Dealing with lawyers and lawsuits - fun and games - NOT!

I recently posted a photo of Doc, my 2010 Ultra Classic with 9,800 miles on it, on Facebook, with the information that I am selling him in order to put a big chunk of money on the upcoming lawyers bills that I know will be arriving sooner than later.

A few people who although we are connected on Facebook, have not truly been following the story aka SAGA and took a few things out of context.

My goal here is to clear the air and update people on exactly where things stand.

For those who have not been following this misadventure, I am being sued by Sturgis North/Canada, Ray Sasseville and Joan Hansen for Libel, slander and defamation.

My reporting on Ray Sasseville and his history included links, screen shots and documents - you can read up on the history of the lawsuit here:
http://www.beltdrivebetty.com/community/bdb-defense-fund

No matter that what I reported was already in public domain and all I had done was put everything together in one place, Ray and his group decided to sue myself along with 6 others.

The shotgun lawsuit, initiated just before Christmas, included the Mayor of Sicamous, the City of Sicamous, the Sicamous Chamber of Commerce, Steve Hammer, Bernie Aubin, Vince Lewis and myself.

My attorney calls it a nuisance suit.

Nothing about this lawsuit has been straight forward.
Shortly after the suit was launched by lawyer Gerhard Pyper, Ray petitioned to self represent on behalf of himself and the company.  Joan however was still represented by Pyper.

In March we got an offer to settle from Gerhard Pyper.

The first six defendants took the offer they were given. Their offer was that if they didn't ask for costs, the plaintiffs would drop the suit.

The offer I was given was unacceptable.
They basically wanted a $250,000 gag order on me and for me to remove any reference to them off my site, out of my newspaper and to monitor social media and ensure that no one in my circle said anything about them. If I didn't they'd claim the bond money.

As a reporter, I have done my job well. I reported facts, provided evidence and asked people to educate themselves.   Nothing I wrote was untrue, nor written with malice, therefore it is not slanderous, libellous or defamation. I am covered under fair comment and freedom of the press.

Still, I must get before a judge for those freedoms to be exercised.
AND - that costs money and lots of it.

The latest developments in this case are that Gerhard Pyper, the lawyer for Joan Hansen was suspended and his law firm was closed down by the BC Law Society.  Ray is listed as self representing for himself and Sturgis North. Joan however is not represented by anyone at the moment.

Before I had a chance to send my counter offer to Ray, I got a second offer to settle from a new lawyer out of Kelowna named Greg Alfonsso.  That offer was for $1,000 cash and 30 four day passes that I could sell to offset my lawyers bills if I would market their event for them.  Again, in all good conscience I did not feel I could take this offer and so my lawyer had to rewrite my counter offer and sent it off to the new lawyer along with Ray and Joan.

To date there has been no response from any of the parties to my counter offer.

On top of that, the consent to dismiss orders for the others have hit a road block.
The only dismissal that has taken pace is that involving the Mayor and the City of Sicamous.
The other four parties paperwork was apparently never filed by Gerhard Pyper's office.
It took the BC Law Society this much time to determine this.  So now the other 4 parties will have to incur more costs to see if the original consents can be found, and if so can they be filed.

If not, then they too will face the challenge of getting the other parties to communicate and again it will cost them more money.

I myself, have recently sworn out an affidavit for my lawyer to use to have my case moved from Surrey to Salmon Arm/Vernon.  My lawyer will need to go to Surrey and petition the court to transfer the case. That means a minimum of a full day out of his office on top of the preparations for that hearing and the paperwork that will come out of that hearing.

He told me to prepare for $7-$10K for that portion of the bill.
The next step will cost far less as it will involve a hearing before a judge in Salmon Arm/Vernon where in we will petition the court to ask Ray and company, to post a bond for costs.

Then, if they do that we proceed to examinations for discovery, then to trial. If they don't post a bond, then the judge will examinee the case and potentially throw it out. At least that is my understanding on how this is supposed to work.  Each step of the way will cost a different amount of money and time.  I have been told to prepare for an over all bill of $50K from this date forward, so that I am ready for the long haul if this does go that way.

So that's where the legal end of things stand...now to deal with the money portion.

Ours is a community newspaper that does a lot of charity work and as such, it does not generate huge money, basically it covers its costs and modest wages for myself and my staff. Without fundraising, the business would be at jeopardy.  So I had started tee shirt campaigns, donation drives, sold a company bike - a Johnny Pag, some art that was donated to me via an online auction and Blair Weber organized a Poker Run to help me.

At the end of May, on the Defence Fund Poker Run, I was involved in a mishap where my bike ended up getting totalled.

I lost control in a washout on a gravel road and another rider hit me from behind before I had gone down. Had that other rider not hit me, I would have only had to replace the front fender and lived with a battle scarred fairing.  As it was though, the bike was written off and the RCMP consequently charged the other rider with following too close.  The bike I bought to replace my Street glide with was purchased at Edmonton Harley-Davidson.  With what insurance gave me for my bike, some personal savings and $1,800 of the money from the poker run I was able to get another work vehicle.
(As a moto journalist, my motorcycle is a workhorse not a pleasure machine.)

I had no choice, if I wanted to keep the newspaper running, my source of income, not to mention my employees paid,  I had to use some of that money. I have managed to keep paying the lawyer because I was working and so eventually the $1,800 raised did go on the lawyers bill, but funny thing, those bills just keep coming.

Had I been able to put all of that defence run money on the bill at the time, I'd be about $1,800 closer to having him paid up towards this newest bill. As it stands, I owe him about $500 right now, since I was able to, yesterday, make a payment to him from the sale of SOA art in an online auction we held last month.

Because of the latest twists and turns of this lawsuit, I have an anticipated $7-$10K bill coming to get the venue changed from Surrey to Salmon Arm.

I also have a business loan and my motorcycle is but one piece of the collateral for that loan.
My banker has agreed that if I sell the bike, they will take 50% towards my loan and allow me the other 50% to pay my lawyer.

If this court case gets dropped, by some miracle, then I will just continue paying the lawyer monthly until he is paid off and use the remaining money towards another bike.

Nothing about this lawsuit has been straight forward nor does it remotely resemble normal practices according to my attorney.

I need to take some stress off of my brain so that I can focus and concentrate on doing the work my team and I do in and for the riding community.

If I can't put my focus on Belt Drive Betty Media and all of the support tools we offer the community then I and my employees will not have wages to live on.
This doesn't just affect me or my small staff, it affects the entire community that uses our events calendars, our newspaper and web sites as sources of information.

I am not asking for a hand out but a hand up.
I am willing to sell everything I own to defend myself if that's what it takes to see this thing through.

I am selling items like tee shirts, like so many businesses do, but instead of that money funding my business, like it does for other businesses, the tee shirt sales are helping to fund my lawsuit.

If you know anyone looking for a great bike with extended warranty, please put them in touch with me via bdbetty @ gmail.com  - fix the spaces.

If you are interested in purchasing a tee shirt to support the cause please visit: http://teespring.com/beltdrivebetty

I hope this clears things up for those who seem to be confused about this lawsuit, and what I am preparing for and why I am doing what I am doing.  I want to do the work I do, pay my bills, eat decently and enjoy life just like every other working stiff out there.  I want to be able to sleep at night without worrying about how I am going to come up with the money for the lawyer, a bill I know is coming sooner than later.

That's all!  By selling my bike, I can take the pressure off of the looming lawyer's bill and focus on the business and community.

By the way we have some great prizes up for grabs in our Capture the Gear Fail Photo Contest.

You could win a pair of boots and a helmet from Kimpex - a value of $300 for your first place photo and for the second place photo you could win a pair of Draggin Jeans!

Visit Our Contest Page to find out more!

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

Belt Drive Betty,
Editor & Rider


Disclaimer:
All data and information provided on this site is for informational purposes only. The Belt Drive Betty Blog makes no representations as to accuracy, completeness, currentness, suitability, or validity of any information on this site & will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided on an as-is basis.

Riding Smart, Riding Safe - what happens when we don't

A family in the UK has decided to release helmet camera footage from their son's crash with the hopes that they can prevent even one person from dying needlessly.

The video clearly shows that the rider's excessive speed and the auto drivers lack of judgement caused a young man to loose his life, a mother to grieve, a family bereft.

A majority of riders love to "race" the wind, most of us at times, like to push it a little harder than is wise to do.

A spring day, you haven't been out in a while, you are feeling full of zest for life and you make that one fatal decision, to wick on the throttle, just as you have on other odd occasions, only this time, you didn't get lucky. There are no heroic bench racing stories to tell. Its over, and your family and friends are left to deal with the aftermath.

This video poignantly shows a mother's pain and love. Her pride and her deep, profound sorrow.

I hope that sharing this helps prevent one mom from having to feel the way this one does.

R.I.P. David Holmes.  Thank you to his mother, Brenda Holmes for sharing his story with the rest of us.  I for one deeply appreciate it.

Remember our Spot the Gear Fail Photo Contest for your chance to win:

First Place: A CKX Revolt Helmet and a Pair of Oxford Apache Boots from KIMPEX 

Second Place -  a Pair of Draggin' Jeans 

Please visit the contest page for the details on how to submit your photo.

We already have a couple of entries!

I am looking forward to seeing your photos added to the gallery!

If you are blessed to be riding today, please ride like everyone around you is blind and cannot see you and please consider wearing all the gear!

Belt Drive Betty

Editor & Rider

A tough year almost behind me…

Ever since I arrived home from Ireland last October, life has thrown me curve ball after curve ball that I had not anticipated.

I had to let go of the person laying out the paper and doing the books for the company. That was a tough thing to do with so much work on my plate after having been on the road for so long, not to mention the fact that we had an 8-year history.

Had I known the full ramifications of riding across Canada in support of our veterans, had I known it was going to cost me so much personally, or exactly what I was going to face, I sure would have done things differently – but, hindsight is always 20/20!

Then Ray Sasseville, Joan Hansen and Sturgis North sued me along with 6 other people.

They claimed slander, libel and defamation.

I was angry, incredulous and determined.

The ensuing 4 months, from December 21st/22nd when I was served until March 30th or there about, were filled with; myself, a research assistant and a friend going through hundreds and thousands of emails, creating timelines, organizing all data and letters in a chronological time frame.  To say it was exhausting is putting it mildly.

Add to that sales of ads for the Rider Friendly Phone Book, dealing with advertisers who broke their contract and held the book up for 5-6 weeks, and then a motorcycle crash, getting to know the IOMC and the ruckus that caused with folks in the US 1% circle and I feel like I have been under siege all year long.

The phone book being held up was costly in more ways than one as I had to air freight the books in.  It also upset riders who bought books and has caused me to return to going to layout in December and January and to print in February – that means changing marketing materials and book keeping but it also means that the book will go out to purchasers in a timely fashion and that the app and download version will also be up in a timely fashion.

My trip this summer was a muted one. I spent many nights on the couches, airbeds and in spare rooms of good friends and family in Alberta and BC. Without my friends and family, I could not have continued to do my job. You are too numerous to mention, but I hope you know how deeply I thank you for your support, friendship and love.

This whole Sturgis North lawsuit is a fiasco. NOTHING about this lawsuit is typical; first they issue a shotgun lawsuit where in they sue the City of Sicamous, the Sicamous Chamber of Commerce and the Mayor of Sicamous, Steve Hammer of Summer Stomp, Bernie Aubin of the Headpins, Vince Lewis and myself.

In late March, an offer to settle is given to the first 6 defendants, basically the offer said; “if you don’t charge for costs and we’ll go away”.  I too got an offer to settle but the offer to settle with me was much different. They wanted me to remove all reference to their names, in the newspaper and web sites, promise to never utter their names and post a $250K bond – oh and monitor social media to ensure no one in my circle said anything bad about them.

My attorney and I drafted a counter offer to settle that clearly laid out that all of the complaints – A- K, that were filed against me were non slanderous/libelous nor were they defaming.  We wanted to wait to send it until the other 6 cases were rubber stamped through the courts as dealt with.

Then Gerhard Pyper, the lawyer for Sturgis North, Ray Sasseville and Joan Hansen is suspended.  We waited and waited to see where the other 6 cases were in the court system.

While we were in this holding pattern, I got a second offer to settle via Ray’s new lawyer, Gregg Alfonso which stated that:

Dear Renee’,

                I would like to settle this dispute amicably with you and move forward, withdraw the lawsuit  and concentrate on the Motorcycling Community as a whole. Your past postings have been criticizing me for leaving a wave of destruction re creditors from past events. Even though it puzzles me why you went to such great extents to involve my family I have heard and understood the message. I take full responsibility on behalf of Sturgis North as its CEO re the past debts that are outstanding and will try my hardest to satisfy those debts albeit a little at a time. I apologize to all debtors and ask that they give me a chance to satisfy the debts which has been my intention all along. My only intention ever has been to put on an event for the Motorcycling community to be able to meet, share experience and enjoy great music and each others company. I chose to continue to put on the best festival possible in order to maintain our goal for the Motorcycling Community and pay down past debts on a timely basis as opposed to walking away and not attempting to take care of our obligations. I truly you believe you have the best interests of the creditors and Motorcycling community at heart and would like to see the creditors paid back therefore I am willing to offer the following.

1. The letter of apology to the creditors for you to post if you wish not mentioning any blame on your part re your articles
2. I have set up a trust fund with my Lawyer Gregg Alfonso with Alfonso Law Corp to collect and pay to the creditors on a prorated basis at the end of the festival a percentage of our online ticket sales annually. This will ensure that monies are distributed each year regardless of what the festival makes because this is not based on profits. Your lawyer will be informed of the details 
3. Obviously since this whole thing was about your interpretation of my character and the fact that you want the creditors paid I will need help to market my festival so the creditors will get paid back annually until paid upon agreed invoicing amounts. Thus you will achieve the main goal which was making me accointable and getting the creditors paid. 
4. I am willing to pay you $1000 for advertisig on your weekly editions up to the festival
5. I am willing to give you 30 4 day all event passes for you to sell to some of your 75,000 readers who will purchase them from you once they see this has been setllrd and you can keep the monies $310 per 4 day event pass ticket which totals a tad over $9000 which when added with the advertising money will get you out of debt with your lawyer.

                Ray Sasseville

I had some tough questions to ask myself. Clearly Ray blames me for why the riding community was not embracing his event. Clearly we had all heard before that a fund would be set up to pay vendors etc., but nothing seemed to materialize. Clearly Ray wants to hold me accountable for why people won’t get paid if I don’t take his deal. BUT - Could I promote someone who was suing me? Could I possibly want to tie my name to their event anymore than I already had with sponsorship in 2011 and 12? 

In all good conscience, I could not and so, I chose to pass on this offer to settle and my lawyer sent in my first counter offer, albeit redrafted to the new attorney and geared towards the second offer to settle as opposed to the first.

To date I have not heard from the good folks at Sturgis North/Canada, Ray Sasseville and Joan Hansen regarding my counter offer.

I attended Sturgis Canada; I experienced the small attendance, the disorganization and some of the politics of the 2014 version of the event first hand.  I reported on the event in as professional and level headed manner as is possible and have left it to the attendees who were unhappy, the booking agent, Keith Sharp, the band manager Ted VanBoort, the hotelier who said he hadn’t been paid and the Royal Canadian Legion who say they don’t think they will get paid, to say their piece on Facebook, in the Merritt Herald and in my blog through screen captures.

Now I get a letter from my lawyer that states that the 6 other cases have NOT gone through the court the way they were supposed to and that only one of the consent to dismiss orders were ever filed. So in effect, the Sicamous Chamber of Commerce, Steve Hammer, Bernie Aubin and Vince Lewis along with myself, are all right back to where we were.

He has also advised me that we are pushing on to a change of venue application to get the case moved to Salmon Arm. This is going to be an expensive undertaking, getting the case moved.  It means my lawyer going to the courthouse in Surrey and meeting with a judge.

I am advised I will need to prepare for a $7-10K bill for that alone, not to mention the $2,100 I owe him at the moment.

I have been getting a lot of comments from people about countersuing the group, it may come to that, although I am advised there isn’t anything of any substance to attach to and that it could get costlier than the $50K it is slated to cost to see this thing through. 

Besides, I am one in a long list of people who would be going after assets. Michael Smith has a $70,000 judgment and then there is the BC Securities hearing in October and the Arizona Lawsuit that has been going on for ages that will go to trial in 2015.  There really is nothing to gain in trying to counter sue – I would get a piece of paper saying I am owed and that paper would be worthless.

Folks, I need your help if I am going to succeed.  The time and focus this court case has taken away from the business side of what I do has been telling and has hurt me financially and reputation wise – people don’t like it when you miss deadlines.

So far this community, has helped me pay my lawyers bill and I am asking you to keep that support coming.  I have hired two sales people and with their help and perhaps the help of a few more, the business end of things will get righted shortly.

I need to keep my attention, as much as possible on the business; I need to get rid of some of the worry about paying the lawyer… I have to swallow my pride and ask…

Please consider donating to my Defense Fund or buying a tee shirt for my Offence Fund, which is what I now prefer to call it.

On top of all of those challenges I have had 6 friends pass away, and that was/is hard to deal with. My hubby going through an MS attack was another toughie I have had to endure.

But as in all things life, a ray of sunshine always presents itself…

I became a great aunty twice in the space of 10 days, I have a new great niece and a great nephew!

Those two wonderful occasions have brought new life to this very tired spirit, as did the friends and family who helped me to accomplish my sales and reporting trip.

To those who propped me up while I was struggling to deal with death after death, and frustration after frustration, there are no words to express my gratitude.

I am not sure what these various trials and tribulations are preparing me for, but man I am ready for the tides to turn. 

Our Canada’s Most Rider Friendly Community Contest is shaping up nicely, our Spot the Gear Fail contest has just kicked off and is offering great prizes from Kimpex and Draggin Jeans and we are getting ready to launch our newest Rider Survey!

Our 2015 Beat the PMS Blues Online Show N Shine is also beginning to take shape with Big Blue coming on board as a major sponsor and I have about a dozen advertising proposals to build.

I know that with the help of this community we are going to go on to bigger and better things and I promise you all this much, I will continue to pay forward every kindness and helping hand I get to all of the charities and the riding clubs who support them through free promotion and marketing…

To donate to my Defence Fund: CLICK HERE

To Buy an Offence Fund Tee Shirt: CLICK HERE

If you are blessed enough to be riding today, 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

Sturgis Canada, a post mortem

Thanks to some friends who had a booth at Sturgis Canada, I was able to attend the event on Saturday evening, so that I could see first hand what was going on and speak to people about how they felt about the event. 

With a venue like the old Merritt Mountain Music Fest site, one would have thought that this event would be stellar, after all, according to articles in the Merritt Herald, they had a new and improved management team with rock solid finances.  http://www.saobserver.net/news/236404261.html

They had a great line up of bands and the coordinators have had two previous attempts to learn from and they had almost two years to plan this one, so what went wrong?

According to some of the locals that I spoke with, the town was invited to the event for free on Thursday evening, all they had to do was show their DL or another piece of ID to prove they lived in Merritt and they'd get free entry. There were, in the picture that was shared with me from Thursday night 12 people, 6 of them staff/volunteers watching the bands.

So why did the town of Merritt not embrace this event?

Here is my thought, why would a community want to support a group that sued another city, a chamber of commerce and a mayor over the burnout competitions? The suit was publicized in the regional newspapers: http://issuu.com/blackpress/docs/i20140115070529177/1?e=1205826/6357636

If you are going to sue a partner community and a non profit, then that might make other partner communities a little leery, no matter that the suit was dropped only five short months later.
When you sue a town, you are in effect suing the taxpayer.

It did rain hard about 2 hours before the event opened but reportedly it had cleared off by 7pm.

Why did this event not have great attendance?

I have a number of points that I'd like to touch on here...

There was almost no marketing of the event, I saw one ad in the Port Dover Maple Leaf, they had their bus at the Cloverdale Rodeo, but beyond some radio and the odd poster, there was no real hype about the event.

Did you know that there was a Sturgis Canada App? Neither did I until I was going through comments on their Facebook Page looking to find out what others were saying and feeling.

Their promotions, their web site, Facebook page and their entire marketing plan lacked the super human effort it takes to get the word out, at least that's the way it appeared to me.

They went head to head with the PNE, where reportedly there were some awesome concerts like Trooper on the Thursday night that Sturgis Canada opened, that were free with your $18 gate fee: http://www.pne.ca/thefair/index.html.  You could also reserve seats if you wanted to pay an extra $20.

They went head to head with the Salt Spring Island Toy Run, the Defenders Poker Run, the Airdrie Bikes & Bulls event, the Assholes Toy Run and many, many other events.

When you combine the lack of marketing with the time of year and the volume of motorcycle events and all of the music festivals in BC, you really reduce your chances for success.

When it comes to the riding community, many people who attended in the past decided to take a wait and see attitude.  The few who did decide to give it another chance, have had very strong comments about their experience:

Reportedly the motorcycle rodeo games never took place and the Motorcycle Cowboys never performed. The Veteran's and the Breast Cancer Poker Runs were both cancelled as was the Cabbage Patch Wrestling. The show n shine apparently went off, but no one seemed to know much about and no winners were announced. The Miss Sturgis Canada competition is another event no one seemed to know about and there was little publicity for.

The Mad Mike Rocket Jump was postponed, but no where was that fact mentioned to people, and apparently the VIP tickets weren't so VIP according to the posts and comments made by some of the VIP's.

In fact, it seems that none of the things that were cancelled were explained or promoted any better than the things that did go on.

In speaking with some riders from Saskatoon and Regina who had bought VIP tickets, they were pissed that they were charged in American funds.  They were given the choice of a pulled pork sandwich or a beef brisket on a bun for their meals other than the one night when they got ribs.
The snacks that were served were nothing more than small cups of potato chips. There were all kinds of non VIP people in the VIP beer gardens and non VIP in the main stage seating area. That was just some of Annette and Herb's observations.

At 7 PM

There are so many things that went wrong with this event that it is truly hard to find anything other than the music that went right. The production crew from SWAV did a phenomenal job making those musicians music come across loud and clear and the guy in charge of lighting did an amazing job of making sure they looked good.  The gent running the Jumbotron camera was incredible at his job.

During Moxy

I watched Moxy, Molly Hatchet and some of Burton Cummings performance and all three rocked the house. I left after three songs of Burton Cummings because I was just too cold to stay any more.

At 7 pm

The volunteers I dealt with were awesome and sure tried their best to do their jobs and answer questions and deal with upset people. The lack of understanding of their jobs and their inability to answer questions was frustrating but they were genuine and caring and did their best.

VIP Beer Gardens during Moxy

The people who attended the event enjoyed the music, who couldn't, it was awesome, but the lack of communication, the lack of marketing and two failed attempts in the past created a scenario that I am sure no one fully expected.

If there were 100 people to watch Moxy, I'd be surprised and by the time Burton Cummings came on stage there were close to 500 people present. Some people say I am wrong and that the number was more like 350.  Either way, it was not the turnout that was hoped for I am sure.

Molly Hatchet

During Molly Hatchet

Molly Hatchet

    Burton Cummings

It has been interesting attempting to get to the truth as to why Sturgis Canada was shut down on Sunday.

I have heard rumours about everything from the liquor license got pulled to the production people pulled out for non payment and all things in between.

The truth that I have been able to uncover is that the liquor license was NOT pulled, not by the RCMP or the Liquor Board.

The truth is the organizers cancelled Sunday:

No where does the person making the updates for Sturgis Canada address the issue of refunds or partial refunds for the fact that the event was only three days and not 4. Nor do they address the cancellations of various events or any kind of compensation for the lack of activities.

I spoke with Nick Brusatore of the band Franklin's Dealers who were supposed to play on Sunday.
Nick is a business man and a musician.  He was also a sponsor of Sturgis Canada to the tune of $50,000.  He is disappointed that the event was cancelled on Sunday but also says he understands that sometimes in business you have to make tough decisions.  Since the attendance was so poor, he said he could understand them shutting down to save the costs.

The money he sponsored for the event was supposed to go towards paying for Katey Sagal to come and play, but he did not know why she cancelled. I have sent an email in to Ms. Sagal's booking agent Belle Zwerdling to see if I can learn why she cancelled.

I contacted the Port o Potty supplier, Interior Portable Rentals out of Kelowna, the manager declined to comment on why the port o potties were chained up on Sunday morning, he stated he knew there was animosity between myself and the coordinators and said the details were between him and the client and none of my business.  I thanked him for his time and moved on to the next calls.

The RCMP in Merritt had their media relations officer, Constable Tracy Dunsmore contact me regarding the allegations that the police were heavy handed and had removed the road signs directing people to the event. Cst. Dunsmore assured me that the RCMP did not remove any signage and expressed that many members were sent home and that only regular time officers were on duty and that was because the event was so quiet. It appears that Sturgis Canada will be getting a refund on the enhanced policing costs.

Only one Hells Angel's booth was on hand but it was in the campground, away from the general public at the festival site ergo there were little or no BEU agents present or at least they weren't highly visible.  The police did have a road side check stop, but they were stopping ALL vehicles, not just bikes.

During my conversation with the constable, she expressed that in their detachment there are 8 officers who ride, including the Staff Sergeant and for anyone to think they hate riders, well that would be wrong.

They were just doing their jobs.

There was a ticket handed out for a helmet violation to a gent who was wearing a beanie that was not DOT, he was the most vocal about the police being oppressive. Personally I found the officers on duty to be very pleasant and all seemed to have a good sense of humour.

That alone should tell you a lot - I generally don't enjoy the police at many events, but these people were more than pleasant and friendly, in much the way they were in Sicamous.

I have a call into the sound company, SW Audio Visual out of Kelowna, my goal in talking to them is to find out if in fact the coordinators told them there would be no bands for the day or if there was any other reason they pulled out early.

Keith Sharp of Music Express had some harsh comments regarding Sunday:

I have emailed Keith to see if he will talk to me about what transpired.

I will do a follow up on this event if I learn anything of value, it is early days and the fallout has just begun of that I am sure.  Every event, even the ones that go off seemingly perfect, have fallout to deal with! 

I hope you have had a wonderful riding season, I know mine has been busy and exhausting and I am looking forward to finally getting home and getting back into full swing work routine, I have a lot to accomplish in the next while and I am stimulated in spite of being tired. 

I am looking forward to squeezing my hubby and snuggling my cats and sleeping in my own bed.... that's gonna be a bit of heaven!

If you are blessed to be riding today, please ride like everyone around you is blind and cannot see you and please consider wearing good gear....dress for the slide, not the ride.

Belt Drive Betty

Editor & Rider

Cumberland Motorcycle RoundUp

Revised September 17,2014

Although I had attended the Wounded Warriors Weekend in Slave Lake the weekend before the Cumberland Motorcycle Round Up, I have decided to wait to write about that amazing weekend until I am at home where I can put all of my love and energy into that article.  That article is going to be a long and intense one to write, so watch for it coming soon!

In the mean time, I want to share with you my time at the RoundUp in Cumberland…

I got to the BC Ferries terminal at Horseshoe Bay in time to board the evening ferry.  The service on the ferry was awesome. I know a lot of Islanders have an issue with the ferries and the prices they charge, but running a ferry service is expensive and someone has to pay the freight. I guess that’s the price you pay for living in paradise.

I thought the ferry was awesome. The staff was friendly; the food in the cafeteria was very good as was the selection and I found the prices to be very reasonable.

There were a half dozen bikes on this ship and we shared some great laughs and stories – all of them were heading to the Cumberland Motorcycle Round Up too!

The views from the deck were nothing short of awe inspiring and some of Mother Nature’s actors decided to put on a wee show – the seals were having what appeared to be a lot of fun. The sunset was intense and absolutely gorgeous.  As we pulled into Nanaimo, the lights from the shore danced on the water and made one feel so welcomed.

I got into Ladysmith at about 10:00 pm and stayed over night with our web mistress Ali and her hubby Gator.  It was awesome to see them and reconnect.

In the morning we rode together into Cumberland and spent some time walking the impressive display of vendors and bikes that graced Main Street.  

The streets were teaming with people, shoulder to shoulder, bikes and laughter everywhere.  Ali and Gator headed back to Ladysmith and I spent time walking with WyzWmn, Karen Brown and her dog Pixie. I was able to connect with many friends like Lady Di, and spent a most enjoyable afternoon wandering up and down the street, visiting, taking photos and video and just being.

There were thousands of people walking up and down the streets of Cumberland, all had smiles on their faces and they seemed to enjoy the street performers that were performing.

There were people on stilts who were dressed in a wide array of costumes, belly dancers, hula dancers and a snake charmer, and even a Robot!  All of these people were out doing their best to ensure people were having a good time.

In the Cumberland Hotel, there were burlesque and lingerie shows, a beer gardens that was directly across from the bandstand, making it the place to be if you wanted a beverage.

Tom and Angela from BikerTV were on hand interviewing and filming for an upcoming episode of their popular show and I was doing interviews for my TV show Ride Like a Local.

At about 4 pm, the street started to thin out and vendors began putting away their wares so I headed up to the bike games.

There was a small beer gardens alongside the track where the riders and passengers took part in al sorts of skills games.  People were hooting and hollering for their favorite teams.  The tire pulls were a tad on the dangerous side as the passengers were often not dressed in full gear and I expressed my concerns, as did a few others. I have since learned that the tire pulls are not going to be a part of the games next year.

Pretty soon it was time to head over to my hosts place, Ian and Kathy Kelly had a fresh salmon on the BBQ and we had a good feed and some great conversation before walking up to the dance.

The dance was amazing, the band had so many people up dancing, the hall was decorated with mini lights and the silent auction tables were brimming with items!

The hall soon became hot and stuffy and I spent sometime outside in the extended beer gardens area, staying cool and chatting with many of the visiting riders. Everyone seemed to be having a ball.

At midnight, the Mr. Cumberland contest got underway and oh my word did we get a show!

There were 6 guys who were brave enough to get up on the stage and strut their stuff; some even dropped their laundry, which had the crowd roaring with laughter.

The gent who won was crowned and given a sash just like any beauty pageant winner would get. It was good clean fun that had everyone in stitches and of course Jean – the Dominatrix of the rally was hamming it up!

I headed back to the Kelly’s place just before the dance ended at 1 am and was out like a light in no time!

At 8 am, we all headed down town to the pancake breakfast. There were easily over 150 bikes that were going to take in the poker run.  After being given a safety talk, the mayor, a wonderful woman who totally supports this event, got on the back of one of the bikes for the Mayor’s ride and that was the signal for the poker run to start.

The ride took us through the Comox Valley with the highlight being the fourth card stop at Mount Washington.  The ride up to the ski hill was wonderful, the road is wide and paved and filled with nice curves.  Once there we took in the biker’s buffet that offered chicken breasts, burgers, potato wedges and all sorts of salads for $10.  With a full belly we headed for the chairlift, the fee to ride the lift was compliments of Mount Washington’s owners. 

Since I don’t ski, I have never been on a chairlift and I have to tell you it was an impressive experience. The view from the top of the mountain is something I won’t forget any time soon. The entire valley lay before you and it is truly an awe inspiring experience.

After the that stop, we headed back to Cumberland and the Cumberland Hotel where there were thousands of dollars in door prizes up for grabs. Tickets were sold at  $1 each and many people walked away with impressive prizes like tattoo gift certificates, and gift cards from Steve Drane H-D, wine baskets  and leather goods. 

Ian Kelly, my host, won the poker run with a full house!  The prize was a Harley duffel bag (leather), filled with $2,500 in prizes; everything from tattoos to over night stays in some of the regions most impressive spas to a bottle of tequila were included in that bag!

Everything wound up at about 5pm, and judging by the comments and faces of the riders who had attended, a great time was had by all!

Jean Cameron

I spent Monday with Jean Cameron and her team discussing the event and giving them some suggestions of different events and things that I have experienced that they could use to change up their event.  It was heart warming to see how eager these people are to take suggestions and ideas from others. They did the same sort of suggestion gathering from many others. We had a wonderful day, sharing and chatting….on Tuesday morning I got to interview Jean and Cresslynn, the organizers and then I was off to Ladysmith where I literally crashed for 18 hours of sleep.  I was absolutely exhausted.

If you enjoy street based events like Port Dover, the Wharf Rat Rally or the Real Sturgis in South Dakota, this event is a MUST DO! The town’s people WANT you to experience their region and they all break their necks to ensure you feel wanted and welcomed.

There were lots of police because of the Hells Angels being present, but both groups were polite and courteous and left the average rider alone…in all, it was a wonderful event that every rider should experience at least once!  

I want to thank Jean and her entire crew of the Cumberland Motorcycle RoundUp for a most joyful and enjoyable event.

REVISION INFORMATION - I have been advised that there was an error in my mentioning a veterans support club bringing the attention of the police. There is one, but I named the wrong one. The image I was given was extremely similar to that of another club, The Veterans Canada MC. My apologies to the 22 Crew for misreading the image linked in the Liquor Control Board email.  

Belt Drive Betty

Editor & Rider

Bikes Against Bullies - an amazing event, doing amazing things

Carol Todd

On Sunday, July 27th, I rode from Surrey/Langley to Port Coquitlam for the Bikes Against Bullies event.  It was a gorgeous morning, the temperature was perfect, the sun was out and there was hardly a cloud in the sky.

I rode into a parking lot that already had about 75 bikes in it! There were a number of booths where you could get a coffee and a cookie, Snowflake Bracelets etc...everything seemed very well organized for an event only in its second year.

The Bikes Against Bullies event was started by Tneesa Tyerman and her mom Kymberley.

Tneesa's step sister Sophia went to school with Amanda and wanted to do something positive and so this became a family affair with Tneesa's dad, Tracy, Kymberley's ex-husband also getting involved. It was amazing to me how everyone from the two blended families just dug in and made this a spectacular event - a free event that raises funds by selling shirts and other items like bracelets and through donations.

CAV Members

I met up with some of my fellow CAV members and we got to talking and before I knew it there were 200-225 bikes in the lot and it was time to go!

Tracy, Tneesas, Dad, and his wife

We rode to Trev Deeley's on Boundary Road with Tracy and Tneesa in the lead, the reception that was waiting for us there was amazing. The BBQ was on, a band called One Big Bicycle was playing up a storm and there were all kinds of vendors plus a silent auction.

Sarah Karkouch giving donation to Carol Todd

There was an amazing young lady named Sarah Karkouch who sang her song Fly, and she donated $400 from the sales of her album to the Amanda Todd Legacy Society.

I got to meet Carol Todd after she had addressed the audience.

Carol is an amazing public speaker who captures your heart and makes you feel the pain a mother feels when their child self destructs.  Amanda had made some mistakes in judgment that she paid with her life for. The cruel taunting of those who bullied her created more pain in her head than she could deal with.

Carol has many suggestions she offers to parents and to kids alike, like forced offline time and making sure that there is family time.

Bullying is horrible to experience, and many of us were bullied in school and sometimes on the job so to some extent we can identify with our young people today.  BUT with the advent of the internet, bullying has become relentless.  In a matter of no time at all, people can be whipped into a frenzy and thousands of people can pick on a person they deem as weak or odd in a heartbeat.

The result of bullying for Amanda Todd was that she took her own life. The cyber bullying had spilled into the school yard too and it became more than Amanda could bare and yet she created a video to help others: http://amandatoddlegacy.org/amandas-you-tube-video-original/

Amanda was also the victim of extortion, watch the 5th Estate Episode on her story: http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/episodes/2013-2014/the-sextortion-of-amanda-todd

The extortion along with the bullying, the shame, the regret, the pressure was too much for this young woman to bare.

Carol Todd, Amanda's mom has started the Amanda Todd Legacy Fund meant to aide in support and awareness campaigns. Carol herself does a lot of speaking at schools and to parents.

The Riders of 2014

The coordinators have some changes planned for next year's event that will make it about an hour - hour and a half or so shorter.  They realized that everyone had other commitments and many just wanted to ride as it was such a beautiful day and so they are going to have more activities in Port Coquitlam before the ride!

I was proud to play a small part in the 2014 event and look forward to playing a larger part as a sponsor again next year. Watch for the episode on the Bikes Against Bullies event on Ride Like a Local on YouTube in December!

Belt Drive Betty

Editor & Rider

The Ride Into History for the Salvation Army’s Gateway of Hope

Stop 1 The Dairy

I was absolutely blessed to partake in the Ride into History.

Mother Nature cooperated with me as I rode into Langley and Holeshot Racing where I was to hook up with my host for the next two evenings, Marq Smith. Marq used to own Western Powersports!

I stopped in at Barnes Harley-Davidson and got to see Kevin Chow, who has moved from Kamloops HD over to Barnes, while I waited for Mark to be done work.

I also got to finally install the highway pegs on my bike thanks to Waylon in parts!

Marq and I headed over to Fort Langley when he got off work and what I saw there truly took my breath away – there were amazing antique and vintage cars and bikes on hand, lots of vendors and a fully portable stage where we would be treated to a wide variety of entertainment.

Car and Bike Show

The quality of the vehicles on hand was nothing short of impressive!

The evening was filled with magic as the various presenters and speakers shared their stories. In between the speeches and stories a solo guitarist took the stage as did the headliner, Randy “Elvis” Friske.  I cannot remember the name of the solo entertainer, but he was some talented.

Both entertainers did an amazing job and both had people up and dancing and singing.

Randy "Elvis" Friske

The kids in particular loved “Elvis” who was utterly incredible. He danced with them, walked into the crowd and made us feel a part of the show. His band was fabulous and man can this dude imitate Elvis!

After the evening festivities we over, Marq took me to his home where I stayed both Friday and Saturday evening. I want to thank him and his family for taking me in!

We were up bright an early on Saturday morning to go on the ride. Mother Nature blessed this ride with ideal riding weather.

We were treated to a pancake breakfast hosted by the Lion’s Club. The ride Captain from the Greater Vancouver Motorcycle Club called us all together for a riders meeting.

The route that had been chosen had historical significance as each stop is planned for it’s historical significance, it’s all part of the Ride into History theme!

We were given a booklet with the route information in case we got separated from thr group, which sadly happened pretty quickly. Thank goodness one of the guys in our group knew the region and we ended up getting to the Birchwood Dairy in Chilliwack before the lead group did!  I didn’t have any ice cream but I was told that every rider in the region comes here on short rides, as the ice cream is phenomenal.

From here on in we had a vested rider with us so we didn’t get lost for the rest of the day!  We next took in the Atchelitz Threshermen’s Association Museum also in Chilliwack.

Stop 3 - Cultus Lake

Our next stop was lunch at Cultus Lake where we were treated to a meal of wraps and veggies for dipping. We also had wonderful fruit kebabs for dessert!  Sadly one jerk in a white Dodge damned near backed into a rider and acted like we riders were being asses when we began to holler at him to stop saying I have a back up camera – and then using some verbal diarrhea on us. We insisted he’d best leave instead of being a rude human being.

We had a leisurely ride back into Langley and the Gateway of Hope.

This amazing facility offers far more than a shelter. It offers all sorts of counseling and job retraining programs. In fact, the resident members of the cooking program at the Salvation Army’s Gateway of Hope made the lunch we had at Cultus Lake!

Gateway of Hope Games

We were treated to some rodeo games for about an hour and a half.

We had a blast watching and cheering on the participants.

At about 5pm we were ushered into the centre for our dinner, which was catered by Milestones, a local restaurant that is very popular.

We heard from all kinds of dignitaries and took part in the many gift giveaways that took place.  Dinner was absolutely marvelous, a beautiful roast beef with veggies and potatoes was served and an amazing chocolate pecan cake closed it off!

The Gateway of Hope is so far much more than a shelter and their ride fee was ridiculously low for everything a person got for the $65 ride fee.

Dinner

Pancake breakfast, a wonderful lunch, impressive dinner, a tee shirt and a pin!

If you live in the region, this event is a must do. While there were a few challenges with the poker run and not enough outriders in the middle and back of the pack, it was an amazing event.

Thank you to the Salvation Army, the 3 credit unions who joined forces to help this amazing centre (Aldergrove Financial Group, Envision Financial and Prospera Credit Union), the mayor and town of Langley and all of the vendors and volunteers that made this event so memorable!

Watch for coverage on this event on Ride like a Local on YouTube.  The episode should air end on October or early November.

Belt Drive Betty