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Morning Stretch – Thoughts & Inspirations

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Morning Stretch
Stretch is a new inspirational writer to CRN and avid rider in the biker community

By: Stretch McClure

With all the crap going on in this world, people are offended by everything. To me, too many people have that “want everything for nothing attitude!” The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain!

It is the possibility that keeps us going, and though you may call me a dreamer or a fool or any other thing, I believe that anything is possible. Well done is better than well said. So believe nothing, no matter where you read it or who said it, no matter if I have said it unless it agrees with your reason and your own common sense.

The easiest thing to be in the world is you. The most challenging thing to be is what other people want you to be. Don’t let them put you in that position. If a problem is fixable, if a situation is such that you can do something about it, then there is no need to worry. If it’s not fixable, then there is no help in worrying.

There is no benefit in worrying whatsoever. It is not the failure of others to appreciate the abilities that should trouble you, but rather your failure to appreciate theirs. Nothing will work unless you do! If people refuse to look at you in a new light and they can only see you for what you were, only see you for the mistakes you’ve made, if they don’t realize that you are not your mistakes, then they have to go.

Then, start by doing what is necessary, then what is possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible! Sometimes it’s not enough to know what things mean. Sometimes you have to know what things don’t mean.

Be safe and keep the shiny side up!

Motorcycle Riders Brought SGT. Stoddard home after 73 years of MIA/KIA

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By Laurie Montoya, BikerDown Foundation

Riders love the freedom of the ride!  This is what most motorcycle riders will tell you when asked why they ride.  Motorcycle riders are an eclectic group of individuals.  They are patriotic and have an unexplainable love of country, probably because motorcycle riders get to enjoy this beautiful country that we call home.  The love of the ride isn’t the same as driving a car. You get to feel the wind on your face, see the majestic beauty in every turn, and all the stresses of life melt away.  As a rider, you begin to understand FREEDOM.  Freedom that our veterans and active military have fought for over the decades and continue to fight for today.

On Wednesday, I had the distinct honor and privilege of joining veterans and motorcycle groups and clubs to give Sgt. Donald D. Stoddard an honor motorcade from DIA to his hometown of Boulder, Colorado. 

Who is Sgt Stoddard?

Stoddard was a member of Company B, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Division. He was killed in action on Nov. 22, 1943, during the Battle of Tarawa, a bloody fight in which U.S. forces vied with the Japanese for control of the South Pacific island of Betio. Stoddard died as a result of an artillery explosion during a Japanese banzai charge. He was 22 years old.

Stoddard was buried in a mass grave on the Tarawa Atoll. His family was initially informed that the body was “unrecoverable.”

Honor Motorcade

The call to the veteran community went out on Tuesday, and we arrived at the cell phone lot at DIA around 9:30 a.m.  Veterans from the U.S. Vets, Combat Veterans, American Legion Riders, and other individuals and veterans who had seen the viral social media posts began to arrive.  The fellowship of veterans is unmatched in any other type of group I have ever seen.  These veterans don’t see color. They see others who have put their lives on the line for the freedom and protection of this country.

We all knew we were there for a solemn moment.  None of us knew Sgt. Stoddard, we didn’t know his family or friends.  All we knew was that there was a veteran who, after 73 years, was finally being brought home.

Around noon, the Hearst and family arrived, and the riders lined up ready to escort this veteran home.

As we respectfully and with such precision began to follow them, law enforcement took the lead and began blocking us thru the intersections.  We were asked not to honk or wave at any spectators who might be waiving flags.  Our goal today is to honor Sgt. Stoddard.

I was overwhelmed with emotion as we proceeded flawlessly thru the streets of Denver; how many people had come out with flags to honor this fallen veteran, residents of Denver who also did not know Sgt. Stoddard, but might have understood what this family had gone thru, maybe they had lost a loved one in war, and they were never returned.  

Emotion struck me as fire and police departments that had been commissioned that day to help with traffic control had positioned their vehicles and trucks in such a way to keep traffic at bay. They stood saluting this veteran as the whole motorcade rode by.

Finally, we proceeded down Hwy 36, we could see the majestic view of the  Boulder Range, and all I could think of was a job well done, Sgt. Stoddard, you are now finally home!

BOULDER, CO – JUNE 23: Members of U.S. Marine Corps Combat Logistics Battalion 453 carry the casket of U.S. Marines Corps Sgt. Donald Deloy Stoddard to the chapel at Crist Mortuary on Wednesday, June 23, 2021, in Boulder, Colo.(Timothy Hurst/Photographer)

It was a solemn moment when seven Denver-based Marines were present and saluted the casket as it was removed from the hearse and carried into the funeral home with family members waiting. Active military personnel, the Colorado Patriot Guard Riders, came to the funeral home to form a flag line, and we all stood at attention as the casket was moved inside the building.

Colorado riders and veterans who could not attend Wednesday’s memorial ride are encouraged to attend Stoddard’s official reburial ceremony on Saturday, June 26.  Michele Stoney-Cathcart and Joel McCoy will be gathering at Dirty Dogs Roadhouse in Golden at 8:30 a.m. to ride to Boulder.  Click here for event information. The committal service will be held at 10 a.m. at Mountain View Memorial Park on Kalmia Avenue. He will be buried next to his parents, George and Bess Stoddard. 

Video provided by Colorado Rider News – click here

TOMORROW: BikerDown’s Motorcycle Awareness Ride: Can YOU SEE Me NOW starts at Dirty Dogs Roadhouse

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By Laurie Montoya

Tomorrow, May 15th BikerDown will again be hosting their 9th Annual Look Twice Ride and our theme again this year is CAN YOU SEE ME NOW.  Motorcycle fatalities are up 33% from 2019 to 137.  These are un-imaginable statistic and one that riders hope will not happen to them, however, there is hardly a week that goes by that someone in our network of friends isn’t reported to have gone down or passed from a motorcycle accident.

It is a well-known fact that the public does not watch for motorcycles no matter how many billboards CDOT puts up or lighted signs that are only up a few days in May or in August during Sturgis.  It is a well-known fact that most motorcycle accidents involve a car and/or some sort of distracted driving.  Distracted Driving comes in many forms including texting/driving, use of handheld mobile devices while driving, putting your makeup on while the vehicle is moving, looking in the back seat at your kids, eating while driving to changing the radio station.

Our riding community continues to be the victim of irresponsible drivers who are out driving with no driver’s license and little to no insurance and driver’s leaving accident victims on the ground and leaving the scene.  Driver’s change lanes without looking and run stop signs/lights, hit the biker, and keep on going.

We are asking all riders who have been injured in a motorcycle accident or know of someone who is currently hospitalized from an accident, riders who have lost a loved one on the bike to STAND with us on Saturday, May 15th and show this community of drivers to WATCH FOR US!

Riders will need to pre-register for the ride to guarantee themselves 1 of our motorcycle awareness t shirts.  T-shirts will be available the day of the event in limited sizes.  Registration is $25.00 per rider.  Each rider who pre-registers will get 1 free month of motorcycle roadside assistance sponsored by Motorcycle Towing Services.

Dirty Dogs Roadhouse

Our ride will start and end this year at Dirty Dogs Roadhouse in Golden with kickstands up at 10-10:30 am.  The Look Twice ride is known for great rides routes and safety is always key for this event.  Dirty Dogs will have some great entertainment for our event, and our sponsors and biker community always donate great raffles and 50/50 drawings prizes.

Rider Justice Motorcycle Lawyers

Our sponsor for the ride is again Rider Justice.  For over 8 years, Scott O’Sullivan from RiderJustice.com has supported this event as well as BikerDown Foundation to ensure that injured motorcycle riders have a resource to go when they go down.

This is BikerDown Colorado’s primary fundraiser that will enable us to continue the mission of helping injured riders until the end of the year!

International Female Ride Day raises money for local charities

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The first Saturday in May (May 1st this year) was a day for the record books.  Drivers could see over 200 badass female motorcyclists roaring through Denver this past weekend.   A girl from the Littleton area who had walked over with her mother to see what all the rumble of bikes was about said, “They look like superheroes.”

What’s cooler than cool helmets, ponytails, sunglasses, leather jackets, Harley-Davidsons and 200+ badass women crushing stereotypes as they soar through the streets of Denver on motorcycles? Yeah, I hear crickets too. Nothing is cooler.

The event was scheduled to start at 9:00 a.m. in the parking lot of Rocky Mountain Harley-Davidson in Littleton, but women riders and volunteers were so excited for this event that they started showing up at 7:30 a.m.  All morning as the number’s increased, you could see how happy the women riders were to have a day of their own, a day to empower one another, to see girlfriends and to forget about this past year.  It felt so great to be outside and to feel normal again, said Cathy, a new rider to Denver.

Photos by Stevie G. Photography

Audrey Paulas, co-founder of the event scheduled an amazing ride for the women, but her volunteers and team leaders executed the ride perfectly and safely.  When the women returned to Rocky Mountain for the afternoon activities, everyone commented that it was just a great ride!

Rocky Mountain Harley-Davidson hosted this year’s event and was chosen because Kathy Yevoli for over 40 years, has owned the Harley dealership and inspires women riders to go for your dreams and enjoy the ride.  Women riding groups and club as well as women biker related businesses are growing in our motorcycle community every year.

“Being a female rider in 2021 is awesome, but there is still some prejudice and stereotypes towards women bikers and a lot of improvements which need to take place in the industry,” Laurie Montoya, who co-hosted this event, has experienced those types of challenges herself, but continued to say to herself during those low times, you might not want to deal with me now, but years down the road, you will know who I am.”

Photos by Stevie G. Photography

“These kinds of events are a perfect moment for us to make a statement and show that women riders are more than ever-present on the road.”

Montoya also said she is excited to “see a bunch of women from different worlds and different day jobs come together on a very special day.”

International Female Ride Day has been around 15 years, but this is just the 1st one of this size to come to Denver, and an event that Audrey, Kathy and Laurie said we will make it bigger and better next year!

Marina Yevoli, who oversees marketing for Rocky Mountain, said they would be happy to make it an annual event after seeing the success this year. 

If there is something we need in 2021, it’s a reason to celebrate.  This ride raised over $4,000.00 with the proceeds being split between the Jefferson County Food Bank and #2wheels4meals that feeds 1st responders and injured riders.

A special thank you to all of our sponsors who donated to this event, so we had no expenses and 100% of what was raised was distributed.  Our  event was sponsored by Rider Justice, Rocky Mountain Harley Davidson, Colorado Rider News, and Cool Biker Lunch and Rides.

See you ladies next year and remember…..JUST RIDE!

Motorcycle Riders Will Be Forever #BikerStrong

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Laurie Montoya, Publisher

1 year ago, we were all living in a different space with COVID shutting all our lives down.  COVID was peaking and our national and local government’s initiated mandatory shutdowns in the hopes that the shutdown would stop the spread.

I am happy to report that while many businesses have closed or will never re-open, our most of biker related businesses have found a way to survive here in Colorado and that is because of the YOU. 

It was during these times of hardship that Colorado biker businesses and riders summoned the strength and resilience that lives deep in our DNA to survive. Our biker’s business proved that no matter how often we are knocked down, we will keep getting up and get through this pandemic together. Your commitment to support biker bars thru take out orders, direct donation and continuing to wear your masks has given these businesses just enough revenue to keep their doors open. 

The challenges that biker establishments like Dirty Dogs Roadhouse and others have endured, the additional costs involved to remain compliant will take years to recover from, but 1 thing is clear…the biker community is resilient and a community of riders that stand together will forever be #bikerstrong

Colorado Rider News, the only remaining monthly motorcycle publication in our community also faced challenges, and thanks to our motorcycle advertisers and subscribers who continued to read our publication online, we too were able to weather the COVID storm and are still here today!

The future of our motorcycle events in Colorado are increasing, and slowly events are filling up our event calendar.  Dealerships, promotors, and charities who struggled thru 2020, are scheduling their annual rides and events and we ask everyone to do what you can to support them. 

In this issue we will share with our readers and update on the 2nd  Colorado Motorcycle Swap Meet held at Dirty Dogs Roadhouse in March.  We have also dedicated a portion of this month’s issue to Women riders, their upcoming events, and businesses. 

Lastly, April is also Child Abuse Awareness month and CRN was honored to touch base with Biker’s for Justice and Christian Riders MM who will both be hosting rides to bring awareness to child abuse and trafficking.

As always enjoy the ride, let us know what we can do better and BE SAFE OUT THERE

Laurie Montoya

Publisher

Colorado Rider News

info@coloradoridernews.com

Publisher, Colorado Rider News

April 11th is the last Motorcycle Expo Swap for 2021

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The last Swap meet for the Expo this year will be April 11, 2021 at Dirty Dogs Roadhouse

UPDATE: The 2nd swap meet hosted by The Colorado Motorcycle Expo and Dirty Dogs Roadhouse in March was another record crowd and the weather again shined upon our biker community.   There was a better diversity of vendors selling everything from parts to amazing riding hats.

Sadly, this will be our final swap meet of the season.  Dirty Dogs Roadhouse is the #1 biker bar for a reason and with the warm weather and beautiful weekends to ride, they need both parking lots to accommodate customers.

On behalf of all the sponsors, Scott from The Colorado Motorcycle Expo, Rider Justice, Colorado Rider News, Mark & Rob and the staff at Dirty Dogs Roadhouse, we want to THANK YOU ALL.  This modified swap meet was a testament to the pride and unity the biker community feels for each other. 

Our biker owned businesses were struggling in this pandemic as the events they heavily relied on to get them thru the winter are rescheduled, cancelled, or eliminated entirely.  We hope that these 3 months helped them get thru this tough time and get ready for any spring events they can find.

Please come out for the final swap meet on Sunday, April 11th from 10am to 4pm

Morning Stretch – Thoughts & Inspiration

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Morning Stretch
Stretch is a new inspirational writer to CRN and avid rider in the biker community

By Stretch McClue

With all the bad information from the media etc.  I feel wisdom can be gathered on your downtime.  Wisdom that can change the very course of your life will come from the people you are around, the books you read, and the things you listen to or watch on radio or television.

Of course, bad information is gathered in your downtime too.  Bad information that can change the very course of your life will come from the people you are around, the books you read, and the things you listen to or watch on radio or television.

One of wisdom’s greatest benefits, is accurate discernment, the learned ability to immediately tell right from wrong, good from evil, and acceptable from unacceptable.  Time well spent from time wasted.  The right decision from the wrong decision.  Many times, this is simply a matter of having the correct perspective.  One way to define wisdom is THE ABILITY TO SEE, INTO THE FUTURE, THE CONSEQUENCES OF YOUR CHOICES IN THE PRESENT.

That ability can give you a completely different perspective on what the future might look like…with a degree of intelligence and a hint of wisdom, most people can tell the difference between good and bad.

It truly takes a wise person to discern the oh-so-thin line between good and best and that line gives you the perspective that allows you to clearly see the long-term consequences of your choices. 

It is always about timing.  It is too soon, no-one understands.  If it is too late, everyone has forgotten.

Colorado Swap Meet in February Has Record Crowds – NEXT EVENT March 20th

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Mother nature clearly loves the biker community and on February 20th the day of our 1ST modified swap meet at Dirty Dogs Roadhouse in conjunction with Scott from the Colorado Motorcycle Expo and Rider Justice and Colorado Rider News was confirmation that that in the biker world, “If you build it….THEY WILL COME”.

Swap meets at Dirty Dogs are regularly done in June and December with great vendors everywhere, Mark can be found roasting something to satisfy the overwhelming crowd.   It was unclear to all of us that even if the weather were nice, how many attendees would come out to support the biker owned business. 

It was about 10am, that we got our answer, the parking lot was full up top, and drivers were parking on the side of Colfax all the way up past Wrigley’s.  Riders were walking around with the goods they had purchased, and you could see the guys carrying around parts to sell and parts they had bought

This modified swap meet is a testament to the pride and unity the biker community feels for each other.  Our biker owned businesses are struggling in this pandemic as the events they heavily rely on to get them thru the winter are rescheduled, cancelled, or eliminated entirely.  Scott Schultz from our Expo, Scott O’Sullivan from Rider Justice and myself met with Mark and Rob from Dirty Dogs Roadhouse to see if we could come up with an option to help these businesses, the modified swap meet was the option we all came up with that could help everyone.

The party continued long after the swap meet was over with riders and vendors staying around just to celebrate a day of normality and listening to great music.

After the event was concluded, we spoke with several of the vendor who said the swap meet was a god send, and would help them get thru the month.  Most said they would be back again in March and were so grateful for the opportunity to sell their items and make a few dollars.

If you are biker owned business and would like to participate in our March 20th swap meet, please visit the expo’s website at www.coloradomotorcycleexpo.com.  Good spots are still available

For the most updated information please go to https://www.coloradomotorcycleexpo.com/monthly-swap-meet

BikerDown’s Adopt a Family for Holidays Meets Goals with Help from Special Donor

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Adopt a Family raised over $14k for families in need!

There is nothing more stressful than the holidays for families, whether it is the COVID world that we currently live in with job layoffs, food service industry shutdowns and in-home learning requiring 1 family member to not work.   Also, the normal high cost of living in Denver and surrounding areas makes it difficult for any extras each month.  Gone are the days, when a family can put a little away every month, or the Christmas savings accounts one used to open every year to save for the holidays.  Families struggle every year to provide the kind of Christmas that all children deserve.

BikerDown Foundation saw the need in the motorcycle community 10 years ago and implemented a holiday program called Adopt A Family for the Holidays.  Since its inception BikerDown thru Adopt A Family has helped over 500 families have the resources to provide Christmas for their children.

Each family in the program receives a $250 Walmart gift card and partnered with Walmart to provide a full holiday dinner and to ensure that children have food to get them thru the New Year.  What makes our program different is they allow donors to see their donations at work by meeting with the families, reading about their circumstances and getting to personally meet them at our Dinner with Santa. 

Their goal in 2020 was to help as many families as they could but to also be realistic that everyone in our community was struggling and that donations could possibly be down this year.  Adopt A Family even limited the number of families that could apply to 40 families, from the normal 75-100.  BikerDown Adopt A Family also expanded their reach in 2019 to include the Las Vegas BikerDown chapter which each year has reached their family goals with the guidance of Shannon Venturo from Full Throttle Law & Bling Devas, MC, Cheryl from Original Sinners, MC and the Southern Nevada Confederation of Clubs.

On December 11, 2020, with 2 weeks away from Christmas, they began to get very worried that they just would not meet the goal of helping 40 families. On Wednesday, December 16, Laurie Montoya, President and Founder of BikerDown and Adopt A Family, received a phone call that she will never forget.
Michael Lord, a local Denver entrepreneur, called to adopt the last 4 families in our program. Mike then asked if there were any other families that they could help. In a matter of minutes, Mike and his co-workers adopted 10 additional families that were on the waitlist!

The program would be remiss to not recognize all the Colorado donors of this program, that each year make sure to adopt at least 1-2 families.  These biker community donors have been the back bone of our program for 10 years and Adopt a Family would not have been able to survive and increase our help without their commitment every year.  We would like to give special recognition to Scott O’Sullivan from RiderJustice.com and The O’Sullivan Law firms, Greg & Brooklyn Chmel, Art and Khris Cleveland, Derek from Ironwood Earthcare, BO Martinez, Skip Hohnhorst, Eli Ohlauser, Deborah Thomas, Kevin Maki, and all of you who attended the November Chili cook off.  You are truly a blessing to this program.

Adopt A Family will continue the mission in 2021 and we look forward to bigger and better events that will enable us to extend our reach to more and more families.


We will all of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  I hope you will raise your glass and join me in say FAREWELL to 2020.

Growing COVID cases leads Gov. Polis and local counties to raise to the caution level red. Changes go into affect Friday Nov 20th

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November 20th Jefferson, Arapahoe and Adams County upgrade to Level Red

COVID cases are on the rise again in Colorado and it appears that more drastic measures for citizens and business owners is coming our way this Friday, November 20th. Local health and political officials have confirmed that Jefferson, Arapahoe and Adams counties will be moving to the higher level.

What does this mean? Here are the changes that will affect all of us.

  • Elementary schools are still able to hold in-person classes and middle schools can do either in-person, a hybrid program or remote learning. But it is suggested that high schools go to hybrid or virtual learning, if they haven’t. For colleges and universities it is recommended they go to remote classes.
  • Restaurants can no longer do indoor dining, but they can still do curbside pickup and takeout. They can also do outdoor dining by limiting groups to only members of their households.
  • Last call for alcohol is moved from 10 p.m. to 8 p.m. and bars remain closed.

Local groceries stores are beginning to see shoppers starting to stock up on food and other necessities as the fear of another shutdown looms in the unforseen future.

If Denver and other counties move to Level Purple restrictions, outdoor dining will no longer be allowed at restaurants, according to the new guidelines. Polis says he believes the Level Red restrictions will be effective in flattening the current coronavirus spike.

Of the newly created highest Level Purple, Hancock said, “We expect to be there.”

The state health department recorded 30,843 cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, last week. It’s the sixth consecutive week that the state has recorded a record number of new coronavirus cases and reflects how infections are now at the highest level since the state had reliable data from testing.

There were 1,294 people hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19 and another 130 people with suspected COVID-19, according to the health department.

Owners Mark and Rob have been modifying our beloved Roadhouse since March of this year and have prepared for this higher level by the Health Departments

Before publishing this article, I spoke with Rob from Dirty Dogs Roadhouse in Golden and Rob confirmed that Dirty Dogs will continue to stay open with outside dining, however alcohol will have to stop at 8pm from the 10pm when Jefferson County was at the Orange Level.