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Motorcycle Safety and Awareness
Welcome to think bike, the podcast about all things motorcycle and the voice of motorcycle safety and awareness in Alberta. Your host is Liane Langlois.
Liane:Hey, everybody. Welcome back to another episode of Think Bike. Today, I'm joined by Angela Kosh from Yubaca, which is the she'll correct me if I'm wrong. Urb Urban Bulldogs Against Kids Abuse. We're gonna we're just gonna talk a little bit about what they do for the community, who they are, and some other fun things they have going on.
Liane:Welcome to the show, Ange. How are you today?
Angela:Hi. I'm good. Thank you. Thanks for having me on your show.
Liane:You're welcome. I know you what's your road name again? Sideshow, right?
Angela:My road name is Sideshow. Yeah.
Liane:It's funny when you meet all the Yubaka people. So of course Mike Reese sits on our board as well. And when you talk Yubaka people to Yubaka people, you have to call them by their road name because not everybody remembers their real name, which is awesome.
Angela:And sometimes we don't answer to our real name because we're used to the road name.
Liane:Right? Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So tell me who Sideshow is and what got you into riding.
Angela:So, yeah, my road name is Sideshow. I'm president of UBACA Edmonton. Side note, my road name was given to me many years ago by my students when I worked at a school. They gave me that that nickname. So then when I joined Eubaca, it seemed fitting to continue with that.
Angela:So that is my road name. What got me into riding? I've only been riding about seven, eight years. My husband got a bike. I rode on the back for a couple well, not even two years.
Angela:And then realized I I really loved it, and I wanted my own. Balance is not my strong suit, so I didn't go on to two wheels. I went on to three. So I have a trike.
Liane:Nice. What do you have?
Angela:I bought a o seven Sportster 1,200, and we got a Frankenstein kit and put it on the back.
Liane:Nice.
Angela:So, it's not a big trike. I didn't wanna bet anything big boxy. So she's a nice little fiery thing. Her name is Ripley, and I she's fun to ride. Love it.
Liane:Where is your that three wheels are completely fun. I'm more of the as long as you're doing what you love to do and can get out there, that's perfectly fine no matter what it is. Even scooters. We'll we'll allow scooters into the conversation. Yeah.
Liane:Where is where is your favorite place to ride?
Angela:So I was thinking about my favorite places, and top on the list is Beartooth Pass. It's in Montana. We've been there a few times because it's just phenomenal. And I would encourage anybody who rides to go to Beartooth Pass. It's crazy, crazy beautiful.
Angela:And then, really, our mountains here in Alberta are stunning to ride through. And every time we go somewhere and we ride through, you know, Saskatchewan Crossing, Lake Louise down Highway 93, it blows me away because it's just so gorgeous there. Yeah. I love the windy roads through mountains. That's my favorite thing.
Angela:Yeah.
Liane:Yeah. I I agree with you on that. And Montana is such a huge state and it has so much in it between Beartooth Pass is probably one of the highest known and then Lolo Pass would be kind of the second one that people tend to head down that way for. It's out of Missoula. But Montana's so big and there's just it's beautiful.
Liane:It's like Alberta. It has every type of terrain from prairies to mountains to canyons to whatever.
Angela:Yeah. Forests, all of it.
Liane:Yeah. Yeah. It's beautiful. It is beautiful. So let's get into Yubaca.
Liane:So when did it start?
Angela:So UBACA Edmonton, I believe is 2014. We do have chapters worldwide. So I don't know exactly when some of the chapters in Europe we have chapters in France. We have Mexico, Sweden, lots of different places worldwide. In Canada, we have you back at Edmonton.
Angela:And currently, we also have Kelowna, Black Falls, Calgary. So Edmonton Two Two Thousand And Fourteen, we've been doing this since then.
Liane:That's pretty cool. Where do you know where it started? Like, did it start in Canada, or did it start
Angela:somewhere? No. It started, I believe, in France. Yeah. That's
Liane:yeah. That would be it's it's weird to have like for me, it's the K should be a C and it should be child, but I mean, it would make sense if it came out of France
Angela:that it's, you know,
Liane:a little different, which is which is all good. And how long have you been a member then?
Angela:I'll be coming up nine years soon. Yeah. So you've been in there since and I are members. Yeah. Yeah.
Angela:Both my husband and I are members. We we found you back at the Edmonton Motorcycle Show way back, and and we're interested. And, yeah, there's no looking back. I'm I love what what we do. I love what we stand for.
Angela:Wouldn't change the last eight years for nothing. It's it's been a really moving experience being a part of Yubaka.
Liane:And correct me if I'm wrong, but I think your husband is the national VP?
Angela:Yep. Yep. He's currently national vice president. Yep.
Liane:That's awesome. So you guys are
Angela:like His real name's geek.
Liane:Geek. Nice. I love it. So you guys are heavily involved in this. And for those of you or those of you out there who do not know what Yubaca is or what they do, and can you tell us a bit about what the supports are that you provide?
Angela:Yeah, of course. So Yubaca, Urban Bulldogs Against Kids Abuse, Our primary focus is to support kids who have been abused physically, emotionally, sexually when they have to face their abuser in court. We go through the whole court process with the child right from hanging out with them before. Usually, we meet up with the family prior to because court takes months and months sometimes. So we make connections with the child and the family.
Angela:When it time comes time for court, we're with the family. We're with the child. We go to court. We sit in the courtroom. We hang out with them outside the courtroom so that they know that they're not alone.
Angela:They've got us behind them. Lots of times, we'll go for breakfast before we try to let the kids have a ride. If it's riding season, they can ride with us to the courthouse. They love that. It gives them that little boost of confidence.
Angela:It's really we're there to to show that child that we believe them, we support them, we've got their back, and they're not alone. We also do fundraising for other organizations that are, like, frontline with domestic violence. So places like Little Warriors, the Today Center, Kids Cottage, We do events. We do bike nights. We do all kinds of things to raise funds for those organizations because we appreciate what they're doing.
Angela:We don't do counseling and therapy and things like that, but there are places that do that. And so we want to help them as well because they're vital to these kids' healing during and after this whole process.
Liane:Yeah, it's a lot to support these young people through difficult times and the more support they have, I feel, yeah, the more confident they are and will probably have a I don't wanna say easier time moving through that trauma, but like that support does really mean a lot. Is there an age limit to the kids that you guys support? Like 18? Yeah.
Angela:Yeah. 18 is our focus. If someone were to come in outside of that age, we would help find them the help that they need. Right? So another thing that we do for the kids as well, it's not just the going to court.
Angela:We like to do you could call them events, get togethers, we hang out, fun things for them. Right? So we'll have an event where we invite our support kids or our junior bull and our junior bulldogs so they can just have a good time. You know, we did an event a few weeks ago. We had a bouncy castle, water balloon fights, hot dogs, hamburgers, all kinds of outdoor games, just so they can come and play and get to know each other and just have a good time.
Angela:So we like to organize those as well throughout the year.
Liane:And you said junior bulldogs. Are those kids that have been supported and then want to become, or what is that
Angela:all That's exactly what it is. So we have junior bulldogs. So kids that we meet and going through the process, however, we're helping them, they can do an application and it's pretty easy. It's not, but it helps them go through a little bit of a process. They fill it out.
Angela:They tell us why they want to be a junior bulldog. And then we provide them with a leather vest, a cut with patches. They get a road name, and then they are part of our family. And then we do events that we invite them to, and they get to they get to be a bulldog with us. Get to meet us all and and get to create relationships with us.
Liane:That's awesome. A lot of, like, the full it's full circle, really. What would you say to the people out there who look at that and don't fully understand? So the ignorant comment would be, oh, you're just there to intimidate the accused. Mhmm.
Angela:Yeah. That is out there. That is not what Ubaca does. We don't get into any intimidation or vigilante type stuff. There are groups maybe that do that.
Angela:We are there for the family, and the family is our only priority. So when we go to court, we don't engage with anybody from the accused side of things. We just stay with our family, and with our child, and that is all that we do.
Liane:That's awesome. Shifting gears on that, who picks the road names?
Angela:For our members, sometimes members will choose their own or they'll have an idea. And if they and they can. And if they don't, then we put it out there for the membership. We have a little discussion, have some fun with it. And same with the juniors.
Angela:Right? Some of them want know what they want, and some of them want us to help find it find that name.
Liane:I mean, I mean, it could be a lot of fun. I wonder what mine would be. I don't think we should have have to work on that. I've been asked a couple times, so what's your road name? And I'm like, Leanne?
Liane:Like, I
Angela:Oh, I'll have to talk to Vader about that. We can find you one.
Liane:I became a member of the Brit Iron Rebels quite a few years ago, and and my name on my sweaters is Leanne. So it's Yeah. It's just what it is. I mean I have
Angela:to get your world name.
Liane:Right. I I have a social media handle that I've used for so long, but it doesn't really translate into English. K. So these events that you guys do, it's like bouncy castles and and stuff like that sounds super fun and a great day for the kids, I'm sure. Do you like, how do you pay for that?
Liane:Like, how do you receive your own financial support for these things?
Angela:Eubaca, we don't so we we ask for help from some businesses. We get sponsorships for events. We don't have an ongoing sponsor at this time anyway. So say when we have an event, we will reach out to businesses that we know, and sometimes they will donate dollars or in kind items to help with events. We do have members pay dues, so we have that as a basis.
Angela:We sell our merchandise. We sell merchandise to get our name out there, but also so that we have a base amount of dollars that we can use to put on events for, say, our juniors and support kids. And then other events that we run, other money that we bring in is raised to give back to other organizations. So things that we raise from our PMS event, our poker runs, our bike nights, all those dollars are given out to other organizations. We don't keep that within Yubaca.
Liane:For those of you listening who may not ride a motorcycle or understand what PMS is, it's not a woman thing. It is parked motorcycle syndrome.
Angela:Thank you.
Liane:We're we're very aware of that, and it gets advertised as PMS because it's usually outside of riding season.
Angela:Yep.
Liane:But I I laughed at that the first time I ever heard that. And I'm like, oh, yeah. No. That that makes sense.
Angela:Yeah. Why are bikers doing that?
Liane:Yeah. Supporting PMS. Yes. Well, I mean, we should because women go through a lot in these days. Anyway, I digress.
Liane:You have an event coming up on July 5. Can you tell me a little bit about what that's about?
Angela:So, yeah, our poker run this year is on July 5, and we are in support of Kids Cottage this year. So Kids Cottage does crisis care for infants and young children when the family is in crisis. So they're one of those for sure frontlines. We've supported them in the past with bike nights. So we are doing our poker run for them this year.
Angela:Our poker run will happen at Rig Hand Distillery in Nisku. So that's where it will start and finish. And yes, we don't have a route set in stone yet. We are also doing this ride in dedicating it to one of our members who passed away this year, Lionel Skelly Mallow. I like to say he's resting now from a life well lived, beautiful human being.
Angela:So our ride is dedicated to Skelly this year. And we also for our poker runs, we've come up with, I don't like the word slogan because it has more meaning than that, but our tag is riding for kids. That's what we do throughout the season. So, yeah, our poker run, July 5 out of Rig Hand. You can find more info about it.
Angela:We have a Facebook page, you back at Edmonton events. And so a lot of our information is on there as well. And registration is nine to 10:30. Kickstands up at eleven. We'll go for a nice ride.
Angela:And, yeah, hopefully, it's a beautiful day and raise some money for kids cottage.
Liane:Well, better be beautiful day because Vader asked if I'd come out to send you guys off on a safe ride. So I'm
Angela:Yes, please.
Liane:Yes. I'm I'm slated to come out and say hi to everybody. I probably won't get on the ride, but I'm more than happy to support and give time to you guys because you do the same for us with For Love of Motorcycles and anything that we ask for, you you guys are always readily available for volunteering for events and it just shows the group of people that you are. You're very focused on this mission of supporting these kids, these vulnerable kids and helping them through some traumatic experiences and giving them confidence, which is great. But you're also very involved in community and giving back with other people as well.
Liane:So thank you for that. I'm so happy that you guys are so involved with everything. I'll be out there for your kickoff to your ride and happy to support you guys in what you guys are doing. Cause I know you guys have always been involved supporting us as well in For the Love of Motorcycles and things like that. And it really does go to show how incredibly involved you are in the community.
Liane:You have your bike nights, you have your poker run, you're giving back, you're supporting these kids through their traumatic events and giving them that confidence. But also, you know, when the call comes out to help somebody else's event, you're you're there. And I say a big thank you for that. The Facebook group again, what was that?
Angela:It's Edmonton events. Yubaca Edmonton events.
Liane:Right. So if you search that on Facebook, you'll find that. Please join that. Outside of that, yubaca.ca, I think, is your main website, which takes you to the different chapters. And in the show notes, we will have the national email address in there for you, which goes to past president, now national president Herbag, who will forward that information on to whichever chapter needs the email that he gets.
Liane:Anything else you want to
Angela:say, Ange? I touch base on what you shared, Leanne, about the community, because again, we also appreciate how you help us. I think it's really important when when lots of us organizations in the motorcycle community can come together, and help each other because that helps the community at large, which helps families, which helps kids, and we share that. And and it makes it more fun to do events, when you know that you can reach out to someone for help and they understand what you're doing, we understand what you're doing. And I think that's a really cool thing within the motorcycle community.
Angela:Absolutely. Enjoy that. I
Angela:would like
Angela:to say, like, you back at Edmonton and lots of the chap all of our chapters. We have some really good members in our group, and I'd like to give a shout out to them. They jump at at helping and doing stuff for these kids and making those connections. Everybody has busy lives, but I know our members still find the time to dedicate themselves to something so meaningful. Even the smallest interaction to a child, we might see it as a small interaction, but it can be huge for them.
Angela:And so I so appreciate the time and the effort and the compassion that our members have for what we do because we couldn't do it if we didn't have members that love what they do. And so that's really awesome.
Angela:I love being a part
Angela:of it.
Liane:Fully agree with that, Ange. I think that is a perfect place to end this podcast. Thank you so much for your time. To everybody else, please hang tight for the mixed bag. On today's mailbag, we have Josh in Edmonton who is asking what is the best way to prepare for a road test?
Liane:So lots of times online, there are a lot of folks looking to get their road test done, and they're asking what are the exam routes or where's the best place to go for an examiner? Thing is, these two things are not static. They change all the time. So best thing you can do, take a course first and foremost. Find someone responsible to help you with some seat time after your course to practice and gain confidence.
Liane:Practice riding in different parts of the city that you live in with your chaperone. Ask your chaperone about specific things like on the exam, like hill starts, parking angles, what lanes do you turn into. Most importantly though, if you're not sure about something on your test day, it is perfectly fine to ask your examiner questions before you go out. Not only do you not get punished, you will actually be seen in a better light as someone taking initiative to gain clarity to be successful. It's viewed as being responsible and that's what they like to see.
Liane:But really though, take a deep breath, do your best, and rock that road test. And that's our show for today. To make sure that you don't miss out on any of our upcoming podcasts or listen to previous ones, make sure you click on subscribe or follow wherever you get yours. If there's a topic you'd like us to cover or a guest you think would be great on the show or even a question for the mailbag, let us know. You can connect with us on all the socials, email us at infoab amss dot org, or reach out through the website at abamss.org.
Liane:Thanks for listening to Think Bike. From us, always remember to ride smart, ride safe, and think bike. See you out on the road.
Bryn:Welcome to think bike, the podcast about all things motorcycle and the voice of motorcycle safety and awareness in Alberta. Your host is Leanne Langlois.