Secret City Festival

held on June 25-26, 2004

The Secret City Festival may have been held in the rain, but sometimes, as we know, there are rainbows that are birthed from such weather. Three RID members who serve on the Board of Directors braved the thunderstorms and donated their time to passing out the Summer newsletters to over a hundred festival goers. Each was able to share their stories with the public.

This year’s theme was motorcycle safety awareness. In the past we have constructed booths that dealt with statistics of driving under the influence, but this year’s event coordinator, B.J. Morgan, a biker and private investigator who lost her ex-husband (and father of their two young daughters) to drinking and driving in 2000, thought that focusing on the widespread problem of drinking while motorcycling was timely!

 

There is a common philosophy amongst many bikers on how much they can drink and be okay riding which is “Two beers—two wheels.” Unfortunately, the truth of the matter is that there are countless poker runs and restaurants with bars that encourage a party atmosphere where  motorists may not choose to stick to just one or two beers or alcohol drinks. So to put emphasis on the issue during the time of the year that you see most bikers out on the road, the booth at the Secret City Festival advertised the upcoming SOBER POKER RUN, a 75-mile motorcycle trip where participants donated $5 per rider.

Also available at the booth was a petition that attracted numerous signatures and flyers discussing traffic stop and sobriety checkpoint issues. Banners were created with real newspaper clippings showing all the ads geared toward the Honda Hoot (another biking event which was being held simultaneously in Knoxville this same weekend) and partying and drinking with headlines urging both motorcyclists and 4-wheel vehicle drivers to call taxis if they have been drinking. The overall philosophy is that motorcycles have enough trouble being seen and heard by other drivers, therefore, alcohol can seriously affect the riders’ skills and judgment which they need to survive even sober on the roads.