I'm probably not going to be too popular today.

The results are in on our 6th Annual Beat the PMS Blues Online Show ‘n’ Shine.

We will announce the winners in the newsletter that your newspaper comes in, tomorrow morning.

I will be contacting the winners and organizing for their prizes to go out. 

I have some things to say, they are hard to say but they must be said.

There are a few people who made this, our sixth annual - FREE Show 'n' Shine hard to deal with - they took all of the fun out of it for me.  

You see I truly love seeing all of the entries and knowing what my friends and other community members ride. I get a kick out of it and it really does ease up some of the dreadful PMS that I suffer with - Parked Motorcycle Syndrome, for those not in the know.

When we do it again next year there will be some measures put in place just for those who think they need to win at all cost.  Or they think someone is cheating so they should too, to win.

People do not seem to understand the power of social media and if one person has lots of friends voting for them, their tallies go up - fast. 

There is a right way and a wrong way to win. This is the right way, getting your FRIENDS to vote for you.

Everyone was encouraged to contact us if they had any issues. 

Many people did, their problems or challenges resolved, one rider had friends that Sasktel was blocking from accessing our site for some unknown reason, he emailed us, we verified the problem and worked through friends, to get the issue with Sasktel resolved, and he gave us the names and phone numbers of people who were having trouble voting for him and he was given the appropriate number of votes.

We verified that their IP's had been showing up consistently and then all of a sudden all 5 stopped.

We do everything in our power to keep it fair and real.

We can tell you if some one is cheating or not by the IP addresses that they use and the time stamp.

When someone has 50 or 60 friends voting for them and they all have different IP addresses – there is no cheating.

However when you see the same IP on the show 'n'shine page 25 and 30 times a day.... 

We remove those votes, we email the offender and tell them they were removed – so there really was no point to the effort. And this of course, would therefore be, the wrong way to try to win.

The reason I no longer do calendar contests is for a similar sort of reason.

Back biting, name calling, horrid, horrid behavior from people who are supposed to be adults and of course the attempts at cheating.

I hold contests for FREE – the prizes, we spend hours and days gathering, the labor it takes to host a contest is mind numbing - we do it because we want to have some fun, lighten things up – we have enough grief and enough challenges to deal with every day as riders and people. 

Does it help our business – yes, but my primary purpose, especially with this contest, is to have some FUN.

BUT - there comes a time when one really has to look at the whole thing and ask yourself – is it worth it?

Our community is based on the fundamental principles of life – being respectful is one of them and another is standing up for what you believe in.

Well I believe in fair play.

I believe that if I don’t like what someone has to say, I don’t need to take it in to my soul and then lash out hatefully. 

I believe that if someone is a jerk, you don’t keep poking them – you walk away and give them no energy.

Soon enough, they go away.

These are but a few of the core and fundamental values of being a good human being, I believe.

I have never pussyfooted around an issue that was important to me, much in my life.  

I listen to other people’s opinions, I decide what if anything they have to say resonates with my core values, makes sense to me on any level and look to understand their point of view, but understanding their point of view and adopting it or taking it into my soul are two different things. Understanding lets me hopefully find a better way of working towards a resolution to a challenge but I do not have to take that person's viewpoint on as mine in order to work to a resolution.

AND I am not pussyfooting around this issue either.

RESPECT is one word that I believe in and the disrespect shown to Ali who busts her hump, our sponsors who supply the prizes blows my mind.  

As the idiot who does all of the legwork; the obtaining sponsors, the emails and letters, the promoting – I am just discouraged. 

Next year will be far, far different.

We will be putting in every safe guard we can find to ensure a FRIENDLY AND FUN contest. 

And if we can’t find a way to prevent the nastiness – then we won’t be doing it again. 

I do not get paid enough to put up with some of the situations I have been put in over this.

This was supposed to be a fun thing. 

But there were some people who took the fun out of it for me.

That won’t happen again – I do not do things like this unless they make people feel good. PERIOD.

Belt Drive Betty,

Editor & Rider

IT REALLY IS ABOUT THE RIDE...

Taking the things we love for granted.

I love my husband. But there are times when, like every other human being out there, I take him for granted and some days that shoe is on the other foot. And then you get a diagnose of Multiple Sclerosis and your world changes – you are challenged with the loss of many things – your spouse – your relationship, your security…

All of a sudden you are in gratitude mode and guilty mode all at the same time.  And then things improve, and life returns to a new version of normal and you slowly start taking time for granted, them for granted, until the next scare…we humans can be hard learners.

Our motorcycles are another love that sometimes we take for granted. 

It doesn’t mean we don’t love them to distraction; it’s just that we have become comfortable that they will always be there for us. Until someone threatens to take our love away…

The recent request for a rate increase by SGI has taught us all something, I hope.

We need to reconnect with the love of our machines and the utter feeling of freedom and empowerment they bring.

One person on the R.A.G.E. Facebook page expressed the love for his motorcycle as one of massive joy.

What a great way to describe riding.

This has gotten me to thinking about our community, the community of motorcyclists, I don’t care if it’s a 50cc dirt bike, and enduro, a sport bike a drag bike or a cruiser, a Honda, a Yamaha, a Kawi or a Harley etc. etc. etc.

There are things that most of us have experienced in our life as riders that connect us on some levels and if we could find the right things to connect on, we could erase our own prejudices in our community first.

Then we could work on the outside world seeing us differently.

So I came up with a short list of things that might connect us…

You might be a biker if…

You and your machine have encountered many kinds of riding conditions from torrential rain to snow and all things in between.

You and your machine feel like you are a part of each other. There is a bond.

You have encountered friend and foe by the very nature of the receptions you have gotten from those who don’t ride.

You and your machine have endured countless political debates over whether or not you are gang members or if that patch you choose to wear is legit or not.

You and your machine have had discriminatory bylaws put in place to muffle you, the only noisemaker in the vehicular world. (Said sarcastically.)

You and your motorcycle have ever been restricted as to where you can and cannot compete or ride – referring to the recreational land use issues being faced in Saskatchewan and Alberta.

You have ever had your charity fundraiser affected by laws, discrimination, and misconceptions.

You have ever had insurance premiums threaten to cost you your ride. You might be a biker…

Our brothers and sisters in Saskatchewan are facing a challenge that the rest of us need to feel – to own. 

Their freedom to choose a motorcycle, as a method of transportation, is being threatened.

We need to understand that we live in a political world – like it or not and those politics have the power to take our passion, our freedom, our life line to sanity, a part of our identity, our entire lifestyle away from us unless we unite and do something proactive - it will be taken away from us.

This is not in the distant future people and I am not being a fear monger.  The danger is real and it is imminent.

It is time that we began working together. That we began in earnest to share the issues each town, each region, each province and territory is experiencing and help each other to protect and preserve our lifestyle, our right to choose to ride.

Do you need any more examples before you realize that I am speaking the truth?

Our very way of life is being threatened and I don’t care HOW you love that motorcycle be you a trials rider or a drag racer, a motocross rider or a cruiser/touring rider, adventure rider or road racer.

Never more than now, has there been a time to educate our fellow rider about their actions and how they affect the greater good.

Never more than now has there been a reason to share, talk, communicate and UNDERSTAND that even if the fight is not your fight – IT IS YOUR FIGHT.

Every time one segment of our community looses it’s freedoms or is in someway unfairly restricted, it undermines our Charter Rights and takes us all one step closer to walking …

Everywhere you look, our rights are under siege, our freedoms are being restricted – we can’t take on all of the challenges, but we, the riding community could lead the way in showing other communities how to work together and how to protect our cherished way of life.

There is an old saying that you never truly appreciate what you have until it is gone.

Remember that with freedom comes obligation – the obligation to remember that our rights and freedoms stop when they infringe upon those of another.

We need to learn to share our world and that is becoming harder to do the bigger the population becomes.

Something I want you all to ponder and consider.  Is riding a motorcycle important to you?

Do you finally believe that it CAN happen to us – the bureaucrats really can take our lifestyle from us – and do you understand that we have to let them first! 

If you are with me, that we need to somehow get organized on a national basis – then email me at bdbetty@gmail.com with the subject being Riders Rights.

In the mean time I invite you to help R.A.G.E. inSaskatchewan by buying one of our patches - $2 from every patch sold will go to help them get up an running financially – these guys and galls are shaking the Saskatchewan government hard and really need the boost that outside support from their family Wind members in other provinces can offer…

I leave you with a few funnies shared with me by friends on Facebook and via emails...

Have a fantastic weekend everyone and please do one thing for me...go look at your motorcycle, remember the sun, the rain, the wind, the scenery, the empowerment, the freedom and ask yourself one question - what would happen to me if I couldn't ride my motorcycle?

Belt Drive Betty

Editor & Rider

We "bikers" can rest easy

The Oxford Dictionary has changed it's definition of the word "biker"!

Begin Quote: 
The Oxford English Dictionary has revised its current definition of bikers as "hairy" and wearing "dirty denim" after motorcyclists complained that the description does not do them justice.
Citing new figures, they claim that bikers are now more likely to be short-haired, clean shaven and tattoo-free.

They hold up motorcycling fans like David Beckham and Princes William and Harry as an example of how bikers have changed, and are not now typically, as the OED states, "a member of a gang: a long-haired biker in dirty denims."

According to a recent survey, less than 9 percent of bikers now have long hair, while 42 percent do not have any tattoos, piercings, facial hair or gang markings.

Ceding to pressure, the OED has changed its definition of "biker" to "a motorcyclist, especially one who is a member of a gang or group: a biker was involved in a collision with a car." End Quote

Isn't that refreshing!

Isn't that a clear and all encompassing description of bikers?

Doesn't that clear up all of the confusion and controversy?

I'd love your thoughts on this one...

The news feeds are relatively quiet this morning, however there is a great article under the Lifestyles/Music Category, it is complete with some of the tracks from a new album by Wayne Hancock called "Ride"

Also under the Lifestyles Category - Lifestyles/Motorcycle Events International, there is a great write up about that motorcycle riding Archbishop, Thomas Wenski, who lead a 90 mile motorcycle poker run from St. Richard Catholic Church in Palmetto Bay and organized by the Archdiocese of Miami.

I find it interesting that St. Richard Catholic Church would pick a poker run for their first ever event - I wonder if the poker run will become the new BINGO of riding Catholics? (Being said totally in fun...)

That's what's fit to print so far today. Check out our website: www.beltdrivebetty.com throughout the day as I have not listed all of the news articles from today or the weekend - only one's that caught my eye and we update the feeds 2-3 times per day!

I leave you with a few giggles to start the week off right...laughter - it's good for the soul.

Thanks to my friends on Facebook and who shared with me via email!

Have a fantastic Monday everyone.

Belt Drive Betty,

Editor & Rider

Saskatchewan Riders - teaching us all a lesson in unity

Saskatchewan gets a bad rap as a place to live and ride.

The infrastructure in the province is deplorable, everyone in the world seems to think the place is flat and boring when that is far from the case.

People poke fun of Saskatchewan for a variety of reasons but I am here to tell you this...

In just a few days this provinces riders have united in a way that the rest of the country could stand up and take notice of.

While they have an enormous amount to do in a short period of time, the riders are getting the job done.

The have been FLOODING SGI with petitions, letters, phone calls and emails.
They have been getting media attention and they are gathering strength in numbers.

These people are united in a way that I have not seen happen in a long while and I hope that they can sustain it because we here in Canada need a role model on what being a lobby force can look like and accomplish.

I, like many riders will be waiting to hear the outcome of the town hall meetings, and getting the response to my questions on behalf of R.A.G.E.

We need to support this group if in any way possible - buy a patch, donate, join their Facebook Group - offer advice, support or funds...

These guys and dolls should be looked on as a huge inspiration - it can be done, we can unite, we can work for better solutions than the ones that are too often forced upon us.

We have a new fight brewing in Southern Alberta where recreational riding lands are being threatened and low and behold - SASKATCHEWAN has almost gotten their law passed with NO PUBLIC INPUT.

If Southern Alberta riders can muster the same kind of unity of numbers and willingness to put forth a little effort, we might just be on a roll.

I find it difficult to understand why Edmonton area riders are not united in challenging discrimination of riders, but perhaps, just perhaps, we can re ignite the passion to right wrongs...by seeing others in united action.

There are many other great stories in the news feeds today - please visit www.beltdrivebetty.com where our work is keeping You informed to read about what may affect your day or life...

I leave you with a few funnies shared with me by friends on Facebook and via emails - laughter - levity - it's needed today!

For all you in the Grande Prairie AB region - David Wilcox is on stage tonight at Dukes - $45 per ticket - doors open at 8pm! Hope to see you there!

Have a great weekend everyone.

Belt Drive Betty
Editor & Rider

First Interview with SGI's Don Thompson

I had my first interview with Don Thompson the VP of products for SGI. (Saskatchewan Government Insurance)

As many of you have probably heard, our brothers and sisters in Saskatchewan are up against the hard wall of massive rate hikes if SGI's request is met with favour. (Up to 400%)

Statistics as we all know can be generated in any way you want them to appear.

You can compare year over year "accident" payouts for a category and say they have gone up 15% and not say that the group affected grew by 100%.

So instead of doing the usual type of interview with the man, I decided to simply ask for the facts, the hard numbers and guess what. I had to email him with a list of questions to get answers on and the facts sent back to me.

I had asked members of R.A.G.E. (Riders Against Government Exploitation) for a list of questions they wanted answers to and then did my best to ask as many of their questions as possible.

Here is the letter of request that I sent out following my brief discussion with Mr. Thompson.

Dear Don,

Thank you for speaking with me today,

Here are the questions and the answer or information I seek.

Q: How many motorcycle claims were there is 2010? 2011?

Q: How much is the average motorcycle claim? 

Q: How much is the cost of the claims?

IE - What is the amount for the claim as opposed to the costs to administer the claim.

Q: What was the total amount paid out on motorcycle claims? We hear that $9 million was the short fall - what is the total?

Q: What the increase is for motorcycle accidents/injuries/costs over the last 10 years

Q: Cars, pickups and SUV's/Mini Vans account for how many road users?  

Q: And what percentage of claims?

Q: What is the average claim for an auto collision.

Q: How much is the cost of the claims?

IE - What is the amount for the claim as opposed to the costs to administer the claim.

Comment: In Alberta we have PL/PD coverage that you can purchase which offers section B benefits for wage loss and out of pocket expenses.

Q:Why are Saskatchewan riders not offered a similar option?

Comment: There are 165 claims involving bicycles according to TIAS Report

Q: What portion of these claims go back to motorcyclists assuming it is divided by all 31 classes to bear the cost. 

Q: Is the actual number of bicycle claims higher or lower?

Comment: You claim the 53% of motorcyclists are at fault in collisions.

Request: What data can I see to verify that fact?

Request: How many motorcycles were involved with Animal collisions?

Request: How many motorcyclists were hit in left hand turning situations?

Q: Has SGI considered the damage to the motorcycle industry, the dealership, the staff if no motorcycles were sold?

Q: Has SGI considered the impact to the environment if there are fewer motorcycles and more large resource using vehicles on the road?

The documents I included in my request so that we were dealing with the same information are:

I am looking forward to the man's email back to me and will give you what he has to say when I have it.

The questions I did get answers to where:

Q: Does the Ticket Surcharge go into the Auto Fund?
A: Yes.

Q: According to the TIAS Report there are 11,747 motorcycles registered and yet you state 25,000 motorcycles in your radio comments.

A: The number of 11,747 is called Earned Exposures

Definition:
EARNED EXPOSURES

Exposures are a measure of what is being insured. For example, an insured vehicle is an exposure. The term earned means that the exposures were in fact at risk of a loss in the period in question. For example, if a vehicle is insured as of July 1, 2008, then during the 2008 Accident Year, this would represent an exposure of 1/2 to the insurance company.

Q: What about exploring mandatory rider training and giving discounts to this who take training?
A: It is something that has been discussed and has some possibilities.

According to Mr. Thompson the TAIS Report is not the data they use for determining claims so I have to wait until he can provided the data that SGI uses.

That's what is fit to report right now - when I have more I will be passing it along.

Have a great day everyone

Belt Drive Betty
Editor & Rider