Colorado Rider News

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09/19

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!

The Last Ride: A Novel by Dennis “Poet” Tye

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Scott O'Sullivan - The O'Sullivan Law Firm, motorcycle accident attorneys
Scott O’Sullivan, Founder Rider Justice and The O’Sullivan Law Firm

Dennis Tye is an avid motorcyclist. He is also an avid movie buff. AND he is also an avid writer. A few years ago, it hit him that those three worlds needed to merge so that he could fill what he saw as a glaring hole in American fiction and cinema.

“I watch a lot of movies and I realized that there are no movies about people my age and there are very few good motorcycle movies,” says Dennis. “Usually, motorcycle movies are about wild hogs, or the bikers are all drunks, or there’s slapstick humor. I thought that we needed a good movie to share what it’s really like to ride on the open road. But before you can have a movie, you need a good book. So, I decided to write that book.”

The Last Ride Story

The Last Ride, published in 2015, tells the story of six men who have all received terminal medical diagnoses. They are all dying. The men decide to embark on their last ride together.

Dennis says that he wanted to tell a good story but he had two deeper goals: 

To share the brotherhood of bikers and what it’s like to be included in such a sacred bond, and

To share what it’s like to ride a motorcycle out on the open road.

“Riding a motorcycle is so different from riding in car, a bus or a plane,” says Dennis. “But it is darn next to impossible to capture that feeling. I wanted to share what it’s like to drive down a country road, with the sun coming through the leaves, the smell of grass and trees, the scent of barbeque on the air, people walking by, kids getting excited when they see your bike. It’s just an amazing feeling.”

Dennis says that, once he sat down to write, it only took him about six months to complete the book. His wife, Lauren Preston, helped edit it. (She sobbed when the characters she loved faced difficulties and she asked Dennis, “Why did you do this to him?!”)

Developing realistic characters was initially hard for Dennis, but he decided to imagine real people as he wrote, which helped break his writer’s block.

“I thought James Brolin was perfect for the main character and Trace Adkins would be the perfect Tony, who is big and brawny but has a gentle heart,” says Dennis. “As soon as I pictured my characters as those guys, it was a lot easier to write.”

Dennis has been writing his entire life. He says poetry is a form of therapy for him. His dad, who Dennis describes as “an amazing painter,” once said to Dennis, “You do with words what I do with paint.”

“That’s the best complement I ever received,” says Dennis.

Movie Potential

It would be fantastic if The Last Ride were turned into a movie, but Dennis knows it’s a stretch. He’s hoping to give a copy to Trace Adkins during an upcoming concert, just to see if he might help advocate for a movie. In the meantime, Dennis is already at work on his next novel. It’s called, One Foot in the Grave, and it’s about the motorcycle accident that took his leg and nearly took his life. That book should be published in December 2019.

To get a copy of The Last Ride, email Dennis Tye directly at djtye@sbcglobal.net.

Hornbuckle Foundation 5th Annual Poker Run Set for September 7th

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By:  Michael Hornbuckle

This will be the 5th consecutive year the Hornbuckle Foundation holds the “SoulRepo” poker run. September 7, the organization will team up with friends from the Sober Souls MC to host the roughly 80 mile ride that ends at Dirty Dogs Roadhouse, where the event will provide world class blues from Texas slinger, Chris Duarte, and Colorado native, A.J. Fullerton, along with raffles, best bike competition and prizes, and a few words from founder, Michael Hornbuckle. Kai Turner of 103.5 the Fox will be handling MC duties. It’s sure to be a don’t-miss event. 

The Hornbuckle Foundation continues to play a part in the recovery community through the generous donations of people wanting to help those that suffer from substance use disorder. The organization has helped to establish sober living homes and provide scholarships. Michael Hornbuckle (Founder/Executive Director) and wife, Sarah Hornbuckle (Director of Operations) have found a particular interest from (but not limited to) musicians/artists seeking a path to recovery. The pair are both in the music industry, in recovery, and certified sober coaches. They have developed a unique skill set while working with recoverees and want to be able to reach more people. 

The goal of this year’s fundraiser is to raise the necessary funds to train and employ a diverse roster of coaches that can be offered to the community. Sober coaching is a proven tool that can complement, and at times supplement the more conventional methods of treating substance use disorder. “Remix Recovery Coaching” will launch in 2020. 

Product Review: The Atlas Hitch

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Sturgis always gives small publications like Colorado Rider News an opportunity to see what new products are out there in the biker community, and the Atlas Hitch was a product that I knew I just had to do a review on. The first thing that came to mind when I saw this was WHY HADN’T THIS COME OUT SOONER. As with Shark Tank episodes, it takes someone to with a little ingenuity to solve a problem that all bikers have…which is transporting their bikes.

Traveling on your bike is always the preferred means of travel, but there are times that you just need to tow your bike and drive your vehicle to your destination. Some more mature riders can’t take long rides anymore, and large groups traveling long distances usually travel with some sort of chaser vehicle that can carry everyone’s stuff and help in the event of an emergency. The question is, what do you do when a bike breaks down? Sure, you can call a tow truck and wait sometimes hours for them to arrive especially when you are out of state and don’t have friends that can come get you.

Women riders are growing in record numbers and wanting to travel independently to rallies and events all over the country, but not everyone has a trailer or means to get their bikes to their event.

The Atlas Hitch is for Motorcycle RESCUE and for TRANSPORT and was invented by JAB Dynamics (Patent Pending) and is a MADE IN THE USA product.

JAB Dynamics was founded in July 1996 by owner & CEO, John Berggren. JAB Dynamics is a 28-year old company, which truly defines outside the box approaches to delivering high quality, long-lasting and easy to use products to our customers. We are not waiting around for the next great idea – we are actively creating it.

Since the first motorcycle was built in the late 19th century, committed riders have struggled to find a safe and convenient way to transport their motorcycle, when riding is not a viable option. The Atlas Hitch is designed to be easy and safe to use. It only takes one person just a few minutes to load or unload a motorcycle or Trike. The Atlas Hitch allows you to safely transport your motorcycle or Trike without the fear of injury, high-risk maneuvers or damage to your motorcycle or Trike.

The Atlas Hitch took years to be developed. The parts are machined, laser cut, and powder coated to last. The Atlas Hitch can be used on any vehicle the comes stock with a 2” receiver & can handle 600 pounds of tongue weight. The Atlas Hitch can handle (most) motorcycles with a tire width of 3.5” to 7”, providing the front foot pegs (mounting brackets) are accessible or up to 10” wide tire with the Spider option. If you choose to tow your motorcycle backwards, then securing the handlebars is REQUIRED so they do not turn (i.e. Dirt Bike, Spider). 

The Atlas Hitch is on wheels so you can roll it to your vehicles hitch, then just crank it up until level with your receiver and slide it in. To store the Atlas Hitch, just wheel it under your workbench or in the corner of your garage. Truly our product is built for to be handled easily! Whether you select to utilize our manual crank model or prefer the electric version, both will provide you with the ease of self-independence and care when transporting your motorcycle. Yes, it is that easy!

The Atlas Hitch retails for $1,499.00 and beats the cost of purchasing a small bike trailer. It can easily be stored in your garage and kept in the back of your truck when traveling. It is easy to use for men and women! Jab Dynamics is continually adding accessories to the Atlas Hitch to make it easier for the consumer such as an LED tow light kit, adjustable light bar and Pintle Hitch for 6 different mountain positions

If you ride in a group, club or organization that does a lot of rides, this Atlas Hitch can be an extremely valuable addition as it can be pulled with any vehicle that can handle 600 lbs of tongue weight. The Atlas Hitch allows you to get a bike safely and quickly off the road and keep you moving on your ride. 

For more information on the Atlas Hitch, please visit their website at https://jabdynamics.com/Product/atlas-motorcycle-tow-hitch and watch their YouTube video. I am sure many of you will see why we gave this product 5-stars!

Q&A from owner John Berggren

What inspired you to create/build the Atlas Hitch? It occurred to us that when a motorcycle breaks down you only have a couple of options for rescue, an expensive tow truck or a friend with a trailer. Trailers are expensive and you need room to store one. I needed something that allowed me to transport my motorcycle without having to rely on a friend or a trailer to easily load and unload by myself.

Ultimately, I needed a way to take my bike to the shop for routine maintenance without my wife having to pick me up and take me back. I wanted to be able to take the family and bring my motorcycle with me on a trip. The Atlas Hitch solved it all.

Does the Atlas Hitch need to be licensed like a trailer? No, the beauty of the Atlas Hitch, in addition to its convenience and safety, is it does not require a state license or tab. We suggest you check with your local Department of Licensing for specific towing instructions/restrictions.

Can the Atlas Hitch be used on any vehicle? It can be used on any vehicle with a 2” receiver able to tow a trailer of similar tong weight. Most all vehicles, slated for towing, will tow the Atlas Hitch with ease.

Can the Atlas Hitch handle any type of motorcycle? The Atlas Hitch can handle any type of Motorcycle or Trike with a front tire width of 3.5”-7”, if the front foot pegs (mounting brackets) are accessible for the securement system.

Do the handlebars need to be secured by straps to keep them from turning? Only as a secondary safety system or if you haul your bike backward, then securing the handlebars is REQUIRED so they do not turn. We provide a handlebar strap set to use with off-road motorcycles (dirt bikes) and for a secondary safety system.

Is the Atlas Hitch hard to use? It is easy to use. We have a manual crank or an option for the electric version. It stores on wheels so you can roll it to your vehicles hitch. You just crank it up until level with your receiver and slide it in. It’s a breeze!!

How do you store it when it is not being used? It has wheels for storage. Just wheel it under your workbench or in the corner of your garage.

Is the Atlas Hitch safe to use? The Atlas Hitch is designed to be easy and safe to use. It only takes one person just a few minutes to load or unload a motorcycle. Loading a motorcycle on a trailer is dangerous riding or pushing up a ramp and it is more dangerous coasting a motorcycle backward down a ramp. The Atlas Hitch allows you to safely transport your motorcycle without the fear of danger or high-risk maneuvers or damage your motorcycle.

Does the Atlas Hitch come with a warranty? The information for the warranty is viewable on the product page under the terms tab.

Rider Recovery – Life After an Accident – Kerri Shimko

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By Stormy

Another Sturgis is in the books for Colorado riders. Riders started their journey home sunburned, with great stories to tell and time to get back to reality. For other Colorado riders it brings back memories that will forever be in their memory bank. 

I would like to introduce you to Kerri Shimko. In August 2018, she and her husband Steve were on their way home from a great week in Sturgis. In Lusk, they were involved in a catastrophic accident in their Dodge truck, with a toy hauler and their precious cargo … their bikes inside. They rolled 5 times right and while alive, everything was demolished and damaged. Kerri had her brand new beautiful 2017 Road Glide, with a custom gecko painted on the rear fender.

Steve was airlifted by Flight-For-Life to Denver, with blood on the brain and a horrific eye injury. Kerri sustained a broken sternum and was told there was nothing they could do for her injury. Kerri says, “Only time, and a positive attitude is going to heal the broken bones.” Steve on the other hand endured several surgeries to his eye, to save his vision, but sadly has completely lost the ability to see out of his left eye. 

Despite the long recovery, Kerri and Steve had the love of each other and a commitment to ride again and get their lives back. A life that started in 1991 and then married a year later. She exclaimed, “He was a biker before I met him and for many years, I rode bitch, until one day, I put my foot down and said, ‘no more’.”

When I interviewed Kerri, all I could think was how amazing she is because not only is she riding again after that horrific accident last year, she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and she still rides. MS is a demyelinating disease in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. One day while riding, she noticed she couldn’t see out of her right eye. She ignored it for a few days, but when it didn’t go away, she decided to go see her doctor, and that is when she learned she has it, but it doesn’t stop her from doing what she loves, riding. There were times she thought she would have to give up riding for good. Her vision and balance are both affected if she gets overheated, and it can absolutely wipe her out. 

Despite the challenges that both have faced, Kerri and Steve just returned from a trip to Key West this past May. Hitting many of the states I’ve never really seen. Back roads sure do show you a lot of our beautiful America. I was most impressed with Alabama, which was surprisingly gorgeous in my opinion. We finally made it to our destination, Key West. We had an incredible time there, then headed up the east coast to North Carolina and rode the infamous Tail of the Dragon. We returned home after 3 weeks on the road, a little over 6.000 miles. Life truly is an amazing RIDE!!!”

Beartooth Rally, Red Lodge Montana

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By Stormy

If you are looking for an alternative to the crowds in Sturgis next year, consider attending the 2020 26th annual Beartooth Rally in Red Lodge, MT.  The rally is always on the 3rd weekend in July each year and this is one my favorite rallies.  It’s the perfect size, not too crowded, and the landscape scenes on Beartooth Pass are breathtaking!   If someone were to imagine what Heaven would look like, this would be it because it is on top of the world.  

We travelled with the Cool Biker Lunch & Rides group, some of us on bikes and a few trailered.   Beartooth is about 10 hours almost straight up I-25 so there are good roads and ample places to stop and gas up so you can make it there in a day. 

Red Lodge is a town 2,073 people and it was fun walking down the main street, checking out the shops and even with the biker crowd in town for the rally, parking and getting into restaurants was a breeze.  It is normally very hard at rallies to run into your friends, but within minutes we saw several friends from Colorado at the Carbon County Steakhouse.   Therefore, it’s one of my favorite rallies because it’s small and quaint, but still busy and fun. You can tell that the townspeople get a kick out of all the loud bikes and people roaming around their town, they were extremely friendly and welcoming of our biker dollar.  This is a community that does not roll up its main street but rolls it out embracing your friendship, support and welcomes you back year after year, not just for rally, but also to come and enjoy hiking, fishing and year-round activities.

Beartooth Rally has a full event schedule for the weekend, so you won’t be wondering what to do.  We did both the poker runs, on Friday and Saturday, one of the poker runs led us through graceful curves on the Beartooth Pass Highway that ascended to 10,947 feet and wrapped back around to the Chief Joseph/Sunlight Basin Highway.  The stops were at little hole-in-the-wall bars in sleepy, charming towns that were so welcoming and friendly.

On Sunday, Bone Daddy’s Custom Cycle hosts the Iron Horse Rodeo and everyone including bikers come for all around for this day of rider’s skills and games.  This isn’t your average rodeo, and the organizers have some great categories that are for both men and women and different than your average iron horse rodeo.

If you aren’t into poker runs or rodeos you can venture out on your own take a ride over to Yellowstone for the day.  Yellowstone and the national park are approximately 125 miles away from Red Lodge and the views are breathtaking.  Some of the highlights are Old Faithful, Mammoth Hot Springs, West Thumb Geyser Basin.  There are also some great places to stop and see the buffalos and bears up-close and personal.   

Our friend, Stacey Elswich led the group down scenic Highway 212 and described her experience, “We were about 30 minutes into the park when traffic started to slow down.  When that happens, you ask yourself ‘what is everyone looking at?’. Well, it was a bear, but not just a bear…it was a baby bear.  The little fella was frolicking in the meadow about 30 feet off the road. It was amazing, but I thought where there is a baby bear, there is a mommy bear!  

Red Lodge is an adorable little town with residence that thanked us for being in town for the rally.  The rally had good vendors and lovely people. Overall, it was a blast and I would highly recommend it. We all gave Beartooth Rally a thumbs up, and plan to make this an annual road trip!

Women’s World Record Attempt 2019

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On Saturday, August 24th at 10 a.m. at a Harley dealership in the city of Frederick, CO, women bikers attempted to set a world record of having the most women riding their own with no passengers in one parade ride.  This ride took place in the countryside of over 50 miles. I was fortunate to be able to work behind the scenes and see this event come to fruition. I oversaw organizing the road captains. It was a great feeling to volunteer for this wonderful cause as well as the attempt for a world record.

“In Colorado, women bikers are growing like a weed,” said Susan Udero, organizer of Colorado Women’s World Record Ride. “There are 88,000 bikers registered (in Colorado). How many are women? (The DMV) said 4,000 or 5,000.”

Susan says the world record is held by the United Kingdom, where more than 1,100 riders showed up.  Although it was a great event and the women riders had a fantastic time, they were not able to set the record.  The number of women riders were only 465, but they weren’t discouraged, because they were also riding for a wonderful cause, Firefly Autism.  The event raised $25K for children with autism because of these benevolent ladies.

“All the proceeds from this incredible event come directly to Firefly Autism,” said Jesse Ogas, Executive Director of Firefly Autism.

Firefly Autism is based in Denver and provides support to children and families who are impacted by autism.

“We work with children from 18 months to 21 years of age, who are impacted with autism,” Ogas said.  He continues and says that the money raised from this world record attempt event will go to scholarship families who might not be able to pay their deductibles, who might not be able to pay their premiums.  Ogas boasts, “These women are having a huge impact for the children and families at Firefly Autism.”

After the parade ride, a lot of fun activities were going on at High Country.  Angry Steve Band was performing on stage, trophies were given out for various categories, and guest speakers Momma D, Helen Tornquist, Rhonda Brown, and Kimberly Chavez spoke on their experiences at this Colorado world-record attempt. 

Susan Udero says that her and her volunteers will try again next year and are already planning and organizing.

Make BikerDown’s Roadside Membership Part of Your Road Trip Checklist

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As riders begin to get ready for their fall road trips, please take a moment to think about do you have the right coverages on your bike in the event of a breakdown or accident?

There is nothing more frustrating than the anticipation of the ride of a lifetime, only to have that trip shattered with un-expected expenses such as an expensive motorcycle tow.  

How many of you have had to have your bike towed and cringed when your insurances’ roadside assistance brought the wrong type of tow truck.  Being out-of-state, riders deserve to know that when they need a tow, the right type of tow truck will come out and pick them up.

BikerDown’s roadside membership for $35.00 per year includes motorcycle towing in our membership that is now NATIONWIDE.  BikerDown has contracted with MTS, LLC to provide its BikerDown members a true Motorcycle Towing service.  

We ask all riders to sign-up today before you head out on your next trip join BikerDown for $35.00 per year.  This membership level will ensure that if you need towing, you are covered.

Go to to our website to start your membership today!

RiderFriendly.com: By Riders for Riders

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By: Belt Drive Betty

This has been the riding season from HE** (Double Hockey Sticks) where I live in Canada.  Rainy, cold, miserable and a season filled with motorcycle accidents/crashes that have killed and injured large numbers of riders this year.  

The trend of higher than normal crashes and riders being killed is happening right across North America and figuring out why this is happening must become a priority.

There are tools a rider can have in their arsenal that will help them.

#1 – Training

Upgrading and practicing your defensive riding skills  including emergency stopping and maneuvering gives you peace of mind knowing your skills are honed and ready when you need them.  Many accidents while the cagers fault might be avoided if you continue to practice and rev up your reaction skills. 

#2 – Never Ride Alone Program 

It is available for members of riderfriendly.com for free, the Never Ride Alone Program is like having your guardian angel riding with you. The real people on the other end of the phone track your progress as you check in along your ride and should something happen that you forget to call them – they try you twice. If they still can’t reach you, they dispatch 911 to go find you from your last check-in. It’s based on the Never Work Alone programs and gives you and your loved ones some peace of mind when you are riding solo. Good in the Continental US and Canada – the toll free number can connect you to the community at riderfriendly.com too – it’s a direct – toll free line to our answering service who can reach myself or my webmistress and then we can reach into the community if you can’t! 

#3 – Networking 

Use the community to find riders to help you along with the directory at Riderfriendly.com for savings on hotels, motels and learn about businesses other riders are recommending. Knowing you can get help if you need it from fellow riders, and that you have another avenue to find businesses that want to work with riders, give one a little peace of mind. Again, your membership card with the toll-free number is in your profile page when you register for free.

#4- SkyMed Insurance

The cost of an air ambulance in the event of a motorcycle crash can be a rather jarring $10 – $60K depending on where the crash took place and the distance the air ambulance must travel.  Then there are a whole host of other considerations, like, your spouse/significant other, your motorcycle, your doctors/hospital bills and if you don’t have travel insurance that can run into the hundreds of thousands very quickly depending on your situation.

SkyMed Insurance offers several ways to help you minimize the financial trauma and it’s a product that Biker Down is now working with and the CMTA here in Canada is offering memberships to Canadian Riders who would be financially crippled if they were ever in a crash in the US.  Here is the link to the US site – https://skymed.com/ – ask Laurie Montoya, your editor to connect you to the person she deals with so that she can get you the Biker Down Rate.

#5 – BikerDown Foundation Membership

(www.bikerdown.org/join-us/) Because of the perks of roadside assistance and the assistance you get in the event of a crash, because you just never know when it could happen to you.

These are five things that I believe can help a rider enjoy their season a little more, upgrading your skills, using a free tracking device like the Never Ride Alone Program, the Rider Friendly Directory of Businesses, SkyMed Insurance and Membership in BikerDown. They all give you peace of mind and that helps make the season a little bit sweeter.

I am off on what will likely be my fourth and last ride of any import for the season.

I am off to film in Hafford Saskatchewan, the 2018 riding season’s winner of Canada’s MOST Rider Friendly Community Contest.

It will mean I get a paltry 10,000K/6,000 miles in on the season, but hey, it’s better than no mileage – right?

Next time, I’ll fill you in on my visit to Saskatchewan and show you why this little community has won our Contest!