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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. And on this week, we are celebrating Calgary Motorcycle Club's one hundredth anniversary, which is something you probably don't hear about often unless you live in Calgary. So I am being joined by Wade Youngman, who is the tour director, and Kevin Cholowsky, who's the social media guy with the Calgary Motorcycle Club. Welcome, guys.
Wade:Welcome. Thank you.
Liane:It's nice to have you both here. I am gonna first start before we get into the CMC, and that's how we're gonna refer to it because it's a lot of syllables otherwise. Wade, you've been riding a really long time. Like, what got you into riding?
Wade:I've been riding fifty five years. My my father rode, and my older brother who's five years older than me, he rode as well. And I I would say it was him that kinda got me going, you know, as a as a younger sibling and you see your brother on this beast of a machine and and it it gets you kind of excited and it's something you wanna do. And I watched him go through probably three bikes before I got my first one. And, you know, it was I could hardly wait until I was old enough to do it.
Wade:So
Liane:That's amazing. And then you married a woman who loves to ride as much as you do.
Wade:Thirty five years ago, I did that. And, you know, so I was lucky enough to find a woman that that rode. So which when you're out in the road, you're thankful for that every day.
Liane:That's amazing. Because you guys are you guys are great. I've known you a long time now. But Kevin, I don't know as well, but we do know each other a little bit. What got you into riding?
Kevin:I started riding when I was eight years old out on the family farm. My mother purchased a dirt bike for my brother and I, and from the moment I got on that thing, I was hooked. Every time I would crash, I would dust myself off and try to fix the bike before my father saw it. Otherwise, he'd freak out and take the bike away. So, yeah, just grew up on it and and had been riding almost ever since.
Kevin:Took a big gap when my kids were born and were being raised. So there was a pretty big window of lack of bikes, but back into it, pretty common story, really.
Liane:It was the whole thing from the dirt bikes on the farmland to taking a break when you get married. That seems to be a common thread for those who have children anyway. Back to you, Wade. Where are some of your favorite places that you've gone riding?
Wade:Gotta say the Kootenays is one of the top ones for me. I also love the Black Hills Of South Dakota. I went to Sturgis for forty two years straight, and I just absolutely love it there. So riding through the Black Hills, it's it's something special. So
Liane:I think that I would like to go down to the Sturgis area, but not during Sturgis. That seems to be a little too much for me.
Wade:Yeah. It's a it's a lot to handle. Yeah. Lot of motorcycles. So
Liane:And a lot of not smart decisions, I would say.
Wade:Yeah. I agree.
Liane:Yeah. And then we'll end that there. Kevin, where do you like to go riding?
Kevin:You know, I must admit now that I've got my KLR, I really like going onto the fire roads up in the mountains. That brings me back to my eight year old self ripping around the farm, and that that really presses a lot of buttons. But, you know, I also do a eight hour, 800 kilometer drone out to Saskatchewan every now and again, and I enjoy that too. But, yeah, the the dirt and the and the tracks, that's that's back on the farm again. So
Liane:You know, there's a lot of people who don't appreciate the beauty that Saskatchewan can give you even though it's pretty straight roads most of the time. There's little gems, and then, like, there's something about the openness of the prairies. Yeah.
Kevin:It's a thing, for sure. Unless you're from there, you probably don't understand it. But for us, we lived in Ontario for a while, and it trees everywhere, you can't see anything, you get a little claustrophobic out on the prairie. It's like you can breathe again. Yeah.
Liane:Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. I grew up in Saskatchewan, so I have a I have a appreciation for the different types of crops and the way that that smells when you're passing by things or the different colors and and all that in the grain elevators. And I can just see Wade with a camera taking pictures of everything because it's just a different type of beauty.
Liane:Yeah. So let's talk a little bit about this Calgary Motorcycle Club thing. Like, Wade, when did this start? Like, where did it come from?
Wade:Well, Kevin and his wife have been doing a lot of research this last year as and I've been digging into records that I have. And we've always been under the the thoughts that we had. It was founded in 1926, everything that we knew to date. But the research that we've uncovered, our actual start date was 1911. So we're actually a 115 years old and not a 100 years old.
Wade:So
Liane:That's insane. Who started it though? Like, Kevin, did you find that out?
Kevin:Yeah. So on Saturday, 03/25/1911, there was a meeting held in Calgary on 1st Street Southeast, and there was essentially three motorcycle dealers. The primary dealer was RS Motorcycles run by Fred Sanguine, which the 1912 became the Indian garage. Leslie Monroe was the second fellow. We had the Excelsior dealership, and Herbert Trail had a dealership as well dealing with Bradbury and a number of different kinds of motorcycles.
Kevin:So those three dealers got together and decided it would be a good idea to have a club to help promote motorcycling, and to build a relationship with riders and so forth. And they also decided that racing was gonna be an important part of their marketing strategy. So they had good relationships with the Calgary Daily Herald because of the advertising they did for their businesses. So they convinced the Daily Herald to put on the very first motorcycle race in Calgary, which was held in the summer of nineteen eleven out at Victoria Park, which is now Stampede Grounds. So the very first race happened in 1911, and it continued on ever since.
Kevin:And it's a it's been going since then.
Liane:So it started with three business people as dealers. When did it become more community based versus being dealer run?
Kevin:Well, that that took that that evolution was slow over a long period of time. In fact, it it wasn't until so the Indian garage turned into Star Motorcycles, and then Star Motorcycles migrated into the Harley Davidson service station, and then Clyde Paul bought that, started Harley Davidson sales, and the dealership was the hub the whole time. Now in '19 now that went from 1935 all the all the way to 1957 when Clyde retired and sold his Harley dealership to Bob Cain senior. When that happened, the when that happened in 1957, the club bought a small clubhouse and had it moved out to the Pascapoo Slopes. So that was the hub for the thing the whole time, and then it went from there to Chestermere and so on and so on.
Kevin:And people are familiar with the Chestermere forward story since most have been alive at that time. So it was really Clyde Paul's stewardship starting in about '32 all the way to '57. He was a lot more hands off. He was he was more like, I'm gonna do the dealership. I'll help you and support you guys.
Kevin:He was an avid competitor. He just wanted to be on the the competition committee and that sort of thing. So from that thirties on, it was always a rider that was president. It was riders that were treasurers, this sort of thing. And it kind of it really built that community minded spirit.
Kevin:So when in '57, when he retired and the club got the clubhouse, it was no big deal. It was, oh, crap. We need somewhere else to meet, and it just continued on. And now today, it's like we don't even think of the dealers per se as being central to the club. But honestly, I'm not sure if we if any club survives that long without having some sort of a base foundation.
Kevin:I think that was an important thing to in particular to get us through the wars, World War one, World War two, this sort of thing. So as as as wonderful as it is to be community based now, I certainly do respect what happened in the past, and I'm kinda happy for what happened in the past because of it.
Liane:Yeah. It's kinda similar to an event that Wade comes to that I run every summer. It used to be like it was a Triumph dealer kinda based event, and then it got switched over and then landed with me for the last twelve years. And I mean, if we can last a 100, that'd be great. I won't be there to see it, but we'll figure it out.
Liane:So Wade, what kind of things does the Calgary Motorcycle Club do?
Wade:Well, during the summer, we we have our we run two rides. We have one meeting a month, two rides a month, which I usually organize. We do poker runs. We do treasure hunts. We do just rides.
Wade:We do one of our more famous ones is our annual bug run where we go out and we I put a target on headlights and motorcycles, and and we go for a nice long, usually a two, three hundred k ride. And then we come back and decide who's got the bug closest to the bull's eye. So it's always a fun one. And then I have I have some goof goofy prizes for people. And like I say, we do a lot of a lot of historical type stuff as well.
Wade:We'll ride to different places and, you know, check out local historical sites around Calgary. And and in the wintertime, we're active. We try to keep active. We do fun things. We have pool tournaments.
Wade:We we mini golf, indoor mini golf. We, you know, go to movies. If it's got a motorcycle and a movie, we go to it. All kinds of things like that. Mean, we need something that.
Liane:I need something like that where I'm at because it just sounds way too fun. It is. I gotta do a bug run. That would be super cool. How many members do you guys have, Kevin?
Kevin:We've got between fifty and fifty five members that are that are active and come to meetings and go on rides if they're able.
Liane:Cool.
Kevin:And that number has been fairly consistent for quite quite a while. I mean, there were days back when we were racing and had racing divisions where the numbers were in the hundreds, and Wade can tell you about the days of the touring division where the touring division had hundreds as well. So
Wade:In the early eighties, we went from about 15 to 20, And I was president of the club at one point, and we were well over a 100 members. So it we're quite active that way. We had a lot lot of people out.
Liane:That's pretty cool because, like, just to keep your numbers, you know, up there and just having people active in the club as well. Like, sometimes people become members of something and drop off and you know, so it's nice to see the active part of it. Okay. So thinking it was a 100, turns out it's a 115, which is pretty cool. And I know back towards the end of July, you guys had a huge celebration.
Liane:Who wants to start off with what you guys did? Because I understand it was a whole weekend of fun.
Wade:Okay. I'll start off. So the celebration was two years in the works. Very seriously, the last year, we really got into it. And planning the event, Kevin was was on the committee.
Wade:We had a few other people on there as well. And we decided that we wanted to be kinda hands off for us as much as possible so we could enjoy the event as well. So we rented a big room at the Doubletree Inn here in Calgary, and we planned a Friday night meet and greet. And then we had Saturday, which on at that meet and greet, we had a huge display of old memorabilia going way back all right through up until today, which took up an entire wall in in the facility. It was pretty impressive.
Wade:And then we Saturday morning, we did a breakfast for everybody. And then Saturday afternoon, we did a poker run. We went, I think, 268 kilometer poker run Nice. Back to the back to the hotel. And then we took a little bit of a break, and then we went and we had a banquet.
Wade:And and then Kevin did a presentation there on the the history of the club for those that didn't know. We revealed our that we aren't a 100 years old, that we're a 115 years old. And one of the fun things we did was I I wanted to have an icebreaker, so we started off and Kevin plays guitar. I can't sing and I can't play guitar, but that didn't matter. So we had Kevin play guitar, and we started off with I don't wanna pickle.
Wade:I just wanna ride my motorcycle song by Arlo Guthrie. So that got the whole room going, and everybody was singing. And we did a few choruses of that, and that kinda loosened everybody up. And then we we had a a great meal and and stuff. And then on Sunday, we had a show and shine, and that went really extremely well.
Wade:We had a lot of bikes out for it. Every participant got a certificate for participating in it with our hundred year anniversary logo on it. And then we give away some really beautiful plaques. And I think everybody went away with the weekend. We had nothing but positive comments.
Wade:So it was it was really, really a good deal.
Liane:I was following it on the socials, and it looked like you guys had a, like, an amazing time. So, Kevin, everybody who was there, were they members, or were the outsiders allowed to come too?
Kevin:Well, the the main event was it was really a member and past member type of thing. I mean, otherwise, it's kinda like going to somebody's wedding, and you don't know who they are getting married. So it's it was people that have been in the club. We had we had members that have been in the club back in the seventies, eighties, this sort of thing. We had members of the club come that were really kinda racers and still are racers now, but they came to our they they came to our function as well.
Kevin:So it was really all people that really had a connection of some sort to the Calgary Motorcycle Club, other than a connection to really following the countdown and getting engaged in that whole process with some of the history that we were sharing during the countdown and and that sort of thing. So and then on Sunday, it was a free for all. Everybody everybody was welcome to bring a bike. So a lot of people that have never been part of the club brought their motorcycle because they were excited about participating and showing off their bike and being part of our hundredth celebration and getting their certificate, which was pretty damn cool. And Yeah.
Kevin:And that sort of thing as well. So so the public did that. And then we had a lot of families that donated and loaned items for us to create that massive display. So during during a point on the day, all of those families or many of the families that donated items came in, they got to see the whole display, and they got to talk to club members, and that was a really special thing as well for them as well as for us. So there was a lot of connections happening with people that have had a connection to this club at some point over the last hundred and fifteen years.
Wade:One of the fellows that came out was 93 years old, And he allowed us to to have his photos and to show his stuff, and we got to tell his story, which was was pretty cool.
Liane:That's that sounds like so much history in one room, and, you know, it's always nice to see where things come from. With all these people that got super engaged in your social media channels and stuff leading up to this, What does it take for somebody to become a member of the CMC?
Wade:I'll take that one. One of the things that we like people to do is to come out to a a meeting or two and a ride or two, and first off, find out if we are for you and vice versa. So we don't wanna just take people's money and say, nay. There you go. Now you're a member.
Wade:As you mentioned earlier, you really appreciated the fact that they're active members. Mhmm. Not just a name on a list. We really like to have active members. So by doing you know, coming out and checking us out, and and we can check you out and kinda thing and and go for a ride or two.
Wade:And, you know, we don't with that hundred year history, there's been safety has always been a huge part of it. And that's something that we really stress is the safety end of it. So, you know, by coming out for a ride or two, we can check out you as well and as a rider, and and make sure that you're not doing silly things that we don't want in a group ride. So
Liane:And I was that was what I was going to ask next is if you're accepting new members in, Wade, like, you have to have safety as a priority if you have at least 50 active members at all times. Like, what do your group rides look like when you're doing tours?
Wade:So doing a tour ride, I first off, I assess who's in the group. If I've got I look at, you know, more inexperienced riders. I I try to place them within the group where they're in a safe spot and that they can they can learn from the riders in front of them, typically. You know, I I look at the bikes. If you got bold tires, you're not riding with us.
Wade:If you've got, you know, safety issues that I can obviously see, then you're not riding with us. So we we kinda scrutinize that way as well because you're in a group, and if something goes wrong with your bike and in that group setting on a group ride, it could be catastrophic. So we've been touch wood. We've been very successful at running running the rides over the years and not having incidents. So I'm quite proud of that fact.
Wade:So we we will split the group up as well into smaller groups. So we're not one usually, typically, one massive group, you know, like Gunnar or poker run that we just ran. We had 29 bikes out for that. And, you know, that 29 bikes strung out in the highway, so it takes up a lot of space and cars get impatient and things like that. So we, you know, we we always stress too in in situations like that that they're the cars are bigger than you.
Wade:There are lots you know, if they're gonna move you, they're gonna move you. So don't try to maintain your your plane position all the time. If a car you see a car come and move, you know, because they they will move you if you don't move. So safety is is definitely a priority.
Liane:Kevin, do you have anything to add to that on the safety front?
Kevin:Yeah. I mean, safety was one of the primary reasons why I chose to ride and join the Calgary Motorcycle Club. I mean, I had been on some rides with other groups while I was looking for people to ride with, and I didn't feel comfortable. They were riding too close together. They're riding way too fast, well beyond the the limitations and buffers of the law, if you will think of it that way, I guess.
Kevin:And I was just uncomfortable, but I was immediately comfortable with the Calgary Motorcycle Club. The group has nothing to prove. Nobody's there trying to be the big man and the big racer, the the crazy racer lady. There's an avenue for that, but it's not on a group ride, and and so forth. So and also keep in mind that, yeah, we've got a lot of members, but not necessarily every member comes on every ride.
Kevin:You know, people travel and have lives and schedules. So some and if the weather is bad, sometimes it might be four of us on the ride. If the weather is great and everyone's around, sometimes we have 25 on a ride. So it just it just depends on a variety of of factors like that. But if we've got four, we've got 40, we treat it the same way.
Kevin:Like Wade said, he he keeps us safe, and he thinks about those things and doesn't get us into situations that are crazy. And we have members that don't get themselves into situations that are crazy. So
Liane:I I I sorta took offense to the crazy racer lady.
Wade:Oh, I was waiting for that one. Kidding.
Kevin:No. They see that you race in a in a safe and proper environment. I highly doubt you do so on the white mud.
Liane:No. No. Never.
Kevin:That was my point. You don't do it on the white mud or Highway 2 like some people try to do.
Liane:Time and place. Time and place. So Wade, do you do kind of you've watched me at the raid when we do the Friday group ride thing, and I stand up on my proverbial soapbox and tell people how that day's gonna go. Do you do that for every ride that you guys do, like that pre ride safety talk?
Wade:Yeah. I usually do a quick, like, quick briefing on it. Let people know how we're gonna ride staggered formation. You know? You you how you ride on on that day on my ride, I want you to ride the way I want you to ride on your own time, and I that's a whole different deal.
Wade:But on my ride, I I want you to ride the way I want to see it. You know? And we keep everybody. Everybody goes for the ride. Everybody come home.
Wade:So comes home from the ride safe. So that's that's one of the things that we do stipulate. So so there is a a safety end of it in there always.
Liane:I and that's appreciated because it does sound like well, I I know how you function, so I know it's it's gonna be a a well put together ride. Kevin, is there like a generation coming up under you guys that is gonna carry on the tradition of the Calgary Motorcycle Club?
Kevin:Well, that is certainly the plan. We do have members that don't have nearly as much gray hair as I have or Wade has, if that's what your question is. So I
Liane:was being polite.
Kevin:Well, it's the truth. I mean, it's the reality of the room, and it's something something we all you know, we always consider and and that sort of thing. But you know what? You know, there was a period of time when I kind of really wondered about it, but I don't wonder about it so much anymore. Just seeing the number of people that are interested, and that come out, and everybody's welcome, no matter your background or your experience level with motorcycling or your age.
Kevin:And the more that we do that, the greater the mix that we're gonna have of people. And as long as the philosophy is there, that we're there to have fun with each other, to ride safe, to enjoy the passion of the motorcycle, but also the passion of just visiting and being with people. We're a social club that happens to like to ride motorcycles. So
Liane:Yeah. And that's actually that leads me into my last question for both of you, but I'm gonna start with you, Kevin. What's your absolute most favorite part about the Calgary Motorcycle Club?
Kevin:The people. The all of the people that are in the club, the way that we get along, the banter, that sort of thing. Going out on rides together, visiting, having breakfast and lunches together, getting together for non riding things. It's it's friendships built over a long time. I consider many of the members to be friends, not just colleagues in the club.
Kevin:It's a it's a really, really great group of fantastic people, and and ultimately, that's what makes the biggest difference. And that's kinda why the culture is the way it is, and as long as that keeps up that way, I don't see why this club can't go another hundred years.
Liane:Yeah. Wade, what about you? What's your favorite part?
Wade:That's gotta be the people as well. You know? Yeah. I've seen in the last forty five years I've been in the club, I've seen a lot of people come and go. I've, you know, still maintain friendships from from when I started, and we had a couple members out here from on former members from Ontario for our big event.
Wade:And, you know, we just pick right. You don't see somebody for thirty years, you pick right up right where you left off. And so the motorcycles were what kinda got us all into it, but it it's the personalities and the and the people that just keep it all going. And and then for me, the other part of it is is their the rich history of the club, I think. I appreciate that.
Wade:And I know I've kinda everything we've got today was built long before us, and we just managed to get to the point where we took it over. And Yeah. Hopefully, you know, there'll be a a a new group of people coming up that can take it over from us and and keep this thing going. So as Kevin said, I don't see why it can't continue.
Liane:Yeah. Well, you guys certainly are continuing on what a great tradition the CMC is. Congratulations on not your 100, but your 115. That's that's amazing. That's so cool.
Liane:I wish everybody had that same kind of option where they are. And maybe this will inspire people to start something where they are and grow to be a 115 years old as well. Thank you both for joining me today. I really appreciate you both taking the time.
Wade:Yeah. You're welcome. Thank you for having us.
Kevin:Thank you, Leanne. It was great.
Liane:You're very, welcome. And I will probably see both of you very soon anyway. For the rest of you, please hang tight for the mixed bag. On today's fail bag, we're gonna talk about is it safe to plug a tire? No matter what sort of use, any plug inserted from the outside should be considered a very temporary repair used to get you and your bike to the nearest replacement tire.
Liane:Limit your speed per the plug kit instructions and replace the tire as soon as possible. Special patch plugs inserted from the inside of a tubeless tire are certainly safer, but even if you can find someone who will install one for you, every tire manufacturer and even those who will sell you patch plugs recommend replacing the tire instead since it has to come off anyway. At the end of the day, we have two points of contact, not four like a vehicle. Why would you risk it? And that's it for another episode of Think Bike hosted by me, Leanne Langlois, produced by Bryn Griffiths at Mighty Mouth Communications.
Liane:If you have an idea or a question for the show, reach out to info@ab-amss.org or find us on all the socials. Always remember to ride smart, ride safe, and think bike. We'll see you out on the road.