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Laurie Montoya

Motorcycle Awareness – 9th Annual Look Twice Save a Life

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By Laurie Montoya

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.

BikerDown Foundation received a Proclamation in 2015 from then Governor Hickenlooper proclaiming May17th as Colorado Motorcycle Awareness Day.  This was quite an honor to be recognized by the state of Colorado for the good work that BikerDown has done for the motorcycle community.

On May 15th, BikerDown will again host the only motorcycle awareness ride on the front range, called the Look Twice Save a Life ride.  We are going to repeat the theme of last year with Can YOU SEE me NOW.  These awareness shirts were a tremendous hit with riders no matter what you rode.

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.

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 donates great raffles and 50/50 drawings prizes.

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.

Pre-Register to get your Can YOU See me NOW event tshirt

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!

You can register for our event by clicking here to be guaranteed your own Can YOU SEE me NOW t-shirt.  If you cannot make the event, please register and BikerDown will ship your shirt to you.  100% of your donation goes into the Colorado BikerDown Accident Fund to help injured riders.

Remember to Ride Safe and SAVE THE DATE!

Letter from the Publisher – Spring is in the Air

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Laurie is Publisher and Editor of Colorado Rider News

March is here and with the warmer temperatures here, its hard to not start looking forward to spring rides, events and trying to get back to normal.  Today it was in the news that the governors of Texas and Mississippi both announced that TODAY they would be lifting their states’ mask mandates and rolling back many of their Covid-19 health mandates, just one day after the CDC warned against complacency in the face of emerging coronavirus variants.

The future of our motorcycle events in Colorado are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel and more events are being added to our Event Calendar in the hopes that restrictions will continue to loosen up. 

In this issue we will share with our readers The Colorado Motorcycle Swap Meet held at Dirty Dogs Roadhouse in February.  This was a combined effort of the Motorcycle Expo, Dirty Dogs Roadhouse, Rider Justice and Colorado Rider News whose only goal was helping our local biker owned business get thru these winter months due to the official Expo being postponed to 2022.

Colorado Riders News is proud to work with charities, riding groups and biker businesses to help promote your event.  Please visit our website and submit your event on our calendar and we will make sure it gets on the calendar at no-charge.

On a safety note, please ride safe out there, even with the beautiful weather, there is sand in the mountains and on the roads.  Watch the conditions of possible black ice in the shade.

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

Full Throttle Distillery coming to Estes Park

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According to a Facebook Live video broadcast from downtown Estes Park in January, the Full Throttle Saloon, which some may know from the reality TV series of the same name, will be opening a distillery on Elkhorn Avenue in the coming year.

Michael Ballard stands at the bar of the visitors center of his Full Throttle distillery in Trimble, Tenn

Michael Ballard, owner of the Full Throttle Saloon is no stranger to the biker community in Sturgis. The Saloon is known as the largest biker bar in the world and is one of the main features of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally that takes place every August.

Ballard was visiting Estes Park in January and immediately fell in love with Colorado and is quote in his Facebook Live video “ Look at this … look at how beautiful this place is,” said Ballard, remarking on the lights and charm of downtown Estes Park. “I don’t know if you have ever been to Estes Park, but it is beautiful.”

“I am in Estes Park, Colorado right now and we have been down here now for the past few days … I just bought this building here right behind me,” Ballard says while gesturing to Bob and Tony’s Pizzeria. “We’re going to be putting a Full Throttle Distillery in right here in downtown Estes Park.”

In the video, which currently has over 60,000 views, Ballard announces that he has purchased a property on Elkhorn Avenue in downtown Estes Park.

Full Throttle Distillery will offer riders who already visit Estes Park on a regular basis and location to call their own.  Ballard will offer more than just his distillery, it is reported that the building will indeed be turned into a distillery, Ballard says he is not getting rid of the pizza entirely.  “We’re still going to be keeping some of the pizza that’s here that they will also offer food and other Full Throttle clothing and souvenirs

On top of Bob and Tony’s Pizza, Ballard says he purchased another building outside of the downtown corridor, although it is still unclear exactly where that is.

Letter from the Publisher

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We Are Back

Yes, you heard it right, we are back publishing hard copy issues. Due to the Dept of Health lowering our COVID health levels designated by Gov. Polis, many of our biker bars and restaurants are back open.  This has been a difficult year for Colorado Rider News.  We have experienced the same hardships and lost revenue due to COVID shutdowns by our biker business.   I would be remiss not to thank Rider Justice for continuing to support Colorado Rider News in its advertising in hard copy and online media.   The past few years have seen many of our other publications such as Thunder Roads and Scooter News shut down.  It was never that they were not both great publications, hard print advertising is being pushed out by online social media digital marketing.

I have long said to potential advertisers that motorcycle and powersports riders still like to sit down at their local biker bar and pick up a copy of a magazine 100% devoted to riding in Colorado.

Our goal for 2021 is to continue to provide you the most updated local motorcycle related information, continue to promote biker owned businesses, be an active part in the new motorcycle swap meet at Dirty Dogs, motorcycle safety, new product reviews on products that will bring value to your riding.

We ask you to be a part of this publication and continue to update us on what is going on in your biker group or community.

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

Michelle Mallin Retires as Executive Director of Honor Bell

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To donate and support the Honor Bell click here

Michelle Mallin has been at the forefront of every aspect of the Honor Bell’s creation and operation since 2014 when she helped to begin the bell’s journey from an idea into a reality. A connector of people and organizations par excellence, she brought an energy and level of experience to the Foundation that was essential.

Michelle Mallin Executive Director

In 2018, Michelle was named the Executive Director for the Foundation and has shepherded its growth and operations even under the trying circumstances of the COVID pandemic in 2020. Since a 2016 cancer diagnosis Michelle has been not only helping to keep the bell tolling, volunteers organized, and fundraising flowing, but has been dealing with surgeries, complications, and treatments. Through it all, she has remained committed to the Honor Bell’s mission. Last December, Michelle decided that it was time to step down as Executive Director to focus on her health and family. She will remain involved with the Foundation as a member of the Board of Directors.

The Honor Bell has been seen many times at Veteran events at Dirty Dogs

Effective immediately, Chris Boyer will take on the role of Executive Director. Chris has been serving as Assistant Director for several months and has been involved in day-to-day operations, strategic planning, and more since he started

THonor Bell Foundation, Inc. is a Colorado nonprofit, 501(c)(3) corporation based in Denver. Its primary purpose is to provide a unique funeral honor for deceased military veterans through the slow ringing, known as tolling, of a ceremonial bell. The foundation also provides veteran outreach and community education.

To accomplish this mission, the Foundation produced the Honor Bell and renders “Bell Honors” at the funerals of U.S. military veterans and personnel killed in action to augment the dignity and respect that should be paid to those that have served our nation. In addition, the bell attends public events with a military or patriotic theme, and tolls in a memorial capacity. The foundation’s volunteers also attend programs in schools to educate young people about the significance of dignity, honor and respect owed to our military and fallen heroes.

Editors Note: As President and Founder of the BikerDown Foundation and Editor of Colorado Rider News – I was honored to do this article for Michelle, but very sad for our community. Many do not know, that Michelle was an intrical part of founding BikerDown in 2010, and was an integral part of the structure of BikerDown that still is used today. I had a dream, and Michelle had the tools to implement it. She worked tirelessly thru the many nights to always meet the deadlines that we had. In fact, she ran another non-profit simultaneously while helping me found BikerDown. While I respect her desire to want to spend time with her grandchildren and family, our community has lost a hero. Her devotion to this community is beyond words and I wish her all the best.