Below is a guest blog entry from Tyler Klassen. He is a STRIDER dad, airline pilot, motorcycle rider, green egg bbq enthusiast, and all around cool guy. On May 16th he held the 2nd annual Riders for Striders charity motorcycle ride and purchased 41 STRIDER Bikes for kids at the Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital….We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, STRIDER Parents are THE coolest!

More great images from the ride are below!

May 16, 2015 – Indianapolis, Indiana

The second annual Riders for Striders charity motorcycle ride took place on May 16th. The local Indianapolis 500 Qualification day was cancelled due to the rain, but Riders for Striders went on! A little rain wouldn’t stop this tough group of charity riders! Registration opened at 9am and the rain showers had moved off, we had cloudy skies and temps in the lower 70s. Cycle Outfitters, our ride starting point host, set up a fantastic spread of free donuts and coffee. The threat of rain for the day didn’t keep registered riders home. At the start of the ride we had 38 motorcycles.  34 Adventure Motorcyclists, and 4 Street Motorcyclists. I believe the forecast kept the street riders home, but everyone who was there had a great positive attitude and was ready to ride and raise some money to get the kids of Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital some Strider Bikes!

We had two routes planned this year for the second annual ride, an Adventure Route (on road/off road) and a Street Route (pavement). We did our ride a little different than most charity rides. Instead of a parade or escorted ride, we had 10 ride leaders with the routes in their GPS. We paired up the riders into groups of 6-8 motorcycles.  This way we can have riders paired up with their experience level. This also allows each group to ride at their own pace, stop where they want, and improved the overall safety of the ride.  

We rode south out of Indianapolis, and headed towards Bloomington, Indiana. RevSport in Bloomington was our lunch stop destination. The ADV group had some creeks to cross, wonderful gravel roads through Yellowwood State Forest, and more gravel through the Lake Monroe area.  One benefit of the  less than ideal weather….the rain showers kept the gravel dust free! 

I was fortunate enough to have my Dad, who flew in from Tucson, AZ for the ride, and my 5 year old son join me in my Ural sidecar rig! Pretty cool to have three generations riding in one machine through the gravel and creeks!

The group met up at RevSport for a donation lunch. Moody’s Butcher Shop in Center Grove, Indiana donated 40lbs of pork for the lunch! 

Just after lunch the rain started to pour!  All riders kept a positive attitude, zipped up their rain gear and headed back out for the north bound portion on the ride.  I was very impressed with all the riders maintaining a positive attitude and just carrying on with the ride like it wasn’t raining! Good waterproof gear really helps too!

The adventure group hit a snag on the north bound route inside of the Hoosier Nation Forest. A tree had fallen across the road.  Now, most riders might let this obstacle ruin their ride, but not this ADV group! The ADV groups just worked together, and since they were riding off road bikes, went around the tree.  Some even said going around the tree made the ride even more fun!

The north bound portion of both routes ended at Taxman Brewing Company in Bargersville, Indiana. Taxman was a fantastic host! They opened up their upstairs area just for the riders.  It was nice to get out of the rain and everyone enjoyed chatting about the ride.  Our total ride distance was 155 miles round trip.  

We raised enough money to purchase 41 additional Striders for the kids of Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital. Planning for next year’s ride has already begun! We are hoping for better weather next year, but I was very impressed with this year’s turn out!  

For more information, ride pictures and videos, or to donate visit www.ridersforstriders.org and www.facebook.com/ridersforstriders

Tyler Klassen

Organizer and Founder of Riders for Striders