A great weekend...

This weekend turned out to be everything I could have hoped for!

38 bikes with 50 riders/passengers were greeted by the Mayor, the CFO and a town counselor from the Town of Thorbsy at the Kountry Kitchen Bakery!

The town of Thorsby has declared itself, at a recent counsel meeting, as "Rider Friendly"!
Two of the 16 riders from the Insane Customs crew asked permission to do a burn out on main street and the Mayor promptly gave it!

Bruce and Betty from the Kountry Kitchen Bakery and their volunteers did a bang up job of breakfast and free coffee was supplied to all who attended.

Ron from the Alberta Indian Riders (from Calgary) played the bag pipes for our memorial service where we honored those we have lost this season, Kathleen Purser, Ray Seeley, Ronnie, Duane Lowrie and so many more. It seemed everyone was riding in memory of someone they have loved and miss in our community. We had a short procession after the memorial up and down main street and the town's counselor did the blocking for us!

Doug Singer from Grande Prairie made it out for the ride. His was one of three Indian Motorcycles that were on the ride.

The weather was amazing, the ride was soul soothing and the hospitality was fabulous.
The Town of Thorsby pulled out all of the stops and has some big plans for next year for us.

The V-Twin Family Diner Show 'n' Shine was a great time as well. Kim & Paul did an awesome job. The Show 'n' Shine was a fundraiser for Diabetes Research and although we do not know the total raised, the 50/50 draw of $168 was won by Chris, one of the riders in our group!
A couple from Leduc won the tickets to Kissmania and stayed for the concert.

I want to thank all of our sponsors...The Walking Eagle in Rocky Mountain House, Handlebar Hideout in Sylvan Lake, Rose's Front Room in Blackfalds, Time Machine in Edmonton and Insane Customs in Edmonton. The ride prizes we handed out were deeply appreciated by the riders!

The whole day was just fabulous and you will be able to read all about it in next Thursday's Busted Knuckle Chronicles. This week's paper has some very interesting articles in it.
Watch for your newsletter and the link to the newspaper in your email this coming Thursday morning.

If you do not subscribe to the Busted Knuckle Chronicles, perhaps a kind friend will pass it along to you or you could sign up for a one year subscription and become part of our information network!

In other news, Bruce Arnold, Author and Publisher, LdrLongDistanceRider.com, has written a very poignant letter to Ray LaHood for the up coming Distract Driving Summit in the US.
I feel his letter hits the mark here in Canada as well. (scroll down on the page to read the article)

In Great Britian, Hampshire Constabulary Chief Constable Alex Marshall told The Portsmouth News that “mature people riding motorcycles are having accidents and that is something we will be focusing on.” This English policeman has denounced motorcycles for killing the Baby Boom generation. David Booth, the writer of the article has some interesting thoughts on the subject!
(Again, scroll down a bit to read the article)

Since these two articles both deal with deaths on motorcycles, I thought I would ask you this question toady:

What do you feel is the largest contributing cause to motorcycle accidents here in Canada?

A: Distracted or inattentive motorists
B: Alcohol consumed by the motorcyclist
C: Lack of rider training & safety skills
D: Lack of appropriate gear
E: Poorly maintained vehicles/motorcycles

And my second question:

What do you feel about the penalties being handed out to distracted/inattentive/impaired motorists who are involved in an accident causing death of a rider here in Canada?

As always, I am interested in your view point and look forward to your feedback.

I hope that each and every one of you who is riding today will take a walk around that iron steed, stay hydrated, ride like everyone around you is blind and can't see you and that you will use respect with that throttle hand...

Belt Drive Betty