What makes your arse pucker?

Too often we riders never discuss our fears, we think that the fear makes us less of a rider than the next guy or that others might think we are idiots for feeling the way we do about something.

But I think talking about our fears, sharing our arse puckering moments can help us all be better riders.  You might say something in just the right way that finally a light alb goes off in my head about a challenge or situation that I need to learn...dialogue, sharing - that is some important and powerful stuff!

This is July, Motorcycle Safety Month, the SINGLE MOST DANGEROUS month of the year for riders.

People are on vacation, the roadways are busy, filled with tourists lookylooing at the animals grazing in the National Parks, or deciding last minute that they are pulling into a motel that is across two lanes of traffic, or driving so fast to get somewhere to relax that they forget the journey is part of the vacation too and they put others at risk.

Top that off with all of the truck traffic moving the goods across this country that we all need to run our lives and businesses with, often times, they are on tight time schedules and some go so far as to push other motorists to drive beyond their ability or get run over...

The Road is filled with dangers of all kinds; from our fellow motorist, game, road and infrastructure conditions, weather conditions, road debris and flying debris...

But testing ourselves, facing our fears is also part of what riding a motorcycle is all about.

It's about testing our own metal, finding out what we are made of and celebrating the ride, the feeling, the freedom, the empowerment...the courage, the strength, the tenacity, the love. It's all about honing our skills and growing as people.

There are things that scare the absolute bejeebers out of me...things that cause my arse to pucker, things that I put all of my focus on when I am dealing with them...

Like passing a semi.

Often times when I am in a group riding situation, I find myself riding with riders who never consider what would happen to them if the tread came off of one of those trailer tires or what if a brake pot exploded.

My fear comes from having been a passenger in my father's semi as a kid for hundreds of thousands of miles over about a 12 year period and seeing first hand the destruction that can be caused by recapped tires, of seeing and feeling what it was like when a brake pot literally exploded and seeing  the shrapnel that flew everywhere.

When I ride with others and it comes time to pass a semi, I wait until that other rider is in front of the driver tires (the front tires) of the truck before I begin to make my move.  I want to get around that vehicle as fast as I can and if that means going 10 over to do it, so be it, I am NOT going to hang beside a semi trailer with all that potential shrapnel around me any longer that I absolutely have to.

There are a ton of situations that can cause one's arse to pucker, the arse really is the smartest organ and instinct/danger information translator in the world.

When your arse puckers, you'd best be on your game, danger is imminent!

So, what causes your arse to pucker up when you are riding and what does it feel like to overcome that fear or that obstacle?  I would LOVE to know!

If you'd like a chance to win a $50 Tim Horton's Gift Card, and you are on Facebook, search for Belt Drive Betty  and submit your best safety tip to the #RideAnotherDay Contest on my Personal Page!

Look for this photo to enter the contest at:

Have a fabulous day and please remember to ride like everyone around you is blind and cannot see you and please consider wearing good gear!

Belt Drive Betty
Editor & Rider

The Sturgis North Lawsuit - the gift that just keeps on giving

Well folks, my lawyer has finally gotten word on what is happening with the Sturgis North Lawsuit and it's NOT PRETTY.

As many of you know, Ray Sasseville and Joan Hanson of Sturgis North, now Sturgis Canada are suing me for slander and defamation.

The suit originally had 7 defendants but Ray and Joan offered to settle with 6 of the defendants with no real caveat against anyone.  They offered to settle with me as well, but their offer was preposterous and I have been waiting for my counter offer to go to them.

My attorney wanted to ensure that all of the other lawsuits had in fact gone through the courts and were well and truly settled before he filed my counter.

And then the lawyer for Ray and Joan and Sturgis North, Gerhard Pyper was suspended by the BC Law Society.

Ah yes, this lawsuit is a gift that just keeps on giving...

The suspension of the lawyer representing Sasseville and Hansen complicates everything ten fold.

According to the BC Law Society, they do not have a lawyer who is prepared to take on Mr. Pyper's cases and so Ray and Joan will be treated as self representing, as Ray had filed a motion to self represent even though Mr. Pyper was still handling their correspondence.

So what does this mean for me?

Well, we now have to deal with two individuals instead of one lawyer.

My counter offer should be in their hands shortly and once it is I will share with you the document that my lawyer sends out so that you can read for yourself whether there is any true substance to their claims against me or not.

If they do not accept my counter offer to settle, then I am looking at $40-50 thousand dollars to see this thing through.

The immediate need is to raise another $10,000.

That is to cover this new letter to go out, and the time my attorney is going to have to take out of his office in Salmon Arm to petition the courts in Surrey for a change of venue and a bond for costs.

According to my attorney, the Surrey court is a mess, it takes 3 months for orders to be filed - like the 6 we are waiting on from back in May!

It can also take, even with an appointment, up to three days for a lawyer to get in front of a judge to prove why a change of venue makes sense.

That's with an appointment - a date and time that he is supposed to meet with the judge!  We could get lucky and the appointment could happen on time, but apparently, there are many times where lawyers have had to stay over one and two extra days because a hearing before them took longer than scheduled.

My lawyer costs approx. $7,000 for every day out of his office!

My attorney does not hold out much hope for a resolution to this irritating case any time soon....

So we will be holding an on line auction for some amazing SOA art from an autistic artist named Mark Mullen.  Mark is one talented young man!

We helped him auction off the originals of the original cast members of SOA - all were signed by the actors except for Piney and now he has donated a set to me to help with my defense fund!

25 certified copies of this set were made and we will be auctioning off the 25th set!  All come with certificates of Authenticity!

I will let you know the particulars in the next few days!

I hope you have a fabulous day and remember to ride like everyone around you is blind and cannot see you!

Belt Drive Betty
Editor & Rider









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