The BUFA Ride--Ride For One of Our Own

September 9, 2012 was the day for the fall BUFA Run. For those of you who do not know, BUFA stands for Bikers United For America--a club that brings all clubs together for a common cause. Created after the 9/11 attack, BUFA started raising money for to help those affected by 9/11. Since then, the members of BUFA (basically if you ride, you are a member) help select those in need. All money raised is given directly to the awardees--no money is spent on overhead.

BUFA holds two runs--one in the spring and one in the fall. The fall run commemorates 9/11 and this year, the run was held on September 9. One of the recipients selected for the fall run was MSR member Cheryl. Cheryl had a motorcycle accident in this fall and suffered many injuries--the most severe was crushed vertebrae. The money raised would not begin to touch the medical bills incurred during Cheryl's six week stay in the hospital; we knew she would need money for basic living expenses like paying her mortgage, food and other basic living costs. There was also another biker in the community that was selected--a man who was very sick and the doctor's were unable to determine what was wrong. As the main breadwinner of his family, the illness definitely took a toll on the family.

At this time, Cheryl is an unemployed widow, but attending school. However, all of that has been put on hold to focus on her recovery.

This run would help in the recovery process.

Since BUFA and the membership selected Cheryl as one of the recipients, the MSR got into action and immediately volunteered to select and man a stop. The stop location was The Black Bear Coffee and Tea Lodge on South Academy. Six MSR members worked the stop and it was great fun to have all the riders draw a card for the poker run. I normally do the run, so this was a different experience to actually meet and talk with all the riders that participated.

The BUFA run is a mystery run. Instead of knowing what order the stops were, bikers were free to go in any order to any stop. This alleviates big crowds of bikers rolling into a place at once and overwhelming the business. Riders could go in any order they wanted to and the winner was the best and worst poker hand.

Gates opened at 8:30 am and we eagerly expected droves of bikers!  LOL! After all, this was a coffee shop so we figured everyone was going to get here first! Hahaha on us!

Actually, the first bikers were in around 10:45--after all we were the closest stop to the end, so it made sense for everyone to hit us last. And then it got b-u-s-y!

We were busy until the stop close time of 2:00. Afterwards, we packed up and headed to the end stop where everyone gathered for a BBQ lunch and to hear who the winners were.

At the end of the day, it was a nice sum of proceeds that was raised for Cheryl and Cliff.

Bikers taking care of bikers.

Cheryl still has a long road to recovery. Anyone that is interested in reading her story in more detail can do so at Cheryl's story.

Crashing is never news a biker wants to hear. But it's good to know that the community rallies around us.

Until next time (that would be the BCA '12),

Keep the shiny side up!

~The Rainbow Wahine