Road Tales

As we head into July we find ourselves hitting the heart of the summer riding season. People are hitting the road on their bikes, the lakes with their boats, and the trails with their ATV’s and SxS’s. And for us, we are hitting the road with our event trailers for our first hosted events of the season in Michigan. While we promote, cover, and even help out with countless rides, rallies, and other events all year – these ones represent the crew hosting our signature events with our partners. On Wednesday, July 6th, we will head to ARSENAL HARLEYDAVIDSON in Waterford for the IRON & INK BIKE NIGHT TATTOO PARTY! The Iron & Ink Tattoo Parties are fun events where people have a chance to show off their tattoos and share a little about their meaning and experience – if they want to. For those without tattoos or thinking of getting one, it’s a chance to see the work of artists from throughout the area and see what their clients think. In many cases, the actual artists are on hand as well to talk about their work and maybe hear your ideas about your next piece. And then, there’s an informal voting process where people vote for their favorite pieces in different categories such as Black and Gray, Color, Back, and even Military or Patriotic Tattoos. Trophies and awards are also given out for BEST PIECE and BEST OVERALL CANVAS. And if the artists are on site, they also can win trophies when their clients do! It’s all really informal and laid back – and folks just have a great time. There’s also live music from KICKIN’ ROCKS, food trucks, and even ice cold beverages served. There are RAFFLES and DOOR PRIZES as well! You can even win $500 just for voting for your favorite tattoos! For more information visit our facebook page – www.Facebook.com/ThunderRoadsMichigan. You can register in advance at www.ThunderRoadsMichigan.com – and get a FREE Iron & Ink T-Shirt if you’re one of the first 30 to do so! If you’re an artist or have a studio – we’d invite you to come out and join the party. If you come out with the magazine, we can get you set up and even arrange that all your clients are sponsored – FREE OF CHARGE! For more information on this, just email us at Info@ReasonsToRide.com

ReasonsToRide.com Championship Bike Show Series

Then we head up 75 to Vehicle City Harley-Davidson for our first Michigan stop on the ReasonsToRide.com Championship Bike Show Series. This is an informal ride in Bike Show that welcomes all bikes, all makes, and all models. This isn’t a museum like showing of trailer queens, this is a chance for folks to show off their rides or garage projects. We want to see them all! We will be awarding TROPHIES and PLACARDS to the bikes getting the most votes from those attending and our designated judges. There will be music, food, and beverages for everyone. We encourage everyone to register in advance for the Bike Show as well. You can reserve your space, get a discount, and even get a FREE T-Shirt as well! How cool is that?! Both events are fund raisers for our WARRIOR FUND, through which we help support local riding organizations and events aimed at making a difference in the community.

As Told By THE IRON COWBOY

IRON & INK BIKE NIGHT TATTOO PARTY

ARSENAL HARLEY-DAVIDSON Wednesday, July 6th 5p-8p

VEHICLE CITY HARLEY-DAVIDSON

BIKE NIGHT BIKE SHOW, Friday, July 22nd 6p-9p presented by THUNDER ROADS MICHIGAN

You can register for both events at ThunderRoadsMichigan.com

ATTENTION RIDING ORGANIZATIONS and VENDORS

– We’d love to have you come out and join us at various events throughout the year. In many cases, we have special THUNDER ZONES set up – for vendors and local riding organizations to set up. This includes BIKE NIGHTS in Michigan, Rallies in Ohio, and so much more! SPECIAL OPPORTUNITIES for those interested in coming out to the EASYRIDER RODEO in FOWLERVILLE, August 19-21. We will have a special THUNDER ZONE AREA and TATTOO AREAS for artists and studios interested in coming out. Email us at BikeShowInfo@gmail.com for more information.

ReasonsToRide.com/Michigan

We’ve teamed up with ReasonsToRide.com to kick our digital presence up to a whole new level. While everyone love to hold the magazine and feel the pages in your hands – there are still a lot of cool things that you can do while online. And our new digital edition offers more interactive features than ever before! You can click through on your favorite ads to see facebook pages and websites for the ride stops and events. You can register for rides, bike shows, get concert tickets, and even post up your own events right on our own website! They will show up there online – and in the pages of this magazine (if time and space allow). Check it out and let us know what you think! You can email me directly at

Derek@ReasonsToRide.com

Follow us on Facebook at THUNDER ROADS MICHIGAN for updates, photos, and more - updated DAILY. www.facebook.com/ThunderRoadsMichigan KUDOS to SHIELDED SOULS: Making a difference in the WAR on Trafficking

Shielded Souls LE/MC is a non-profit riding organization that looks to provide support to veterans and local law enforcement. With chapters across Michigan, they have looked for ways to make a difference as an organization. In looking into how to fight child abuse and trafficking as effectively as possible, Craig Bogart, Shielded Souls President, said they quickly realized that funding a K-9 unit specializing in finding electronic devices was their best course of action. “The best way we could find that we could help was to purchase one of these dogs and place him,” Bogart said. “Shielded Souls has a lot of members, but if we worked every day, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, we couldn’t do the amount of good that this dog could do with one bust.” Through a variety of events and fund raising efforts, they raised over $12,000 to cover the cost of a dog and training. They identified the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department for not only receiving the dog but to assume the ongoing costs such as a specialized vehicle, equipment, and of course an Officer – or in this case, a Deputy – to partner with the dog. So, on May 27th Deputy James Leidel of the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department completed his training with STRETCH – an American yellow Labrador. It was a 12 week training program for Stretch – with Leidel coming in for the final two weeks.

OFFICIAL RELEASE: From Monroe County Sherrif Troy

Goodnough

Monroe County Sheriff Troy Goodnough announces the addition of Stretch and his handler, Deputy James Liedel to the Sheriff’s Office K-9 Team. Stretch is an American yellow Labrador Retriever born on July 15, 2020. Stretch is considered a Red Labrador as his color is dark. Stretch is certified in electronic device detection, which includes sim cards, SD cards, flash drives, computers, tablets, hard drives and cell phones. Electronic devices are a main source of information related to human trafficking investigations.

With that being said, Stretch will be used in a variety of law enforcement related activities including being a member of the Sheriff’s Office VIPER Task force and utilized in all human trafficking related investigations.

Stretch is the third certified electronic detection canine in the state of Michigan. The other two canines belong to the Michigan State Police in Lansing. The services of

Stretch and Deputy Liedel will be made available to all law enforcement agencies in the State of Michigan upon request.

The Sheriff would like to thank the Shielded Souls Law

Enforcement Motorcycle Club for their generous donation.

The donation covered the purchase of Stretch and all the costs related to his training at the Todd Jordan K-9

Academy in Indiana. Deputy Liedel participated in a highly intensive two-week handler course at the end of the 12week academy with Stretch. Stretch was released to the

Sheriff’s Office following him and Deputy Liedel’s certification on May 27, 2022. The Shielded Souls named Stretch after

a distinguished fallen member of their club who was one of the driving forces behind the fundraising event to support the canine. This electronic device canine would not have been a reality absent their significant donation. Members of the Shielded Souls recently met at the Sheriff’s Office for a meet, greet, and photograph with Stretch.