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From the Publisher

Happy New Year!

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Laurie Montoya, Publisher

The holidays are over and soon all of us will be seeing how much we spent when our credit card bills arrive.  The last few months for me was a moment to reflect on how truly grateful I am for family and our chosen family here in Colorado. As Publisher of Colorado Rider News and President/Founder of the BikerDown Foundation, I sometimes to get to see the hardship that our riders are facing from behind the scenes.  However, the love and commitment to one another by this motorcycle community is something we should all be so very proud of.  As we face the risks of riding, I quickly realize the REWARD is worth it.

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October Riding, Jammed Packed Events

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Laurie Montoya, Publisher

The fall season is here and fall colors are upon us and you only have a week or so before all those beautiful fall colors will have fallen softly to the ground and in a blink of an eye winter riding will be upon us… are you ready. Halloween can be seen in every store with Thanksgiving not far behind. I then realized that we are 69 days away from the Children’s Hospital Toy Run and 86 days away from Christmas. Where did our summer go?

Motorcycle Fatalities continue to RISE – Our biker community in Colorado has suffered 9 tragic motorcycle fatalities in the last two (2) weekends of September. My calculations, as President of BikerDown, is that we have recorded a record 74 fatalities on motorcycles so far in 2019. That is a staggering number of fatalities as my numbers do not include data on the western slope.

I don’t know what to say that hasn’t already been said or covered in previous issues of Colorado Rider News, but motorcycle awareness and safety is no longer about “Look Twice Save a Life” bumper stickers or “Can you see me now As*hole” t-shirts or patches.  

Motorcycle awareness is now in the hands of the rider, and how experienced you are in defensive driving. It is about how fast you ride for the conditions; it is about being more cautious when going thru intersections and stop lights. Green no longer means GO, it means down shift and see if anyone is coming, looking both ways… before you proceed thru any light or stop sign. It means if you see someone driving distracted… you do all that you can to stay clear of that irresponsible driver – which is almost impossible because 4 out of 10 drivers are using their phones while moving.  

Motorcycle Safety – use to refer to whether you wore a helmet or not. Now, considering helmet protection and wearing the right safety gear IS A MUST to stay alive and enable you to recover from an accident. Companies like Tobacco Motorwear are coming out with stylish denim jeans with Kevlar fibers in it, so that in the event of a crash it can help limit the road rash and damages to your body. Kevlar riding shirts that you wear over your t-shirts and under your vest and will protect your shoulders, elbows and most importantly your back. Knox armor in your leather vests or jackets that will protect your spine. Some will say I am not going to spend 300 on a pair of riding jeans or I can’t afford it. We are in a riding age where you can’t afford NOT TO HAVE some safety gear when you ride. This year I would ask all motorcycle riders to put safety gear on your Christmas list.

This month has some special events and CRN is proud to feature them in this issue:

October 12th – Dirty Dogs Roadhouse 2nd Anniversary Birthday Bash – who doesn’t love a party and Mark and Rob are pulling out all the stops for their 2nd year anniversary party. You can read more about that on page 4.

October 12th – Rider Justice 2020 Sturgis Giveaway drawing event – To go with the fun festivities at Dirty Dogs Roadhouse. Rider Justice has been taking registrations since August for a 2020 STURGIS VACATION GIVEAWAY. Next year is the 80th and reservations cost top dollar and everywhere will sell out. Take the stress out of the 80th and get up to Dirty Dogs and REGISTER for a chance to win. Registrations taken until 10/12. Also register online: RiderJustice.com/sturgis

October 26th – BikerDown and Wide Open Saloon will be drawing the winner of the 2017 Harley-Davidson Road Glide donated by Wide Open Saloon to help injured motorcycle riders with their recovery. Wide Open Saloon will be opening in early 2020 and will be hosting their raffle drawing at Dirty Dogs Roadhouse. A special thanks to Mark & Rob and Todd Hills, owner of Wide Open Saloon for working together to make this a very special event for BikerDown. These 2 businesses truly care about motorcycle riders and their recovery!

October 26th – Dirty Dogs Roadhouse – Halloween party – We all know that Mark & Rob know how to throw a party and their Halloween parties are legendary! So, get your costume ready for a chance to win a great prize! 

We welcome your comments and thoughts on what CRN can do better in the future and enjoy the ride!

Where did the season GO?

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Laurie Montoya, Publisher

September is here, Sturgis is over and for many your kids or grandkids have started back to school. While not the end of the riding season, Colorado weather can quickly change without notice so we ask all riders to be careful on the routes that they take. September is when many motorcycle riders start planning and anticipating the fall colors and the rides in Colorado that make living here extra special.

Biker Owned Businesses

We wanted to remind any Biker Owned Businesses that you can list your business in our “BOB” directory for FREE, and Colorado Rider News would love to do more features on what your business offers so that our readers who need services know they don’t have to go far to find a biker owned business that can help them.

Motorcycle Awareness and Safety

BikerDown, Abate, CORD and Rider Justice will begin discussion with Sen. Lois Court again to try an modify and introduce new legislation to attempt to take hand-held mobile devices out of the hands of cagers to lower the number of distracted drivers out there to make the roads safe for our riders.

Charitable Events

As we mentioned last month, we chose 2 charities this month to do FREE advertisements. Our first charity that CRN chose the Hornbuckle Foundation. The foundation is hosting their 5th annual Soul Repo Run with the help of the Sober Souls, MC. Their ride is scheduled for September 7th. Addiction is something that affects every aspect of your life and to know that our community can get the sober living grants to help them re-enter society sober is a great cause and helps our biker community. 

Our second charity is Whitehorse Riders ministry, and they are hosting a Love Run on October 26th out of Colorado Springs. This Love Run will ask all riders to bring warm items including socks, back pack, gloves/hat and items that will help the homeless endure a Colorado winter. While I have never been homeless, I have known the FEAR of being homeless. Our growing economy in Colorado has forced many families out of their homes, not because they don’t pay their rent, but because landlords can double the price of their rent due to the overwhelming demand for housing.

Enjoy the cooler weather to come and remember, we welcome your comments and thoughts on what CRN can do better in the future and enjoy the ride!

What does it take to make a difference in the community?

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Laurie Montoya, Publisher

The longer Colorado Rider News is around, the more perplexed I am on what type of publication I want this to be. I question every month: do I write this article about texting and driving, another biker fatality or articles about the right kind of insurances a biker should have. Many have said that CRN is so serious and that I should make it more fun to read. They suggest crossword puzzles, scantily dressed women photoshoots so they can pin them on their garage. Some would like to see more biker jokes & comics.

The current crisis’ that this riding community faces can no longer be ignored or left up to a few other organizations such as Abate, CORD, BikerDown and Rider Justice to do for you. I don’t believe the motorcycle community really realizes the POWER it possesses and their ability to make REAL CHANGE with the powers that be. There are 8,597,197 registered motorcycle riders in the United States according to 2017 statitics. That is an massive amount of power to make change. I can’t think of any other group that is over 8 million STRONG. If you can I would love to know who they are. There is a reason that President Trump has Bikers for Trump. In Colorado, we have over 190,000 registered motorcycle riders.

There isn’t a day that I turn on the TV, Facebook or better yet check my email and someone in our community or nationwide hasn’t been tragically harmed or killed at the hands of a cager or some form of distracted driving. There isn’t a month that goes by that we don’t read on blogs a rider being discriminated because of their cut/vest.

As the publisher of Colorado Rider News, I can’t in good consciousness pretend that all of this around our riding community isn’t happening.

  • Accidents/Fatalities – there have been over 35 fatalities and over 100 accidents to Colorado motorcyclists since January 2019. Six motorcycle fatalities in Colorado Springs, and the other 29 are in Denver and surrounding areas. That isn’t even counting the rest of Colorado. Most of the accidents are horrible and leave the biker’s life forever changed and their friends powerless to help them at the level they need assistance.
  • Law – Every session of government and those public servants voted into office are trying at every level (City, State and Nationwide) to take your rights away. Motorcycle organizations are there with representatives trying to be the voice of a riding community to decision makers who do not understand us.
  • Discrimination – riders are being told their patronage and money aren’t wanted in establishments because they are wearing a patch or are a member of a motorcycle club. Besides the Motorcycle Expo over 3 years ago, when was the last time in Colorado that you heard of a biker brawl that trashed a business or caused any patrons bodily harm?
  • Profiling – good standing, hard working motorcycle riders with jobs are losing their jobs because someone got on their Facebook and saw that they ride with a group or club and they are being fired with no probable cause just because they ride. Riders in a motorcycle accident are being cited as the one at fault because an officer sees that they ride in a club or group, when the evidence is clear that it was the driver’s fault. 

So, I’ve decided I am going to continue to shed light and information to the riding community about what is going on that affects your rights as motorcycle riders on the road. This publication is going to continue to inform riders of the insurance coverages that they should have so in the event they are hurt or killed their families aren’t left picking up the pieces.

Each month, I am going to give 2 non-profits free advertising about their charitable events, and CRN is going to continue to highlight the good works of biker related charities helping injured riders in this community.

CRN will continue to support Biker Owned Businesses in the hopes that our readers will keep our spending power within our community.

We welcome your comments and thoughts on what CRN can do better in the future and enjoy the ride!

info@coloradoridernews.com

Getting Ready for Sturgis

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Laurie Montoya, Publisher

I am not sure if summer has really come yet, last week there was 2 feet of snow in the mountains, and it appeared that our April showers were just hitting us in June.  This has been a crazy spring and filled with its share of weather interruptions.

As many of us begin to plan our road trips and vacations, it hit me that Sturgis was just around the corner.  It will be the 79th Sturgis Rally and many Colorado riders will go this year, just to stay away from the organized chaos that is Rally on an anniversary year.  According to the data I found, on the 75th Rally, there was over 750,000 riders that rode into Sturgis, and with that kind of crowd, comes many more opportunities for things to go wrong.

Most Colorado HD riders have done Sturgis and know what to expect, but the diversity that is now Sturgis every year brings more and more different manufacturers and a new diverse crowd of riders to our once predominately Harley based event.  Women riders are growing in record numbers and venturing out on road trips on their own and Sturgis is always on their bucket list.  Colorado riders that may have never been to South Dakota will want to check out our Pre-Sturgis checklist and hopefully will be prepared and ready for a great week of Rally.

Dirty Dogs Roadhouse – Sturgis South Dakota

Colorado riders who head out to Sturgis are one of the lucky ones to have their own biker bar in downtown Sturgis.  Mark and Rob from Dirty Dogs Roadhouse are ready for their 2nd year at Rally.  What I love about having our own biker bar up there, is seeing all my Colorado friends in one spot.  Dirty Dogs is home to many of us here in Denver, and if you need to meet up with anyone, Dirty Dogs in Sturgis is where to go.  It is centrally located but a block away from most of the traffic of main street and what does that mean for you?  It is easier to get in/out of town and parking is more accessible to meet friends for a day of riding.  Plus, who doesn’t want to walk into a Sturgis bar and have the owners greet you and say how happy they are to see you.

BikerDown as always will be there to help any of our Colorado riders, and I ask everyone headed up this year, to consider joining our BikerDown Roadside $35.00 per year membership with motorcycle towing.  If you need a tow, make sure that a motorcycle towing company comes to pick up your baby.  Most riders will be shocked with what your regular insurance company considers roadside towing.  BikerDown has partnered with MTS and all riders with our membership will have NATIONWIDE towing and up to 2 motorcycle tows up to $150.00 each.  In the event of a breakdown that 35. per year can really be worth the investment and is an extra piece of mind to have when you are far away from home.

What does it mean to be a part of American Legion?

Last month I devoted a good portion of the magazine to military groups and clubs to honor them for their service to our country and community.  I ran out of space for this American Legion feature, so I hope you will take a moment to read about the progressive growth and direction American Legion and the American Legion Riders are taking.  They do a tremendous amount of charity work for our veterans and community and I wanted to honor them for the sacrifice and humanitarian efforts for our veterans.

Please ride safe out there!

Honoring Our Military

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This issue will focus a lot on veterans and their upcoming events up in June. The Freedom Fest, Brotherhood of Veterans, Combat Vets and many more have events that will help our veterans with hands on services and boots on the ground assistance here in Colorado. It has always been my policy to donate and support charities that help actual residents and not send my funds to a charity outside of my local community.

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April Showers

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By: Laurie Montoya, Publisher

Laurie Montoya, Publisher

There are months that you are glad they are behind you, and for me March 2019 came in with a bang! We had a record snow blizzard, record cold temperatures and you just weren’t sure whether to light the fire and hibernate for another month, or to open the windows and enjoy that spring has arrived.

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Winter is Still with us!

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Well, last month, it appeared that Spring was going to come much earlier than normal, but alas, Mother Nature never disappoints here in Colorado. The snow arrived with bitter cold winds and shows us again who is in charge, and how unpredictable the weather can be. Even Nevada and Arizona weathered unprecedented storms and towns like Las Vegas and Flagstaff were blanketed with inches of snow. [Read more…] about Winter is Still with us!

Spring Comes Early

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February is upon us, the holidays are over, and we all said goodbye to 2018 and HELLO to 2019! Most of us are anxiously waiting for Spring to arrive so we can get back out and Ride. However, it doesn’t seem sometimes like we live in Colorado anymore. Whether you believe in global warming or not, and as a 10-year resident of Colorado, it does appear that our winters are getting warmer and riding is more frequent in the winter months. [Read more…] about Spring Comes Early