By Laurie Montoya
Tomorrow, May 15th BikerDown will again be hosting their 9th Annual Look Twice Ride and our theme again this year is CAN YOU SEE ME NOW. Motorcycle fatalities are up 33% from 2019 to 137. These are un-imaginable statistic and one that riders hope will not happen to them, however, there is hardly a week that goes by that someone in our network of friends isn’t reported to have gone down or passed from a motorcycle accident.
It is a well-known fact that the public does not watch for motorcycles no matter how many billboards CDOT puts up or lighted signs that are only up a few days in May or in August during Sturgis. It is a well-known fact that most motorcycle accidents involve a car and/or some sort of distracted driving. Distracted Driving comes in many forms including texting/driving, use of handheld mobile devices while driving, putting your makeup on while the vehicle is moving, looking in the back seat at your kids, eating while driving to changing the radio station.
Our riding community continues to be the victim of irresponsible drivers who are out driving with no driver’s license and little to no insurance and driver’s leaving accident victims on the ground and leaving the scene. Driver’s change lanes without looking and run stop signs/lights, hit the biker, and keep on going.
We are asking all riders who have been injured in a motorcycle accident or know of someone who is currently hospitalized from an accident, riders who have lost a loved one on the bike to STAND with us on Saturday, May 15th and show this community of drivers to WATCH FOR US!
Riders will need to pre-register for the ride to guarantee themselves 1 of our motorcycle awareness t shirts. T-shirts will be available the day of the event in limited sizes. Registration is $25.00 per rider. Each rider who pre-registers will get 1 free month of motorcycle roadside assistance sponsored by Motorcycle Towing Services.
Our ride will start and end this year at Dirty Dogs Roadhouse in Golden with kickstands up at 10-10:30 am. The Look Twice ride is known for great rides routes and safety is always key for this event. Dirty Dogs will have some great entertainment for our event, and our sponsors and biker community always donate great raffles and 50/50 drawings prizes.
Our sponsor for the ride is again Rider Justice. For over 8 years, Scott O’Sullivan from RiderJustice.com has supported this event as well as BikerDown Foundation to ensure that injured motorcycle riders have a resource to go when they go down.
This is BikerDown Colorado’s primary fundraiser that will enable us to continue the mission of helping injured riders until the end of the year!