Rider Safety, are you prepared?

Rider Safety, Are you Prepared?

Once you are physically riding, rider safety is about a whole lot more than what happens on the road

Being safe starts with preparation. How you prepare is just as important as the skills you need once you are on the road.

Before you get on your motorcycle for the first time each year, keep in mind that 5 to 7 months of inactivity, is not healthy for you or your motorcycle.  

Give your bike a thorough going over and some TLC before demanding it perform, and yourself a good stretch.

Here are a few things you need to remember:

#1 – Check your motorcycle’s fluids, brakes, signals, tire pressures and belt/chain tension.  Check the health of the battery in your bike and your key fob.

Check your saddlebags to make sure you have your tool kit, an extra liter (quart) of oil with you, and a liter of water for yourself to stay hydrated.

#2 – Unless you were lucky enough to ride all winter, YOUR SKILLS ARE RUSTY!!

Practicing in a parking lot to refresh your skills is a good idea. Practice the fast stop and going around an obstacle, your very life depends on your skills.  It’s amazing what a half hour of parking lot time can do to get you prepared for the drivers who have forgotten you exist!

#3 – Pick the time of day you are heading out wisely.

You can ride at pretty much any time of day, the choice is yours. Remember that mornings and evenings are frosty, slippery and can be foggy by rivers and large bodies of water. Let’s not forget rush hour traffic at both of those times if you live in or close to a community or city. 

In March, April and May, the four-hour window between 11am and 3 pm, is generally the ideal opportunity to head out for a little wind therapy. The traffic will be settled, and the roads will be a tad warmer.  If you’re lucky the snow will be gone where you live. (Not this winter where I live, there is still three feet of snow on the ground, insert pouty face here).

Also remind yourself that painted roads surfaces and manhole covers etc. will be frost covered in the mornings and evenings.

As long as you are aware of the potential dangers and remain hyper vigilant, everything is likely to be just fine.

#4 – Dress and pack appropriately:

The evenings get damp and then become frosty. But the afternoons can get very balmy.  You may want to pack a sweater of some sort, a toque, rain gear, socks, long undies, lip balm, water, powdered electrolytes to go in it, and sunblock. Yes my friend’s sun burn can happen all year round.  You’ll want extra gloves especially if it’s cooler out.  If you have heated gear, pack it you will appreciate its warming abilities during spring and fall.  Protect your eyes and face by wearing good sun glasses or goggles with UV protection, and a good quality bandana for your face. You’ll want this if you don’t wear a full face helmet because there is still gravel and sand on the roads, and there will be bugs soon.

You will also want to be on the lookout for pot holes, remember to be mindful of those who are trying to avoid them in their cages.

Stay warm, stay hydrated and wherever you decide to venture off to and please remember to ride like everyone around you is blind and cannot see you!!

AND Remember to use the "NEVER RIDE ALONE PROGRAM" sponsored
by Intercon Messaging from Drayton Valley AB.
The "Never Ride Alone Program" can be accessed by being a registered member of Riderfriendly.com and using your membership ID Number in your digital membership card and then calling the toll free number: 1-866-765-6719 - Good in Canada and the Continental US, the "NEVER RIDE ALONE" Program is simple and free to our members to use.

Call in, answer the questions about you, your ride and your journey. Agree on a time to check in, if you don't check in, Intercon Messaging will attempt to raise you on the numbers you left with them, if they can't raise you, then they will dispatch 911 to go find you from your last known location!  Stay safe and enjoy your ride and remember to ride like everyone around you is blind and can not see you!

Belt Drive Betty

Editor & Rider

The changing world of motorcycling and our Rider/Reader Surveys

We have three surveys we are collecting information from.

One for the European Rider, one for the American Rider and one for the Canadian Rider.

Take the European Motorcycle Rider's Survey HERE

Take the American Rider's Survey HERE

Take the Canadian Rider's Survey HERE

Our goal is to find out about you, as a rider and as a traveller and what news and information is important to you.

We want to know about vacations & the kinds of attractions that interest you and a whole host of things as we get geared up for a major shift in our company.  We are growing our network of people who contribute to the information we offer. We want to make sure that we are growing in a direction that appeals to you the motorcyclist.

The world of motorcycling is changing right along with the rest of the world.
We baby boomers, born between 1946 and 1964 (I was born in 1960), are, sad to say, a dying breed.

Our ideas of tradition, like how you get your road handle, mean nothing to the younger rider.
They simply think our traditions are outdated and as irrelevant as our beloved GeezerGlides.
They laugh at the stories but you can see in their eyes they think you are crazy.

Were we any different when we were their age? Yeah - NO.
All though it was a lifetime ago, I remember thinking my parents and their peers were idiots who were ruining the world.  I was young and I knew it all and was going to change the world for the better. And then reality hit me, as I started maturing I realized that I could only do or change so much, that I could only influence so much.

I am sure that if someone in their 20's today, stumbles across this blog post 20 years from now they will read it and sigh realizing that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Here are a few traditions from my parents and grand parents eras that we no longer adhere to:

• Plastic seat covers on the good furniture - we never implemented that tradition in my house.
• Eating fish on Fridays, after Fukashima, I don't eat as much fish as I used to unless it's farm fish. And even then I am iffy on it so, the tradition fell to the wayside.
• Passing beers between racing cars with kids in the back seat, that's a tradition we modified and then finally let go. We ditched the kids in the back seat because we didn't have kids as early as they did and as the roadways got busier and drinking and driving laws got tougher, we weren't as inclined to drink and drive much less speed while doing so.  The invention of the Motorola radio also slowed those traditions down.

With the changing of traditions and attitudes spurred on by youth, social media and technology we are seeing huge shifts in what riders want by way of riding experiences and the kind of riding they want to do. 

The world is open to our youth in ways it was never open to us. 

When I was 18 and 20, heck even 30 a lot of the distances that we could afford to ride were determined by what was in our pocket for money. It's really no different today, but what is different is that a lot of these young people have massive debt from higher education institutes and a lot aren't finding jobs that allow them to move out on their own.  That has slowed their entry into motorcycling, or has restricted them to smaller bikes due to financial constraints.

As a company, we want to find that balance and a way to provide a broader range of information that appeals to the younger and older reader alike. We want to ensure that we are uncovering the kinds of experiences that you want to partake in and that you are finding the service and support you need when travelling.

It is our hope that you will take our survey.  It shouldn't take you much longer than 5 minutes and if you decide to leave us your email, your name will go into a draw for coupon from Choice Hotels for 10,000 reward Points. That should get you a hotel stay anywhere in the world that Choice is.

#RiderFriendlyContest

And don't  forget to vote for your favourite community in Canada's MOST Rider Friendly Community Contest - final round of voting starts May17th!

If you are blessed enough to be riding today, please remember to ride like everyone around you is blind and can not see you.

Belt Drive Betty,

Editor & Rider

Lloydminster VS Drumheller in Canada's MOST Rider Friendly Community Contest

Canada's MOST Rider Friendly Community Contest has come down to the two HIGHEST vote getters in the last round of voting.

Lloydminster, the Border City is squaring off against Drumheller and the Dinosaur Valley.

I spoke with Drumheller's Mayor Heather Colburg and she is apparently planning on issuing a challenge to Gerald Aalbers the mayor of Lloydminster!

If Drumheller wins Mayor Aalbers will be expected to show up for Motorcycle Madness and if Lloydminster wins, Mayor Colburg will travel to the Border Bike Rally!

Oh folks, this final round is going to be exciting!

Don't forget to vote for your favourite community at riderfriendlycontest.ca every day starting May 17th and running to June 2nd at midnight MST.

Canada's MOST Rider Friendly Community Contest is brought to you by Community Futures & the Rider Friendly Business Association

#RiderFriendlyContest

If you are blessed enough to be riding today, please remember to ride like everyone around you is blind and can not see you!

Belt Drive Betty
Editor & Rider

Upcoming Long Weekend means a higher potential for death and carnage in the motorcycle community

The Long Weekend

When you hear "Long Weekend" what is the first thing you think of? Perhaps you're looking forward to weekend motorcycle trips, an extra sleep in day, bond fires, bbq's, friends, family, camping, just an all around good time. If you are planning to be on the roads this coming long weekend there are few things that you should consider.  More traffic being one for sure, the potential for death and carnage on the highways on a long weekend is elevated as is the number of vehicles, trailers and motorcycles.  People can be inpatient, I don't understand why, it's the long weekend, time to relax, and enjoy the ride/drive to where ever it is you are going.  It's a beautiful country, with much to see. 

Orillia, ON OPP are gearing up for their Provincial National Traffic Safety Campaigns-May 15, 2018
Large numbers of motorcycles and off-road vehicles are expectded to be out Victoria Day Long Weekend.  The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) are raising red flags about the potential dangers of long weekend travel, and off road activities.

As the long weekend rolls in, the OPP are reminding on and off road users about the tragic deaths of 48 riders last year. 22 of that number were not at fault. Of the 22 killed 9 of them were riding off road vehicles, and the riders were not wearing helmets, 6 were impaired, 6 were improper turns, 5 were speeding excessively, and 5 failed to yield. The death toll for off roaders not wearing a helmet repeated itself in 2016. The leading primary cause was loss of control, with 15 of the fatalities being attributed to this cause over the two-year period. 
No one wants this kind of reminder, nor do we want these images in our heads,  but sometimes it's necessary to drag stuff out to keep us in check. We are not invincible, or Iron Man even though we may think we are.

Last year alone OPP saw the highest number of fatalities in five years totaling 343 deaths, which is 343 too many in anyone's book.

Regardless of where your travels take you this week and weekend, please know that driving safely means driving the number of road deaths way down. The OPP, our policing partners and the thousands of families travelling on Ontario roads this week are counting on you to help make that happen."

- Commissioner J.V.N. (Vince) HAWKES, Ontario Provincial Police 

Ahead of its long weekend motorcycle and off-road vehicle safety initiatives, the OPP is also taking part in the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police-led Canada Road Safety Week. From May 15 to 21, 2018. The OPP and its Canadian policing partners will conduct an education and enforcement campaign aimed at the Big Four causal factors in road deaths (impaired, distracted and aggressive driving, lack of occupant restraint).

opp.ca TWITTER: @OPP_NEWS SOURCE Ontario Provincial Police. CONTACT: Contacts by Region: Highway Safety Division: Sgt. Kerry Schmidt, Ph: (416) 460-4701; Central Region: Sgt. Peter Leon, Ph: (705) 330-3713; East Region: A/Sgt. Tina Hunt, Ph: (613) 296-4516; North West Region: Sgt. Shelley Garr, Ph: (807) 473-2734; North East Region: Sgt. Carlo Berardi, Ph: (705) 845-2738; West Region: Const. Kevin Marti, Ph: (519) 385-0605 Web Site: http://www.opp.ca

TWENTY THOUSAND Dollars Raised!

The Second Annual Ride for Mom is in the history books with over $20,000 dollars being raised to help Edmonton Area Emergency Shelters. The Ride for Mom is partnered with the Alberta Council of Women's Shelters & The Edmonton Domestic Violence Shelters Engage

Every year over 10,000 Albertans access Emergency Shelters.

Women, children and seniors that experience abuse are too often turned away from shelters for a lack of space.  When that happens, the case workers take that experience home with them and it destroys these helpers as they feel helpless. The Ride for Mom is all about changing the dialogue about domestic abuse and of course raising much needed funds and awareness.

It is important that these shelters get more funds, and I think it is essential that the Ride for Mom grows across the country until one day, shelters and this kind of awareness and financial support is no longer needed.

Krysta Shields, the ride's founder, wants to urge people who would like to start a Ride for Mom in their area to reach out.

As was said earlier, the Ride for Mom is all about changing the dialogue around Domestic Abuse across Canada and your votes are needed.

You can reach Krysta at: krysta@blackjacksroadhouse.com
In the about line of your email put: -"We'd like to be a Ride For Mom Community!"

I spoke with a number of the Edmonton area riders about this event and what they thought of it.

Rob Truscott who is a member of the military and has attended a number of events summed up what everyone else had to say: "This is one of the better rides I have ever been on. Water at every stop, the Sheriffs and regional police departments blocking intersections to ensure everyone gets safely through. What more can a person ask for?"

Well how about a blocked off street in Tofield and Sheriffs with a sense of humour?

In all this ride is comprised of three stops and at each stop you get a numbered ticket that gets you a chance on one of the big basket giveaways filled with prizes:

1) Reynolds Alberta Museum in Wetaskiwin.

2) Camrose Alberta, this year was at the House of Thunder.

3) The Tofield stop last year was at Town Hall and Library, this year at the Moonshine Cafe and the whole block was cordoned off for us!

Everything went smoothly as there were lots of signs guiding us all as to which way to go and in many cases there was also a Sheriff or a police officer to ask. The chase truck and trailer had to pick up one rider with a flat tire, but other than that, it was smooth riding.

In year 2 the event saw 160 motorcycles come out!

Mother Nature - THANK YOU for cooperating!

$20,000 was raised and ALL OF THAT money, thanks to the hard fundraising work by Krysta Shields, will go to the cause directly.

It was a safe, well run event on the roadways thanks to Kevin O'Connor of the Wetaskiwin office of the Alberta Sheriffs who also happens to sit on the Ride for Mom Board. Because of his participation, his "brothers" stepped up to help this worthy cause and they dod so with a great sense  of humour and community.

Tyler Grant who does the in-house photography and media collection and dissemination for Blackjacks Roadhouse and does a good job of keeping their social media rocking and he was busting his butt behind his camera.

Various groups have decided to make this event a mandatory event for their membership to attend, the Guardians of the Children are one such group and I interviewed Clint AKA Dragon about what this event means to their club and as suspected it's message and cause dovetails with the help to children in distress that the Guardians offer.

The sponsors that came on board this year were incredible:

ATB Financial, Klondike Insurance Agencies, Pratts Food Service, Harley-Davidson of Edmonton, CTV, Heritage Harley-Davidson, Reynolds-Alberta Museum, Town of Tofield, Airways Country Inn, Peace Hills Insurance,
Battle River Landscape Supply and Design, Wetaskiwin Coop, Alberta Sheriffs, Victim Services Camrose, Alberta Cycle, House of
Thunder Camrose, Moonshine Cafe Tofield.

I was so honoured to again support this event.

On a personal note....

I got pretty emotional when we could not get connected to the internet to do the interviews for Live TV. We did, sort of finally get me connected but on the phone and the stream went live after we were done - I have discovered how stressful a live event can be when you are at an event and on really tight time frames and no crew to help you when things don't go right.


I am afraid my stress cracks were showing a tad as I almost had to pack up and go do interviews for regular TV and forget about the live event totally.

Manon, a Blackjack's Roadhouse employee (who is also my friend) who was doing everything she could to help me get connected and kept reassuring me it would be OK and thanks to her help, it was.

Manon, you are an angel.

While the Live TV did not go exactly as planned, it did finally get done and that set the rest of the day up to be a great one.

The rider was AMAZING.

I got some great ride footage, some incredible interviews and am looking forward to editing the video for "Ride Like a Local" Season 6 on EastLink TV & on YouTube!

Next year's Ride for Mom team will be starting planning for 2019 soon!
Visit rideformom.ca to volunteer or perhaps start your own Ride for Mom in your community.

If you are blessed to be riding today, please remember to ride like everyone around you is blind and cannot see you!


Belt Drive Betty
Editor & Rider

SaveSaveSaveSave

Round 2 of Canada's MOST Rider Friendly Community is getting set to kick off!

With over 140 communities to vote for this year, the riding community got busy!
We are pleased to announce that we have the results of the first round of voting.

From what we watched in round one voting, I think there are some pretty stiff competitions shaping up for round 2!

The following communities had the most votes in their province of region and they are now being featured in a web advertising package at www.beltdrivebetty.com provided by Belt Drive Betty Media (worth $800 each) that touts them as the winners for their province/territory:

• Peachland is BC’s MOST Rider Friendly Community of the 2017 Riding Season 
• Drumheller is AB’s MOST Rider Friendly Community of the 2017 Riding Season 
• Swift Current is SK’s MOST Rider Friendly Community of the 2017 Riding Season 
• Snow Lake is MB’s MOST Rider Friendly Community of the 2017 Riding Season 
• Peterborough is ON’s MOST Rider Friendly Community of the 2017 Riding Season 
• Saint John is NB’s MOST Rider Friendly Community of the 2017 Riding Season 
• Mahone Bay is NS’s MOST Rider Friendly Community of the 2017 Riding Season 
• Summerside is PEI’s MMOST Rider Friendly Community of the 2017 Riding Season
• Stephenville is NL’s MOST Rider Friendly Community of the 2017 Riding Season 
• Yellowknife is the Territories MOST Rider Friendly Community of the 2017 Riding Season 

The following 10 communities got the highest number of votes over all and advance to round 2 of the voting:

Anaheim Lake BC

Peachland BC

Prince George BC

Sicamous BC

Acheson AB

Drumheller AB

Lloydminster AB

Peterborough ON

Saint John NB

Yellowknife NT

Round 2 voting begins April 26^thand runs through to May 12^th.  

For all of the details visit the contest website: www.riderfriendlycontest.ca

#RiderFriendlyContest

I am looking forward to seeing which community I will be filming in this summer!

Belt Drive Betty, 

Editor & Rider

Choice - something most adults feel they have the right to.

Brian Mason, Minister of Transportation, Alberta

Dear Minister of Transportation in the province of Alberta;
Mr. Brian Mason...
I wrote to Mr. Mason's office regarding the Sikh motorcycle community obtaining an exemption from the helmet law, as of yet, I still have not heard back.

I also placed a call to the deputy minister, Mr. Barry Day, again, no response as of yet.

It is hard for citizens who do not have an organization that can be their face, their leader, the person who can sit across the table from the politicians and hold them accountable.








The fact that the motorcycle community across most of Canada is not "organized" in any meaningful way, means that we don't have much say in the discussions and others decide our fate for us. Often times, even when we do have that person, that organization at the table, things don't go well, but at least one's point of view can be acknowledged.

I have sat in on the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators meetings as an interested vulnerable road user, back in the day when Adele Tompkins used to do the lobbying to protect choice for BC motorcyclists through BCCOM. They (the experts of the CCMTA) pushed so hard to enforce a helmet law; Adele lobbied and worked so hard to make these people realize that in her province, choice is what taxpaying adults wanted.

The argument the experts offered was one of safety, personal injury, death, brain injury and spinal cord injury and the drain on public, taxpayer funded resources.

That argument eventually cost BC riders their beloved beanie.

So let's learn a little about the Sikh's and why they can't wear helmets as part of their faith and the risks and accommodations they have been willing to undertake in order to do things they enjoy (work or pleasure).

The turban is a visual symbol that the wearer is of the Sikh faith.
In India, the Sikh community is disproportionally represented in the military.
In India, the Sikh soldier does not wear a helmet, they wear their turban.
They do not wear a helmet to ride motorcycle there either, they wear their turban.

Here is an informative website on the Sikh faith and why the turban and the other 4 symbols of their faith are so sacred to them:
https://www.sikhcoalition.org/about-sikhs/identity/

OK - I get it. This is a faith based article of clothing.
It is special and symbolic and if you are a devout Sikh, you must wear it.

The Sikh Motorcycle Community fought for the exemption to the helmet law under their rights from the Canadian Charter of Freedoms & Rights, they fought it in BC, in Manitoba, Alberta and are fighting, again in Ontario.

Yet, in Canada, Turban wearing Sikhs are not allowed out of their trucks at docks because of liability issues. At this moment, nowhere in Canada that I can find, is a work site that allows them to work on site, without a hard hat.

In a September 2016 article in the National Post, the gentleman who fights for a lot of the helmet laws to be repealed in Canada, Balpreet Singh stated that: "The World Sikh Organization of Canada, in fact, now advises against trying to convince Canadian courts to permit Sikh exemptions for protective headgear. “Largely it’s about liability, they don’t want to be on the hook for any accident that involves a turban-wearer,” said Balpreet Singh, the organization’s legal counsel.
Singh was instrumental in a 2012 decision that allowed kirpans — a small, stylized sword worn by Sikhs — to be permitted in Toronto courtrooms. But speaking to the National Post by phone, he suggested that Canadian law hits a brick wall when it comes to trading safety for religious accommodation. No Canadian court will back a turban exemption “if there is a genuine risk of injury or death,” he said.
Currently, there are only two places in Canada where turban-wearing Sikhs can find a codified exemption from a safety requirement. In Manitoba, “bona fide members of the Sikh religion” are not required to wear helmets while motorcycling. In B.C., a similar motorcycle helmet exemption is open to any Sikh who “has unshorn hair and habitually wears a turban composed of 5 or more square meters of cloth.” End Quote

Canada is a warm, open and welcoming country, but we are a country ruled by laws.
When a law no longer makes sense it is time to call for a revision to that law.

In British Columbia, Alberta and Manitoba, where Sikhs are now allowed to exercise their choice to ride or not ride (read wear a helmet and ride, don't wear a helmet, don't ride), the rest of the motorcycle community in these three provinces should now be afforded the right to wear or not wear a helmet.

Quoted from the same 2016 National Post Article above:
The B.C. exemption, enacted after a 1999 human rights tribunal decision, was made with the full knowledge that it would likely result in more Sikhs getting killed on B.C. highways. A detailed accounting contained in the decision surmised that exempting Sikhs from the helmet law would raise motorcycle fatalities by as much as two per year, and brain injuries by as much as 10.
“However … I am not persuaded that the increased risk associated with non-helmeted motorcycling is so substantial that it constitutes undue hardship,” wrote tribunal member Frances Gordon. END QUOTE

The fact of the matter is that while the Sikh Motorcycle Community has fought for and won the right to exercise their choice/freedom under our charter, the rest of us are being discriminated against and that's not right.  BUT - we can't allow this issue to cause a divide in the motorcycle community either.
The Sikh motorcycle community fought for the right to ride a motorcycle and stay faithful to their religion. That's a honourable fight that they won and their win has opened the door for the rest of us to mount our own challenge.

Our government should have considered this fact when they made this decision, but they didn't and now we, the motorcycle community have two choices, before us:

#1) feel frustrated and or jealous that our Sikh brothers and sisters can ride wearing only their turbans, and do what we always do, bellyache and grumble but not much else.

or

#2) we can lobby our government to do the right thing and make choice part of the equation for all who ride and let us have the beanie back.

If the reason the motorcycle helmet law is in place for everyone else, is because of the risk of death and injury, then the law must apply to all. If that no longer holds true, as it is now evident, then every rider over 18 should be allowed choice in the provinces that allow Sikhs the right to ride without a helmet.

We live in a nanny state of a country that wants to treat all adults like we are children not capable of making our own risk level decisions. I understand that they want to prevent the drain on the emergency services and health services resources, but you can allow people the right to choice and also ask that they pay the price for their choice. 

Sikh's who wanted the right to work on construction sites and the docks in the UK gave up some insurance rights in order to do work they wanted to do...

Riding a motorcycle (like driving a car) according to every police officer who has ever stopped me, is a privilege not a right.

The public purse is about all of us, taxpayers all...this isn't like the US where there is no universal health care and everyone is truly on their own.

Canada has universal healthcare, taxpayer paid for healthcare.
Every privilege comes with great responsibility and if you are ok with dying or being a body with no quality of life due to brain/spinal cord injury and leaving your family to care for you, that's your choice and you should be providing for them, not the taxpayer.  Purchase extra medical insurance or wear a helmet.

I think that all riders should have choice and have the privilege of paying for that choice.

Since I gave up my beanie, I have worn a DOT Helmet and now that they are light and don't affect my neck so badly, I am content to wear a DOT helmet.

If you aren't, then you need to form an ABATE Chapter/join one and learn how to lobby the government.

And that's just my two cents worth.

Belt Drive Betty
Editor & Rider