in Virginia that was always busy!

I did attend the viewing that occurred just an hour before the service and internment at the Churchill Cemetery and reception at the Ballantrae Community Centre. I unfortunately I was on deadline and was unable to do the whole thing!

Potsy AKA Dave and Uncle Buck to his nephews Pete and Jake will be deeply missed by his partner Nancy, his brothers and many friends in the Biker Community an all that knew him.

Razor’s 50th Birthday Bash I knew we wouldn’t be able to stay long as we had all kinds of stuff to do to prep for an event the next day. But I had to at least make it to the party for a while. So Al and I jumped into my F150 and headed up to the famed, Orchard Beach in Keswick to help our friend Razor celebrate a milestone.

It started slowly but grew quickly and the place was soon packed with people, all there to wish this wonderful man a very Happy Birthday.

There was a larger than life poster of Ray that people could pose with throughout the night and I couldn’t resist getting a shot with the real Ray and the cardboard one.

I hate to leave a great party before it really gets underway and so many great friends coming in but we really had a lot going on and I followed my head and not my heart and we headed out.

Oliver’s Ale House Show and Shine My buddy Bad Bob was to have given me a hand running these Show and Shines which I wouldn’t have considered without him as they are a heck of a lot of work. Unfortunately, Bob was unable to do it and Scott who had always been such a tremendous help to us in the booth doing registration and such has moved on to a career in landscaping. Tanya, our Mag Hag was unavailable, Jordan, aka The Squirrel and Gypsy were off on separate adventures out to the East Coast. That left me with no crew other than Al and I wasn’t positive that he would be available either as he was busy getting the Rideau Rendezvous organized so I was a little apprehensive about doing this gig but it was too late to back out now! Then our new guy, Maxx volunteered himself and some of his crew from The Predators MC to help and Chantel who had never done anything like this before said she was available so we were going to give it our best shot.

I had been doing my best to ignore the foreboding weather forecasts all week! The ominous warnings of severe thunderstorms for the whole day had been on the news all week! Not the news that you want to hear when you have an outdoor event in the works. But I’d seen in happen many times in the past. They give all these horrible forecasts and it turns out to be beautiful.

I hoped that this would again be the case as I woke to see a beautiful blue sky and sunshine but I knew it could change at any time and that those damned

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forecasts could already have already screwed us as many live and die by those reports and won’t venture out if the weatherman tells them they may get wet!

We carried on regardless!

We loaded up the truck hooked up the trailer containing the barbecues, picnic tables and canopies that I was loaning Oliver’s for the day and assorted other items, picked up the gorgeous Chantel and headed to Mississauga and all still looked well.

We got set up as the first bikes started arriving. Some of them turned out to be our new man Maxx and two of his members who had promised to help out.

The vendors also arrived and got set up as well while Dave and Maryanne and their crew of family, Restaurant staff, friends and family got their act in order.

Other than our Thursday Riders Night and accompanying me to The Brothers of the Blades Daybreak event, this was our first outing with Chantel and we were hoping that she might be of some help with registration and sales of some of our Riders Mag Swag. She and Al got it all under control right off the hop and during lulls in the action at the booth she grabbed my camera and was literally everywhere, taking pictures, talking to everyone and taking it all in. She could be seen bounding gracefully like a Gazelle throughout the event with the camera, displaying her ever present smile and apparently boundless energy!

I just accepted the fact that my tired old carcass didn’t stand a chance of keeping up with her so I just hobbled around at my own pace visiting here and there as I went.

Maxx and crew proved themselves to be a real asset as well and did a fantastic job of organizing the bikes and keeping track of who was where to make the judging a whole lot easier.

Things were slow at first and while there were quite a few bikes out they were far less than what we expected to see and I kind of figured that those weather forecasts and weather apps that seemingly everyone checks constantly before venturing out! Then we started hearing reports of real nasty weather all around us. We got calls from people who were on the way but after getting caught in some really crappy stuff that included golf ball sized hail, turned around and went back home! Mother Nature suddenly decided to turn her attention to us and show her continued disdain and contempt for all things summer this year and simultaneously tried to drown and blow us out of there. We were scrambling to hold down canopies and such as many had already blown down the parking lot.

The rain came down in sheets. Umbrellas that had once provided shade were now just bent and twisted hunks of metal with torn canvas still attached and destined for the garbage containers out back.

At one point a very determined Chantel was doing her best to hold down her corner of our canopy and would have surely taken flight if not for the three sturdy men who grabbed onto each of the other corners as she was being lifted

right off the ground. The rest of us were huddled under remaining tents trying to stay dry while taking in the action.

It didn’t last long and we went about the task of trying to put things back together again. Her tantrum over, Ma Nature let the skies clear and sun reappear and with that motorcycles magically started appearing in droves but many were too late to register for the Show and Shine.

But there was lots of great food being

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Oliver’s Ale House got huge support from their customers and friends who donated the door prizes and sponsored trophies and many of them pitched in to help at the event. Pin to Pin supplied the tractors that served as barricades at the entrances and the trailer that served as the stage. They would like to thank all who played a part in this event. The Sponsors of the trophies are; Orion Management, Hi Lite In-

ternational, AMJ Campbell, Belanger Engineering, Printed Matter, Tailor Groundwork, Printed Matter, Serenity Stones, Simcoe Steel, Mason’s Masonry, Wholesale Lettering and carving, Telecor Inc., Harlin Plating, Chandler Industrial, Bully Be Gone, Wingporium and Acos Design and Office Services.

cooked on the barbecues and the band did a great job of entertaining the crowd and all was good!

Dave and Maryanne and their crew really went all out on this event and had tons of food that included ribs, peameal bacon, burgers, hotdogs, sausages and all the fixings! We had a decent turnout but I had hoped for better. The fine crew here at Oliver’s Ale House are determined to make this an annual event and take what they learned from this one and apply it to future events! They had generous support from their many wonderful customers who sponsored trophies and helped out with the running of the event.

The afternoon flew by, the judging was done and we set up for the awards with Chantel serving as our trophy girl and she did a great job! Her energy, enthusiasm and sense of humour made the whole process a lot of fun!

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Baconfest 2017 Me doing the Show and Shine at this event was sort of a last minute deal as Mike and Teresa wanted one and asked if I would run it, because they had enough thing on their plate. Plus the fact that Joe from MidWest Motorcycle Supply had generously agreed to sponsor all the trophies, saving me the task of searching out multiple sponsors.

Again I was supposed to do this event with Bad Bob but he was still out of commission. Too late to back out at this point so I figured that I’d show up, put together a crew from whomever was available and do the best I could with what I had and just hope for the best. That was prior to the last gig at Oliver’s Ale House in Mississauga, a week previous. I was buoyed by the way that Chantel and Maxx and

his guys from the Renegades MC handled things and with all of them available again this time I was confident that I could pull it off. Plus, Maxx was throwing an extra two of his guys in for good measure!

So Friday afternoon we loaded up the truck and headed for Lucan.

We arrived late afternoon and checked in with Mike and Teresa who had been run off their feet trying to set this event up for weeks and knowing Teresa and her desire to have everything in order at all times it would have been a priority since last year. They looked frazzled and worn but both were still holding up.

This event has grown so much, so fast and it shows no sign of stopping! Mike and Teresa have never taken on so much and this year it was far more involvement than they had ever anticipated! They have established Hogland down at the Community Centre and the Fairgrounds where they hold the bike games and Harley pulls as a permanent thing and it is garnering much attention and much favour.

The Town of Lucan is fully behind this event that is bringing in business to not only Lucan but the surrounding communities as well including London. They are sup-

plying volunteers who are a tremendous help to everybody as their enthusiasm and their sincere desire to make this event a success is evident in any and all interactions.

They have done such an amazing job with the camping area and even hired a band and had a great fireworks display there on the Friday night. Mike gave us a drive through tour before we headed back to London to stay the night, spent putting trophies together at a real seedy Motel that I picked from Google! We would have been better sleeping in the truck or even on the ground outside in the thunderstorm that swept through the area!

It is definitely not on my, “Be sure to go back there next time you’re in London.” List, despite its name it is not a beacon leading to safe harbour! We were up early and couldn’t be shed of our delightful accommodations quickly enough and headed to Lucan, as we were told to be there by 6:00 AM to set up.

WE were there on time and with the help of several of the volunteers got everything unloaded and set up and had moved the truck to an acceptable spot in short order.

I was fortunate to have engaged the help of Chantel’s’ equally incredible sister Nadia for this event as well. I’d never met her before and was going strictly on Chantel’s recommendation. That is good enough for me! Nadia arrived after driving herself in from Oakville and got to work right away. She was to walk around Town handing out flyers for the Rideau Rendezvous that Pace Law was sponsoring out in Smith’s Falls the next week, direct people to Hogland and help out at our booth from time to time.

She was all that Chantel had promised and more! She was pretty as Hell and although perhaps a little more subdued, shares Chantel’s great attitude, drive, sense of humour and tremendous energy! It was a real treat to see two sisters who don`t get to see that much of each other anymore, working together in harmony and the booth has never been in better hands. Registration for the Show and Shine was done with efficiency and with tremendous spirit and they were flogging the Mag Swag constantly. I only had to watch in amazement and visit with friends who happened along.

Nadia is also an accomplished Actress with a starring role in a web series that she is hoping will be picked up for airing by networks soon called Catalyst. Check it out. https://m.youtube. com/channel/ UCSgoQKKjH4HdlN28aO-7Nkg. I understand that she has also just landed a commercial for Clorox that will have been produced by the time you read this.

Things picked up as the day went on and after revising the deadline for registration a couple of times to allow for later arriv-

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als, we had a good field of entrants by the time we got to judging.

The inside portion of the Show and Shine was for Customs and special builds like Motorcycle Enhancements “Steam Punk Rat Bike” which won The Best in Show.

This was picked by our crew of judges! People’s choice ballots were tabulated by the Crew from Baconfest.

There were a few issues that caused me some grief. This was due to personal issues like age and my own physical limitations and nothing to do with the event or anybody involved with it! My knee, (The left one now!), legs and connected parts have been giving me trouble for the last little while and today, things were especially acting up to the point where I wished that I had brought my cane along!

Therefore I didn’t wander too far away from the booth or get anywhere quickly. I’d given Chantel my other Nikon without checking to make sure the settings were right. She bounded gracefully through the whole event, many times, taking hundreds of pictures as she went. The problem was, that with the settings that were on the camera they all came out looking like crap. This wasn’t anything to do with her! I should have checked out the camera before handing it off to her. As for myself, I was staying pretty still! The last time that I may have bounded gracefully through anything, anywhere was in a dream maybe 50 years ago. Anyhow to make a long story short, there is a distinct lack of pictures to run with this article and it is my fault entirely.

This was a working gig and the Show and Shine was my priority and I never got to the bike games or to check out the bands as by the time we tore down the booth, my legs were killing me and I was ready to settle in my room that Teresa and Mike had generously provided for us at The Ranch up in nearby Exeter.

This was an excellent hotel, far better than what we had the night before!

This was a celebration of all things bacon and

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there was a lot of bacon themed fare being served from food vendors all over Town. I had a sandwich that had a bacon patty, with slices of peameal bacon topped by strips of bacon!

I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that the bun was made from bacon products as well!

Bruce Bissel of Biketoberfest fame was there selling tickets on that brand new Harley that they raffle off at his event that runs this Sept. 15 and 16. At the Lincoln County MC Clubhouse. They have a ton of new stuff going on and you won’t want to miss this one!

The vendors all seemed happy and doing a good business. Deb from Bling Your Things was absolutely thrilled and just loves the treatment that Mike and Teresa give her and the other vendors, and that is why they keep coming back!. They camped out and couldn’t say enough about the attention to detail that went into the planning of the camping area. There was a live band there of Friday night and a fireworks display.

Ray and James, volunteers for Pace Law Motorcycle Division who were one of the Sponsors for the event were also happy with the treatment they received as well.

There are a couple of things that I’d like to see done if I’m invited back to run it next year. Things like signage and better communication of what is going on where and when. But other than that it all ran smoothly.

This is a fun event for all who attend but one Hell of a lot of work for Mike, Teresa, the crew from Hog Town and all the volunteers who did such a great job. We all had a great time, they had record breaking attendance and I am looking forward to next year!

Rideau Rendezvous Originally, I was to go along to this event but as time went on, it became apparent that that wasn’t going to happen. Our Managing Editor Al would spend the entire week leading up to the event in Smith’s Falls. I would stay back and tend to other things at the office and Chantel would accompany me to Collingwood and cover the event that Thurst T’s in Collingwood was running in conjunction with The Wasaga Beach Rally.

From all reports that I have heard, the event went well and the Town is already looking to do it bigger and better next year! There will be write ups by several of our columnists who were there elsewhere in this issue.

Thurst T’s The event was to start on Thursday and run through Sunday but I couldn’t possibly stay at one event for that long and to gone for both Thursday and Friday with Al out

of Town and Chantel with me it would leave no one in the office!

Chantel and I packed up the Truck and headed for Collinwood on Friday morning, a little later than I would have liked, arriving early afternoon. A bunch of Thurst T’s crew

gave us a hand unloading and setting up. Thurst T’s even provided me with a canopy and tables which was a good thing as ours had gotten pretty beaten up in the storm that hit us in Mississauga a couple of weeks previous.

We brought along our pretty mannequin Sexy Sally to display some of our ladies Mag Swag never realizing that she would be abused by one of Thursty’s crew, who will remain nameless but I have pictures that could be forwarded

to authorities if she catches any communicable diseases like dry rot, carpenter ants or termites!

Paul and Wendy had arranged for rooms for us at the Cranberry Inn and after setting up we headed over to check in and returned a short while later. It is a great spot with real nice rooms and will be nicer when the renovations are complete.

The weather had not treated them (Or anyone else in the Province.) too kindly the day before and today wasn’t too much better so needless to say attendance wasn’t what was hoped for so far!

Thursday, all day, they had been brutalised by a strong storm cell, and the entire beer garden/stage area was flooded out for most of the day.

It was better now but attendance was still way down and the stress was taking its Toll on both Wendy and Paul!

We finished setting up and wandered the property talking to a lot of the vendors and the crew and enjoying a couple of beers along the way.

They had a couple of bands entertaining the crowd and it was a nice relaxing evening but hardly the Crowd that all were hoping for.

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We retreated to our Hotel as darkness fell. Before leaving I tried my best to reassure Paul that things would be brighter the next day.

Morning came and I drew back the curtains and was treated to a bright sunny day with clear blue skies and breathed a sigh of relief!

When we arrived back at Thurst T’s the place was abuzz with activity. Pretty ladies in Bikini’s were everywhere as they were doing the Bikini Bike Wash and there was a constant rumble an roar as motorcycles of very make, model, size and colour imaginable was out there! This was more like it! I spotted Paul and he was smiling and looking a whole lot more relaxed than the previous day.

Chantel went right into her organizing mode and got the booth ready to go while I wandered off with camera in hand to get some coverage of all that was going on. The Bikini Bike Wash was getting lots of attention. There was a

sense of; She needs to ride for the sake of riding and nothing short of dyeing is going to keep her out of the wind, certainly not physical limitations that can be overcome when you put your mind to it! So I gave her a Riders Mag shirt and put her to work without seeing a thing she has written! Sometimes you just have to go with your gut!

They had the Show and Shine underway and I had to check out some of the great rides and got to shoot the breeze with a couple of the Judges and get some shots of the bikes. One bike shot back, or fired back! It had been rigged with a couple of spark plugs at the back of the exhaust pipes that would ignite the fumes from the exhaust send plumes of flames shooting straight back for 3 or 4 feet!

Needless to say it got lots of attention.

Paul and Wendy are used to doing things up right! They

full slate of bands that would be performing throughout the day and the parking lot was full of Motorcycles and people. They had lots of Vendors selling their wares and some awesome food! The beer was cold, but not 50 but the bartenders were all cute and it took my mind off the taste of the beer.

Our newest writer Angie showed up to talk about writing for us! I liked her, her story, her attitude, her spirit and her determination. She personifies the biker spirit in the put a lot of effort into everything they do! It is evident in the magnificent shop that has a great vibe and flair to it. Their events always have that same great feel to them and they go the extra mile to make things work.

They know how to put things that don’t go quite as planned behind them and get on with it! They realize that they have no control over the weather and know that running outdoor events can be a crap shoot!

Today was another day and today the sun was shining!

I’ve said many times that I’m a sucker for good looking women, pretty girls, kids and dogs and when you put them all together I’m going to get a picture and there were plenty of all of them here.

I left before the leather and stiletto contest was run but did get some pictures of the contestants.

The event here had an old style biker event vibe to it, good music, good food, and lots to see and do. It had a comfortable no nonsense, feel to it where riders wearing patches could mix with those not wearing patches

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and there is no trouble! The hype and hysteria that is usually stirred up

by Police Departments, politicians and main stream media is left at the gate at Thurst T’s, comradery and good times is the rule of the day! So for me this was a good event and I felt at home. The place would likely be rocking until the wee hours here but I had lots of stuff to do at home and at the office and needed to get back so I packed up late that afternoon and headed for home.

This turned out to be a great day and this venue has a Hell of a lot going for it and it would have done better if the forces of nature not tried to drown it out! Paul is a biker and he has the full support of his lovely wife Wendy and the community. He has a solid base of customers and friends. You can’t dampen his spirit with a little rain! He is definitely on the right track here but sometimes everything doesn’t quite fall into place!

Hang in there Paul and Wendy! See you next year!

Hawg Worx Shop of the Month Photoshoot This is a shoot that we had been trying to set up for a while but circumstances and timing kept messing things up. Today, however, we were good to go and I loaded my camera and stuff into my F150 and I headed north to Barrie.

Hawg Worx had arranged for the model, who was one of their customers and was a rider who puts on a ton of miles! They wanted to use her, a real rider on her own bike to represent their shop as opposed to a girl who was only there because she was pretty. For me, to have a real lady rider, who is also pretty is just a bonus! This also simplified my task as all I had to do was show up with my camera and note book!

I rolled in and found a lovely blonde lady sitting in the showroom and assumed correctly that she was to be my model. I introduced myself and discovered her to be a wonderful lady who, indeed, was truly a rider as she had ridden in from Bracebridge that morning in the rain to do the shoot.

While Chris was in the back washing her motorcycle for her, I got to talk to her a while and I figured out why Mark and Chris had chosen her specifically. Her name is Marilyn and she rides a 2002 Road Glide and she rides it a lot. She is one interesting lady and when she’s not riding the wheels off her motorcycle with The Canadian Motorcycle Cruisers Haliburton Highlands Chapter, she is the Manager at the Beer Stores in Bracebridge and Bala! Talk about a dream girl!

She has had many memorable rides since she began riding back in 1984 that include a trip to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, and down through New York State, Vermont and up around Lake Superior and is looking at a trip out to British Columbia.

When I asked what brings her to and what keeps her coming back to Hawg Worx she replied simply and instantly one word, “Trust”.

She explained that she trusts the work that is done and that what work that was done needed to be done! This is a direct quote; “They tell me what I need to hear not what they think I want to hear!”

I have said before that I enjoy doing these features as it gives me a real insight into the customers that make what The Riders Mag does possible through their advertising dollars. It allows me to put a face and a personality to what would otherwise be just a voice on the phone or a short introduction and handshake at some gathering. It gives me a better understanding about their business and what they have gone through to get to where they are.

I have known Chris for many years now and it is always a pleasure to see him but I had only met Mark and Mike briefly on occasion or spoken to on the phone.

They are all fascinating people with great stories to tell and I wished I had more time to spend with them!

I had noticed an old motorcycle motor sitting in a corner of the Showroom and Mark relayed an interesting story about it. It is a 74 cubic inch motor out of a 1927 JD that his Grandfather had bought used back in 1929 from Russel Winters for $250.00. It came with a sidecar and the payments and finance charges at the time were $19.50/month. Mark still has the original bill of sale. Unfortunately other than the memories and pictures, the motor is all that remains of that great old motorcycle.

Anyhow I got the shoot done, spent some time with some great people and learned some stuff! That’s a good day in my book.

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One for the road

I’ve been stressing out for years about my final M road test that I had to take. I’d like to think that in my learning experience, I’ve picked up invaluable information regarding safe riding techniques. Thanks to the friends and especially Mike, who has been so gracious to give me the constructive criticism that I needed (as well as a smack on the ass when I don’t follow ‘em….well that’s what he tells ME they’re for..).

Having tests while folks watch you has always been an issue for me. I’m far more critical with myself than what is usually the case. This situation was no different. I’m happy to say, I PASSED! Now, I was itching on this day to just take it and get it done. I waited and waited, wanting to get to the test centre way earlier than I needed to, but Mike made me wait (I had an appointment after all). It was a torrential downpour for most of the morning, so we were watching the weather map cause they still test ya in the rain.

Even in thunderstorms! They said it’s gotta be really bad weather for them to cancel.

Upon arriving at the test centre, I waited my turn, sweatin like a girl of ill repute sittin in a church, and waited

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…..with Lil Red

for my name to be called. Now I wanna say, you always hear of the shit-show or holy-hell that people endure when inside the drive/license centre. However, my experience, from the ladies at the counter to the two kind folks that followed me and graded my riding capabilities, were all excellent. They were nice, I mean even though they probably dealt with nasties all day, they were nice to me and to the others involved there that day (even our buddy Rod took his test later in the day, and passed!)

After testing my do’s and don’ts on the roads in Belleville, I rode back to the centre with car in tow, not knowing what to expect. As I dismounted my bike, I was greeted with a ‘Congratulations’ from the testing folks. OMG! Can you say elated. I wouldn’t shut up! And Mike was good enough to get a picture with my testers (I’m sorry, I couldn’t get their names as their tags were hidden in the pic and I was too excited at the time to remember that important piece of info!)

So glad it’s over, but I wanted to relate to others going through the same thing. Relax, know your rules and ride like you always do, with care and caution for everything around you. And don’t be a dick! You’ll pass!

This riding weather has been somewhat of a bitch.

It says it’s not gonna rain, and it does. It’s gonna rain, but not a cloud in the sky. The indecisiveness and instability of the weather must be like the indecisiveness and instability of a female sometimes (ladies, you know we do this). Mike must sometimes get that same ‘what am I walking into’ feeling when he rides in this weather, as he does when coming home some nights.

We’ve still gotten some good rides in to date. July 1st we rode to Peterborough to see Kim Mitchell. What a party that was. Literally thousands of people there, quite a few bikers too. Not a bad idea for a Saturday evening ride on the bikes.

We’ve been to Chrome on the Canal (and I saw a bike with a Marilyn Monroe vinyl on the fender! Damn I’ve been looking for this same image but from someone talented enough to do it as air brush work!

The Brotherhood Show ‘n Shine was a much better turnout than last year. The idea to move it to the Belleville A&W was clever. (Alright, who’s wife thought of this?)

Pulling in, we were greeted by many familiar faces. Large and in charge of her upcoming event push was our little blond

firecracker Tam with her beau Derek, and new buddy Amy (another talented photog who we also chummed with at Chrome on the Canal). The Brotherhood were taking care of business, as was Shawn Antoski, the former NHL tough guy who does incredible things for mental health these days, including attending this event with the Brotherhood.

Wayne from the Ride for Kids Kingston was there and came by to say hello, as was Scott, our new bud that I took a pic with at the recent HHR ride. I need to carry shirts with me, as Scott was looking for a shirt and I had nothing but what was on my back (and I can’t very well ruin the lives of all involved by sharing it right there!) X-large, new style please!

Plenty of awards were given and a lot of folks wondering around to look at all the beautiful bikes on display. Unfortunately though, the event was cut a bit short as we all tried racing home before the dark clouds opened up and released the holy hell of rain on us once again. (Maybe with all this rain, I’ll start wearing white t-shirts and we’ll get a lot more followers!!! And don’t worry ladies, we’ll get Mike and a couple of his friends in little, tight white t-shirts for your viewing pleasure. All in the name of marketing, of course!

The weekend of Wasaga was also the weekend of Smith’s Falls. Now I had the pleasure of attending a couple of meetings, trying to drum up volunteers by contacting local schools and emailed back and forth with town staff regarding certain things pertaining to the event, but the bread and butter of the planning was handled by Ray and James with the huge support of Pace Law, as well as our very own editor Al. These folks, along with the Town of Smiths Falls, were doing everything to make this one hell of an event.

Now we were to head up on the Friday, but again Mother Nature decided that it was not to be. Us living in an area surrounded largely by gravel dirt roadways to get in and out of was not something I wanted to trek through on my bike, and it looked to be raining hard. Advised by Al to play it safe, we waited it out, so by the time we did arrive, it was near 2:30 and things were being set up for the big weekend.

So, we wandered around quickly, thinking we should just unload our gear at the hotel and get back to help.

Hence the shit-storm begins.

Unaware that no room was available when we arrived, we ended up waiting for a room (luckily getting one by cancellation) and after all the miscommunication and confusion, I decided I was headed to the bar. Normally taking part in these events, especially when you volunteer to help, the financial output is minimal (writers are volunteers after all). And due to a misunderstanding, Al and myself thought that my room was covered since I’d be there volunteering for the weekend. Nay nay.. this was not the

case. I’ll be honest, $300-$400 bucks for a weekend is a bit steep in my pocket book for volunteer work. I’ve got another business, as does Mike, outside of writing, plus getting marketing materials made for the writing gig, it all adds up. Oh, and a son in college.

Cha-ching!

We decided to grab some dinner, head back to the event, then hit the bar and wait til morning and head out again to see what was going on.

We contacted our friends Kate and Rod (who are always up for a beautiful ride and there are some amazing roads in near Smith Falls). While they were on their

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way, we decided to check out the vendors and I spent my play money! Sinful Delight Boutique was there (one of our advertisers) and I ended up buying a cute little red thing. Oh, and am now wanting to do a road trip cause what I saw on their website has me intrigued.

Hog Town was there, Black Gold from Newmarket was there, along with a really fun display that had various birds there that were up for adoption.

Vendors were there, displaying motorcycle gear from gloves, vests, purses, motorcycles and did I mention..there was FOOD! People were quite happy with the food trucks that were there.

I was even able to find a Maple Leaf bracelet there. (Hey!! Back off, I love the blue and white) Now both nights consisted of concerts. With days filled with biker games, BBQ, vendors and the Poker Run, then a concert at night, you will earn your sleep on the Sunday night home.

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Before our friends arrival, a gentleman approached me, asking if I was Paula (aka L’il Red). Now this is one of the main reasons that I love to write.

After a brief introduction to our new buddy Dave, I noticed another man casually walking up, and Dave eagerly introduced him as Henry. This is where Henry did a little dance jig and pose and we HAD to get that on camera! Henry had ridden his own ride to Smiths Falls from the Niagara Region, and Henry is 80 years young.

The original Tailgunner himself! Not wanting to miss this opportunity, I jumped over to Henry for a pic. They both love reading the Mag so cheers to you fellas. I guess Mike and I will be heading out that way soon to catch up with them and their riding buddies soon.

Our friends arrived, and we wandered around again. Everytime I wandered around, I’d see something I needed/ wanted.

Later, we decided to head back as the rooms left that were available were a little outta our price range. So, we headed home.

The roads around Smith Falls are perfect for riders. We took this opportunity to head over through Westport (which these roads we all love to ride). Part of this route was also the roads they took on the Smith Falls scenic poker run.

The ride was perfect for a beautiful summer day.

I previously mentioned the Mick and some good ol’ boys in the U.K. that reached out to me as they read my article. And I gotta say, I’m seriously considering a trip that way (isn’t that what air miles are for?

Free travel and hotel accommodations?)

July 1st they took part in the Ninth Annual Allied Memorial Remembrance Ride, which also took part here in Canada, as well as the U.S., South Africa, France, New Zealand and Italy! They start with a ‘roar of thunder’, I mean how cool is that?? Oh, and by the way Mick..you pickin’ a fight by bringing up my whole ‘leavin the lights on’ thing and misspelling my email?? Tough guy lol.

With August coming, the events are coming and look like a lot of fun.

August 5th is the Redrum MC Annual Community Charity Ride starting out at Classy Chassis. A scenic ride, 50/50, show and shine, bands, beef dinner and a silent auction.

How ca you NOT wanna go??

Quinte Ride for Paws is around the corner. August 27th to be exact. Tam is literally getting Mags in everyones mailbox (and even in some people’s fences!) This event will be even bigger than last year.

Vendors, bands, food, the ride itself and door prizes. Last year there was between 300-400 riders so I can’t wait.

As always, my email at lilred@theridersmag.com. Events, upcoming rides or to just shoot the shit. My FB page gives you details on upcoming biker events, biker news and stories, and the occasional funny, just to make your day!

Well this is my official start to my column Three Wheeln’ with Wheelz for the riders mag I hope everyone enjoys reading about my adventures and travels.

5th Annual Steve Mesic Memorial Ride and Rally It was a beautiful sunny day in Hamilton Ontario for the Steve Mesic Memorial Ride so I headed out as the starting point was only about 15 minutes from my house but before arriving I had to gas up and grab something to eat for breakfast (yummy sausage Mcmuffin with NO egg but extra cheese). I arrived at the the starting spot which was T.B McQueston Park on Upper Wentworth right by the Lincoln Alexander Parkway. When I arrived the organizers were just getting things set up so I went over and introduced myself to them and got registered.

The bikes started to roll in so I got to work taking pictures and meeting up with friends both old and new. Before we took off for the ride I spoke to Aaron who was a good friend of Steve’s and he gave me some of the background of how the ride came to be. Steve suffered from depression and was unfortunately shot and killed by the police during an interaction with them by his house.

It was time to mount up on our rides (or in cars if you didn’t ride) and head out for the ride and off we went at noon sharp.

The Hamilton police blocked the traffic for us as we left the Park as we were making a left hand turn, than we were off across the Hamilton mountain to highway 6 south (towards Port Dover) through Caledonia and Hagersville and then onto back roads to Swazee’s Bar and Grill in Waterford where the rest of the days festivites were happening.

Blocking for the ride there was done by the Iron Hawgs MC from Brantford Ontario (thanks for keeping us safe on the roads brothers). When we arrived at Swazee’s the rally and party begun. People were lining up to get drinks and ordering food and the band HiFi Lowrider a local band from Waterford who stepped up after the original band cancelled at the last minute were cranking out the tunes from blues to classic rock and everyone was having a good time. Thanks to Norm, Aaron and the rest of the organizing crew for having me the day was an amazing success.

1st Annual Genuine White Boys (G.W.B) Poker Run Well I was unable to make it to the actual poker run due to scheduling, but the run started at Primetime Sports Bar in Hamilton. I made it to the after party at Lotos Sports Bar located in Stoney Creek. Upon arrival I was greeted by some of brothers from the club along with members of the HA Hamilton chapter. After the banquet hall was set up we were ushered in where the party got started. There was a good spread of food with salads, cold cuts and buns and pulled pork and a table full of prizes to be won. After eating and doing some door prizes the Mike Blackborrow trio got the hall

rocking and were cranking out the tunes. Everyone was mingling and having and having a blast. After a long day of travelling from event to event it was time for me to head home so I said my goodbyes to the brothers and others I knew and headed for home

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with a few stops at some CH’S first. Thanks for having me at the party see you bros next year.

Repatriation for Nazzareno ( Nazz) Tassone It was an honor to be invited to this ride and to be part of the repatriation team. I didn’t know Naz personally but according to a good friend of his he didn’t like what was going on in Syria so he went over there to fight against ISIS. That is where he lost his life fighting for the freedom of the people of Syria and us here in Canada too. After a hold up of getting Nazz’s body over here to Canada he was finally home.

I was up and out the door early that morning to go and meet up with the brothers and sisters of the North Wall Riders Association Steel City Chapter and Windsor Chapter who were in charge of leading Naz back to his home town in Niagara Falls. We were to meet up at 7:00 a.m. at the Home Depot parking lot in Stoney Creek and KSU at 7:30 a.m. Sharp.

After getting stopped by a boat going through the Hamilton harbor we were on our way to Toronto via the 407 than the 401 and the 427. We arrived at the funeral home at 8:58 a.m. where we met up with other riders both independent and club members. We had the opportunity to meet the family and extended our condolences and paid our respects to Nazz one last time before leaving at 10:00 a.m.

We made our way to Niagara Falls, where Naz was from, in a “Highway of Heroes type precession along the 427, 401 and 403 and into Niagara Falls with a police escort from Grimsby to the church in the falls (St Andrews United) where the service took place.

We arrived at noon and the funeral started at 1P.M. Officiated by Pastor Reid Cooke and it was a very moving service with family and friends telling stories and remembering Naz,

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that was followed by the committal at the cemetery than back to the church for the reception in the auditorium.

After giving our condolences to the family and friends one last time we enjoyed some time chatting and sharing a meal it was around 3:30 when we made our way home Thanks you to Keven Ellis and the rest of the NWRA crew for allowing me to ride with you and pay my respects to a fallen soldier. Again I would like to extend my condolences to Nazz’s family and friends.

Nazzareno “Nazz” Tassone November 5, 1992-December 21, 2016 If tears could build a stairway, and memories a lane, I’d walk right up to Heaven, and bring you home again, Gone yet not forgotten; although we are apart; your spirit lives with us forever in our hearts patience is easier on the heart R.I.P GBNF Benefit for Josh Menard Well this day started off differently than expected but hey it always does when I go to St Catharines ( not that, that is a bad thing) go with the flow right. My good friend Marianne Sharp and I were suppose to head out for a ride for ovarian cancer but instead we attended a benefit for cancer after I got an invite from another good friend of mine Therese Prue, I thought he it’s still for cancer so let’s go.

After getting ready we headed for the big metropolis of Welland ( no seriously it’s ginormous 52,293 people live there, as of 2016 but I’m sure a few more have moved their or left since than). We headed out of St Catharines and onto the 406 and into Welland and to Little Nashville where the benefit was taking place.

Josh Menard has a rare form of cancer and he also looks after his father who has MS. This benefit was put on with short notice by Josh’s friends and family. Josh worked with another good friend of mine T.J Prue but he is unable to work now due to his illness.

We arrived at around 1:30 p.m. in Little Nashville ( not sure why they call it little cause remember Welland is ginormous oh wait nevermind Nashville is bigger than this bar and probably just as hot too, but don’t forget Welland is still ginormous). At the time of the benefit Josh had just had his third round of Chemo and needed the support emotionally and financially. Everyone was having a good time and the benefit was a success.

Lincoln County S&S Well the day started out with the threat of rain but it seemed to dissipate by noon and after waiting for CAA to come and retrieve some keys from my mom’s vehicle that were locked in (hey it happens) I headed to the show and shine and got there by 1P.M. After getting lost like I do every year.

When I arrived I was greeted by a few of the members and directed as to where to part my bike (her name is Sophia by the way) for the S&S. I got parked

and met up with contributing writer Maxx Kocher and one of his club brothers Randy (also a good friend of mine). Before looking around and taking pictures we headed over to the food station where they were cooking all kinds of delicious food for all the hungry people in attendance. After filling our bellies I wheeled around taking pictures and talking with this one and that one. The band was cranking out the tunes and everyone was having a good time.

In what seemed like no time it was time to hand out the awards so I headed over to where they were being handed out and got a good spot. I even won a trophy...ok... ok so there was only two bikes in the class I was in but shhhhh. That rain that the weather man had predicted starting coming down and hard and I got drenched and misplaced my key (hey it happens) so I had to use my spare key.

Thanks to the Lincoln County MC for another good S&S. P.S. Always carry a spare key with you.

Winners of the show and shine are as follows SPECIAL INTEREST 1ST PLACE Mike 2ND PLACE Wheelz (hey that’s me) ANTIQUE 1ST PLACE Tom H 2ND PLACE Todd C 3RD PLACE Mark H STOCK SPORTSTER/DYNA 1ST PLACE Tim K 2ND PLACE Brian A 3RD PLACE Sandy P (nice ass sandy lol) CUSTOM SPORTSTER/DYNA 1ST PLACE Cindy M 2ND PLACE Mino M 3RD PLACE Pat M STOCK SOFTAIL 1ST PLACE Tina B 2ND PLACE Randy E 3RD PLACE Grumpy CUSTOM SOFTAIL 1ST PLACE Dave G 2ND PLACE Larry K 3RD PLACE Peter J STOCK ROAD KING 1ST PLACE Gord E 2ND PLACE Betty B CUSTOM ROAD KING 1ST PLACE Larry C 2ND PLACE not available 3RD PLACE Cdin N STOCK DECKER 1ST PLACE Bill V 2ND PLACE Bear C 3RD PLACE Bob W CUSTOM DECKER 1ST PLACE Pilot B 2ND PLACE Al D 3RD PLACE Gord E CVO SCREAMING EAGLE 1ST PLACE Frank E 2ND PLACE David W 3RD PLACE Erica L RADICAL 1ST PLACE Mike A 2ND PLACE John H

3RD PLACE Elderad Mike A

Iron Hawgs MC 2nd Annual Poker Run for PKU This is the 2nd Annual Poker Run that the Iron Hawgs MC put on and it is for PKU. PKU is a rare genetic disorder that does not allow the body to breakdown proteins in foods. PKU if not treated can cause severe brain damage. After of rain and thunderstorms the poker run started at the Oakland Legion located at 72 King Street North in Oakland Ontario. I was unable to make it to the poker run due to unforeseen circumstances but I did make it to the after party in Scotland Ontario.

After getting home from St Catharines I packed up my camera and headed to the big metropolis of Scotland Ontario ( another ginormous town). Scotland isn’t that big but of course I got lost trying to find the party but I eventually arrived and started snapping pictures and talking with this one and that one

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and having some of the delicious food that they were serving. I spoke with a few of the members and other friends to see how the poker run went and I was told that there was about 190 bikes all together and unfortunately one rider went down but she was able to make it to the after party. Hobbit and his band were cranking out the rock tunes and everyone was having a blast partying. After partying for a while I said my goodbyes and headed for home.

Oh and that key I thought I had lost at the LCMC S&S was found IN MY TRUNK OF MY BIKE so I didn’t have to get a new one.

Thanks to the Iron Hawgs for a good time see you next year.

Paris Bike night This year the town of Paris is holding a bike night for the first time and it is held at an awesome venue called the Paris Wincey Mills Co. Located at 31 Mechanic Street in beautiful downtown Paris Ontario. This venue is beautiful and it is located right between the Grand and Nith rivers.

The Paris Wincey Mills Co. has been a central figure in the community for over 125 years and in it’s most recent incarnation has become a place where locals and visitors alike can enjoy a day of good food, shopping and art. It was a beautiful Tuesday night for a ride out to a bike night so I grabbed my camera and headed out for the nights happenings.

I got there around 6:00 p.m. Just as things were starting to get rolling and got off my bike and headed over to the BBQ to get something to eat. I couldn’t resist the aroma of the food that was being cooked.

This bike night is put on by the Widow’s Sons out of Hamilton. The bikes started to roll in, in big and small groups and the crowds were getting bigger. Last I heard their was 900 bikes this night.

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The Ginger St James band from Hamilton were getting the party rocking and everyone was partying and having a good time.

I snapped some pictures and talked to a lot of people as I wheeled around. Then I spotted the ice cream shop across the street and couldn’t resist so I headed over to grab some (loaded chocolate peanut butter).

There was a pretty big club presence this night the clubs that were in attendance were Bacchus MC, Widows Sons (host club), Southers crusiers, Blue Nights MC, Red Nights, Iron Hawgs MC, Abate, Queensmen MC, Dog Pound RC, Disciple Christian MC, Rumble Dollz WC, Iron Workers MC, Ghost Riders RC, and The Canadian Vets MC. Be sure to check this bike night out this season as they run untill October every other Tuesday night.

Bloodstone Custom airbrushing, Paint and Hydrographics A buddy of mine asked me to do a write up on his airbrushing and painting shop so I jumped at the chance and said I would.

After an appointment I headed over to his shop to visit with him and see what he is all about. His name is Darren Stone and he owns Bloodstone Custom Airbrushing, Paint and Hyrdographics.

Darren has been painting for 25 years and he started by painting his friends vehicles when he was in school. Although he does custom airbrushing and paint he also does something different and unique called Hydrographics. Hydrographics is also known as immersion painting, water transfer painting, water transfer imaging, hydro dipping or cubic printing, it is a method of applying printed designs to three dimensional surfaces.

The printed image/film is placed on the surface of the water and the base begins to dissolve. A patented activator chemical is sprayed over the film causing the ink to remain floating in an oil-like state on top of the water. Darren can paint anything and depending on how backed up he gets can get a paint job done within a few days. The shop mostly does painting of bikes in the winter/fall months starting on October till March but he will paint anytime. He also owns his own trucking company called Stones delivery service.

Darren’s website is www.paintyourride.com so check it out and he can be found on facebook too. He will be painting my ride in the winter and it’s going to be deadly if your looking for a painter check him out.

Clare’s in Port Dover Bike Night After finishing up at Bloodstone Custom Airbrushing and Hydrographics I heaed out to Port Dover for Bike Night at Clares.

This is the first Bike Night at Clare’s in Port Dover that I have attended at their new location at the top of the hill on Main Street (they use to be down by the Pier). I arrived at 6:30 P.M. and the party had already started. I grabbed some food ( I’m always eating lol) and started taking pictures and talking with people that I hadn’t see in a while or was just meeting for the first time.

John and Randy Clare were in attendance a for this night along with their families. The band for the night was ON TAP from the Niagara area and they had the crowd rocking out all night . It was good to see and talk to Norm Dorr one of the organizers of the Steve Mesic Ride and Rally. Norm is a licensed motorcycle mechanic and owns his own shop DORR ENTERPRISES in Waterford Ontario so if you are from that area and need some

work done on your ride give him a call at 519 861-0571.

Clare’s in Port Dover is located at 334 Main Street in Port Dover is and they have bike night once a month and the next one is on August 11th so if your in the area check them out.

BRO Niagara summer bash Bro Niagara holds a Summer Bash every year in July and it is always a blast and I look forward to it every year. I didn’t make the ride which started at the Husky gas station in Niagara on the Lake across from Clare’s Harley Davidson but I made it out to the bash at their bash site located at 330 Young Road in Welland Ontario .

After getting stuck in traffic on the QEW and getting turned around in Welland (stupid google maps) I made it to the bash site where the party had already begun as one of 5 bands were on stage getting the crowd rocking.

Bonnie and friends were working the raffle table and the food station was busy as was the licensed bar. The attendance looked to be down this year but it was cause of a funeral for one of the BRO PC members who had passed away the week before while riding on the 406 and came in contact with an inflated air mattress that had fallen off the back of a pick-up ; R.I.P Donald Pidgeon you will be sorely missed by us all.

The Charity of choice for this year was the Red Roof Retreat located at 1594 Concession Road 6 in Niagara on the Lake. It’s run by founder Steffanie Prins Bjorgen, Steffanie and her staff specialize in helping people with special needs. They were establised in 2001 and if you would like to get a hold of them their phone number is 289 868-9800.

The Bike games got underway in the field by mid afternoon so I headed over that way to watch them. At dusk there was a fireworks display and the rest of the bands played till the wee hours of the morning. The clubs

in attendance for this year’s bash were BRO Niagara, BRO PC, Independent Ones, NBS Riders, Motorcycle Country RC, Predators MC, Regulators MC, BACA, Widows Sons ( Peel chapter) and Welland County MC. My buddy Randy and I said our goodbyes and started to head for home around 2 A.M. And after a minor issue with Randy’s bike we finally made it back to Hamilton at around 3:30 A.M.. Awesome party BRO Niagara see you next year unfortunately I didn’t get many pictures at this event as my batteries died in my camera.

Well that does it for my adventures for this issue of the Riders Mag but first I would just like to say we have lost way to many riders this year already from Ottawa to Port Colbourne. My Condolences to the friends and families of the fallen riders but they are riding the golden roads above and watching over us all so ride safe the rest of the season and watch for morons in cages who arent watching for us.

OK TIME FOR A RIP SEE YA OUT THERE

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Life Behind Bars

ROLL FOR THE SOUL When we arrived Saturday morning we were greeted and welcomed by Jessica Penny the Lead Event Coordinator of the 2017 Ride For Guide Dogs (Oakville, Ontario). Most of the riders were of the independent and enthusiast persuasion – with bikes, trikes and Spyders in the ready; with representatives of HOG, CMC (multiple chapters), BRO Niagara and the Predators MC also present. The ride started at the Oakville facility where the much of the formal training begins between the client and the service dog, and the crucial foundational bonding occurs. We enjoyed a picture-perfect day for this event it was warm, sunny, with a nice cooling breeze… and even a ten-minute refreshing rain fall near the end of the route. Riding for the better part of 150KMs via winding and hilly backroads, to the Bresalu Lion’s Club Facility, where the service dog breeding

By; Maxx

and puppy births occur. The riders were treated to a great meal and snacks… it really felt like a family backyard party - we also met some new puppies and guide dog foster families…nice touch.

The ride event was started in 2009 by Saltwater Retreats Lions’ Club in Enfield Nova Scotia, and has been getting traction ever since, with events held across Canada supporting six program streams: • Canine Vision Dog Guides - For people who are blind or visually impaired • Hearing Ear Dog Guides - For people who are deaf or hard of hearing • Service Dog Guides - For people who have a physical disability • Seizure Response Dog Guides - For people who have epilepsy • Autism Assistance Dog Guides - For children who have autism spectrum disorder • Diabetic Alert Dog Guides - For people who have type 1 diabetes with hypoglycemic unawareness There are many opportunities for other MCs, RCs and organizations wanting to host their own ride, the Lions Club will provide them with planning support, merchandising and patches to help make their event successful. An interesting note is that the Guide Dog Programs are selffunding - no government grants. SO the individual that needs the benefit of guide dog, would be in a bad place without our support.

This ride and event really tugs at your hearts strings on many levels when you come to this event and meet other dog and pet lovers, who also love to ride - and to top it off, you’ll meet the individuals that are benefiting from your participation…it becomes real - real fast - when you see the direct impact the service dog has on the client - it’s sobering. This impact is something that we in the biker community value, and put on the top of our list of things to fight for…these dogs’ equal freedom and independence for the clients.

A few weeks back I was with The Rider’s Mag at Oliver’s Ale House in Brampton for their Show and Shine. This 2015 Road Glide Bagger rolls in – all black and elegantly simple… Here is the ‘Life Behind [the] Bars’ story of

this ride.

This bike’s owner (let’s call him BT) in early January 2017, lost a sibling to a long-time struggle against alcohol, and a series of family challenges. BT now found himself in the grips of depression, and facing his own struggle. A few days after funeral of his sibling, BT had to find a way to cope with depression and anxiety in his life – often, medication is prescribed – which frequently leads to so many more issues. BT chose alternative therapy – falling back to the solace of our motorcycle culture, community and lifestyle, he purchased this Road Glide in mid-January 2017 (inside a week of his sibling’s funeral) to replace the 2010 Road Glide he had sold just a few

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weeks earlier (for personal reasons in December 2016), then set out to rebuild and customize this new bike. Through the phenomenal act perseverance of completing the bagger project; it turns out BT rebuilt and transformed himself – literally ‘riding’ to a better place. After, hearing BT’s story – this bike couldn’t have been any colour, other than black.

ROLE FOR THE SOUL Have you ever been riding in a pack, with riders you don’t know, and with riders of varying degrees of experience…even no experience; then in the end when you got back home, said “that was a great ride?” Well that didn’t happen by chance, the sexy part – the ride - was captained by an individual that has spent the weeks leading up to the event going over the route a half-dozen times, making sure it the most scenic, safest with least number of stops, trying to keep the pack together to finish at the same time – to provide enjoyable ride for all.

Let me introduce you Ron Baron, of BRO Niagara where he is the Road Captain and Government Liaison, and the BRO provincial OCC representative. Ron says that there is a tremendous amount of planning and organizing, that a Road Captain needs to do before any event, but the effort multiplies for new events.

When done right, all we as riders ever experience is a great day of riding – Road Captains go out of the way to keep the routes simple, long lights and easy turns – these individuals know that worthiness of the event is judged by the quality of the ride.

From personal experience, I find that Road Captains such as Ron and others bring a level of professionalism, safety, admiration and respect to our rides; this is important especially when the public is sees us riding through their neighborhood...think about it. Besides, it always feels sooooo incredibly good riding with the sound of 20, 50 and even 100 bikes, like in the OCC Unity Ride in early June – thundering into one concerted heartbeat, beating for one common cause. Going forward let’s make sure we give little extra thanks to the Road Captains.

My name is Maxx Kochar aka ‘Kilo’ – I’m a Husband, a Father and a BROTHER. Growing up in (back then) in small town Saskatchewan – then did some time in Burnaby and final settling in to Southern Ontario. I am self-employed business consultant, and an advocate for social innovation and enterprise…A practising Urban Journalist and Photographer – searching for a ‘role for the soul’.

I’m on occasion asked what is it about being a ‘biker’ that is alluring? I say this, I remember the evening when I knew I couldn’t walk away from this lifestyle, and fell in love with the biker experience. It was an early evening ride out of Saskatoon going towards Rosthern; it was a hot day and I could still feel the heat coming off the asphalt as the sun was going down at around eight. Being that it was Saskatchewan around thirty years ago, there weren’t many cages cluttering up the highway in the evenings. I quickly accelerated through the gears and settled into a great cruising speed…That was the point of the insatiable addiction. What I remember was that the wind seemed to calm, the scenery seemed to become still, and the sound of the motor seemed to resemble the steady, low throaty growl of a predator. I felt this euphoric feeling of peace, freedom and happiness. Every ride, from

that moment on is reliving that experience.

I’m excited to introduce my new article, Life Behind [the] Bars; stories and pictures about important events and happenings in the Biker Community, told from the perspective of the rider behind the bars – so that you can share the experience in case you missed it…or want to relive it. I welcome your ideas, suggestions and invitations for future articles.

Thanks for reading and living Life Behind [the] Bars. Follow me on Facebook and Twitter: @TheRidersMagGTA Kilo

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One Armed Bandit tales of determination

When you see me riding by on my Honda Rebel 300 and give me the customary biker wave or salute, you will not get one from me in return. Please know that I am in no way ignoring you. In fact, I most certainly will acknowledge you as a fellow biker - it’s just that my wave is different than the traditional 2 fingers pointed to the ground at a 45 degree angle - my salute is raising my right arm.

Sure, it might look like I’m giving you the finger since I wear a black leather glove and only 1 finger tends to protrude from my biker jacket - but believe me, I am not telling you to take a hike or anything disrespectful. I am thrilled to be able to greet you, my fellow biking brothers and sisters - I just do it differently.

Why? Before I answer this question, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Angie Sandow, aka, One Armed Bandit.

I am a motorcycle lover and rider, musician, motivational speaker and soon to be blogger. My intent is to share my stories with you and along the way, to learn yours. When you see me out there on the road or at a Timmy’s having that donut that I’ll probably bitch about eating to my hubby later on in the day, please stop by and introduce yourself.

Now back to - why do I wave at fellow bikers with my right arm?

I came into this world many years ago with a congenital birth defect to my right forearm, and other interesting differences, some which are easily visible, some not so much. Unique from the start, while growing up in Montreal, Quebec (no I am NOT a Habs fan!) my parents always encouraged me to do anything that I set my mind to. I always found a way and continue to do so.

I am a sports nut and have played hockey, football and baseball.

I love music - some of you may have even seen me perform - I was “Angus” in an AC/DC Tribute Band called BARE RUMP which I formed in 2000 with my hubby. We performed at a variety of biker events including Ride for Sight for many years.

It was a great band and fun, however my main objective was to use it as a vehicle to demonstrate to people what one could achieve. As I used a prosthetic to play guitar, I wanted to help others realize their dreams - to make people laugh and have a good time while spreading the message that we are all unique and that we should not

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judge each other based on appearances.

I have since retired BARE RUMP however now sing in a classic rock band called LEFTY AND THE GOONS (www. leftyandthegoons.com). We perform throughout Ontario however not so much in the summer - it’s riding season!!

When I was around 5 years old, my sister was dating a motorcycle rider and racer. I recall that he used to race at Sanair in Saint-Pie, Quebec and Daytona, Florida.

I never got to see him race however I DID get a ride around the block on his motorcycle in the late 60’s. I recall being told to put on a pair of jeans and a jacket despite it being summer. I was given a white full face helmet to put on my head and off we went - I recall waving at my friends as we went by and feeling so cool. How disappointed I was when we returned to the house so quickly!!

Seeing this, his buddy offered to give me a ride on his motorcycle. Off we went again.

That was it - it was over in a flash however it got into my blood and never left. As soon as I was old enough, I pleaded with my parents to get me a motorcycle. I knew that there had to be some way that one could be modified seeing as I only had a left hand. We compromised and I got a moped.

Bright yellow. I remember that I had to mix the oil with gas before putting the mixture in the tank. I took the measuring of each component very seriously. I also had to look good. I had a maroon full face helmet with a dark shield - black leather pants and a black leather jacket with fringes. I was in my mid-teens in the 70s - I HAD to look the part!!

I rode that thing into the ground. I recall making sharp turns leaning with my knee nearly touching the ground because I was a motorcycle racer (in my mind). The thing went approximately 40km/hour and I pushed it to the limit.

Then one day, came THE hill. I was riding to school which was in a hilly part of the city. Off I went - everything was fine until THE hill. It started off okay, but as I approached the midpoint, the moped (racing bike in my head) started to struggle - it lost power - the city bus behind me was not impressed - nor was the 10 speed bicycle rider who passed me with no issues despite my pedaling like mad, begging the moped to get to the top of THE hill. I did make it - soaked - but I knew that I looked good - in my black leathers and full face helmet - with dark shield.

I recall visiting a motorcycle store shortly thereafter without my parents knowing. I met with a sales rep and he showed me a scooter saying that I should consider buying one. I wanted a motorcycle, however was told that there would be no way to modify it to accommodate my needs.

I remember being down and discouraged. The moped had been fun but after being passed by a bicycle, I knew it was over. The love affair had ended.

Then I was 16 and got my driver’s license. The car with its stereo became my world. Driving around the city blasting LED ZEPPELIN - I still got occasional rides on the odd motorcycle however the dream had died. It would never be possible.

Or would it?

Why just ride …When you can have an Adventure!

That sexy devil of a Man named Critter called and as we chatted he asked me if on my way to to the Bacchus MC Show N Shine Hamilton, if I could take a run at the grand DETOUR for Dukes Harley Davidson in Chatham…. how could I say no?

Let me start by telling you there is lane restricted major messed up Construction on the 401 East bound and West bound thru Chatham with 2 major exits closed!

And they are: Queens LineExit 63 (east bound ramp only), and Communication Rd.-Exit 90 which is the usual exit for Dukes. This Construction is due to wrap up in November 2017 Yes I can ganrentee you that it can be a challenge passing thru the single lane concrete trough as I call it, heading East out of Windsor to anything!

On June 10 I left early to do the Grand Detour! so I had plenty of time run thru the concrete trough to the only Exit that is open east bound 401 thru Chatham and that would be Bloomfield Rd. Exit 81. The first part of the trough you go into is 17km long and not bad if the traffic is moving along…….yep it was one of those “you have to be kidding me” days! Half way thru came to a dead stop….for about 30 minutes and of course it was first day Mother Nature turned the Fricken roaster on….. Bike shut off sitting on the highway getting baked, sure glad I carry water with me all the time. The traffic did start to move a little at a time but too slow for me seeing the 9km marker I really needed to get out of there before Bella (my bike) overheated. I picked the side of the trough that gave me the most room and proceeded slowly.. But I was moving that was the important part.

I did finally find out what the holdup was......broken down box truck…thanks buddy! Oh ya and the Officer on the other side of the trough wall …lol…. I just cut back into traffic and around the box truck….I’m so out of here!

Needless to say by the time I got out of there I was drenched in sweat and so ready to get on the open road to cool the bike down, that I took a pass for the Grand Detour that day and would revisit it in a few weeks.

Never expect things to go the way you think they will….

The Revisit This time I was not leaving in the morning to head to Chatham this time! I booked a service appointment at Dukes in advance for Bella for 8:30 am for June 24, so I planned to head to Chatham on Friday and stay overnight.

After work I took off for Chatham on Highway #2 and had a uneventful enjoyable ride in, stopped in at the Bacchus MC for a visit, a few giggles and grins…and as always a big thanks goes out to them for their great hospitality!

Then I was off to my accommodations for the night. The usual Hotel I stay at in Chatham and would recommend to anyone is the Saxony it is clean, updated and motorcycle friendly! You can snag a room for $60 tax in…love this place….but it was fully booked. So close by is a Super 8 a little on the pricey side but having patio doors on the

main level so you can park your bike outside the room is hard to come by these days unless your at a Mom and Pop kind of deal. I thought I was treating myself by staying at a Brand Name Hotel….that would be not. I will just say do not stay there the room was so dirty I would not shower in the place, do not waste your money! and I did make a complaint to the desk clerk before I left…they don’t care.

On to the Grand Detour! I took 3D that would be off of the Bloomfield exit on the 401. Here is the map of the rout that I took.

Bloomfield to Middle Line to Drury Line to Communication Road, to Horton Line

I have to say it was a very nice back road rout, it was well marked to get you over to Communication Road and back to Horton Line to Dukes Harley Davidson. I took the truck

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rout and had a great Saturday Morning ride in.

Once at Dukes I pulled up to find the store quite busy for a Saturday morning and proceeded to drop my bike in for service.

I spent some time speaking to Chris Hall-General Manager regarding how the crazy construction is affecting the Dealership, and all said and done it is just “drop in business” that seems to be affected other than that Service and Sales are just a busy as usual. Everyone that works there was in good spirits and having way too much fun!

I had some service issues looked at and some warranty work to be scheduled, Scott Merrill-Service & Parts Manager was really great with me regarding my concerns about my bike.

I kicked a few tires, daydreamed about having a second bike….bought a nice ladies shirt and I was on my way… amazing morning!

The only bad thing I will say about the Grand Detour is that after leaving Dukes the rout back to Bloomfield Road off of Communication Road was not marked at all, just a heads up.

I stopped in at Blenheim for fuel and a quick lunch, then homebound…..

Yes it has been a Grand Adventure and I still enjoyed every part of it…even the not so good stuff….but that’s what it’s all about….

Run to the North Wall XXII Got up Sunday morning to perfect weather for North Wall Riders Association “Run to the North Wall XXII ” Memorial Run. I never miss this one!

We ride in Honour of the Canadians that Served with the U.S Military during the Vietnam War The run was very well attended this year, and with the American holiday falling on the Tuesday this year there were many Veteran based Clubs, Groups andAssociations here from all over the United States in attendance for the North Wall Services.

The CMC did an amazing job blocking this year keeping everyone safe and together from the RCCL 594 to the Riverfront Memorial.

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Everyone knows about the Run during the day, but few know about the Candle Light Service at the North Wall that takes place at dusk. During the day Service Wreaths are laid to remember those that gave the greatest sacrifice for our freedoms, then at the Candle Light Service all of their Names are read aloud with the Wall a glow with candle light.

We Will Remember Them Thanks goes out to the Membership of the North Wall Riders Association and all of the Volunteers that make this Day possible for everyone.

Bacchus M.C. Chatham Bike Show Well with Bella as clean as she was going to get (yes I was slaking) I was off to meet up with my friend Jim Richard with his 1957 Pan to head to Chatham for the Annual Bacchus M.C. Bike Show!

Highway #2 was the road of choice, the top speed on the Pan is not quite what the Street Glide can do so we had a nice leisured ride from Manning Road to the Event with no issues. The truck was on stand-by if the Pan decided to get finicky.

We arrived early at the Kent Belgium Dutch Canadian Club to get registered and parked, with a # on the head light and instructions on where to park off to the back parking lot we went….this facility has a very large paved back lot and easy access to the main building.

The Parking lot filled up nicely and they had a great turn out considering that it ran the same weekend as Bacon Fest. There were a few Vendors with Stuff to keep you busy while waiting for the Judging.

Patches by Patches from Windsor was there, if you need patches made look this guy up, he does a fabulous job and his prices are great too!

Lisa and Sheila were doing a fine job at the Bacchus Support Gear table….they had everything and toques too~ Great looking swag and yes I added to my collection again…. just can’t help myself!

The Big Fix Grassroots Cat Rescue Ladies were on hand (Kate, Lisa and Emillee) cooking up burgers and dogs for donations to the Cat Rescue! Awesome job ladies the food was delish!

The KBD Club was also open, the pool tables were busy and on a hot day, cold refreshments were the choice for some.

Everyone was called together about 3:00pm and the very nice plaques were handed out to 1st and 2nd place winners in each division.

I have to apologize I still have not got that knack to get the winner info down yet , so Congratulations to everyone and the Membership that placed at this show, also Congratulations to all who did not…all the motorcycles there that day were amazing in their own uniqueness!

Also The Mag Writers from the Deep South, put together a few door prizes for this event to first and foremost, Thank Bacchus M.C. Chatham for their continued support of The Riders Mag in this area, and to support their Event!

Congrats to the Winners: Isaak and Fred!

I had a great day at this Event, met some new people, lots of giggles and grins with good friends! Lastly to my surprise…. Bella won her division for the first time “1st Place HD Touring” you couldn’t wipe the smile off my face for two days……

Looking forward to this Event in 2018!

Keep’in it Simple Kathy Troiani Axemen M/C –Detroit Children’s Fund Raiser Had the opportunity to attend a fund raiser at the Axmen M/C- Detroit a few weeks back, just have to say had a fantastic time! A great party for a great cause!

Thanks Shifty and the Axemen M/C Membership!

I will be bringing you more info on this next month..

Keep’in it Simple Kathy Troiani

I suppose I should be grateful for any sign of recognition . . . Since my last FFYR article, I have been exposed to some negative feedback from non-clubbers and, as a result of that exchange, I came to an undeniable conclusion - in Canada, to achieve public acceptance that a persecution problem exists is comparable to watching a race between a sloth and a tortoise in slo-mo. This conclusion is undeniably reinforced when the complainants can only recite media reports as the obvious gospel concerning the biker life. Gotta be true cuz the media is never biased, Eh Ollie? As I debated the situation with these ignoramuses, it came to me that, at the very least, someone was actually reading my rants and also that my writing caused them to, ponder the problem, and question my position. One of my literary mentors revealed that a disgruntled reader was only one step removed from becoming an ally – the trick is to make them understand your side of the situation, via the preponderance of undisputable evidence, which should ultimately compel them to agree with your position – or so it goes on paper. There have been many times in the past when I have envisioned myself akin to a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest – particularly when it appears that my activism instigated no cause or effect on the situation. However, due to this exchange, and the ultimate outcome (the protagonists became believers) I am reassured that public opinion may be, ever so slightly, conceding that there is merit in our complaint regarding the persecution of a visible minority.

It was the tale of two motorcycle rallies. One guided by the heavy hand of law enforcement (No Colours… don’t even whisper support) – the other open and welcoming to patches and the culture.

The town of Smith Falls was extremely hospitable to over 2000 bikers; most of them patch-wearin’ clubbers. And now it’s an historical fact - the Rideau Rendezvous unfolded over three days without any altercations or incidents. I arrived on Sunday and was greeted by many residents who honked their approval while givin’ the ole ‘thumbs-up’.

Such was the case throughout the day. One of the local politicians rode in on his machine and participated in the show & shine. Now that’s appreciation on a scale that I can get behind, Bravo!

The town was open with none of the businesses’ declaring ‘No Colours Allowed’. Life as it used to be before the stooges let their dogs harass and harangue citizens of our lifestyle. Refreshin’ is a word that just don’t cut it. For this weekend, the cesspool of discrimination was transformed into a fountain of cool, clear, glacier water. Prejudice,

bigotry, and bullying were flushed down the toilet – replaced by common respect, brotherhood, and humanity.

Big, burly, tattooed, clubbers sporting colours (sewn on, no Velcro) actually mingled with the residents and nobody lost their dignity or their respect. Trashing the credibility of the biased poison spewing from the BEU propaganda machine, Eh Ollie? ACAB It’s way past the time for Ontario politicians to address the issue concerning the prevalence of authoritative malice towards bikers - simply because we are a culture separate from mainstream society. An intelligent and sophisticated society would be able to rationalize that there is good and bad in all human organizations, yet the dogs of the establishment are allowed to discriminate clubbers with a multitude of unnecessary intrusions into their everyday innocent activities. How long can these archaic tactics be permitted to insult and restrict a small sector of the social fabric? Begs the question - Does this crap actually help or hinder the advancement of society?

Isn’t this type of persecution the reason we fought the Nazis? What is apparent is that people are being profiled and singled out merely for adopting a lifestyle. Every year, more citizens opt to enjoy the freedom of the biker life only to be persecuted for their legal choices. Perhaps the mandarins need to be reminded that . . . Resentment and outrage are the handmaidens of anarchy!

Roostah OCC&I Treasurer

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Beverly Robinson 1933-2017 Erie Ramblers Motorcycle Club (Lifetime Member) Honourary Life Member of The Motor Maids Motorcycle Club

It is with great sadness and heavy hearts that we share with you the passing of our beloved Bev - mom, Gram, and Great-Gram, on the evening of June 24th, 2017. The Lady behind Robinson Motorcycle in Wheatley Ontario.

We will all miss you Bev. RIP G.B.N.F

William Wayne (Grizzly) Waddell 1944 – July 17, 2017 Member of the Scarborough Hog Chapter Memorialized at the Legion where a large crowd was gathered to celebrate the life and times of Grizzly.

There was lots of food and plenty to drink! They did a �ine tribute to the man we had come to love over the years!

My sincere condolences to his friends, family and extended family! He will be missed!

Goodbye Grizzly, my old friend! Sorry to see you go! RIP. L&R. GBNF! If there is an afterlife and a Heaven, keep the 50 on ice and we will one day sit down reminisce over a few cold ones and ride off into wherever together! If not, it was a pleasure to have known you!

GBNF R.I.P.

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Owner, Mark Gross, first opened Hawg Worx in 2011 and has been earning a solid reputation as a reasonable and reliable place to get work done on Harleys ever since. The shop has recently gone through some major changes, and renovations and has experienced some challenges as well.

Major road construction had the street torn up beyond belief and that made access to the property almost impossible at times for much of last year. So they took the opportunity to renovate the shop to be ready for business once the City was through with their little project!

Well I’m here to tell you, the new road is now in and looking good, there is easy access and the Hawg Worx Crew are ready to go!

Hawg Worx has slowly, steadily and surely grown a large loyal customer base and continues to expand in both its physical presence and the area from where the customers are coming from. As word spreads they find they are drawing from not just locals but from Newmarket and throughout the GTA. Their recent growth spurt can be largely attributed to the coming together of three

long-time friends that now form the crew! These gentlemen Mark Gross, Chris Cobb and Mike Jacobs have all worked together in various configurations at various points at various shops and dealerships throughout the years as they collectively and individually learned their craft and honed their skills.

Each was on their own individual journeys but their shared passion for motorcycles was the common thread that drew them together time and time again. They found their paths intersecting constantly throughout the years, until fate and circumstances, once again brought them together and they decided to pool their talents and go down the road together with a common goal and destination in mind. Building a cohesive crew can be like writing a song or creating a masterpiece. All the components are there, the notes, the tones, the rhythm, it is getting the right blend or whatever. You can spend years and go crazy trying to get it right and never achieve it, then one day it all comes together. There is a nice harmony here!

Individually each brought something specific to the table and collectively those skills complimented each other very well and the result is a great little shop that is getting

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bigger and better! It is a shop where work is done right the first time, prices are fair and they truly care about their customers. This combination of three factory trained and fully accredited individuals with a wealth of knowledge, experience, state of the art, diagnostic equipment and specialty tools in a great, comfortable, atmosphere draws customers from far and wide.

There is a large display of different certificates, awards and licenses on the one wall that attests to the accomplishments of these three amigos, but anyone who has been around motorcycles for a while doesn’t need to look at a certificate to know the talent possessed by any one of these gentlemen. Individually they each have solid reputations and impeccable qualifications! Together they are a powerhouse!

Mark started out riding a 74 RD 350 Yamaha, various dirt bikes, snowmobiles until he got hooked on Harley-Davidson when he went to bike week in 1988. He came back and bought a ’91 Softail. That led to tinkering and doing service and repairs to his own stuff from a home shop and he proved himself to be pretty handy with a wrench. This lead to friends bringing their stuff around for him to work on and things just evolved into a motorcycle repair business.

He got real serious about his chosen field of endeavor and in 1995 he decided to take things to the next level and signed up for the MMI 1 year course in Arizona and made a career of it! There was a lot of hard work and determination that got him to this point but Mark credits much of his success to his Mom Lorraine who encouraged and supported him right up in all that he did until her death in May of 2016.

Mark then trained and perfected his craft working at various Shops and Dealerships throughout Southern Ontario before going out on his own and opening Hawg Worx.

He has not regretted that decision at all and the future looks bright. A loyal customer base such as what he has established was built on trust and fast and efficient service at fair prices and that is what he offers and delivers on. Many riders prefer the personal “You can talk to the technician” treatment that he gives his customers as opposed to the impersonal experience of many Dealerships.

As the business grew, Mark recognised the need for help, particularly in the front office and show room. He brought Chris on board. Chris brought with him a wealth of experience that includes mechanical and technical but he really excels in customer service, Social Media, front office management, parts and making the showroom look its best. He knows how to utilize space and get the most of every square inch.

Chris had also seized the opportunity a while back when a shop closed up, to purchase top of the line, state of the art, software, computer equipment and diagnostics gear and specialty tools

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that enables them to work on the newest that HarleyDavidson has on the market!

That, along with their knowledge of the older models gives them a real edge and the ability to appease and draw in wider range of motorcycle enthusiasts.

They developed a better online presence with a fine new Website and a Social Media strategy as well as reaching out to the Community as a whole, supporting local charities and events such as Kids race, a real interesting concept that raises awareness of Autism. They also are supporting an interesting new event with The Roller Derby Girls called “Motorcycles and Mayhem” that will take place July 22/17 and hope to have many more.

Chris has been involved with motorcycles and the motorcycle Industry since his early teens starting with Cycle World East in 1987 and then on to various other dealerships throughout mostly, Southern Ont. until coming on board with Mark in 2016. Many who walk through the door for the first time will recognize him instantly and they know that they don’t have to draw him any pictures for him to know what they want or explain a couple of dozen times what they need. If they haven’t met him before it doesn’t take them long to realize that they have come to the right place and that “Motorcycles is an official language at Hawg Worx!”

Mike was drawn to motorcycles from an early age but his parents wouldn’t allow him to have one. He managed to skirt that little issue by getting into working on them.

He signed up for the course at Centennial College and after graduating got a job at Barrie Harley-Davidson where he met Chris and worked with him in the parts department. He learned easily and was offered an apprenticeship and then a bench position. From there, he moved around to a number of shops throughout the GTA where he established himself as a top notch Technician and built up a customer base of his own who follow him wherever he goes. (When you find a wrench who you know and trust you don’t let travel separate you!) He went with Chris to Barebone Choppers for a while before moving back to the city and worked at Davies’ H-D. That is the nucleus of Hawg Worx and the heart and soul of what is now a great shop on the way to being a phenomenal shop!

Hawg Worx does all regular repairs and service on Harley-Davidson motorcycles, plus tires, batteries, performance work and anything else to keep your bike on the road and looking good with a huge selection of aftermarket accessories from all the major suppliers. Their enormous network of professional shops allows them to get any specialty work like precision machining, custom paint or anything else that you need done properly and as economically as possible.

Stop in and see them sometime!

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The adventure continues! After a one day weather delay (go figure) we set off on our “holiday” (now that the Boss and I are both retired from the 9 to 5, every day should be a holiday…wrong!) The real holiday starts by planting our asses on the “white couch” and hitting the open road!

We decided on our favourite spot, Kouchibouguac National Park to set up home base for day trips up and down the east coast of N.B. After settling in and setting up it was hilarious, the other campers trying to figure out how a biker could carry 264 square feet of living space, along with all accessories on a bike and small trailer, but as the pic shows, it does work! A long way from my travels with a pup tent using

my chaps for a blanket and my jacket for a pillow!

I did have the opportunity of chatting with 5 riders who stopped for a one night stop over a couple of sites down the path. Now, I’ve set up my share of rides, making sure all the runs was on paved roads (no major highways) which proves to be a challenge even on a couple hundred km run, but these guys had a different adventure planned. They were doing a two week ride around N.B. without using roads! They were using snowmobile and 4 wheeler/ATV paths to complete their mission, and just to blow my mind further, they started in Vermont U.S.A.!

Hope they made it!

We completed our mission with a soggy return to the ranch. (Surprise, surprise) and, traded the bike for a lawnmower, to make our property acceptable so I don’t have to get my Dewalt screw gun to fight off angry neighbours and just in time to get to St. Antoine breast

cancer rally.

The weather on that Saturday was calling for (you guessed it) severe rain with thunder storms. Waking up to clear skies, we set off for the run. My motto is to start off dry and what happens after that just happens!

We pulled in dry to the Paysan restaurant (who carry The Mag), to see the lot filled with bikes and riders.

Butch (the owner) announced our arrival on the P.A. and I thanked my lucky stars that I had scrounged up about 50 more mags, because they went like wildfire.

The ride took us for about a three hour trip through picturesque scenery with stops for refreshments at the Red Roof (somewhere around Rexton) as close as I can figure and Richibucto Village gun club, before heading back to Paul Leblanc’s (Butch’s brother) sprawling property for draws, BBQ and music. There were 75 bikes registered but I think there were many more, and managed to raise $3625.00 for breast cancer research. Great job Paul and crew, the Boss & I will be out to support again next year! And it all got pulled off in great sunshine!

By this time, it was time for my monthly run up to Bathurst, Campbelton area along the North Shore for my monthly quota of beer & smokes! Thought it would be

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great to treat the Boss & I to a night at one of our advertisers, The Atlantic Host Hotel in Bathurst, in dry weather and a very comfortable stay over in a real bed! The Atlantic Host proved to be a great place, complete with large comfortable rooms, dining room, bar, large indoor pool with a sauna and large whirlpool all topped off with affordable prices and a great, friendly staff. The bonus is that it is completely biker friendly and the owner Keith (who I hear rides himself) told me there is a power washer available to make your bike spotless before leaving.

I met with a couple of guys riding the Maritimes one from

Newmarket and his buddy from England (complete with the large British plate on his ride). Riding into town we made a stop at the Darksiders C.H. in Bathurst for a brew and say a big hello from the Boss and I. In response, part of the club turned up at the “Host” to participate in my photo shoot. Thank’s guys.

The center also features conference rooms that (in my mind) would be a great location for an ACC. conference. (hint, hint)

Now its time to gear up for the Shediac bike rally (the end of August) and get out and do some pavement inspecting.

Till next time, remember if you’re a parent (biker or not) remind your kids, if they find themselves in trouble, find a biker (not a cop) and you will be safe and helped!( Read Rob.s report) Atlantic Jeff signing off. Be Well.

Editors Note: Remember to collect 10 Mac13/Atlantic Jeff’s cartoons to Win some Mag Swag. This is Number 4 of our series, collect all 10 to win (winner will be chosen ramdomly from all entries in May 2018 ).

You don’t have to destroy your copy of the Mag to win just send me a picture of you and Atlantic Jeff’s articles showing you and the Cartoon together.

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We thought it would never get here a few short months ago, but riding season is in full swing and it’s about time!

Nova Scotia has been extremely busy with many events and rides and one such event hit the national news when hundreds of bikers showed up to escort a young boy to school on their bikes. Yes, a Real Biker does “Show Up!” Sydney, N.S. and the rest of the world was shown how big the hearts of bikers can be when they took under their wing 10 year old Xander Rose. Xander a grade 4 student in the Cape-Breton-Victoria Regional School Board had

been relentlessly bullied by his peers for many years, picked on for as he said “my weight, my look, my clothes.”

His mother added he has endured racial slurs and sexual comments that have made this his worst year at school thus far.

Despite Xander’s Moms pleas to the school board and the school, her First Nations School Board rep, The Children’s Aid Society in the area and even the MLA the bullying continued. Then someone called a couple of bikers and shit got real. Hundreds heard the call and rushed to support this boy to show that he had more “brothers’ then he thought. Organizers from different bike clubs, including Mike Basso from the Cape Breton Bike Rally became involved and actively promoted it on Facebook and in the biking community.

This group of bikers and their gesture of support for Xander was successful in getting the point across to other students that bullying is not cool and that he definitely has more friends than most realized.

Princess and I have been taking all kinds of little short trips and on one such occasion this past month while delivering Mags to our distributors in the Halifax area we

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took a little side trip down to Peggy’s Cove. We took in of course the lighthouse itself which is an iconic East Coast image, but especially touching was the stop at the monument to the Swiss Air crash that is located in sight of that recognizable lighthouse.

I also bumped into several members of the Blue Knights in downtown Tatamagouche just coming from the Tipperary Café (a Mag distributor) and asked if they would pose for a pic.

They are out of Moncton, New Brunswick members of the NB1 chapter. This group is composed of active and retired Law Enforcement officers who share the passion of riding a motorcycle.

We spent some time at a new Whisky Distillery in River John, where I came away with a nice bottle of Caldera from their first batch.

I had to take my purple Harley to the Lavender Farm just up the road where Susie and David Belt, a couple of transplanted Americans, have developed an amazing line of products with locally grown and harvested Lavender.

Everything from soaps, to dog care products and even beard oil for you hairy bastards. We finished that day up with a flight sampler of TataBrew’s finest craft beers I also need to give a little shout out to my leather guy Thomas at Sally’s Riding in Style in Lower Sackville ( another Mag distributor). He has finished up my custom fender bib that may not get a whole lot of use unless I can lose the “bitch seat.” I am sure Princess will have a lot to say about that, she’s not fond of riding on the fender.

There are so many groups out there, Motorcycle Clubs, Riding Clubs, Mom and Pop clubs and all come from different yet very similar backgrounds and reasons for why they associate with who they do. The one really unifying factor is the motorcycle and the lifestyle that exists around have your knees in the wind. To help understand these groups, clubs, organizations I want to build on an earlier story on the Tri-County Club out of the Colchester, Pictou and Cumberland area of the province and

share with you the story of a club called the Wild Cards down in the beautiful Annapolis Valley has called home since 2004.

With scenic views of mountains, orchards, pastures, and corn fields the winding roads of the Valley it is privilege to ride. and something Doc and his wife Chris, the two remaining founders know and love. Both were posted to 14 Wing Greenwood a few decades ago and loved it so much they decided to stay. Doc left the military a few years back, partly to ensure his kids had a good place to finish growing up in “The Valley” that he had fallen in love with.

Of course, he also stays because his amazing wife still wears the uniform and works on the base. Fair weather will find Doc and Chris cruising on Doc’s heavily customized 2000 Deuce around the valley as well as the rest of the eastern seaboard, taking their “2 -up Bar hopper” as far south as Daytona beach Florida. They truly are the heart and soul of the club.

Dave, AKA “Highway,” Doc’s biological brother, also has fallen in love with the Valley. Summer rarely finds Dave too far from his 2006 Ultra Classic which he and his wife Lynn ride everywhere.

Dave fell in love with this little corner of Nova Scotia when he was posted here with the Airforce in the late 70s and early 80’s.

He moved back in the mid-2000s meeting Lynn, a “Valley” native who works as a nurse at Soldiers Memorial.

There is a silver Heritage Softail running around the Annapolis Valley with two more of the WildCards deck on the back. Brad is another veteran who was posted to 14 Wing Greenwood around the same time as Doc retiring a few years later but not budging from his home in the Valley. Dee is his little fireball of a wife, she still works in the kitchens on the base. Being the most senior member (just about ready to collect CPP) of the club their saddlebags hold hidden treasures: Rolaids, Geritol and Viagra.

Mikey “Coyote” got his road name from his transient lifestyle, having been raised in the military then serving he moved nearly every three years his entire life. When he was posted to Greenwood in 2006 and didn’t realize he was finally home. Falling in love the with the riding in the Valley, meeting his soulmate Rosie, then finding Brotherhood with the WildCards made this home for him. However, the military moved him away, as they are like to do. Mikey and Rosie couldn’t stay away and moved back last year when Mike retired from the military.

Every chance he gets Coyote rides his RoadGlide while Rosie can be found close by on her 2014 Fatboy Low. Not all WildCards are in Nova Scotia. The Niagara region of Ontario has two members of the Ontario chapter riding around on their Yamaha Royal Star. Wally “Nips” and Rosanna hail out of Niagara Falls and joined when the found a likeminded Family in Mikey and Rosie while Mike was posted to Ontario. These two kind hearted riders were a natural fit with the rest of the WildCard deck.

The idea of a no hassle mom and pop club came to the founders in 2003 with permission to fly their colours coming in 2004. With three priorities: Family First, Job Second, The Club third, the WildCards have no written directives as to expected commitments; instead they let members define how committed they become. What they have found is that those that naturally fit in the deck tend to make the Club part of their family.

Their motto “Amiticia Primoris” outlines their belief in that

you need to be friends first.

While having no mandatory rides makes it difficult for the club to initiate charitable events, however they have sponsored a Show and Shine for Reno’s For Heroes and always find time to support numerous events such as Christmas Daddies, Ride for the Son, IWK Toy Run and other charitable events around the Annapolis Valley. Their newest cause is helping out the Truro Chapter of B.A.C.A. having found some kindred spirits in that club.

A very special Thank You to “Coyote” for sharing your clubs story and for the rest of the Wild Cards for “showing up”!

Of note with Bikers Against Child Abuse (B.A.C.A) this organization just recently patched in the first two chapters in Atlantic Canada out of New Brunswick, Moncton and Fredericton and will soon see Woodstock, St. John and Truro in Nova Scotia receive their full patches., Congrats! There has been considerable interest for chapters in Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland as well.

Many events coming up, I will be attending the Bordertown Bike Bash up in Amherst at the end of July and expect to hand out lots of Mags. Two events the weekend of Aug.4th-7th are the Riverside Rally down in Annapolis and at the other end of the province is the Cape Breton Rally in Membertou. Another big one for the Riders Down Society is Toadstock being held in Wallace, NS on the 12th at the biker only campground featured in an earlier article. There is the Camp Connect Burn Camp Ride in Linacy on the 16th of August. Sedition is having their Anniversary Bash in Fall River on the 19th The big Shediac Rally in New Brunswick is the 24th-27th and of course the “mother” of all events in NS wraps up the month with the Wharf Rat Rally down in Digby August 29th-September 4th.

Be well and keep your knees in the wind!

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After an unexpected break in the middle of summer, here I am back at it. For those who noticed that last month had no article from the Neoteric Nomad, Northern Guy, well I just got overwhelmed with everything going on and ended up without an article in the July issue of the Rider’s Mag. Thanks Critter and Al for being understanding of all “other” activities that are taking up most of my time for this summer. This is only temporary I can assure you of this…or at least I hope… ;) lol. I would like to send thanks to my brother Rebar for picking up the slack in attending and reporting on events where I lack due to these temp activities. You’re a true friend and Brother, Rebar. I appreciate and respect that a lot!

In any case, back to business starting with a retraction from my last article in the June issue where I had mentioned that Buzzy Brown’s Brasserie in Sudbury’s South End was Biker friendly. Unknown to me at that time, this establishment had changed ownership and, well let say that the new owner and his immediate family made it quite clear to me and my family that they were not Biker friendly at all. Actually they event went as far as sending a note to the Rider’s Mag office saying that they were not Biker friendly but motorcycle friendly…hummm!?!? WTF does that mean….??? So you want the bikes in your parking lot to make it look good but don’t want the patrons spending money inside your establishment? Or something along those lines?... Even after being a patron myself there for 13+ years, I couldn’t understand what he meant. In my opinion I think he might have bitten more than he can chew this time around and the stress is obviously getting to him…. I’ll let you all come out with your own conclusion on what he meant by his message…

The 17th Annual Rally for Dad, Sudbury By brother Rebar

Well now it’s June 17 and the biking season is in full swing. Every weekend is booked up with bike events now.

Let’s take a ride to the Cancer Treatment Center and join in on the Rally for Dad. We have cloud cover, but it`s too warm for a jacket so off we go in a shirt.

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Pulling into the start gate parking lot, there are quite a few bikes and riders milling about. It should be a good turnout, with many ready to go at 10:00 AM. Tannys Laughren and Denise Foucault along with their volunteers have once again been hard at work, to ensure this event is another success. This is a good time to remind all our readers that all the proceeds collected for this event will stay in Sudbury.

Check this out. A&W have a table set up with free coffee, sandwiches and turnovers. Sue and Paul, owner/operators of A&W have informed me that they will supply free lunch as well at their Silver Hills location.

Today one dollar will be donated for every Papa combo towards this event. Hopefully today, we will surpass last year’s total of $6000.00.

It`s great to see a good turnout of riding club members, such as the Southern Cruisers, Canadian Motorcycle Cruisers and many more.

Now, check out the new women’s riding club. Hi girls, here have a copy of the riders mag. (my opener to meet new people), it works well.

The club name is SOAR, Sisterhood of Avid Riders. This club meets at A&W at Silver Hills every Thursday evening at 6:00 PM. Other female riders are welcome to come out and join them in an evening of riding fun.

11:00 AM. Time for opening ceremonies and start the ride that also includes a poker run this year.

Let’s fire up and head out, in the rain, (I might add). Heading out to go East on highway 17. As expected it’s rough as hell riding through the Sudbury part of the ride.

Outside of the city, the roads are nice and smooth. The route loops back to highway 69 via highway 64.

Then we ride into the back breaking roads of Sudbury again to get to the final check point.

It all finishes up in the late afternoon at the Silver Hills A&W location, with live entertainment from Naked Soul.

There are now plenty of draw prizes to be awarded to the lucky riders.

It appears that all has gone well at today’s rally .A job well done by all the volunteers and participants.

It is now time for me to ride off into the drizzle once more.

Until the next time Brother Rebar.

June 2017 Outlaws M/C Rodeo: I had the fortunate honor to attend the AOA Outlaws M/C Annual Rodeo this year with the Sudbury members and what a weekend it was! Between meeting awesome people from old friends to new ones, enjoying a cold refreshment or two, watching the bike games to the thrilling burnout pit where the entire area got covered in the sweet smell of burning tires and sounds of power exerted from these steel horses, it was something to see.

There were 4 pigs roasting on charcoals (may I add were some of the best meat I’ve ever tasted)which were added to all kinds of other foods that left no one feeling hungry afterwards. What a feast! Entertainment was also heard coming

from the stage where various musicians played their songs for all to enjoy. All sorts of activities made the day go by so fast, it actually left me wanting more. Although my body showed me who was boss, that a 50+ old man shouldn’t act like he’s 25 again, I still enjoyed every second of it and I’m hoping to be able to participate to even more parties such as this in the future.

A heartfelt thank you goes out to all the members of the AOA Outlaws Canada M/C and their supporters that made this such an event to remember. MLHR to all of you!

Congrats goes out to “Rush” (Jay) on getting his full patch at this event. I’m certain it was well earned. Would also like to thank Cuze and his better half, for having us ride with them all the way back to Sudbury. Although I could have done without going through that tornado/monsoon rain type weather, it was still one of the best rides of the year!

The Horse / Signatures Restaurant Motorcycle Run This year was the first year for this event and the weather couldn’t have been better. Not too cold but not too warm with the perfect cloud cover welcomed the riders at the Horse Tavern in Chelmsford where an amazing breakfast was being served to everybody.

Around 10:30 am, the ride began and with the first stop being the Co-op Gas station in Verner, everybody found their place in the pack of bikes as they lined the streets heading right through the city of Sudbury heading east on Hwy 17.

After a quick gas stop, it was onto Hwy 64 to the next refreshment stop being the Beausejour Restaurant where we stayed for a longer while to give everyone a good break.

Both these locations are very biker friendly and you always get greeted with a smile as well as excellent service. A big thank you for all you do to support the lifestyle.

Now the time to head back to Signatures Restaurant was upon us and with our host, Shawn and his crew in the lead, we roared back onto the highway towards Chelms-

ford, where we were welcomed to a feast of roast beef, chicken, meatballs along with all the fixings along with cold refreshment served by the friendliest staff you’ll ever find. They had set up the entire restaurant to accommodate us with royal treatment.

A special thank you goes to restaurant co-owner Corrine for being on top of all this. There were also prizes galore along with a 50/50 draw. Now with dinner all done and ev-

erybody full, it’s time to head out to The Horse Tavern on Errington in Chelmsford for some entertainment and refreshments. Unfortunately due to previous commitments, I had to skip out on this part but with more prizes to be handed out and the amazing staff at the Horse, how can one not have a great time! There were nothing but positive comments coming from this event for weeks afterwards.

For a first time local event to raise over $1500.00 for Sick Kids is quite an accomplishment and all those who participated should be proud of this. We estimated 60 to 75 bikes and what a great turnout. Really looking forward to making it to this event again next year! Those who missed out… really missed out!

I’ll leave you guys short for this month as I can be long winded at times, but stay tuned for next month’s edition where I’ll be covering more Northern Ontario local event with the help of some great people!

A simple quote that holds true as the day is long: “Being a biker is more than riding a bike. It’s about feeling it in your heart and in your soul.”

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YORKVILLE 1969, the summer of love...somehow I managed to survive it without any serious communicable diseases.

Ok what brings to this time period?

Well I have Netflix and clicked on the movie Easy Rider and was transported back to those days where many of us migrated to the Village from all over Canada . I lived on Brunswick Ave with a bunch of other long hairs and various misplaced individuals in a huge house...rented rooms were 10 bucks a week, with no income many of us just living on wits and grit plus sharing whatever was available (food and “other substances”) So one night off we go to Yonge St to catch this movie we had heard about (word of mouth in those days)..I recall the girl of moment I was with panhandled enough to buy us two tickets and a pack of smokes...We indulged a little prior to the movie with some combustibles...settled into our seats with a theatre full of hippies. This film was our music along with everything else we claimed was ours....the usual Hollywood happy ending did not occur in this film ...it was a shock.. most of those viewing were half baked and at the end of left speechless. For me it was ground zero for my need to ride and own a motorcycle ...that was where it started. And here we are approaching 50 years since that flick. Many friends have come and gone...experiences lucky and unlucky...plus the various bikes been ridden and parted with...but I wouldn’t change a minute.

My younger brother Dirty Bert managed to achieve my dream before I did with an early 60’s 500cc Triumph Tiger ..the rigor of the day was to obtain a Harley back rim....a peanut tank and if you had the nerve a set of 16” California Springer front forks for that chopper look. In a driveway with his crew they built these things...I rode it whenever he was off it...no front brake ..shifter on the right side ...for those of us out of our teens with no sense of fear it was heaven to mount this brit pony......I recall one Saturday night my kid brother maybe 17 managed to make it all the way to Wasaga with the sealed beam headlight burned out just following the taillights of his also half crazed friends on their two wheeled jalopies...

Anyhow memories of Yorkville where the 1%’rs mixed in with the subculture hippies..(although I suspect the

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clubbers were heavily interested in the loose morals of the so called hippie chicks) Vagabonds were around here and there, and when they wandered down Yorkville Ave thru crowds of skinny hippies the masses spread like Moses parted the Red Sea ... Diver Dan was one I recall who’d show up at various places, anyhow my recollections are fuzzy and some stories will remain untold, but for those of us in that age group it was a most excellent adventure. I later went on to travel the country in bands like a bunch of gypsies ...but early days...the motorcycle thing always was out of reach, till later on....so for those of you over 50 the above occurred during your lifetime...for the younger ones you all have your stories, but it was truly a time for change during the 60’s and early 70’s culture shifted into overdrive..

Ok enough of the stroll down memory lane...

RED AND WHITE SHOW AND SHINE Just last weekend (July 8)...East Chapter had their event ...according to Bryan S. it was a success ...with several other things going on such as the Summer Sizzler in Simcoe..The Brotherhoods Annual Bash, the turn out was respectable. .

Winners as told to me were: Kids Trike-Jennifer Baldwin...Best Chopper-Carney Dave....Early Custom-Sosa’s Bagger...and the guy with Elvis painted on this faring. I am sorry I know there were several other categories but I do not have that info...but congrats to those who won..

Here is a pic of Condo at the event. I have known him since his days in the Schwa dropping in at Timmies prior to his MC life...you’re looking good big fella.....

MORE STUFF ON MALICIOUS CLOTHING Last month I went on and on about Bryan’s store on St Clair in Scarboro....I made it back yesterday and I am truly blown away with rack upon rack of VICTORY AND POLARIAS gear. He bought a transport truck load and is letting go for a fraction of what it was going for in the stores, like a $650 hi end leather jacket for 150bucks!

I am like Eddie Shack and have nose for bargains and passing this on to our readers to get a deal!... again those who own Vics this is the last time you can get this stuff, hats/rainsuits/ vest/jackets (leather and fabric for the old school style or new gear with built in body amour) if you don’t want to have Victory on it.bring your own patch or he can supply a support patch to cover the Victory logo’s. Buy in quantity and get an even better score..

BACONFEST

A dozen of the actors/ background guys and friends on the TV series Gangland Undercover ascended into the burg of Lucan where the town along with Hogtown Cycles again staged the huge event. It was “Party on Garth”. I could not make it but my buddies that did loved it. The next day I did make it to Dover to hook up with them as they rolled in to complete the weekend, many were somewhat fatigued from consumption of adult beverages over the time frame...perhaps for the sake of my ole liver it was best I was absent. We are all pushing for the film maker to shoot Season 3...the show is getting really good numbers in the U.S. and gaining momentum, so stand by fingers crossed we’ll be back on set filming soon hopefully. Here’s some snapshots.

BIKES ON BOND Our good friends in the Schwa (Oshawa)...the BMA and Town Council are again putting on a huge free event, big time bands, food, vendors, show and shine...the streets are shut down to 4 wheel vehicles. It’s Aug 12th rain or shine, Durham’s only event of this nature. Don’t miss it... hope to cya there!

A THREE GREMILIN BELL ESCAPE So I roll off Kingston Road onto the eastbound 401 collectors...a beauty day ...I am feeling good…going out to Mackie’s HD to pickup a copy of the RIDERS MAG...want to get over to the express so I’m in the hammer lane approaching the merge…next lane to my right is a dicksplash in Mercedes SUV with a box van in front of him. He swerves into my lane and runs me off onto the shoulder at about a buck-thirty. 25 years of riding in the GTA and some quick reflexes saved my life that day problem is I am running out of shoulder. I throttle back enough to get in behind this MF’r, my heart is pounding as my life just flashed before my eyes... I chase the fuk’r down and start yelling and gesturing, like that was

going do any good. He rolls his window down and it’s some new Canadian looking mook.....I hit it and blast down the road ahead of him, then I figure I will follow him as if he is gonna stop some place so I could have a “conversation” with this POS who just might have killed me that day. Well this didn’t happen he got nervous and pretended he was gonna take an exit and last minute he rolls back into the lane. I decided that fuk it (my fantasy tho...I am riding with some of my more excitable nasty friends...we follow the dude home and terrorize him in his driveway). Anyhow I am here in one piece my ride is still what it was when I left that morning. When I got home I still had the ole adrenalin pumping quickly quaffed several beers and chilled. Careful out there peeps. Ride like the cage next you wants kill you!

Apologies for not making Critters Show and Shine at OLIVER’S ALE HOUSE I was up north and I am pretty sure that day was the worst stormy day of the summer. Too bad for all prep that goes into putting an event and the weather makes or breaks these things.

A shout out to the bros of my former MC The Rangers (east) they are having their annual long weekend party up north. Ride safe and have great time. I heard that the mother chapter from Hungary has a few of their boys coming to Canada for a visit. Miss you guys, Nick/ Happy / Curly/Joe 1 and Joe 2/Andrewski and L & R to west crew.

Please do support the published events and our advertisers nationwide. This is a free publication just for you. It’s your support that keeps the ball rolling for THE RIDERS MAG and our fearless leader Righteous Rick (Critter and his Crew).

So till the next time mui amigos...via condido ..Pancho

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Well this has been one Jekyll and Hyde Summer with records being broken for days with continuous rainfall and it is definitely having an effect on all the rides and events that have taken place so for this season.

Many people passing on events because in the morning the skies look threatening and yet often later in the day the weather turns to near perfect. This constant roller coaster ride of the weather is taking it’s toll on activities in our region.

Two weeks ago the 1st Annual Rideau Rendezvous Motorcycle Event took place in the town of Smiths Falls which is a forty minute ride west of Ottawa, bringing riders in from all directions including New York State, Quebec and Eastern Ontario and has been long overdue for something like the Rendezvous.

For anyone who has organized events or rides you know the nightmare of putting something together when it is the 1st year. You are reaching out to biker communities outside your area and last but most important of all mother nature who always has the biggest say in how things go. This was a large enterprise that the show’s promoters planned and thankfully the Town of Smiths Falls was more than willing to work with them to make it happen.

The whole event took place on the arena grounds which has several buildings that housed beer gardens, bands and vendors. There was lots of dry camping available in several parks within the town. One of the most popular sites was the Smiths Falls Railway Museum which over the weekend had a beer garden and also offered the public an opportunity to go for a short ride in a vintage train. The weekend had things going on the grounds and spreading into the Town itself. On Saturday there was the Councillor’s Ride which was in support of children’s projects. There were stunt motorcycle demonstrations performed by a group of riders from the GTA called the 416 Ryders who entertained people all weekend with their motorcycle skills.

THE RIDERS MAG ----- PAGE 46

Both days there was a free breakfast for participants and some of the public with food supplied by Andress’ Your Independent Grocer and served up with smiling faces by members of The Celtic Brotherhood.

I am proud as hell to have brothers like Bozz, Hark, Matrix and Chuck along with the Lovelies, Bette, Sandra and Adele because over the two days they served over 400 breakfasts as a good will gesture and without all of them the magic could have never happened .

There were several beer gardens where show participants could try out the craft beer brewed locally by the 4 Degrees Brewing Co. and a number of food trucks one of those owned and operated by someone known to most of us in the Ottawa area motorcycle community, Blair Gardiner member of ARM MC (Assoc.

Recovering Motorcyclists) the singer for the popular Indelibly Shameless Blues Band. He is now an entrepreneur and partner with a food truck called “Smokin R&R’s”, that was blowing people’s minds with an eclectic menu that takes you far beyond the old burger and fries truck we usually find at events.

I would also like to mention that the Re n d evo u s ’s promoters Pace Law Motorcycle Division’s Ray Bonner & J. Taylor along with Joseph Namari and the man who made it all happen, the Mag’s own “Editor Al”. they had arranged to have a bus shuttle service operating throughout the weekend so the riders could get back to their campgrounds or hotels without having to ride which comes in handy when beer gardens and safety are of concern. I would like to say thank you to Healey’s Bus Transportation for the excellent shuttle service into the wee hours and for making sure the riders got back to where they were staying safely.

In keeping with the weather so far this season Mother Nature was her usual Jekyll and Hyde self and riders who rode in on Friday were met with gray skies and later that evening with thundershowers. I know that many people who had planned to come and participate didn’t, I thank those who chose to take part regardless. Saturday morning while it was overcast there was no rain and by late morning the sun was out in full force. From then on riders just kept

rolling in to take part including Ken Carter from the Back Woods Touring Group and good friend John Gibson of the 601 MC along with clubs like the Ruffians MC, Ironside MC, Andy Church and some of the Iron Dragons MC all made sure to stop by and say hello.

The tandem trailer that Speed Trix Custom Motorcycle Fabrication and the bikes they brought in it was a big hit. If you have been to any major shows in Toronto, Montreal or Ottawa, Speed Trix Custom always draws lots of attention from the crowd.

When I went into the arena where the vendors were, one of the first pictures I took was of Ali and Shannon from the Sinful Delights Boutique booth and drew lots of

Save a Life” fridge magnets (which TCB does as window stickers and decals much because of our involvement with SOAR (Society of Ottawa Area Riders) we found out that they were doing this because one of them from the GTA had her brother killed in a motorcycle accident and it happened in Ottawa where he lived. I remember his accident quite well. It is always nice to see people who don’t just want to grieve but instead want to put a loss to some use by increasing awareness and perhaps saving other lives, it was a real pleasure to meet them and hope our paths cross in the future.

Gord from the Black Gold Knife & Leather Co. came down to participate and his display was a huge hit because finding quality knives in our area is not always easy and his other items like t-shirts, leather goods and gloves were popular too. Nearby there was both a booth for Pace Law Motorcycle Division and a booth for an Personal Insurance Company who had several of their staff came outside to try out The Celtic Brotherhood’s Busted Bucket Challenge. After their ride on the chopper trikes with the special eyewear they had a whole new understanding of someone who had suffered a concussion deals with. We

attention from both men and women because if you ride a motorcycle you have already proven to be adventurous and like excitement and some of their inventory is certainly met those requirements.

Bill Amell of B.A.K Original Memorials was introducing riders to his portable memorials that allow you to put some of the ashes of a loved one human or pet and now they could literally be with you wherever you traveled. As many motorcycle riders are getting older and some have served in the military the idea of a bit of them being with you on your journey has become very popular.

During my visit around the grounds I had the pleasure to meet two young women who were selling “Look Twice

THE RIDERS MAG ----- PAGE 47

kids entertained. Plus there were free concerts Friday and Saturday evenings.

On Sunday we were entertained by The Strong Men demonstration where Tim Norris dead lifted over 2 tons, Car, Girl and All! What a show.

were supposed to put on demonstrations at specific times but there was so much interest in the trikes and people wanting to try them out with the gear we abandoned a time schedule and did it throughout the afternoon.

The Motorcycle Drag Race Crew had a few runs with a feature race between a Metric and a Harley over a 1/4 mile, acceleration isn’t everything when riding as Mike from Hogtown Cycles told me after the race was done.

Throughout the afternoon there was The Rendezvous Motorcycle Rodeo and Dave from Bully Be Gone kept the

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I would like to also mention that the Smiths Falls Police while having a presence throughout the show were incredible because they went out of their way to be part of the event and stopped and often talked with the riders about their bikes or the distance they had traveled to attend the event or just gave directions to things of interest or businesses in the town. Their cooperation was really appreciated.

Sunday ended with the Show N Shine and awards with awards sponsored by The Riders Mag given in several different categories and a number of local bikes won including two being given for Best Paint because Editor Al said it was too hard to decide when they look that good.

The People’s Choice award went to long time friend and brother, Don Flynn for his 74 stock Shovel, I still own one of the 76’s very much like it.

As I said earlier all 1st time motorcycle events and rides come with expectations and disappointments and how it could be made better for next year and I for one am looking forward to the 2nd Annual because we need events like this in eastern Ontario. I would like to thank Town Councillors John Muloney and Dawn Quinn for their vision and by working hard to make this event take place. It isn’t always easy for elected officials to stand behind anything to do with motorcycles and I hope that in a few years Smiths

Falls like Port Dover will be rewarded for supporting events like the Rideau Rendezvous. The Arena/Parks Staff (Margo, Chris, Art and their Crew) did a fantastic job making the event look like it was just another weekend in Smiths Falls, Great Job Guys as you made everything look so effortless.

Special thanks to Ray Bonner, of Pace Law Motorcycle Division and James Taylor for working to make the event happen and most of all as I mentioned earlier a very special thanks to our Mags own “Editor Al”. He did a hell of a job dealing with everyone and everything that came up both before and during the Rideau Rendezvous. See you at the 2nd Annual in 2018.

Last but never least I want to remind you all about the 1st Annual Tay River Rally in support of PTSD being held in Perth on July 29th hosted by the Eyes of Odin MC and The Celtic Brotherhood will be helping out including with the games and also a reminder that the Capital City Bikers Church will be holding their 15th Anniversary Party taking place on August 5th and of course I expect to see everybody out for the 27th Annual Cowpaddy Rodeo & Roast on August 18 – 20th.

As I always remind all of you to please support the events and rides that are created and run by riders and clubs because these are the same people that will come to your events and rides.

Also if you have an event or ride or you are a business that deals with motorcycles or the people who ride them you might want to consider advertising in The Riders Mag or even becoming a distributor and if so please contact me by email or phone.

Please remember that we make our Motorcycle Communities stronger...by making them better!

Email: theridersmag.beau@gmail.com OR ridersmag. beau@gmail.com Twitter: Riders Mag East : http//twitter.com/ motorcyco_beau

Twitter: Motorcyco Beau© : http//twitter.com// motorcycobeau And you can always read The Riders Mag online : http//theridersmag.com/online LLH&R And Most Of All ..Brotherhood Motorcyco Beau

Rideau Rendezvous 2017 Show ‘n’ Shine Winners Street Custom: Randy Stanzel Road Warrior: Justin Clark American Cruiser: John M American Touring: Jamie Gallant Ladies Bike: Karen McPherson Paint Was a Tie:Bill Truman&Mark Brisbois Metric Touring; Mark Brisbois Vintage Stock; Don Flynn Vintage Modified: Rooster Peoples Choice: Don Flynn Best In Show: Wally

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Talking With Tilly

Well hello ladies and gents, Chantel here, writing for the first time. I feel compelled to write this month, because what an odd series of events have played out for me in this last little while. Some things to forever make me smile, others to always bring a tear to my eye, and those that will do both. Either way what a roller coaster it has been!

It started with a literal BANG in Mississauga, with Oliver’s Ale House and their first Show ‘n’ Shine. What a treat, no sarcasm I promise! All the rain, thunder, wind, and then all of that sun! It was a sure fire way to get everyone working together and helping one another out, which is what an event like this is about. It was such a fun event, especially for those of us who don’t mind getting a wee (a lot) bit wet. I lucky enough I got to meet the entire Oliver’s crew, and was quick to learn that the establishment was named after the owner’s son! I was also quick to learn about the reason for this event (besides the fun). Their daughter lives with Juvenile diabetes, which in turn causes her to suffer from a rare debilitating condition called Gastroparesis. This beautiful young woman makes and sells all of her own authentic jewellery and works very hard to support herself, make herself smile, and most of all, make others smile! Which isn’t hard for this lovely girl to do, Skylar looks exactly how her name sounds; absolutely stunning and colourful, just like the universe!

Over all, their crew provided great food, a fantastic band, wonderful singer inside the bar, exciting atmosphere, and such an amazing time! Critter, Al, and I felt the gods smiled upon us when the predator guys came along (Maxx and his crew). I never thought I would be so happy to meet a predator haha!! (love ya’s) Maxx and his guys keep proving to be such a great help between the show ‘n’ shines and everything else in between. Then the gods proved their love for us even further by the BDR guys showing up to help hold everything down…literally! Thanks so much for having me for the ride, quite literally haha!!

And time for some sad news (happiness is to follow). I have lost some very dear friends this month. Some over silliness and miscommunication, others were lost in death. Those that have lost people due to silliness please remember that we

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are only here for a short time, live each day as if it were your last and do your darndest to be happy! I lost one of my favourite people, but I was at least lucky enough to be able to name my son after him, and my sister Nadia (read it backwards hehe). This man had a beautiful soul and made everyone smile everywhere he went, and it is tragic to lose someone so soon. But such is life, and that is how the universe in all its chaos works. I will always be able to look at my own smiling boy and remember all the good times that myself, and others shared. We will always miss you, and never forget the joy you brought to our lives, and for that, we love you and thank you!

Fortunately, this magazine forever has me on my toes, and I was off to the beautiful town of Lucan Ontario to join the Hog Town Crew for BACONFEST!! If you missed out on this, you will be kicking yourself. This town is amazing, the way that they all got together and helped out only proves what a great community they must be! When the term “It takes a village” is used, I’m sure it was adapted from this town. My beautiful sister Nadia was even able to grace us with her gifts, and dazzling personality on this event, along with our phenomenal Predator guys!! Maxx was sure to bring his best guys for the job, and the show ‘n’ shine ran smoother than some of the bikes. Nadia was a delight, and I couldn’t have been luckier than to have one of my big sisters with me all day. I must give an enormous thank you to my guys; you are always there to lend a hand, or some chicklets bahaha!!! Mike and Teresa really did such a great job; they have contagious smiles, and are such a happy couple. Thank you so much for having us all out, I know we can’t wait to return. And if you readers are in the London Area be sure to stop in Lucan, and say, “Hi” to Mike and Teresa at Hog Town, they are great people!

With no rest for the wicked we were back in the shop preparing last minute details for Rideau Rendezvous, as Al had to head up that way for the week. Everything was ready to go

by Monday afternoon, so Al and his crew head off with big smiles on their faces, and Al returned to the shop the following Monday with that same smile on his face. Safe to say it went well in Smith Falls for him and the rest of them out that way. Meanwhile, Collingwood for Critter and I was just as fun!

We left on a Friday, and when we arrived to Thurst-Ts Cycle, Paul (the owner) had his crew of guys help us set up tents, tables and chairs, and unload our truck, it went like a well-oiled machine.

Speaking of well-oiled machines, I got the chance to take a look inside Thurst-Ts Cycle, what a cool shop!! My cousin and his girlfriend brought their beautiful 2yr old daughter, and she was enthralled by the shop. With every little itty bitty step that she took you would hear a gasp followed by, “Ooooo Pretty Bike!!” I must agree, even at that age, the girl knows her stuff. Paul has decked out the place with wicked cool memorabilia too! Everything from Triumph, to Harley, to Evel Kneievel, all sorts of fun stuff, too much to name off! To get the jest of what I am saying, you will need to see it yourself. Next time you are in the Wasaga Beach/Collingwood area check it out, and make sure you say hello to Paul or Wendy. They are both such nice, charismatic people! A massive thank you so much for having my gaggle of humans, we will be sure to return!

My sons note pad is telling me to wrap this up, by not having any writing space left, and only pages with the lovely pictures that he has drawn. But before saying so long, I would like to say my thank you’s one last time. Thank you Predator guys! Thank you BDR guys! Thank you Oliver’s, Hog Town & Thurst-Ts! Thank you Nadia, Dev, Paige & Abbie! And especially THANK YOU Critter and Al for absolutely everything!

Keep on shinin’ you beautiful people!!!

Atlantic Host Hotel Zelikovitz Leathers 1160 Heron Rd. & Convention Ottawa, Ont. Centre 613-727-8804 1450 Vanier Blvd. (exit 310) Bathurst, NB E2A 7B7 506-548-3335

Paysan Family Restaurant

4520 Rue Principale, Saint-Antoine NB E4V 1R1 506-525-2464

Carter’s Customs

219 Sweeney Lane Miramichi, N.B. E1V 3A6 506-251-0291

Jack’s Oasis

447 King George Hwy. Miramichi N.B. G1V 1L8 506-836-2845

J.H. Stewart Ltd

Harley-Davidson®, Honda, Suzuki Sales & Service 564 Water St. Miramichi 506-622-3405

Miramichi Motorsports

8 Gordon Rd. Miramichi, N.B. E1N 3A5 506-773-9565

Dannys Bar And Grill

7684 Rt. 116 Bass River, N.B. E4T 1L9 506-785-6660

www.zelikovitz.com

Union Street Bar 7 Union St., Smiths Falls Ont. 613-205-1632

Players Sport Bar

140 Lombard St. Smiths Falls, Ont 613-283-8886 www.playerssportbar.ca

Milano Pizzeria 14 Main St. E. Smiths Falls Ont 613-283-3333

B.A. Machine

7174 Bank St. Metcalfe, Ont. www.bamachine.ca 613-821-9090

Rideau Winery

22 Russell St. E. Smiths Falls, Ont. 613-205-1500 therideauwinery.net

Mike’s Bar and Grill

484 King George Hwy. Miramichi, N.B. E1V-1M4 506-622-7752

THE RIDERS MAG ----- PAGE 51

NCK Cycle Salvage

Len’s Automotive

PD Restoration

Hastings Starter Alternator

125 Main St. Woodstock,Ont. nckcycle.com 519-533-5177

Classy Chassis

1399 8th Line of Smith Lakefield. Ont. usedhd.ca 888-292-8305

Recycled Gear

16 Pigeon Lake Rd. Lindsay Ont. K9V 4R6 recycledgear.ca 705-320-7777

Authentic Custom Cycle

310 Main St., North Markham, Ont. L3P 1Z1 authenticltd.com 905-471-3021

Eagle Eye Custom Cycles

1501 Hopkins St. Whitby Ont. L1N 2C2

eagleeyecustomcycles.com

905-665-7400

Spoiled Sports Motorcycles

1898 Baseline Rd. W. Bowmanville Ont. L1C 3K3 spoiledsports.com 905-436-6487

Malicious Cycle and Clothing

3595 St. Clair Ave. East Scarborough, Ont. M1K 1L8 maliciouscycleshop.com 416-666-5827

Black Gold Leather 12278 Gorham St #2 Newmarket, Ont. 416-804-2292

Mario’s Bake Shop 13305 Hwy 27 Nobelton, Ont. mariosbakeshop.ca 905-859-2253

K&P Auto & Marine Electric

160 Pony Dr. #8 Newmarket Ont.L3Y 7B6 kpautoelectric.com 905-895-5832

Aviation MotorSports

848 Lakeshore Rd. East Mississauga, Ont.L5E1E1 aviationmotorcycle.com 416-477-7089

Leather Unlimited 1981 Boylen Rd. #10 Mississauga, Ont. 905-671-0037

Lord’s Ink

4192 Perkins Road, London, Ont. pdrestoration.ca 519-652-6200

Action Trailers 4728 Egremont Dr. Strathroy, Ont. actiontrailers.ca 519-245-8802

Hog Town Cycles 164 Main Street, Lucan, Ont. hogtowncycles.ca 519-227-1331

DG Custom Cycle 51999 College Line Aylmer Ont. dgcustomcycle.com 519-773-3735

2002 Main St Jarvis, Ont. N0A 1J0 lensauto.ca 519-587-5041

19 King St E Hagersville, Ont. hastingsstarter.ca 905-768-7688

The Back 40

7 Cayuga St N Cayuga, Ont. N0A 1E0 theback40cayuga.ca 905-772-7275

On The Fringe Leather Destination 13 225 Main St Port Dover Ont. 519-583-0023

Kreative Khaos Tattoo

Wighty’s Repairs

300 Colbourne St Brantford, Ont. N3S 3M9 kreativekhaos.com 519-758-8242

Whip’s Performance Cycle

Duke’s Harley-Davidson®

Hwy 8, 122 Huron Rd. Mitchell Ont. wightysrepairs.com 519-384-0404

535 Vidal St. S, #3 Sarnia Ont.

whipsperformancecycle.ca

519-339-0003

Tiny’s Ltd.

5 Classic Car Drive Blenheim, Ont N0P 1A0 www.dukeshd.com 519-354-0650

Leather King

9699 Jane Street #18 Vaughan Ont. L6A 3X5 lordsinktattoo.com 416-855-2600

184 Carnegie St. Ingersoll Ont. tinysingersoll.com 519-425-0033

2822 Howard Rd. Windsor, Ont. N8X 3Y2 www.leatherking.ca 519-254-8331

Terez Leather

Scotty’s Cycle Shoppe

Colchester Bar & Grill

3333 Lakeshore Blvd. W. Etobicoke, Ont. 416-255-1976 www.terezleather.com

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133 Head Street South Strathroy Ont. scottyscycleshoppe.ca 519-245-4205

67 County Rd. 50 W. Harrow Ont. N0R 1G0 519-738-6198

A.M.P. Cycle

Hips Cycle

1221 Sundowner Rd. Midland Ont. L4R 4K4 www.ampcycle.ca 705-526-7500

900 Colborne St E. Brantford 519-756-6218 www.hipscycle.ca

Hawg Worx

Bridge 12 Pub & Eatery

9 Ferndale Dr. North Barrie Ont. L4N 9V3 705-503-5343

Tar’d and Feather’d Bar 358 Bay St. Beaverton, Ont tardandfeatherd.ca 705-426-9464

Fred Hale Motors & Strictly V-Twin Inc. 29945 Highway 48 Pefferlaw, Ont. www.strictlyvtwin.com 705-437-2291

Sprucedale Hotel

2502 On-518 Sprucedale Ont. P0A 1Y0 sprucedalehotel.com 705-685-1260

10 River Rd. Port Robinson, Ont 905-384-1967

Quinns Custom Motorcycles 22 Hellems Ave Welland, Ont. 289-820-7954

Triple K Upholstry 432 Pearson Rd Welland, Ont. triplekupholstery.com 905-735-7216

The S-Bend Family Restaurant 5801 Hwy. 3 Sherkston, Ont. www.sbend.ca 905-894-4072

Kosmic Arts

A.L. Choppers 1119 Main St. E. Hamilton, Ont alchoppers.com 905-545-5139

Metal N Ink Tattoo Studio 189 King St. E. Hamilton, Ont. metal-n-ink.ca 905-524-1745

Franks Magic Crops 480 Guelph Line Burlington, Ont 905-333-3282

Motorcycle Enhancements

427 Speers Rd., Unit 9 Oakville, Ont 905-842-2123

20 Riordon St #2.

St. Catharines, Ont 905-684-6790

D.A.M. Enterprises

76 Ridley Rd. Unit #2 St Catharines, Ont. 905-688-1386 donshdoilchange.com

Task Performance 7616 Mud Street Grassie Ont. taskperformance.ca 905-945-5372

Tons of Bike Gear 4179 RR.20 Saint Anns Ont. tonsofbikegear.com 905-386-0377

Thirsty Cactus 2 King St. East Dundas Ont. thirstycactus.ca 905-627-8488

The Dam Pub

53 Bruce St. S Thornbury Ont. N0H 2P0 www.thedampub.ca 519-599-2110

I’m Sooooooo Bad

110 Main st.

Mount Forest Ont. 519-323-9969

Smiley &Co.

2549 6th Concession Ripley Ont. N0G 2R0 519-832-7232

Tiny’s Cycle Shop

5026 Hwy. 21 RR#1 Port Elgin Ont. www.tinyscycleshop.com 519-832-1612

J& R Cycle

8166 Hwy 26 Stayner, Ont www.JandRcycle.ca 705-429-3822

Leather Works Plus

149 Lorne St. Sudbury, Ont. www.leatherworksplus. com 705-674-5757

Signatures Restaurant 3702 Hwy 144 Chelmsford, Ont www.signaturesrestaurant.ca 705-855-9021

The Beausejour Inn & Restaurant

1527 On-64 #1, Alban Ont. www.thebeauinn.com 705-857-2193

Lavigne Tavern

10521 Hwy 64 Lavigne, Ont. www.Lavignetavern.com 705-594-2301

S&A Motorcycle Dyno Stonewall, MB 204-513-0561

Trixie’s Saloon

520 Louisa St. Ayton, Ont www.trixiessaloon.com 519-665-7595

Trails End Lodge

60 Elgin St. Tobermory, Ontario N0H 2R0 Phone: Summer{April-Oct) 519-5962249 Cell: year round 416876-3452 www.trailsendlodge.org

Meetz Small Engines 427 Albert St. Waterloo, Ont www.meetz.ca 519-885-3860

RNR Custom Cycle 108 Beaumont Cres.

Guelph, Ont. www.rnrcustomcycle. com 519-821-8666

WANT TO BE LISTED ON THE BIKER FRIENDLY BUSINESS PAGES? GIVE US A CALL 1-855-873-6680 AND TALK TO EXT 3 THE RIDERS MAG ----- PAGE 53

THE RIDERS MAG ----- PAGE 54

A Golden Calf for Pastor Ken?? More Trouble Brewin’...

When you start a new club or chapter, you all know that you run into all kinds of people with whacked out ideas. While preparing to open a chapter of Canada Bikers’ Church over ten years ago, I told a guy at my old church about my plan and his reaction shocked me. He told me that “most of those Harley owners pretty much worship their bikes.” You know, like when the Hebrews were wandering in the desert waiting for Moses to come down the mountain with the ten commandments. They got bored and made a golden calf to worship like some people did back in Egypt. Boy did they catch heck when Moses arrived on the scene!

Well, I’m quite sure that BMW dual sport riders like my former friend at my old church certainly never worship their bikes (heh, heh)! I sure hope I am not offending anyone...but there is a serious point to be made here. The fact remains that the first commandment, found in Exodus 20, is “You shall have no other gods before me.” All that really means for us today that stuff in our lives must not replace God. I have met very few people who actually worship idols (like an elephant statue at that Hindu owned oil change garage).

So when I wash and wax my beautiful blue Harley Ultra before heading off to an event, I always remember my old friend who could hold that as proof that my Harley was like my own personal golden calf. I smile now because I know the antidote for replacing God with material things. After all, you all know that I dedicated my bike to God’s work and I really enjoy this fabulous combination tool and recreational vehicle. If I’m riding beside you and the radio is not on, I’m probably saying a prayer for you and my other biker friends. Psalm 34:8 says, “O taste and see that the Lord is good.”

So here is the antidote to breaking the first commandment: make space for God in your life! It’s as simple as saying a prayer of thanks as you get on your iron steed that we are so blessed to have. Feel free to say a prayer for me in my ministry work. A prayer for safety for your buddies. A prayer of forgiveness goes a long way to good mental and spiritual health. Just talk to God; He’s right there with you waiting to hear from you...always!

Jesus said, “I will never leave you or give up on you” (Hebrews 13:5) and “I am with you always, right to the end of time” (Matthew 28:20). Powerful words of truth.

Please pray along with me now: Our Father, God, I believe that you are the most high power. I want to make more space in my life for you and want to be a real part of your family. Thank you for sending your Son Jesus to give us the right to go to heaven and I especially thank you for your blessings in my life today. Please keep us safe and grant us peace. Amen.

Enjoy the rest of the riding season with blessings, Pastor Ken 905-870-8584 kenang@ cogeco.ca hamiltonbikerschurch.com

THE RIDERS MAG ----- PAGE 55

As the season progresses, I find myself wondering how many times I’m stuck at work for the sunshine, then ride day is finally here and bam, it’s raining. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining, it really just seems this way I’m sure. One case in point though was the 2nd annual Blu�on Rock ride. I asked founder Chris Graham about his view of the weekend n this was his response.

Blu�on Rock Ride 2017

2nd annual Rock Ride Blu�on AB. happened June 23,24,25 2017.

Lets start with 1st Annual in 2016. It rained cats and dogs so bad, the bike games had to be canceled, because it was to dangerous. The poker Run had to be delayed till Sunday, because we could not get the bikes out. When we did it went good, all and all. Everybody had a good time.

Because the people that own the golf resort are not riders, they didn’t know what to expect, so we didn’t do a lot of advertising, to try and keep the numbers down.

Aprox. 70 people showed up. We had good response from the owners, so the 2 annual goes on.

We advertised a little more, aprox. 250 people sowed up. The weather was awesome. The bands rocked, the poker run was cool, a really nice run. The bike games went over great. The Youngstown Hotel donated their burn out pit for the weekend and shipped it over to us. It was used

THE RIDERS MAG ----- PAGE 56

and abused.

Some cool stuff happend. The pot luck supper went great. All and all everybody had a good time.

End result we lost a lot of money the first year, and made it back this year. Plus covered this year, still a little short but over the 2 years calling it even.Can’t wait for next year, it will be bigger and better.

Thanks to all that attended, Spruce Haven Golf Resort, and the sponsors. Special thanks to my brother Len, for all his hard work, helping set up the web sight, getting sponsors, and advertising.

All you riders have to come next year, and check out the Spruce Haven Golf Resort. It is a beautiful spot and the owners are awesome people, and now understand us riders. They are all in for next year.

Thanks from the founders of the rock ride Chris and Julie Graham. HAVE A GREAT YEAR!!!!!!

2018 Rock Ride Blu�on Alberta. June 22,23,24. Spruce Haven Golf Resort.

For more info www.rockrideblu�onalberta. com. blu�oncitygeneralstore@gmail.com or phone 403843-1106.

LOL, thanks Chris. Your words from the central Alberta area are much appreciated.

As we can see, the weather has not been a factor in keeping riders away from the local events nor has it affected many attitudes. When looking at how bad off British Columbia is right now with the forest fires, we have to welcome all of the moisture we can get n embrace what Mother Nature offers. Fortunately for Drumhellers (yes back to my home town) Motorcycle Madness, the weather was cooperating, for riding anyhow. The valley was alive with activity as events throughout the area

provided options and directions unique to the area. Top Rockers bikini bike wash was a huge hit, Dinosaur hotel (Newcastle bar) had pie throwing and some prize winning water balloons with a kick ass lunch for the poker run on its way through. Of course the show and shine and bike games out at Last chance saloon in Wayne were definitely a hit with the spectators, participants, and visitors alike.

Although turnout was not the highest it has been, everyone attending had a great time with some awesome prizes won throughout. Most important of course were the monies raised for our local charities such as our local school food programs and the Drumheller Community Cancer Clinic.

One thing is for certain though is that rain or shine, if you are attending and event here in Alberta, plan on seeing some pretty nice country and some pretty great people.

So far this season, we have enjoyed some great gatherings and have accumulated some substantial kilometers doing what we love and supporting those around us. For some, this dedication to the community goes a step further producing some truly amazing results.

One such individual, Liane Langlois has championed for motorcycle safety in the province and is making a real difference. Recently, the Alberta Motorcycle Safety Society was recognized for its efforts. Another quick email and I had it, a full update from Liane.

Alberta Motorcycle Safety Society…

Together we can do better!

Liane Langlois In the summer of 2015, I reached out to long time, now retired, media guy Marty Forbes about concerns I had for the safety of the motorcycle community. I had been very active in leading other initiatives in the motorcycle community for several years watching how events had been unfolding. Marty still writes a bi-monthly column for the Edmonton Sun where he has frequently wrote about the dangers on the road that face motorcycle riders.

That particular riding season started off with two horrific hit and runs a day apart that results in 2 serious injuries and one fatality. The online reaction from the general public was disheartening. They didn’t seem to care that people were hurt or dead, and the comments were getting increasingly harder to read. It was almost as if the animosity towards the small minority of noisy or “reckless” riders has grown to paint us all with the same brush and our lives no longer mattered. The stories of riders being purposely run off the road were growing; it was like it was becoming open season.

Marty had seen this trend as well, along with the growth of distracted driving, and through that the newly formed registered non-profit society called the Alberta Motorcycle Safety Society (AMSS) was born.

The vision for the AMSS was simple – make riders human again and advocate for motorcycle safety on Alberta roads.

To do this, I wanted to create Public Service Announcements (PSA) to air on TV, radio and print if we could. The first two media riders in Edmonton that we approached were Terry Evans (K97) and Gord Steinke (Global News). Terry quickly became a champion asking what he could do to help and Gord felt the same but was also able to hook us up with Shaw TV who went on to create our now 11 PSA spots. In fact, every door we knocked on we were welcomed with

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open arms. We couldn’t even get our ask out to the media execs, they just simply wanted to know what they can do, what did we need from them. It was a very overwhelmingly positive response from the Edmonton media.

Our inaugural campaign was twofold –something high impact, and something humanizing riders in the eyes of the public. The high impact spot featured the reenactment of the left turn scenario where a vehicle will turn in to the path of an oncoming motorcycle. In 2015, this equated to 40% of the collisions with the majority at fault being the vehicle. The reason is simple, we are small and your brain is trained to see the biggest things on the road.

Riding season requires the reminder to look twice for motorcycles and for motorcyclists to be diligent in intersection. To humanize riders, we developed the We Are campaign which consists of 10 spots where some air on TV, some just shared through social media, depending on what media personality has tagged the spot. These also include every day Albertans from all walks of life including business professionals, volunteers, parents, grandparents, military veterans, paramedics and more. They are all dressed as they would be in their normal life, not appearing as a rider, but all do in fact ride. We felt that showing the general public that we are all somebody’s someone might make people think twice about their attitude towards motorcycle riders and want to share the road respectfully. Currently these spots are running on Global, CTV, Omni and CityTV in both Edmonton and Calgary during at minimum the month of May, tapering off during June.

For radio, each station that has an on air personality that rides was able to create a personalized message with a “watch for us” theme. We had a professional voice over person record a generic version for stations without an on air personality. These were 30 seconds PSAs were geared towards getting that stations listeners to share the road whether they are driving or riding.

As of our 2nd campaign launch in May 2017, these spots are being played in Edmonton, Calgary and Red Deer.

Post media has been very supportive as well running a quarter page advert in all of their papers. New to 2017 was the addition of digital billboards from a couple of companies, Pattison and Signpatico. Pattison is a long standing name with province-wide billboards that allowed us to reach even further than expected earlier with a simple 6 second image featuring our Think Bike campaign which we introduced in time for the 2017 Motorcycle Shows in January.

Think Bike is a concept that came out of Europe and Africa. It is a simple message of Think Bike in big bold letters on a bright yellow background. I reached out to the Think Bike creators asking if AMSS could use the slogan and coloring but put an AMSS feel to it. Working with our graphics designer, we created an image that the founders of Think Bike were thrilled with. This birthed our bumper stickers and our round stickers for people to acquire through our store which also includes a full array of clothing including tshirts (mens and ladies), long sleeve shirts, hoodies and hats. All proceeds from our sales go directly back in to creating even more messaging and buying more air time for our PSAs to run.

Finally, our website serves to be a hub of all motorcycle safety and awareness information. This is where the education part comes in as well. We are currently growing our resources tab to include podcasts and videocasts on a variety of topics from laws to mechanics to gear. If anyone has a question whatsoever, submit it to us as you might not be the only one asking. And where debating opinions on social media is great, we have built amazing relationships with so many industry experts that we can find a proper answer for you! We share everything through social media; twitter, facebook, Instagram, soundcloud, youtube. We are trying to be everywhere and accessible to everyone. We also create a monthly newsletter containing news and events happening around the province.

For anything to work properly, everyone has to work together. Enter our Corporate Membership program which offers three levels of sponsorship; Gold, Silver or Bronze.

With even a still struggling economy, we are up to 6 Corporate Members with a couple of them offering discounts to our paid society members. Society members get a card with their number on it to provide proof of membership dues paid to access programs through our Corporate Members.

A membership to the AMSS is a mere $20/year again with all proceeds going back into this important initiative.

Our Corporate Members have been stepping up, each in their own way to help fundraise even more money for the society. We have hosted hot dog sales, had membership

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drives at the dealerships and more. We were even given a safety trailer from Honda Canada to cart around the province promoting motorcycle safety with videos, demonstrating proper gear and providing information for people to take home.

With buy in from the media and industry, the last piece to our puzzle was levels of government. Typically the Province of Alberta has always celebrated motorcycle awareness month in July where the rest of the country has done so in May. And with that, we never did see any positive messaging directed towards the motorcycle community, it was mostly enforcement ensuring we were all compliant with the Traffic Safety Act. This was until 2017 when we started seeing some Light Weight No More Rust fantastic messaging out of the Province of Alberta! We also applied and were approved Better Fuel Economy for a grant through the Provincial Office of Traffic Safety which has helped immensely with travel, signage, promotional items and much, much more.

Law enforcement is also an entity in www.actiontrailers.ca 1-866-885-2569 government and a huge key player in our 4728 Egremont Dr. Strathroy, ON ( 15 min. west of London ) initiative. We have worked closely with the Edmonton Police Service to create a series of podcasts that if we even save just one life, it is well worth it.

The biggest perk that comes with this is the knowledge discuss various traffic rules and regulations that the public may question. Further to that, the Alberta RCMP were not that if you have changed one person’s behavior, you could only in attendance but spoke at our launch event in May also be saving someone’s life. That in itself is an amazing feeling. A solid second is when you receive recognition for 2017 that was held at City Hall in Edmonton.

On a municipal level, the City of Edmonton is a leader the work you are doing. At our launch in May 2017, the in Canada for the international program of Vision Zero. Mayor of the City of Edmonton officially proclaimed May This program is dedicated to reducing fatalities to zero in as Motorcycle Safety Month. This is a first in Alberta! And all traffic related collisions. From our inception, they have where we thought that was pretty sweet, it was recently looked to us for guidance and help on their motorcycle followed up with a Community Traffic Safety Award from messaging. The partnership that we have formed with the City of Edmonton Office of Traffic Safety presented the folks at Vision Zero Edmonton had us speaking at the in Council Protocol in Council Chamber. Just one week International Conference before even our first campaign after the award was presented, I was recognized by the was launched. That gave us an opportunity to play our Edmonton Chamber of Voluntary Organizations in their spots for our peers who all were impressed with our top Canada 150 Volunteers. The recognition is great approach. We knew then we were definitely on the right exposure and simply means people are noticing our efforts. track. As our relationship continues to grow, we hope that Hopefully this can translate into a reduction of serious can only have a positive impact on statistics going forward. injury and fatality statistics in the motorcycle community We hope to build this same relationship with the City of province-wide.

We can only grow in the province and continue to fight Calgary and other municipalities around the Province.

Throughout the 2017 season, we are trying to get to as to enact positive change. Become a member, follow along many events as possible in the province. With the AMSS on social media, sign up for our newsletter, get involved. being a purely voluntary initiative, this can be challenging Together we can do better!

Wow, thanks again to the AMSS for your hard work and to get outside of Edmonton while we are looking to build teams in other regions. 2017 will see us at both Motorcycle dedication. For me, its dedicated people such as this that Shows (Calgary & Edmonton), in Calgary twice for the can and do make a real difference.

Speaking of dedication, another update from Momma Awareness Ride and Two Wheel Sunday, Sylvan Lake for the Stollery Car Show, Wetastiwin for the Ride to Reynolds, Mandy from the south east part of the province.

Nisku for the Indian Motorcycle Riders Group Show & Shine and speaking at any of the charity rides who wish to have us do a pre-ride safety talk. We are in the stages of planning our own fundraising events. It is a busy time but we need to be where we can to promote safety and awareness.

We are always looking for people to get more involved, especially in other communities.

We need like-minded people who want to help promote safety and awareness by being at events passing out informational cards, speaking with people. We need champions in each region to help drive the initiative forward and liaise with their local government, working together for safer roads. It’s a lot of work but

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Momma’s Motorcycle Adventures WOW, what a wonderful fun filled month of June I had.

So much riding to do and so many events to cover. Did I tell you all how much I love the riding season? Not only am I able to get out on my bike but I get to reconnect with my fellow riders and reap in the benefits of being the Momma.

Not a day goes by that I don’t love and appreciate all the wonderful people I have in my life. Being a part of a Motorcycle Family has to be the most rewarding thing in life.

IRVINE CAMPGROUNDS FUN RUN June 10th was the Irvine Campground fun run, so I sat down with Ivan Mytton one of the Guys responsible for organizing the run. When I asked what the proceeds of the run was for, I realized that I needed to give a little background in order to make sense of Ivan’s answer.

In the late 1940’s a small group of bikers helped take care of the Campgrounds located across the #1 Highway from the small town of Irvine. They did what they could to help the County take care of it. In 1950 the bikers

around the area became more vigilant in the upkeep of the Campgrounds so they could host bike rallies, poker runs and assorted other events bringing the bike community together.

You would think that this would be the perfect solution to the bikers need to have a gathering spot as well as the County having someone to share the upkeep. Unfortunately, the Campgrounds have been plagued with Mother Nature’s wrath among other hurtles. Each spring the Campgrounds floods, seems that a family of beavers have taken a liking to the creek that runs through it. Between Mother Nature and the beavers, the Campgrounds sometimes resembles a lake.

In 2010 a major flash flood occurred destroying the camp house that had been built on the property.

Shortly after the water receded the bikers got started on tearing down the old camp house, cleaning up the debris and rebuilding a newer, better, campgrounds.

In 2014 tragedy struck again this time vandalism, the new camp house was burnt to the ground by a young man looking for a thrill. You would think that would have been enough for “normal people” to say fuck it but we all know that Biker’s are a breed of their own and don’t take kindly to the destruction of something that they’ve worked hard for. We never back down from a challenge!!

Yet again the bikers prevailed and rebuilt. They planted trees and built the cookhouse on higher ground. This would help a bit with the spring flood, but a permanent solution needed to be found. The 6 – 8 bikers who are vigilant in the care of the campground decided they needed to work with the county to get rid of the beavers first of all and possibly purchase a pump. Normally everything done at the campground comes from a $20.00 a year donation from the biker’s that use the campground but a pump would be a little out of their reach. So, the Idea of having a fun run June 10th to raise the money was planned.

40 bikes showed up to help with the task. They raised enough money to purchase the pump they so desperately needed to control the watery springs in the future. A great time was had by all and the Campgrounds was full of riders and their support to keep this Campground going.

The Irvine Campgrounds has its annual dogs and cobs gathering closer to the end of the riding season as well as they are looking forward to hosting a fundraiser August 11th and 12th for a young family whose mother Jen Cobler has been suffering from Brain Cancer. Camping is always by donation and respect is the moto. Original old school values. I will be following up with this event in next months info.

Toy Run Meeting On June 13th, I was invited to attend the second meeting

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for the Toy Run by the members of the Toy Run Committee. I was excited to sit with these people and find out what exactly was involved in the planning of the Toy Run. I have attended the Toy Run for many years but never really had a clue as to how much work was involved with it’s preparation.

The Committee starts meeting in April and it takes 6 months of planning. The 15 members of the Toy Run committee all have a job to do to make this run come together without any glitches. Almost 200 volunteers volunteer their time for many different jobs. The Medicine Hat News every year donates the advertising and Rock 105 .3 “The Hat’s Best Rock” donates the Air Time, with Poncho Parker coming out to do his part as the DJ. The Cypress Center has graciously donated the Venue and parking area for the past number of years.

Everything for this event is donated by local business and private Individuals. Insurance needs to be lined up, Pins and posters need to be ordered, food, water, prizes, music, as well as activities for the kids need to be in place.

The venue needs to be secured. All of this has to be done at no cost to the committee.

The Parade Route takes between 800 and 1,000 bikes down the #1 Highway from Irvine and straight down the one of the busiest streets in Medicine Hat. Safety meetings need to be held to ensure both the riders safety as well as traffic control. There are anywhere from 55 – 75 blockers needed to stop the traffic so no vehicles can get into the parade. The RCMP, Sheriffs as well as the MH Police Service help with the high-risk areas. An arrow truck is in place to direct motorists away from the parade route. An ambulance follows the parade so if there are any medical issues they are there to assist. This is the biggest Toy Run in Western Canada Per Capita, so everything must run as smooth as possible.

September 9th will mark the 31st year for the toy run.

The Parade starts every year at the Irvine Hotel in Irvine, Alberta where every rider is provided with the route, door prize ticket, as well as a Toy Run Pin. Louis Hashem at the Irvine Hotel puts on a breakfast each year. There is no charge for the breakfast but a donation pot is placed out so those who feel the need to donate can do so. Louis as a rule usually donates the money he receives for the breakfast back to the Santa Claus Fund.

The blockers congregate at the East end of Irvine to lead the Parade with Santa and Mrs. Claus right out in front of everyone. The Parade Route takes approximately 30 minutes from start to finish, only making right hand turns. The highway and streets are lined with families waving and clapping for the riders. The Parade ends at the Cypress center where there are burgers, beverages, prizes and entertainment. The riders are directed to parking areas and at least 50 kids volunteer to gather the toys from the riders to be placed in the mountain of toys. Not everyone can strap toys to their bikes so each year there is thousands of dollars donated not only by the riders but by the community to ensure that every child gets a toy for Christmas.

September 9th is the Toy Run in conjunction with the Santa Claus Fund. Next Month I will give a little more information about what the Santa Claus Fund does with all the toys and money they receive from this event.

June 17th was a super busy day for this old bird. 4

different events were on my radar for the day. The weather was perfect for riding.

Lol, thanks Momma, That’s all the page space we have this month but we will carry the rest of your tales in future editions, looks like great times with great friends, hopefully I can make it down yet this season for one of your upcoming events.

In bringing this to a close, I can’t help but to reflect on just some of these facets of our riding life that we are presented with daily. Our destinations, Donations, friends, families, and our safety. They are all part of what brings us together and keeps us coming back. If you would like to get your charity or event into the mag, shoot me an email and I will do my best to work it in.

And Just a Reminder that The Rider’s Mag is a Free Magazine paid for by our advertisers, All of the staff are Volunteers from the Editors on down, to get more space in The Mag we need more advertisers. Please Patronize our advertisers as they make the mag possible. If you or you company would like to advertise just give me a call.

Dan. T.

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Toward the end of the Sunday service, the Minister asked, “How many of you have forgiven your enemies? “80% held up their hands. The Minister then repeated his question. All responded this time, except one man, an avid golfer named Walter Barnes, who attended church only when the weather was bad. “Mr. Barnes, it’s obviously not a good morning for golf. It’s good to see you here today. Are you not willing to forgive your enemies?” “I don’t have any,” he replied gruffly. “Mr. Barnes, that is very unusual. How old are you?” “Ninety-eight,” he replied. The congregation stood up and clapped their hands.

“Oh, Mr. Barnes, would you please come down in front & tell us all how a person can live ninety-eight years & not have an enemy in the world?” The old golfer tottered down the aisle, stopped in front of the pulpit turned around, faced the congregation, and said simply, “I outlived the bastards.”

A man was dining alone in a fancy restaurant and there was a Gorgeous redhead sitting at the next table..He had been checking her out since he sat down, but lacked the nerve to talk with her. Suddenly she sneezed, and her glass eye came flying out of its socket towards the man.

He reflexively reached out, grabbed it out of the air, and handed it back. ‘Oh my, I am so sorry,’ the woman said, as she popped her eye back in place.

‘Let me buy your dinner to make it up to you.’

They enjoyed a wonderful dinner together, and afterwards they went to the theatre followed by drinks... They talked, they laughed, she shared her deepest dreams and he shared his. She listened to him with interest. After paying for everything, she asked him if he would like to come to her place for a nightcap and stay for breakfast. They had a wonderful, wonderful time. The next morning, she cooked a gourmet meal with all the tri mmings.

The guy was amazed. Everything had been so incredible! ‘You know,’ he said, ‘you are the perfect woman.. Are you this nice to every guy you meet?’

‘No,’ she replies. . .....’You just happened to catch my eye.

The four Goldberg brothers, Lowell, Norman, Hiram, and Max, invented and developed the first automobile air-conditioner. On July 17, 1946, the temperature in Detroit was 97 degrees. The four brothers walked into old man Henry Ford’s office and sweet-talked his secretary into telling him that four gentlemen were there with the most exciting innovation in the auto industry since the electric starter.

Henry was curious and invited them into his office. They refused and instead asked that he come out to the parking lot to their car. They persuaded him to get into the car, which was about 130 degrees, turned on the air conditioner, and cooled the car off immediately. The old man got very excited and invited them back to the office, where he offered them $3 million for the patent. The brothers refused, saying they would settle for $2 million, but they wanted the recognition by having a label, ‘The Goldberg Air-Conditioner,’ on the dashboard of each car in which it was installed. Now old man Ford was more than just a little anti- Semitic, and there was no way he was going to put the Goldberg’s name on two million Fords. They haggled back and forth for about two hours and finally agreed on $4 million and that just their first names would be shown. And so to this day, all Ford air conditioners show -- Lo, Norm, Hi, and Max -- on the controls.

Three guys are fishing when Fred gets up to get a beer, loses his balance and falls out of the boat.

Ed says “ What should we do?” Bill says, “You better jump in after him, he’s been under water for a while, he might need some help.” So Ed jumps in, and after some time, he surfaces. He says, “Help me get him in the boat.” They wrestle Fred back into the boat. Ed says, “What do we do now, it doesn’t look like he’s breathing.” Bill says, “Give him mouth to mouth.” Ed starts to blow air into Fred’s mouth and says, “Whoa, I don’t remember Fred having such bad breath.” Bill says, “Come to think of it, I don’t think Fred was wearing a snowmobile suit, either.”

“Turtle What if you were playing in the club championship tournament finals and the match was halved at the end of 17 holes.

You had the honor and hit your ball a modest two hundred fifty yards to the middle of the fairway, leaving a simple six iron to the pin. Your opponent then hits his ball, lofting it deep into the woods to the right of the fairway. Being the golfing gentleman that you are, you help your opponent look for his ball. Just before the permitted five minute search period ends, your opponent says: “Go ahead and hit your second shot and if I don’t find it in time, I’ll concede the match.” You hit your

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