A Look Back at 2018 at the Sicamous Summer Stomp Part 2 Season 6 Episode 9 Segment 2

Season 6 Episode 9 Segment 2
Sicamous Summer Stomp Part 2

Valerie Kent works in the motor clothes department at Barnes Harley-Davidson.  She loves her bike and going down the road.  Feeling the wind in her hair, going on adventures and meeting new people.  It's all about having a good time.

She's at the Sicamous Summer Stomp and has met a lot of friends so she loves to come back every year.

She has a sissy bar on her bike made by her husband and put together by a friend.  This is her fourth year riding and says her longest ride was over 900 kms.  She has put on over 14,000 kms in the last four years.  She just loves to travel!!

She is blessed to be working for Harley-Davidson because she gets to travel to these events, meet new people and talk bikes.

Ria Schness aka Ria the Welder makes custom sissy bars.  Ria fell in love with bikes at a young age.  She had two neighbors that would take her for rides.  Her boyfriends all had bikes growing up.  Finally four years ago she decided the wait was over and finally got her own bike.  Her longest ride was Kelown to Utah, camped 3 days in the desert, and rode back home.

Ria trades her welding expertise and will trade her custom sissy bars for bike maintenance, paint jobs etc.

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

Belt Drive Betty

Editor & Rider

A Look Back at 2018 at the Sicamous Summer Stomp Part 2 Season 6 Episode 9 Segment 1

Season 6 Episode 9 Segment 1
Sicamous Summer Stomp Part 2

Lauren Kerrison is the merchandise and inventory manager/motor clothes for the Langley, Kamloops and Victoria Barnes Harley-Davidson stores

Lauren loves working for Harley-Davidson.  They are one big family.  She gets to travel a lot and meet new and interesting people all the time.

She loves her department.  Motor clothes follows all the major fashion houses.  She gets to go to two fashion shows a year where the clothes are modeled and she gets to see the clothes in action.  The clothes are designed for riders by riders so they are functional, amazing and built to last.

There is the game of Barnes between the three stores where the highest point earner can win some major prizes including a new bike.  It's just another way to get involved with the community and have a great time!

After we met with Shannon Wammer.  Shannon is the apparel manager and events coordinator at Konquer Motorcycles.  As well as Tim Allen who is the website and events coordinator.

Shannon loves the Sicamous Summer Stomp.  It means she gets to be outside in the fresh air and sun and not stuck in the office.  She loves watching all the riding games and meeting new people

Tim agrees and said he loves to interact with the customers and educate them with their rides, apparel and parts.

Konquer Motorcycles has a new mail order program.  They will meet or beat any online pricing.  You can request a quote by calling, emailing or online.

Tim says the number one ailment during the year is tires.  Please always check your tire threads and air pressure.  Be safe first and replace the tires if need be.  They will help you out with basic service.

Konquer Custom Rides is new for them.  They will be doing custom builds, detailing, service and merchandise.  Stop by!

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

Belt Drive Betty

Editor & Rider

URGENT NEWS for Western HOG Rally Goers

Dear rally participants, it is with a very heavy heart that HOG Canada has decided to cancel our rally. 

I am beyond despair. 

Barnes right now is working out a plan of some kind to have a fund raising event at the shop for the evacuees and the riders that are committed already to attend. Stay tuned for more information.

Good morning,

Thank you all for taking the time to be a part of the phone call yesterday afternoon to discuss the H.O.G.® Western Regional Rally. Your comments and feedback were very much appreciated and were all very much taken into consideration when making this decision.

Regretfully, due to the tragic fires currently blazing in British Columbia, Harley-Davidson Canada is cancelling the H.O.G. Western Regional Rally scheduled to take place in Kamloops, B.C. this weekend (July 13 – 15).

Although the fires are presently located a fair distance from Kamloops, the air quality rating in Kamloops is very poor, and therefore dangerous for many people. There is also significant risk posed to those traveling from outside of the region due to the volatility of wildfire and poor air quality throughout the greater region.

To Barnes Harley-Davidson Kamloops, the Rally Coordinator Margaret and to the entire Rally Committee, please know that this decision was not an easy one to make. The extensive time and effort you have contributed to the rally planning and promotion are widely acknowledged and although not to take place this weekend, we certainly hope that there is an opportunity to postpone the rally until after the fires have ceased.

Harley-Davidson has a responsibility to protect our customers and we take the safety and security of each and every one very seriously.

Noting that some riders are already enroute to Kamloops, we would like to suggest that in place of rally events as planned, a fundraiser be organized instead, to take place on what would have been the opening ceremony night. Hopefully this will mean that dollars invested for that particular function can instead be used to support those affected by the fires and that riders whom have chosen to travel to Kamloops, can at least be received and provided an opportunity to support. Harley-Davidson Canada will continue to work closely with the Rally Committee to support further plans as necessary – both with planning and financial resources. Funds raised by H.O.G. members on this evening will be matched by Harley-Davidson Canada.

Barnes Harley-Davidson has generously offered to cover the cost of the catering and band if those services are unable to be cancelled and will utilize those elements to host an open-door community fundraiser, with all donations going to the Red Cross.

Although it is very unfortunate that the Rally will be postponed, we hope that this will serve to keep our H.O.G. members as safe as possible and that for those who do make the choice to travel to Kamloops, that much charity and support for the communities of B.C. will be generated as a result of the fundraisers.

Thank you for utilizing all communication channels to inform rally registrants as immediately as possible.

We will provide a further update on registration reimbursement, cancellation communications, etc. as quickly as possible this morning.

Sincerely,
Karen Mayberry

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