Rider down on charity run

[dewie]

This past Saturday we had our annual Christmas Toy run. I debated going this year cause every year it gets a little crazier out there. More morons out there trying to show off and I've seen alot of booze out there. But this year takes the cake.

We get to the starting point, and there are people there with 6 f-ing beers in their hands trying to down them all before we leave. And on the way out I seen a group of people drinking in the ditch. So I decided to ride at the very tail end of the pack to stay out of trouble. Then we leave and people are trying to show off with their loud exhaust and the pack does the accordian effect and most people arn't paying attention.. There was 9xx some bikes, 80% where H.D's, and the rest where wings and sports bikes.

A male rider, (sited at the local pub for a few hours) plowed into a female rider and took down 5-6 bikes. The male rider past away 2 hours later and the female was air lifted and is in critical condition..

At the end of the ride thru town, I seen a hand full of idiots who could barley walk and talk cause they where pissed.
Such a piss off that this needless B.S happens at a large orginized event..
$60,000.00 in toys donated, $8,000.00 in cash and maybe two dead..
Prayers sent to all involved..

[Scar]

What a bunch of tools. Isn't drinking and driving illegal there? Was there no presence of authority?

Great. You show up for a 'charity' and never go home.

Just goes to show you...you cannot take even your next breath for granted.

Crazy.

[dewie]

What a bunch of tools. Isn't drinking and driving illegal there? Was there no presence of authority?

Great. You show up for a 'charity' and never go home.

Just goes to show you...you cannot take even your next breath for granted.

Crazy.

The law here is you cannont drink in in the general public "middle of the street just before a toy run would classifie".. and the police shut down the roads for us, little did they know what kind of upstanding bikers were among us..

[twotonevert]

Wow, that is tragic.

[Zoinks!]

Man, I hate to hear about this. I'm glad, though, that you weren't involved!

[Fate]

That is messed up, that is why I am nervous about any type of group rides involving the Harley "bar" crowds....

[valkyriemc]

Yup -I swore off those get togethers.

[MO-BUSA]

why the hell would you want to drink and drive a motorcycle, let alone any other vehicle, insane to say the least...hope that woman and the other riders involved come out ok...

[Zoinks!]

Prayers sent for those involved.

[Busa1166]

RIP to the guy.. really sad story prayers sent for the other rider.lease:

[BigBSBusa]

Sad that that happened! Prayers sent.

[Wag]

Went on a cancer benefit ride on Sunday which ended at a bar, of all places. People were downing all kinds of booze.

Me and the crew I was ridin' with went to a little burger joint down the street and ate, then headed for the twisties.

I hope nobody has another benefit for some other rider who crashes from getting blitzed and then riding. I won't go to that one.

--Wag--

[UncleSteve]

you can't fix stupid........ it happens all over. Not gonna happen to me attitude and no regard for other riders.

[ambulldog]

precisely why i have never and probably will never attend an organized ride

[UncleSteve]

these people are not motorcyclists, they are people who bought a motorcycle. They will not last long, to bad the damage they cause is so severe and like this story.....permanent.
They should have to knock on a few doors in the middle of the night and tell families there child, mom, dad, sister, brother or entire family was killed by a drunk driver.
If that does not wake them up, nothing will.

[BusaWizard]

That's insane, idiots will never learn, innocent people lives taken are ruined because of senseless stupidity. Pisses me off just thinking about it. Prayers sent to the innocent victims.

[BusaBret]

"Stupid is as stupid does!! Best wishes for the ones he hit!

Come to my town this weekend. The annual Trail of Tears ride is going on. There will be around 30,000 bikes in town for it. There are always several BAD wrecks during this ride.

[rc51ny]

Most guys I know can't even WALK straight after a few brews much less ride a bike. It's for these reasons that I stay away from these kinds of runs. I'll donate money--but won't ride with 'em!

[dawn654]

This past Saturday we had our annual Christmas Toy run. I debated going this year cause every year it gets a little crazier out there. More morons out there trying to show off and I've seen alot of booze out there. But this year takes the cake.

We get to the starting point, and there are people there with 6 f-ing beers in their hands trying to down them all before we leave. And on the way out I seen a group of people drinking in the ditch. So I decided to ride at the very tail end of the pack to stay out of trouble. Then we leave and people are trying to show off with their loud exhaust and the pack does the accordian effect and most people arn't paying attention.. There was 9xx some bikes, 80% where H.D's, and the rest where wings and sports bikes.

A male rider, (sited at the local pub for a few hours) plowed into a female rider and took down 5-6 bikes. The male rider past away 2 hours later and the female was air lifted and is in critical condition..

At the end of the ride thru town, I seen a hand full of idiots who could barley walk and talk cause they where pissed.
Such a piss off that this needless B.S happens at a large orginized event..
$60,000.00 in toys donated, $8,000.00 in cash and maybe two dead..
Prayers sent to all involved..

I was also on this ride and would like to add a few comments.

I've never been on anything like this before and was surprised that the initial gathering place was a bar. We arrived about an hour before the departure and I didn't notice anyone overindulging as you did, but we could just have been in different places - there were a lot of people there.

Like you, we were on a sport bike and chose to ride near the end and I'm glad for that deliberate decision in light of the accident.

As the passenger, one thing I noticed was that the speed wasn't consistent. Every driver needed to be totally vigilant and there were times when there was a sudden slowing (likely related to the accident) and the reflexes needed to be good.

There are comments about a lack of police presence. The ride was led by Alberta sheriffs on bikes, tailed by RCMP and traffic was stopped on the TransCanada and all through Medicine Hat. The RCMP were very visible at the event.

You mention that the deceased biker was sited at the local bar for hours before the ride. Now I don't know who he was, but I've been reading every news article that I've been able to find on the internet for the past few days (which is how I found this forum). A common theme in the reporting is that alcohol was not a factor.

Before you totally condemn this guy, the Harley riders, and the toy run in general, I think that you need to take this into consideration. We all know how easily stories and rumors start.

In such a large group a momentary loss of attention could easily be fatal.

It was a very unfortunate thing to have happen, but it is what it was, and that's an accident.

Let the investigators determine what happened to cause the accident. At this point all we know is that alcohol wasn't a factor.

There haven't been any media updates yet on the woman in serious condition but hopefully she will be okay.

I'm grateful to ride with a man who respects the power of his bike and chooses not to compromise his judgement with alcohol.

[MPH 200]

My Wife & I have done numerous charity rides over the years & have never had a problem. We also surround ourselves w/ others in our group & leave a good distance in front of us for safety. Yes, there are many events that start at Hooters, or bars, & I know what you are talking about. We do the Big Texas Toy Run every year & there are over 60.000 bikes usually w/ no incident. We are doing a charity ride this Saturday to support the troops, & will follow our same routine.

I am sorry there are some bad apples in groups sometimes, but the events can be very enjoyable.