THUNDER ROADS® OHIO MAGAZINE www.thunderroadsohio.com www.facebook.com/thunderroadsohio
MAIN OFFICE: 12467 Kinsman Rd, Burton, OH 44021 • (440) 273-9000 • (440) 425-0314 fax RETAIL STORE & OFFICE HOURS: Tuesday - Friday • 10am - 4pm PUBLISHER & EDITOR Derek Armstrong Smith • ThunderRoadsOhio@gmail.com • (440) 785-7331 SALES & MARKETING Iron Cowboy Productions, LLC • info.ironcowboy@gmail.com • (440) 678-8608 Northwest Ohio Area • Mike Stock • mikestock.tro@gmail.com Cincinnati Area • Doug & Cheryl Taylor • dougtaylor.tro@gmail.com DIGITAL MEDIA Timothy Cermak • DigitalMedia.TRO@Gmail.com • (440) 273-9000 LAYOUT & DESIGN Bob Mazur • Bobmazurphoto.com SUBSCRIPTIONS TO THUNDER ROADS OHIO are available for $34.95. Check or Money Order, payable to Iron Cowboy Productions, can be sent to: Iron Cowboy Productions 12467 Kinsman Rd, Burton, OH 44021
FROM THE PUBLISHER This is our 10th year of publishing Thunder Roads Ohio, and it’s certainly been the most challenging – I’ve gotta admit. For years now, we’ve published the largest regional motorcycle magazine in the nation. We’ve averaged over 100 pages a month over the last 8 years with support of our sponsors and readers, and we are proud to be the only motorcycle magazine in Ohio that still publishes each and every month – 12 issues a year. It hasn’t always been easy, but this is what we’ve always committed to doing. From our very first issue, our goal has always been to be OHIO’s MOTORCYCLE MAGAZINE – and always worth picking up. We’ve committed to regular content on a wide variety of subjects and we’ve invested in high quality production standards. We print on high quality paper and have been “perfect bound” for over 8 years. These are all important things when it comes to delivering on our commitment of quality and being worth picking up. One of our real secrets, though, is that we’ve always tried to listen to our readers and have built our magazine around your interests. We’ve never tried to tell you what to ride, either in terms of what make or style – we’ve tried to cover a wide range and let you decide what appeals to you. The end result is that we have always been focused on evolving with our readers – meeting your needs as members of our motorcycle community. We’ve offered expanded coverage of motocross and racing in some issues – and even adopted regular columns on topics that some might consider outside the motorcycle community. Service Notes – offer real actionable intel for veterans, active service members and their families and for over 8 years now we’ve published the Buckeye Firearms report for 2nd Amendment folks and those interested in firearms. Both have proven to be extremely popular with our readers – and we’ve made them regular features in response to your interest in them. The last several months have been an incredible challenge for many of you – and we were certainly impacted as well. Restaurants and bars shut down, retail closed, and live entertainment – any public gatherings of over 10 people even – forbidden. Who could have ever imagined this? Certainly not us, but here we are. And all those businesses just listed? Those are the lifeblood of a free regional magazine such as this. Despite the overwhelming challenges we’ve all faced to through this – the simple fact is that we have to go on. We have to adapt to the “new reality” and we need change up our game plan. Over the last several months we’ve tried using different formats in order to both manage costs and increase production. TRO has also partnered with ReasonsToRide.com and much more aggressively marketed the digital edition of our magazine. We’ve adapted new strategies in order to reach more riders, even during times when most of our shops and bars are closed; and our biggest events have all been cancelled. We are still trying new things and fine tuning our plan in order to adapt to the new reality. We’ve both brought on new partners and strengthened our focus on those that have stood with us throughout all of this. To this end, we’d like to thank RUSS BROWN MOTORCYCLE ATTORNEYS and GEICO LOCAL OFFICES for standing with us through these challenging times and giving us the latitude to explore new avenues with their support.
NATIONAL FOUNDERS
Toni McCoy Shearon & Brian Shearon 1528 Matlock Drive / Chapmansboro, TN 37035 Office 615-792-0040 / Fax: 615-792-7580 email: thunderroadsfounders@yahoo.com ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. NO PART OF ITS CONTENT MAY BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION. PUBLISHER ASSUMES NO RESPONSIBILITY AND IS NOT TO BE HELD LIABLE FOR ERRORS BEYOND THE COST OF THE SPACE OCCUPIED BY THE ERROR, SLANDER OF ANY GROUP OR INDIVIDUAL, FAILURE TO PRODUCE ANY ISSUE AS SCHEDULED DUE TO REASONS BEYOND OUR CONTROL, ANY AND ALL SUITS FOR LIABLE, PLAGIARISM, COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT AND UNAUTHORIZED USE OF A PERSON’S NAME OR PHOTOGRAPH. OPINIONS AND CLAIMS MADE BY ADVERTISERS AND AUTHORS ARE THEIR OWN, AND DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT THE POLICY OF THUNDER ROADS MAGAZINE OR THUNDER PUBLISHING. PUBLISHER DOES NOT PROMOTE THE ABUSE OF ALCOHOL OR OTHER DRUGS.
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THUNDER ROADS® OHIO MAGAZINE
We will get through this, but like most aspects of our lives – we might come out slightly leaner and more focused. We’ve all had to cut out a lot of things we liked, but it turns out that we didn’t need. I look forward to seeing you all out on the open road and welcome your thoughts when we have a chance to talk. But if you have something that just can’t wait – you can always email me in advance at Smith.IronCowboy@gmail. com Until then – RIDE STRONG and LOVE LIFE! D. Armstrong Smith THUNDERROADSOHIO.COM
OHIO’S MOTORCYCLE MAGAZINE
