Riders in the Dallas area got a rude awakening in June when word surfaced that there appeared to have been some shady financial shenanigans concerning the Ride for Dime charity (www.ridefordime.com). The Ride was started in memory of hometown son Darrell “Dimebag” Abbott, legendary guitarist of Pantera, who was murdered on an Ohio stage by a deranged fan almost 12 years ago. During its peak, the Ride had numerous chapters around the U.S. and the proceeds were marked for the charity Little Kids Rock (www.littlekidsrock.org). Social media went into overdrive when a former close friend of Ride president Rob Eichelberger called him out in public about serious financial mishandlings. Within days the president had stepped down and Abbott’s widow, Rita Haney, lovingly known as Dimebagz Hag, stepped up to take control of the Ride due to Little Kids Rock stating that it’s been several years since they have received any type of donation from the Ride. Once word got out that Haney had assumed control, former board members and volunteers from both the Dallas ride and the defunct chapters from around the country all reached out with willingness to get the Rides up and rolling again. There is no word yet on whether the Ride will pursue legal recourse against anyone. The next Ride for Dime will take place on August 20, 2016, and the concert will be held at Gas Monkey Live in Dallas. And, in closing, after the debacle with this ride and two years ago when the Big Texas Toy Run had over $50,000 embezzled, it’s strongly suggested that all charity rides have at least two people required to sign off on a check… The 21st annual Republic of Texas Rally was held in Austin on June 9–12. The largest paid-admission motorcycle event in South, the action kicked off on Thursday night with the legendary rock band The Cult. On Friday the highlight was the ever popular parade from the Travis County Expo grounds to downtown Austin about eight miles away as the city closed 50 blocks to accommodate the tens of thousands of motorcyclists… Coast2Coast Benefit Ride (www.mendleton.com) raises awareness for veterans’ suicides and they stopped by Barnett Harley in El Paso on June 15 en route from Southern California to the east coast. The following day, they rode over to Horney Toad H-D in Temple… In the spirit of encouraging people to get out and ride, Harley-Davidson of Waco had a fun Treasure Hunt on June 20–25 which encouraged riders to pick up a map, stop by selected locations to snap a quick photo of them and their bike, post to the dealership’s web page and then boogie on down the road. Bikers were having an absolute blast with a special nod to the winner, Jerri Hodges-Scott, who won the grand prize of a $250 gift card… Cowboy’s Alamo City H-D in San Antonio had quite the blowout on June 25 when they hosted the Burning Tires and Lighting Fires event that included workshops, a stunt show and concert. This event had a little bit of everything ranging from free LED and suspension workshops to the Peacemaker’s band performing all day to an incredible stunt show by Busted Knuckles with several hundred riders in attendance… Remember to keep me in the loop of all your events because you never know when you might get mentioned in an upcoming column.
