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Ride – A Radio Show
May 3, 2011 | 
Author What’s the next best thing to having some motorcycle fun? Listening to others who are having it as well!
And you can do that on Thursdays for two hours from 10pm on 2CCR FM 90.5 when national motorcycling identity
Greg Hirst will entertain you with;
* Humorous stories of a motorcycle nature
* Interviews with well known motorcycle riders
* Stories from Aussie motorcycle clubs about their positive activities
* Update of key some motorcycling issues
* News on local and national motorcycle events (especially for those listening online)
* Studio guests to talk about their personal motorcycling experiences
* And lots of great Aussie rock, blues and alternate music, plus a little overseas stuff.
So listen in every Thursday for some motorcycle radio fun: on radio in Sydney or online on the 2CCR website around Australia. For more information contact Greg on www.greghirstenterprises.com.au
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Pray, with Leather and Chrome
LEESBURG – THERESA CAMPBELL
Bowing their heads under the warmth of Sunday’s morning sun, bikers prayed for protection before heading home.
“Watch us Lord as we ride,” Frank Barbuti of the Christian Motorcycle Association said.
The service, also called “motorcycle church” by some bikers, was filled with contemporary Christian music by Spiritwind and inspirational testimonies of faith on the last day of Leesburg Bikefest.
Barbuti told the crowd how his life unraveled 10 years ago, following a divorce and his mother’s death from ovarian cancer. “I kept thinking, ‘Why is all of this happening?’” He devoted time to prayer.
“There will be times of trials,” Barbuti told the crowd. “Jesus tells us in the book of John that in this world there is trouble, but take heart, I’ve overcome this world.”
“Hallelujah!” a biker yelled in the background.
“This world fails to compare to what God has waiting for us in heaven,” Barbuti said.
“Yes!” another biker cheered.
Daytona Joe from Ormond Beach, walking with a cane from serious injuries suffered in a September 2009 accident, said that he was in a coma for 10 days and wasn’t expected to live. Yet, he said he wouldn’t change a thing about the accident because he got a glimpse of heaven and experienced the overwhelming sensation of God’s love and peace.
“I saw my dad standing in front of me. It wasn’t like an out-of-body experience. He was standing in front of me and he reached out to me and he told me, ‘You can come, but you’re not ready,’” the biker said. “I can honestly say my dad is in heaven.”
“This service is wonderful; it’s preaching like you don’t hear in church,” biker Rob Baird of Umatilla said, while Nancy, his wife of 21 years, sported tattoos of praying hands and an angel on her back.
The Bairds have been at every Leesburg Bikefest since it began 15 years ago, and the biker service is an event that they never miss.
“It’s just awesome,” said Nancy, who also adores the “biker blessings” provided after the service.
“We need that extra protection around us,” added biker Rick Zak of Spring Hill, who received a personalized prayer and blessing from Dave “PK” Banderklay, of Homosassa, a member of the Christian Motorcycle Association.
“One of our purposes of coming here is to minister and share our love for Christ with the bikers on the street,” Banderklay said. “It’s an opportunity to pray with people, share our faith, and it’s just a really neat thing.”
Paula Gray, a CMA member from Lake Panasoffkee, prayed for bikers traveling in groups.
“Lord, right now I thank you for bringing these people here to Leesburg,” she said, as those around her joined hands. “I ask that you bless each bike. Protect them, keep them safe, Lord. Just be with them, Lord, as they travel back home. Let them feel your peace and protection.”
Gray said it’s fulfilling to share her faith with fellow bikers who love to roam the open road.
“I just feel like anybody riding a motorcycle needs a big blessing, to be protected and kept safe,” she said. “I just love to minister that way.”
Source: Daily Commercial
Full Story: http://www.dailycommercial.com/localnews/story/041111ChristianBikers
Church brings Jesus to bikers
‘RIDING for the son’ are a group of petrolheads who have combined religion with their passion for motorbikes.
The Bikers Church, Rixton, was formed in September last year and has grown from strength to strength attracting Christian bikers who ‘love motorbikes, but also love Jesus too’.
Colin Pownall, who performed biker pair Terry and Marion’s wedding ceremony, said: “We were introduced to the couple about six months ago after they wanted a dedication for their child at the church.
“I am just one of many at the church and it was a privilege to perform the service for Terry and Marion.”
The Bikers Church meets on Sunday evenings with around 80 to 90 people regularly attending as part of the Christian Motorcyclists’ Association.
Colin added: “We take the good news of Jesus to motorcyclists where ever they may be and set up the Bikers Church so we have got a place of our own to invite bikers back after shows and rallies.”
There are a number of churches for bikers in South Africa but when the bikers made Rixton Methodist Church, Chapel Lane, their home, it was the first one in England drawing in people from Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire.
Colin added: “We got a great reaction from the motorcycle community and have a fantastic working relationship with the methodist church that meets in the morning before us.
“They even helped decorate the church for the wedding.
“The Bikers Church meets the needs of motorcyclists and family and friends who would not feel comfortable in other churches dressed in their leathers or arriving on their motorbike with long hair and a beard.”
Source: Warrington Guardian
Full Story: http://www.warringtonguardian.co.uk/news/whereilive/8971663.Church_brings_Jesus_to_bikers/
Hope For The Road
Leather and Levis replace lace and the loathsome tie. Fellowship involves a hot meal before worship, not doughnuts and coffee afterward. Classic rock music warms up the crowd before the pastor takes the stage. No pulpit here.
The fellowship, worship and meal all take place every Thursday evening in a recreation center equipped with basketball hoops, a stage and a big-screen TV.
Welcome to Steel City Biker Church, where 40 to 70 people gather weekly to hear Pastor Curtis Hubbell relate stories from the road, or from his daily struggles and joys, to Scripture — and to trying to live the way Jesus encouraged his early followers to live.
As he moved back and forth across a stage where Pueblo Christian Center hosts concerts and other events, the bearded, hulking Hubbell during a recent service talked about how he loves to get on his bike and take off with no particular destination — and how infrequently that happens when he’s stressed or has too many obligations on his plate. And how stress impinges on his ability to enjoy the rare ride to nowhere in particular.
“Stress is necessary. It causes us to take action,” he told members of his congregation, seated around tables where they’d just finished a meal of roasted chicken, rice and salad.
Life requires balance
“But stress can take the fun out of happy times, too,” he said, alluding to how his wife’s expectations for perfection for a brief time interfered with the joy involved in planning their son’s upcoming wedding.
“As a guitar player, I know that with careful tuning — by applying just the right pressure with the right balance — beautiful music is possible. But put too much stress into it and a string can snap loose. The sound is muddy, or there’s no sound at all. You have to stop and restring the thing. The key is to find the perfect balance” — in music, on the road, and in life, he said.
“We can’t control the stress in our lives, but God’s word is full of help,” he added, before reading from Proverbs 17:13-22 and reminding his listeners that laughter is one of God’s cures for physical as well as spiritual fatigue.
From Luke 6:21, he shared the message that all those who hunger will be fed, and all who weep will once again laugh. But happiness comes from within, he said. Peace and security are rooted in the heart.
Southern Arizona “Ride for the Red” to benefit Red Cross
TUCSON, Ariz.
Dozens of bikers hopped on their Harleys Sunday, to show their softer sides. It was all about saving lives and having fun at the Fox 11 “Red Cross Ride for the Red” event.
The route started in midtown.
Bikers revved up their choppers, hogs, and Harleys to hit the open road. “That biker mentality just gets in your blood,” said Terry Jones from the Christian Motorcycle Association. Under that rough exterior is a soft side. The bikers are headed to Tombstone for Ride for the Red event.
“I think it’s a good way to support the community and the American Red Cross,” said Legion rider Steve “Chico” Aguirre. Money raised from the event goes towards disaster services and classes offering life saving skills. The thrill of the ride is enough to get these people on the highway.
Bikers of all kinds were represented Sunday. “Ride for Christ basically, that’s our ministry to be out with the biker community,” said Jones.”Veterans helping veterans that’s our thing. We do a lot of runs that support other veterans,” said Aguirre.
“We like to get out there and have fun just like the guys do,” said Tangie Cunningham. Many bikers say camaraderie for the cause is what makes this event unique.
“You know, riding with a group of people, it bumps it up a notch,” said Jeff Cedar.
A Red Cross employee went along for the ride Sunday, urging her biker buds to donate blood. “And it could be you, it could be for your kids, you never know who’s going to need it,” said Olivia Aguirre.
Tucked within every leather jacket is a big heart. Behind the skulls, a sensitivity. And a big passion for the pavement. This was the eighth year of the “Ride for the Red” event
Source: FOX11AZ
Full Story: http://www.fox11az.com/news/local/Southern-Arizona-Ride-for-the-Red-to-beneift-Red-Cross-118790259.html
Zac’s Place
God’s Squad is riding into town to set up a place where those living on the fringes of our society can find themselves at home.
The old St Clement’s community hall/tennis clubhouse is being transformed into Zac’s Place, an outreach centre which is unashamedly Christian in ethos and completely committed to extending a hand to local people in need.
The initiative is derived from a model in Swansea, Wales, where a church for ragamuffins was founded by the European president of the God’s Squad Christian Motorcycle Club, Sean Stillman.
Glenn Stewart, president of the Southern NSW chapter of God’s Squad, and his wife Ros have spent some time in the UK learning the tricks of the trade and growing their passion.
They have applied this experience to establish Zac’s Place in Yass, which they define as being all about community.
God’s Squad, which primarily exists to minister among the biker fraternity as a relevant and accepted expression of the Christian Church, has been working in the Yass Valley for about eight years. Mr Stewart said the nondenominational group has identified a need here but is also willing to be flexible in the service it will offer the 
community.
The doors of Zac’s Place will be open to everyone – men, women, young adults and the elderly. You don’t have to be a member of a motorcycle club or a church to find solace at the facility, which will act as a ‘drop-in centre’.
We want to offer whatever is needed. There is a lot of great work being done here and a lot of support already being offered so we don’t want to double up, Mr Stewart said.
Zac’s Place is for everyone and everyone is welcome come as you are is our motto. Mr Stewart has bent over backwards to overcome the negative stereotype often associated with motorcycle clubs.
We’ve gone out of our way to be a positive part of Yass, he said.
A few in our group live here and we’ve gone out to meet the neighbours and explain what we’re doing and they have all been very happy.
The message we want to portray is that God’s Squad is here to help; not just bikers but all marginalised people. We’re not here to take over, we are here to support.
God’s Squad has reached an in-kind agreement with St Clement’s Church over the use of the old clubhouse: God’s Squad will put time and resources into giving the tired old premises a makeover and the Anglican Church will donate the building back to God’s Squad to use as its base.
Reverend Genieve Blackwell said the partnership presents an exciting opportunity to work with a group that has been doing good things in the community for many years.
Source: Yass Tribune
Full Story: http://www.yasstribune.com.au/news/local/news/general/gods-squad-at-zacs-place/2100711.aspx?storypage=0
Additional info posted by the Editor from a comment received by gazroly:
There is now a website for Zac’s Place, please feel free to take a look. http://www.zacsplaceinc.org
Finale Draws Diverse Crowd
DAYTONA BEACH — It seemed like an odd place to find Jesus, in the midst of motorcycles and leather-(and often scantily)clad women. But there was Glenn Taylor, a 63-year-old South Carolina preacher, standing next to a table of Bibles and other Christian literature along Main Street on Saturday.
Taylor was one of several veteran Christian bikers who, in the crowd of Bike Week 2011′s grand finale Saturday, saw ample opportunity to spread the Word. Despite an event that, at face value, seems to be incongruous with Christianity, Taylor and others said they usually get a good response from the bikers, and that this year’s crowd has been the most receptive yet.
The key to success, according to Taylor and others, is a hands-off approach.
“There are two main kinds of bikers,” Taylor said. Taylor described the “yuppie biker crowd” who ride on the weekends for fun, and the “hard-core crowd” who would make a career of biking, if they could. If biking were a religion, the hard-core crowd would be the fundamentalists. While yuppie bikers will trailer their bikes for long trips, hard-core bikers abhor the idea.
There is one trait both groups share, though, according to Taylor — they ignore preachers.
So, Taylor took a quiet approach to proselytizing, standing next to a table of books available to take home for free. He only spoke when spoken to. Hector Lopez was a different kind of preacher. Lopez, a.k.a. “The Orlando Birdman,” brought six of his 16 birds to Main Street on Saturday. Three of them stood on his bicycle Saturday afternoon while he arranged the other three — two Macaws and a Cockatoo — on the shoulders of a woman.
Lopez, 49, snapped a picture of the woman, handed her a card so she could get the picture later, then asked for a donation, “to feed the birds.”
When asked about his bicycle, Lopez explained he had “gone green” six years before and didn’t drive anywhere. He wanted to travel the country, he explained, preaching to people that they don’t need to rely on cars and fossil fuels to get places.
But how did he get to Daytona Beach on Saturday from Orlando?
“I drove him,” said Samantha Rovnak, 24, a neighbor of Lopez’s and fellow animal enthusiast who brought her bearded dragon — a lizard — to pose along with the birds for pictures. “We just threw his bike in the trunk and headed over.” Andrea Pressimone, Lopez’s roommate and partner in the birdman business, said this was their second Bike Week. “It’s a great crowd,” said Pressimone, 37. “We’re thinking about renting an RV and coming back next year for the whole week.”
Chuck Pickett, another Christian biker parked along Main Street on Saturday, has come to Bike Week off and on for 15 years to hand out Bibles. In years past, three or four people per day would thank Pickett, 70, of Inglis, for his quiet evangelism.
This year, Pickett said, 30 or 40 people per day are thanking him. Why? “The hardness of times, I think,” Pickett said. “People are hurting.”
Parked next to Pickett was John Britz, who rode his bike down from Export, Pa., for the 21st consecutive year to pass out Bibles at Bike Week. Britz, 65, echoed what Taylor said earlier, that the aggressive preaching style favored by those with megaphones and large signs inspires apathy at best among bikers, ignorance and anger at worst.
Britz also made it very clear which of Taylor’s two biker crowds he fit into.
“I ride here. Every year. I don’t trailer. Put that in bold letters,” he told a reporter, in a tone more serious than he used to discuss anything else, even his religious beliefs.
“I don’t trailer.”
Source: News Journal-Online
Full Story: “http://www.news-journalonline.com/news/local/east-volusia/2011/03/13/finale-draws-diverse-crowd.html”
Motorcyclists to showcase abilities for Special Kids
For the fourth year in a row Greg Cooke, promotions engineer of Cooke Realty Partners, will lead a group motorcycle ride over 1,000 miles in 24 hours in honor of children at Special Kids.
“We are riding through the saddle sores and completing an Iron Butt Ride for the children at Special Kids,” states 
Cooke. “We are riding to challenge our personal abilities, but more importantly, to raise money for children with special needs.”
The fourth annual Ability Ride will take place June 24 through 26, covering 1,000 miles from Murfreesboro to Charleston, S.C.
This ride is a means for bikers to connect their passion for motorcycles with their passion to help children with special needs.
“I want to do this because I am able to,” Cooke said in a press release. “The least I can do is use my own abilities to serve someone else. I want to ride for Special Kids so that these children will one day have the ability to do things that I get to do every day.”
Cooke is looking for 20 more tough riders willing to take on the challenge and help raise funds for Special Kids. To join the team of Special Kids Ability Riders, contact Greg Cooke at 615-207-7957 or cooke4travel@yahoo.com or visit www.teamask.org to join the team.
Special Kids is a Christian-based therapeutic rehabilitation and skilled nursing care facility in middle Tennessee. Since opening their doors in 1998, Special Kids has served more than 2,040 families from 11 different counties.
On the Web
For more information on Special Kids, visit www.specialkids-tn.com.
Source: DNJ
Full Story: “http://www.dnj.com/article/20110219/NEWS01/102190314/1002/Motorcyclists+to+showcase+abilities+for+Special+Kids”
Motorcyclists Share Hope With Lowell Inmates
More than 20 motorcycles, complete with leather-clad bikers, roared into the yard at Lowell Correctional Institution in a surprise visit to the women’s state prison on Saturday morning.
The motorcycles were part of a non-denominational Christian outreach program that visits correctional facilities across the state to try to spread hope to those inside.
Organizing the event was ROOT Outreach, based at Fellowship Baptist Church near Ocala (ROOT stands for Running Out of Time). Members of several other ministries attended the event as well.
Many of the bikers at the event have checkered pasts themselves, pasts that are used as examples of how anyone can be reformed.
“I usually end up talking to the mean ones, because I used to be a mean one,” said Debbie Whisenant of ROOT. “At one time, I was property of a one-percenter biker gang. We’ve done exactly what they’ve done, but God saved us.”
The one-percenter designation is biker slang for the 1 percent of bikers who belong to criminal and outlaw motorcycle clubs.
“We talk to people who are depressed and despondent because they think they have done too many things wrong. We’re here to let them know that it’s never too late,” she said. “Some people don’t like that we do this for the inmates. I feel that they might deserve to be in prison, but they don’t have to go to hell.”
Willie Allen, who spent 15 years on Florida’s Death Row and 26 years in prison before his conviction was overturned, was back near familiar ground.
“I spent some time at Marion Correctional Institute (the men’s prison) across the street. I’m familiar with this area,” he said “I know what they are going through, but I can say Jesus got me out and kept me out. That can be true for anyone here. I was institutionalized for 26 years and broke that old theory that if you’re in for more than five years, you won’t stay out long.”
Allen travels across the country and abroad, sharing his story to other prisoners.
Parked on the basketball court area inside the prison gates, the motorcycles drew the attention of the inmates. Dozens of them began filing into the area to get a closer look. The most popular was a custom chopper built by Al Paquette. The bike, named “Doin’ Time,” features a prison motif with a miniature working cell door on the gas tank. The rest of the bike is adorned with handcuffs, razor wire and other items seen at prisons.
The inmates freely mingled with those at the event, talked about motorcycles, compared tattoos and even started dancing to the ministry’s music.
“I’m glad that they did this for us. It’s great to just meet people and talk to them. In here it’s a daily routine,” said Debra Touchet, one of the inmates at the event.
Source: OCALA
Full Story: http://www.ocala.com/article/20110129/ARTICLES/110129647/-1/news?p=1&tc=pg#
Sydney Bikie Loses Parking Fine Fight
A Sydney court has rejected a motorcycle club member’s attempt to contest a fine for parking illegally outside the New South Wales Parliament.
Greg Hirst, from the Brotherhood Christian Motorcycle Club, was one of at least 30 bikers who gathered outside parliament in June last year to protest against the State Government’s anti-bikie legislation.
Hirst told the court a police officer gave them permission to leave their bikes outside parliament while they went inside to deliver a letter to the Attorney-General.
The court heard they were not issued fines on the day but police took video footage of the bikes and sent the $84 fines later.
Police Inspector David Maguire, who was in charge, denied giving verbal permission but said he did not ask the bikies to move in an effort to keep the peace.
Magistrate Alex Mijovich rejected the application, saying Hirst admitted to knowingly parking there.
He was fined $200 plus court costs.
The fines given to the other bikies are scheduled to be dealt with in a fortnight.
Source: ABC
Full Story: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/02/21/3144475.htm
