04/20
#2Wheels4Meals – Interview
April 11: This interview with Mark Miklos of Dirty Dogs Roadhouse and Laurie Montoya of BikerDown gives an update about how Dirty Dogs is doing during the COVID-19 shutdown and an information about our #2Wheels4Meals movement.
Laurie is our #2Wheels4Meals “boots-on-the-ground” person and has been at Dirty Dogs for the past three weeks helping prep meals. (Thank you, Laurie!) As the president of a non-profit, BikerDown, she has been instrumental in helping collect and manage donated funds.
Peak Honda World. We Invented Social Distancing.
By Peak Honda World, proud supporters of #2Wheels4Meals
There is something about the prospect of adventure that keeps our hearts beating. Right now in America, adventure seekers may feel a bit trapped. We are not used to being kept in one place and unable to wander, isolated and downright bored.
This is America, for goodness sake. The land of the free. The home of the brave. It feels unnatural to be stuck at home, a bit fearful and feeling somewhat helpless. Peak Honda World understands the need for escape and autonomy. The need to get out and explore your world.
We invented social distancing, after all.
The kind of social distancing that looks like you with a whole day ahead of you and an open road. The social distancing between two yellow lines, the sun warm on your back and no destination. The social distancing winding down a mountainside, miles of that purple mountain majesty surrounding you. That’s what we’re talking about. Peak Honda World is honored to have the opportunity to Power your Adventure. We can’t wait to set you up with everything you need to bust out of the house and into the great unknown. We believe in your need to follow the call of the wild. To see new places. To forge your own path to peace. It may be a few hundred miles of pavement or it may be a quiet dirt road. Wherever your adventure awaits, we’ll meet you there.
The Times They are a Changing
I was sitting here as I have done for the past 3 weeks trying to think about what to write about. What positive spin or thoughts that I could share with you. All I could come up with is that history has a way of repeating itself and hopefully this world, our country and we, as citizens, will learn this time.
We are in unsettling times. We will speak of this global virus pandemic, the stay-at-home orders, food shortages, gas prices possibly going back to 99 cents per gallon, highest unemployment in recent memory and the aftermath this pandemic had on our economy. Before this, how many of you knew the word Essential business or ventilator? The simple word COVID-19 will flow off our tongues like WWI & The Depression and we will all remember where we were and who we lost. This virus knows no color or race, no religion, no gender and doesn’t discriminate… sounds like a John Lennon song.
Future generations will roll their eyes when we try to tell them the stories of the day when there was no toilet paper and food was being rationed. How manufacturing plants were converted from making pillows or beer, to making hand sanitizers and hospital masks/PPE clothing to save the lives of Americans. GM and Ford converted their plants to make not guns and ammo for WAR, but medical equipment. They will humor us, and half listen at the unimaginable sacrifices people have made to save the lives others.
I remember when I was younger, I went down into my Italian grandparents’ basement, and would see everything that they stocked up on. Every weekend, they would take the Sunday newspaper ads and coupon and spend the whole weekend going to stores picking up the Buy One-Get One free products and then they would proudly stock them on massive shelves in the basement. They would only go out to eat at restaurants they had a coupon for. My beautiful Grandma Ginny was our family Italian drug dealer, because she would pay you to refill your prescriptions and then stock them up in her private home pharmacy. I remember thinking that they were just a little bit crazy, but now I understand that they had lived thru the depression, they had lived in a house with several married families and struggled every single day. My grandma worked at a plant in St. Louis and paid double on her mortgage every month so that she could pay her house off early and the bank didn’t own her. She believed in living within her means, and I can’t tell you the countless times my parents borrowed money from them and thank god they always had it to give. They didn’t have credit card because they didn’t want to owe anyone. If they wanted something, they had an envelope and they SAVED until they could go in and pay cash.
It is my belief and deepest hope that this pandemic and shut down will be a life lesson to world leaders, our government and all of us in some small way and will bring CHANGE in how we deal with things.
I have personally learned a lot about how I will deal with things moving forward and to be the rock for my family and friends.
Our estimated goal date to getting back to some semblance of normal is now April 30th, and I pray each day that more people will honor the stay-at-home orders and practice safe social distancing. Group rides are not encouraged, and we ask all riders if you are going to ride to make sure you take the necessary steps to keep yourself and others safe.
The sooner we all sacrifice and bring this curve of infection down, the sooner we can all get back to the living and rebuilding our lives and our country.
#2WHEELS4MEALS
Colorado Rider News is working with a collective group of biker owned business to form #ColoradoRidersCare. Our first initiative was our #2WheelsforMeals program to ensure that our small business biker owned restaurants survive so that we have them when this is over. We are working with businesses like Dirty Dogs Roadhouse, Wide Open Saloon, and Takoda Tavern. Each of these businesses are open for carryout and delivery and we encourage all riders to try your best to support your local biker owned business. If you know of someone that needs a hot meal, please let us know by sending an email to info@coloradoridernews.com
Motorcycle Business Directory
CRN has also created a directory of businesses that have modified or adapted to the shut-down. Many of our dealerships are still open and while the showroom may be closed, they are still open for service and parts.
We will always be #COLORADOSTRONG and stand side-by-side.
As always enjoy the ride, let us know what we can do better and BE SAFE OUT THERE
Contact Laurie: info@coloradoridernews.com
Dirty Dogs Delivery and Pick Up
Auto Insurance Offering Customers Shelter-in-Place Payback
Update: 4/9/20 — Additional auto insurance carriers have followed suit and are offering rebate/pay backs to customers. Be sure to contact your auto insurance carrier and find out what programs are available to you.
As we all continue to practice Shelter-in-Place during the COVID-19 spread, many are working from home or have been temporarily laid off. This stay at home policy is significantly limiting the amount of driving (except for essential travel) and lowering the possibility of a driver/rider’s being in an accident.
I received an email from Esurance, an Allstate company offering insureds up to a 15% payback off their monthly insurance premiums during April thru May. They are also offering other vital services such as:
- Free identity protection from Allstate
You can now get free identity protection from Allstate throughout the remainder of this year. With shelter-in-place orders requiring people to work at home and attend virtual classes, meetings, and events, it’s more important than ever to protect your personal data against increased cyber and financial threats. Enroll by 5/31/20 to get Allstate Identity Protection for free through 12/31/20.
- Extended coverage for commercial
deliveries
Many auto insurance policies don’t cover commercial deliveries. But while so many people are helping deliver vital supplies to their communities, we’re extending coverage for customers who use their personal vehicles to deliver food, medicine, and essential services for a commercial purpose. This coverage will be automatically applied in any state where an emergency order is in place. No action is required on your part.
- Payment relief
Customers facing financial challenges due to the COVID-19 crisis can contact us for payment flexibility. Call us at 1-800-ESURANCE (1-800-378-7262) to learn more.
State Farm is also considering a rebate plan. “We are closely monitoring our automobile insurance loss and are considering how best to take this into account and return value to our auto insurance policyholders,” State Farm spokeswoman Gina Morss-Fischer said in an emailed statement. “We expect a decision in this regard by the end of the week.”
American Family Insurance said it will return about $200 million to its auto insurance customers. “American Family Insurance is doing this out of responsibility to our customers. They are driving less and experiencing fewer claims. Because of these results, they deserve premium relief,” American Family Chief Operating Officer Telisa Yancy said in a news release.
If you aren’t insured with Allstate, I would encourage you to contact your auto policy provider and see what offers they might be putting into place.
Morning Stretch: Thoughts & Inspirations
By Stretch McClure
We are all going through some trying times.
I am so tired of the political blame. If you want to blame someone, blame ourselves. We got comfortable. You could blame hospitals etc. for not having enough PPE’s.
But you can’t! How could they know something like this was going to happen? You would have complained about the waste of money on having shit lay around in some warehouse rotting or some rodent chewing up the wiring. The same if any part of the Government spent trillions of dollars on something with “NO prior” need! We would have all bitched about it too.
I don’t know about you, but if the government is going to give back something I would like it, and many may need it!! Give everyone a break on blame and work together. Get the shit people need.
Help each other and share!!!! Only us! We the people can fix this. Damn it! This is what I truly believe. “We got this.”
You know that sometimes life knocks you on your ass… get up, get up, get up!!! Survival is not the absence of problems, it’s the ability to deal with them and move forward. How would your life be different if… You stopped making negative judgmental assumptions about people you encounter? Let today be the day… You look for the good in everyone you meet and respect their journey.
The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack in will. Over the years, I have come to realize that the greatest trap in our life is not success, popularity, or power, but self-rejection.
Success, popularity, and power can indeed present a great temptation, but their perception often comes from the way they are part of the much larger temptation to self-rejection and failure. When we have come to believe in the voices that call us worthless and unlovable, then success, popularity, and power, are easily perceived as attractive solutions.
The real trap, however, is self-rejection or failure. As soon as someone criticizes me, or leaves. I find myself thinking, “Well, that proves once again that I am a nobody and I deserve to be pushed aside, forgotten, rejected, and abandoned”.
Self-rejection or failure is the greatest enemy of the spiritual life because it contradicts the sacred voice that calls us the “Beloved.” Being the Beloved constitutes the core truth of our existence. So, at the end of the day, let there be no excuses, no explanations, no regrets. These are trying times, no doubt, but it shall pass!
Stay safe and take care.
Bikers for Justice: April is child abuse awareness month
A person commits child abuse in Colorado when he/she harms a child under the age of 16 or places the child in a potentially harmful situation. Penalties for child abuse range from (3) months in jail to life in prison, depending on 1) whether the child was injured or died, and 2) The severity and frequency of the abuse.
Children are suffering from a hidden epidemic of child abuse and neglect. It’s the widespread war against our children that we have the power to stop, and understanding the issue is the first step. Just how bad is the issue of child abuse in the United States?
Here is some statistics that One might find shocking:
- Every year more than 3.6 million referrals are made to child protection agency involving more than 6.6 million children (A referral can include multiple children).
- The United States has one of the worst records among industrialized nations-losing on average between four and seven children every day to child abuse and neglect.
- A report of child abuse is made every 10 seconds.
- Yearly, referrals to state child protection services involved 6.6 million children, and around 3.2 million of those children are subject to an investigative report.
- In 2014 alone, state agencies found over 702,000 victims of child maltreatment,
But that only tells part of the story. This would Pac-10 Modern football stadiums x10.
We must learn to recognize early signs of abuse in order to help save the five children that die every day from child abuse and neglect.
Bikers for Justice Is a group of riders who come together. The one thing that bonds them together is preventing one more child from being abused.
It is difficult to know the scope of how much child abuse and neglect really affect one of our most vulnerable members of our community. Abused children are often isolated, especially when the trauma involves a caregiver they depend on every day. The harm that many
children face is not recognized or reported by adults.
Bikers For Justice
Our mission is simple every child has the right to feel safe in their environment. We look to give a child it’s power back. They will know that we got their back’s, and they need not be afraid. We assist them in expressing themselves and to protect them to get their voice back to testify.
The healing journey for the children that have experienced child abuse and neglect can be extremely painful. With the help of BIKERS FOR JUSTICE the healing process can start. We work closely with the family, state and local agencies to protect children.
Bikers for Justice focus is to eliminate further abuse to a child with our physical presence and we will provide a 360 protection to prevent further abuse to this child and we will immediately respond to a child in need.
Bikers for Justice started in 2016. Our mission is going strong in the fight against child abuse and helping abused children get there voice back so they can testify.
REMEMBER: IF YOU SEE SOMETHING… SAY SOMETHING!! It might just save a child’s Life.
Please contact our helpline at 303-725-3159 or email us at bikersforjustice@yahoo.com or our website@bikersforjustice.org
If you would like to get involved in the fight against child abuse come join us. Our meeting is the first Sunday of every month at 11:00 AM until 12 noon The Board Room 51 W. Dry Creek Ct. Littleton Colorado. 80120
Take It On-The-Run Supporting Biker Restaurants
By K. Strother
Everyone knows bikers love to hit the road, whether it’s escaping into Colorado’s magnificent mountains or exploring our beautiful back country roads. It’s what we love to do.
It may be a long ride or a short ride; some are planned, others improvised, stopping only when we get hungry. And yes… riding makes us hungry, even ‘hangry’ at times. But luckily there are numerous biker-friendly restaurants across our great state. According to Colorado Restaurant Association in 2020 there were approximately 11,800 eating and drinking locations in Colorado. And many of those restaurants not only welcome riders, but even tempt riders to stop in and indulge in their culinary creations.
Luring bikers with food specialties is not uncommon. For example, Denver’s Piper Inn is famous for wings, especially their classic Buffalo Wings. Bruce’s Bar and Restaurant in Severance is celebrated for its Rocky Mountain Oysters. Out east, Limon’s Oscars Bar and Grille serves up “movie themed” meals named after popular movies. The “Braveheart” or “Robin Hood” sandwich satisfies even the biggest, ‘baddest’ biker hunger.
Some biker-friendly restaurants have been around a long time, like Alibi’s Bar and Grill in Littleton opened in 1988, and the graffiti-covered, Buck Snort Saloon nestled by the Elk Creek in Pine, Colorado opened in the late 1800’s.
Others have been newly remodeled, like Dirty Dogs Roadhouse in Golden that added on a new patio and stage for live concerts. Crystola Roadhouse in Woodland Park not only is historic, opening in the late 1880’s, but recently renovated their restaurant.
Usually bikers have a favorite restaurant, a home base of sorts, but it was clear on the weekend of March 13-15th that the highly-anticipated, grand opening, of the newly remodeled Wide Open Saloon in Sedalia attracted bikers, locals, families, and people from all over Colorado. In fact, over 2,000 people listened to incredible live bands, gawked at the snow-covered foothills from the ‘epic rooftop lounge’, and enjoyed amazing food and drinks. This bar rocked all weekend!
Located perfectly at the intersection of Hwy 85 (Santa Fe) and Hwy 67, the Wide Open Saloon is almost 10,000 square feet — every space, the dance floor, every bar (there’s three), every booth, every outdoor firepit was specifically created to give us a place to escape the grind of the day.
Todd Hills, owner, mentioned several times, “I love providing a place where people can leave their troubles behind, even for a bit… park your outside world, outside! Come in and enjoy our atmosphere!”
Over the last year, there were stories circulating that describe Hills’ arduous journey of renovating and giving new life to the Saloon. However, the grand opening weekend was a huge success. Over 2,000 people. Happy bikers everywhere. Of course, Hills and his devoted waitstaff learned a lot, even learned what to work on, but they were excited to keep the momentum going.
But no one knew that the next day, they would be closed, only offering take-out orders. Dam Covid-19.
Jump to March 25, 2020, only 10 days after the successful grand opening; Hills, Anton Barich, general manager, and staff were still doing everything they could to keep customers happy and their doors open, albeit only with take-out orders.
Following an executive order imposed by Governor Polis, they could only offer curbside take out. Coloradans must ‘stay in place’ until April 11th.
Wide Open Saloon is not alone. Restaurants across the state are dealing with the same order and closures.
Hills thinks the “worst is yet to come.”
But bikers and supporters across the state are already trying to help: Ordering take out. Buying gift cards. Voluntering. Sharing encouraging messages on social media. It all helps.
Many restaurant owners suggest the best way to help is to order take out or buy gift cards.
Bikers are the most generous people around. Dig deep. Support biker-friendly restaurants. Make sure when our Governor lifts the ban on our state, our go to restaurants are not only open, but thriving.
And don’t forget the Wide Open Saloon is currently offering curbside take out Tuesday- Saturday from 11am-7pm. We may not get the stunning views right now or the live bands, but we can still get the amazing food and drinks!
Our world has changed drastically in three weeks
Renee “Belt Drive Betty” Charbonneau
Hugs and holding hands, handshakes and sharing a meal all seem like distant memories.
I watch the Colorado riding community spurred on by Laurie and Chomper Montoya and I wonder what this community would do without such dedicated, hard working volunteers. Laurie is just everywhere responding to the needs of her community.
Every community has their champions, the people that always seem to be there when someone needs them, Laurie is one of them.
The latest thing that I watched take place was with the guys from Dirty Dogs Roadhouse, BikerDown, Rider Justice and the riding community of Denver was the feeding of 30+ frontline responders and others in need – on short notice!
I am humbled to be a part of a community that does such compassionate work.
So how do you stay human and connected while social distancing or self isolating?
Since there has been zero business, none, not even a little bit, I have been grant writing for Veterans Memorial Gardens & Interpretive Centre and trying to do good for others.
My biggest pleasure during this whole pandemic thing so far was last week when I had a local delivery company take some very special donuts to our hospital, RCMP station and all 3 Fire halls the other day. Donuts made by the ladies of the community called Crooked Creek are known famously as Crooked Creek Crack – think Krispy Cream but better.
Knowing the smiles that were had by our frontline responders made me feel good. The next biggest pleasure was giving my postal delivery gal a baggie of individually wrapped mints with a note that said thanks. Her smile made my heart happy.
I am trying to stay connected to humanity, but the way some people behave and talk to each other makes it challenging. Finding other things to focus on and be grateful for is something I find myself seeking out regularly. It takes some of the sting out of the behaviours of some.
I’d love to know what you are doing to try to retain your humanity and your sanity! I am holding on for true social distancing season to start.
A little wind therapy right about now would go a long way to making me feel whole again.
But, just like this Virus has changed plans for everyone around the world, Mother Nature and Father Winter are making things mentally a little rougher for us Northwestern Alberta.
Hoping where you are, you are safe and warm!
Please reach out to me on Facebook @ BeltDriveBetty I’d love to hear what you are doing to cope and stay human.
