6th Annual DRC Memorial Ride
October 2024
This year’s ride was an attempt at our 7th Ride1Kinaday challenge.
Heading from the Bay Area of California towards Bakersfield and then East to wrap around Death Valley National Park. Passing through Mojave a boneyard of old planes is visible from the road, reminding me of the time my brother had traveled with my mother and grandfather to a trackday event with my first motorcycle. Racing around Sears Point raceway, I crashed as they were pulling into the event… they never got to see me ride.
The days of comparing riding a motorcycle to flying a jet are long behind me. The pace is just a little different than it used to be.
Taking highway 127 north through the vibrant colors of the Death Valley mountains was both beautiful and hot. Finding one of the very few gas stations at Stovepipe Wells I continued west to an intermittently maintained Panamint Valley Road. No service and two passing cars for just shy of two hours was worrisome as we also lost our navigation for this stretch. Just before climbing out of the valley, we crossed a cattle grate that was not at grade bending the handlebars down almost to the fuel tank, having to adjust the bars back to a safe and comfortable-ish riding position while riding and not crashing was quite the feat.
Getting stuck in traffic coming back into civilization made me miss the lonely stretch we were on just before but knowing that we had service and fuel sources put us at ease. With the adjustment made to the handlebars not being permanent every large bump slid the bars back causing the continuous need for adjustment. No trip would be complete without an issue here or there.
We successfully completed our 7th Ride1Kinaday challenge with 1,051 miles ridden in 16 hours and 11 minutes. Raising $2,000 for Project Safety Net, a local youth suicide prevention organization.
5th Annual DRC Memorial Ride
September 2023
This year our founder left solo from San Jose, CA to Elko, NV for the first leg of the ride by way of Reno, NV stopping for lunch with fellow DRC Memorial Rider Matt. It had been raining on the journey since west of the Seirra mountains and did not stop until just before Elko causing issues with the electronics on the motorcycle. Matt rode alongside our founder in the pouring down rain for an hour. The saying “misery loves company” served true as it was nice to have someone alongside.
Elko, NV to Little America, WY. The second leg, lots of wet weather still, the west part of Utah known as the Salt Flats had lots of standing water. The wet weather led to continued issues with the electronics and yet we kept the throttle twisted.
Leaving Little America, back to home embarking on our 6th Ride1kinaday challenge at 4:30am…cold, very cold. No navigation from the electronic issues caused by the rain earlier in the trip. Hit Salt Lake City before the sunrise and headed south on the East side of Utah, into Arizona, Las Vegas, NV, and into California all the way back home.
The trip was 2,113 miles covered in three days. 1,139 miles were completed in 17 hours to conclude the Ride1kinaday challenge. Almost $1,800 raised for NAMI of Santa Clara, completing our very first sponsored trip and giveaway by Viking Motorcycle Luggage!
4th Annual DRC Memorial Ride
July 2022
Transitioning professionally this year did not allow for much time. But the calling is still the same!
This year our founder James completed solo back-to-back Ride1Kinaday challenges. Riding more than 1,000 miles from headquarters in San Jose California, to Spokane Washington on day one, and back the next day.
Total of 2,131 miles ridden with about 33 and a half hours of saddle time, making this ride the 4th and 5th Ride1kinaday challenge completed by DRC Memorial Rides.
With such a short turnaround time and little notice, the community came together and surprised us with the support. Making our founder even more driven to complete the journey while facing over 100-degree heat in the high desert of Nevada and east Oregon, and very little sleep.
Back-to-back Ride1Kinaday challenges completed and almost $2,000 raised on behalf of the Society for the Prevention of Teen Suicide.
3rd Annual DRC Memorial Ride
September 2021
This year we had three riders, (James, Matt, and Brandon) all of us veterans, all of us touched by suicide.
We each began our ride in different locations and met up in Santa Rosa, California. We continued up the coast to Fort Bragg, California, where Brandon was awarded his official “DRC Memorial Rider” patch.
From there, we continued up to Seattle, Washington, via Coos Bay, Oregon. We took some beautiful routes and admired the beauty that is the North-west.
After parting from the coast we headed inland across Idaho into Montana. We followed a beautiful river for hundreds of miles until we reached Big Sky, Montana. Here we met new friends and shared our stories, making this the most productive stop in DRC history.
We left Big Sky, Montana to begin another Ride1Kinaday challenge. This was a difficult one; heavy rains and strong winds in Idaho sent us looking for cover. We wove between Idaho and Wyoming and finally into Utah before heading back West. Along the way, we hit even more weather, including desert lightning storms followed by torrential down pours. With no shelter in sight, we stayed on the throttle. We had to slow down a bit due to mechanical issues with one of our bikes, but we persevered and completed the Ride1kinaday challenge together in Reno, Nevada. The next day we continued home.
In total, over 3,100 miles rode, a Ride1Kinaday challenge completed and $3300 raised on behalf of the Society for the Prevention of Teen Suicide.
Memorial Day Weekend 2020 “Ride1kinaday” challenge
May 2020
Rode from Lake Tulloch, CA through the “Avenue of the Giants” in Humboldt County with a stop at the “Drive Through Tree”. From there rode along the coast to Eureka, CA across to Yreka and then south back to the DRC Memorial Headquarters in San Jose, CA.
This ride was a long day, with the route ranging from exceptionally cold, to exceptionally hot. Mission Accomplished with over 1,008 miles rode in 19 hours and 21 minutes.
2nd Annual DRC Memorial Ride
September 2020
From the DRC Memorial Headquarters in San Jose, CA, I rode east to Reno, NV, picking up a fellow Marine and long distance rider, Matt. From Reno, we left to West Wendover, NV, to Grand Junction, CO, then to Denver, CO.
From Denver, CO, Matt and I took off on our first Ride1kinaday Challenge. Denver, CO to Reno, NV. We rode 1,007 miles in 17 hours 7 minutes. Together we raised $3,200. 100% of the donations were gifted to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
Inaugural DRC Memorial Ride
September 2019
I had originally planned to ride my motorcycle from San Jose, CA, to Colorado, where my brother lived. Sadly, he took his own life before I was able to make that journey.
Thus, DRC Memorial Rides became a reality. Because I was willing to talk about my history with pain, anxiety, and depression, I decided I would share my life lessons and stories from the road.
I rode to Colorado and back solo.
The ride traversed for almost 3,000 miles through California, Nevada, Wyoming, Idaho, Colorado, Utah, and Arizona.
By utilizing my personal Instagram and YouTube platform, I was able to share my story and raise over $3,600 which I donated to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in memory of my brother, Daniel Ryan Carrier.