Cycle Connections

Our July 2014 cover bike is owned by Chris Ruble from Kansas City, Missouri, and this month’s cover model is Michelle from Lenexa, Kansas. Scroll down for cover articles and more details on the bike and Michelle.

In This Issue

Our July 2014 cover model is Michelle from Lenexa, Kansas. She is a Worth Girl at Worth Harley-Davidson, and has ambitions to be an interior designer. In regards to hobbies, Michelle told us she loves riding her Polaris Razer in the mountains. Turn-ons include a sense of humor, nice biceps, nice eyes, and self-confidence. On the flip-side, Michelle told us turnoffs for her include a bad attitude, constant cursing, and laziness. She admits she’s a sucker for a man who knows how to dance, and describes her personality as very outgoing, friendly, and a huge sense of humor. Michelle has been told that her best attribute is her hair.

Our July 2014 cover bike is owned by Chris Ruble from Kansas City, Missouri. We had the opportunity to gather more information about Chris and his 2013 Harley-Davidson Street Glide, and we were also able to gather information from this month’s cover model Michelle.

Our July 2014 cover bike is owned by Chris Ruble from Kansas City, Missouri, and this month's cover model is Michelle from Lenexa, Kansas.

To find out more about Chris, check out his Interview. For this month's cover shoot, we also invite you Behind the scenes at our July 2014 cover shoot, and here’s some additional information we gathered from Michelle’s interview.

Owner: Chris Ruble

City: Kansas City, Missouri

For this month's issue, we invite you to take a look behind the Scenes at our July 2014 Cover Shoot video, which follows our July 2014 cover model Michelle through her photo shoot and interview.       

Photos by Lonnie Blum

Video by Randall “Sea Hawk” Hauk with Sea Hawk Media Productions

Blue Springs Harley-Davidson in Blue Springs, Missouri, was the starting and ending point for the 8^th Annual Wheels for a Cure ride on June 14. Riders each donated at least $25 and passengers $10 with the proceeds going to ArtBra KC, an organization whose, “mission is to uniquely celebrate breast cancer survivors and provide funding for Kansas City area organizations that provide life-empowering services to uninsured and underinsured individuals who have been touched by cancer.” According to the organization’s website, “Missys’ Boutique Patient In Need Fund at The University of Kansas Hospital in The Richard and Annette Bloch Cancer Care Pavilion and the new cancer appearance center at the The Richard and Annette Bloch Cancer Center at Truman Medical Center are accredited appearance centers dedicated to helping patients overcome obstacles with dignity and style. These centers offer services and select products designed just for cancer patients and survivors – to help them through their cancer journey.  ArtBra KC is a major benefactor of Missys’ Boutique, named in memory of Melissa Malter Newell and Ann Wilcox O’Neill, both affectionately known as Missy.” Each year, the organization hosts an auction event featuring work-of-art bras, and the models are breast cancer survivors. Much more information is available on the Art Bra KC website.

Rain during the morning of June 7 hurt the attendance at the 12^th Annual Ride for Ryan at St. Joseph, Missouri. Still, many riders suited up in their rain gear and headed for St. Joe Harley-Davidson for the ride to honor the memory of Ryan Consolver who lost his life on August 11, 2002, at the age of 24 in a motorcycle accident in North Kansas City. Funds raised by the event are used for a scholarship fund dedicated to students who, as Ryan did, have chosen to pursue careers in the construction industry. This year 19 students received scholarships from the fund. The 12-year total amounts to more than $130,000. There were 105 bikes in the ride this year, and about $35,000 was contributed.

The 2^nd Annual Ride to Silence the Stigma took place on Sunday June 22, 2014 at Shawnee Cycle Plaza. This event was to raise awareness about suicide and to aid in its prevention. Suicide is the 10^th leading cause of death in both Kansas and Missouri. More than 160 riders participated in the ride, which brought in over $12,000 for American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

On July 7, 2014, the riders of Greenwood County and the riders from the surrounding counties met at the Burton Center just off of Highway 221& 72. The purpose of the poker run was to help provide funding to purchase wheelchairs and accessible equipment for people with disabilities and special needs (autism, intellectual disabilities, head injuries, spinal cord injuries and related disabilities) at the Burton Center. The Burton Center serves over 1,500 people, with a staff of 450 personnel in Abbeville, Edgefield, Greenwood, Lexington, McCormick and Saluda counties. The staff has a saying “Wheels for Wheels,” which to me meant that motorcycle wheels are turning to help to replace wheelchair wheels.

The 46^th Annual Hanford Vintage Motorcycle Show and Swap Meet was held at the Hanford, California Fairgrounds on May 17, 2014, and was hosted by Classic Cycle Events. Marshall Baker and his crew put together an awesome venue.

The 3^rd Annual 5 Diamonds MC Visalia Rescue Mission (VRM) Run was the best yet! On June 7, 2014, over 150 motorcycle riders participated in this worthy event. 5 Diamonds members were extremely busy seeking donations from local businesses to help support VRM. Their hard work paid off, and VRM received a check for $13,200!

Bill Van Tichelt, with VanTech Engineering, is a pioneer in the go-kart and motorcycle worlds. His designs and inventions revolutionized the go-kart and motorcycle racing industries.

In May, the Faith Riders Motorcycle Ministry of Cedar Grove Baptist Church in Leeds, Alabama, hosted the 3^rd annual fundraiser ride in honor of Pastor Billy Abrams granddaughter Lyla. Layla has endured many medical issues from birth, and as a result, ultimately visited various Children’s Hospitals, which left her parents in need of a place to stay so they could be near their child during treatments. This is where the Ronald McDonald house stepped in to help, and for whom this ride is benefiting.

In attempting to come up with a column for July (some months are harder than others, to be sure), I ran across a few statistics that I found interesting in regards to women riders.