I am back from my first national conference as Virginia’s representative for the Motorcycle Riders Foundation. This year’s conference was September 24-27 in Brookfield, Wisconsin, beside Milwaukee, where Harley-Davidson was born.
The location also involved my first flights in anything bigger than a helicopter. I thank God for safe flights and a new experience! I felt like a kid, full of wonder. For folks in the Lynchburg/Roanoke area, I cannot help but include an aerial shot of the Peaks of Otter on the return flight.
As I updated the conference on our legislative efforts in Virginia over the past year, I noted that it was probably the shortest speech I have ever given. That got a round of applause, lol. John and Lisa Bllotta flew up from Texas. Tom and Doc from VCOM arrived Friday night.
Motorcyclists are a small, yet very visible, part of society. We make a seemingly easy target for politicians, insurance executives, and others who have seen too many movies and TV shows. “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.”
Over 400 representatives from across the country discussed this year’s agenda. We covered everything from e-bikes, profiling, and right-to-repair to driverless cars not recognizing motorcycles and distracted drivers killing us and only getting a $25 fine for failure to yield right-of-way. I was proud to note that several items other states brought up were resolved in Virginia several years ago. Two examples are motorcycle only check points and putting autocycles in a separate category from motorcycles. In fact, it was an ABATE member from Lynchburg that used that term with a delegate on the Transportation Committee at Lobby Day. The delegate liked it and it is now in Virginia law. Small things can make a big difference!
The next big MRF event is Bikers Inside the Beltway in May. I hope some of you can come to D.C. with me to meet with our federal representatives at the U.S. Capitol building.
