THUNDER BAY — May Day in the Bay had its second annual event on Saturday, with a focus on motorcycle safety and mental health.
May is Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month and the Northwestern Ontario Motorcycle Safety Training Organization continues to promote motorcyclist safety.
Greg Stein, president and chief instructor with Motorcycle Safety Training Organization Northwestern Ontario, said May is also mental health awareness month.
“In concert with our event we're going to do a motorcycle smash.
“People can donate $5 and take a whack at our motorcycle that we have hanging up. It was donated by Excalibur Motorcycle Works and hoisted up like a pinata by GC Crane Rentals,” he said.
The event was held at 94 Vibert Road South, Oliver Paipoonge, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday.
“We have most of the motorcycle racing groups represented here today. Several of the riding groups, most of the motorcycle dealers are here, so people can come out and meet staff from our organization as well.
“Other riding groups, the local dealers, we have prizes . . . every hour we'll draw a prize that was generously donated by local dealers, just lots of stuff to see and check out.
Stein said in Northwestern Ontario, motorcyclists only get to ride about six of seven months out of the year.
“Motorcyclists are vulnerable road users.
“We don't have that cocoon, airbags, seat belts, all that good stuff, and people not seeing motorcycles through the winter tend to forget about them and not look for them.
“We want to promote safe motorcycling both on the part of the ride and other road users. Looking twice could save somebody's life, and that's kind of what we're all about. All of our staff love motorcycling, and we just want to promote it to the best of our ability,” he said.
Fox on the Run and the Epic Cones were at May Day in the Bay as well.
Shortround, PR officer for Bikers Against Child Abuse in Thunder Bay, said the organization is trying to spread the word of its existence.
“We're here to help kids, and the more people we can reach, the better.”
He said the group is also supporting mental health.
“Mental health is obviously a very big factor in all things related to child abuse.
“Our primary focus is child abuse, but of course, it's a very small community here in Thunder Bay as far as motorcyclists go, and we all know just about everybody on a bike here in the community. It's very important to all of us as a community to be together and be seen so that we're not run over by cars.”
Bikers Against Child Abuse has a line that can be called at anytime for support.
“Child abuse is an endemic here in Thunder Bay and around the world. It's our job . . . to make sure that those kids don't feel like they're ever alone.
“We're there for them. If they're going through things, they can call us 24/7, 365. We will talk to them, we'll come up and visit them if they need be, if they have to go to court, we go with them just so that they're never feeling alone.
“Our main goal is to try and get them to just be kids again, you know, empower them to feel like they're not afraid,” he said.
