Ride For Debi

Full Throttle Biker Church Rallies Around One Of Their Own Ride For Debi

by: lincoln infield

ull throttle biKer

Church in Pleasant Garden, NC is a come as you are church that carries a biker theme and although you don’t have to be a biker to attend, the majority of its patrons are riders themselves. On April 17th, the FBC community came together to help one of their own. Debi Hoffman had been diagnosed with Invasive Ductal Carcinoma, had a double mastectomy and 2 of 3 lymph nodes removed. She had also gone through 7 weeks of radiation 5 days a week. Now, that’s a lot for anyone to go through and like the biker community is known to do, they rallied to show their love and support and raise a little bit of cash to ease the strain of emotional and economic burden for a friend in need.

Registration for the ride was at 9:30 am with kickstands up at 11am. I got to the church and found myself lined up in the back of a pretty good line of motorcycles. Registration got you a raffle ticket, but that was a trick. There was so much cool stuff up on the raffle table there was no way you weren’t gonna buy more tickets! I chunked a few tickets in to win an acoustic guitar, tool pouches, and other items of interest in time to hear Preacher Man Randy Austin call for everyone’s attention. The ride was gonna be a police escorted ride out through the country and naturally we were gonna pause for a prayer. It was a beautiful day for a ride and the route couldn’t have been any better. We just cruised along at a good steady pace through the rolling countryside. The police escort had all the intersections taken care of for us and we just kept on rolling. I dig the police escort for many reasons on rides with as many riders as we had, but on this particular ride we went over three one lane bridges which was awesome but could have been a bit hairy if not for the escort!

I don’t know if you have ever noticed, but when the ride is over, everyone is in a good mood. Today’s ride was no different, it had to be a mixture of putting some miles on during a beautiful day and the smell of barbecue cooking on the grill! I sure was hungry too! I was getting around snapping photos of folks and ran into a bunch of friends. I even ran into Cecil Pickler, who is pastor at First Biker Church of America in Kernersville, NC. It was great to see everyone. Debi Hoffman, the beneficiary of the ride was also in attendance with her husband Rod “Hot Rod” Hoffman. She was in great spirits for all she has been through and it was a pleasure to meet her, for sure. I couldn’t wait any more and snagged a barbecue sandwich with slaw, a bag of chips, and a cold drink. It really hit the spot. The day was far from over and next up was a first for me, porta-john racing. You heard it right folks, porta-john racing. On one end of the parking lot stood two porta-johns on skids with tow straps attached to them. Now, for safety’s sake, each john was equipped with a four way harness to keep you from falling in, or out during your ride. Teams were quickly made up and

Veronica wouldn’t take no for an answer. We were one of the last teams up, so we got a little education from watching the other teams run. I gotta say, I was a little bit nervous as I was strapped in to this racing porta-john, but Veronica did a heck of a job. Her rear tire was smokin and she fishtailed for a few feet, but she kept on getting it and we made a successful pass down the track! There were a lot of great teams running that afternoon and it was great for the riders and the spectators. Debbie and Hot Rod Hoffman even got in on the fun. Debi made a comment along the lines of that everyone came out to support her and she wanted to participate in all the events of the day. When it was all said and done, the Father and Daughter team of Mark and Kailyn Hennis were dubbed the PortaJohn Racing Champs and that is a heck of title to carry around. Two tons of raffles were up next and folks went home with a bunch of great prizes. Hot Rod Hoffman lucked out and won the guitar! The 50/50 was the last item of the day and “No Clue” of the Remnant Sons Surry County Chapter donated the $316 straight back to Debi and Hot Rod.

It was a great day with a great group of riders. We rode, laughed, made new friends and raced porta-johns all to help out one of our own. It was a real biker event. I hope that the donations and the love that Debi received that afternoon help her on her journey. Thanks to Full Throttle Biker Church for putting on a great event and to everyone who came out to help make it a success.