For
Immediate Release
Love Ride 24 - New Ride, New Venue Turns
Out Same Generous Riders
Glendale - This year’s Love Ride was supposed to be about the new route,
new venue and new things to do as part of the inaugural California Bike
Week. All that was true. But for the annual charity ride, which over
the last two decades has raised in excess of 20 million dollars, some
things stayed the same. Like the generous nature of bikers, who braved
the threat of rain on Sunday morning to raise over $900,000 to fund
local children’s charities.
“The new route and new venue worked out great,” says Love Ride founder
Oliver Shokouh, whose Glendale dealership acts as host every November
for the world’s largest one-day motorcycle charity event. “We put a lot
of planning into making the Love Ride and all its venues as enjoyable as
possible.”
Shokouh was referring all the fund-raising events that made up this
year’s Love Ride. There was the pre-party with the Heather Combs Band
on Friday night at the Petersen Museum, the auction of rare motorcycles
and memorabilia on Saturday afternoon (also at the Petersen), the ride
itself up Brand Boulevard through the heart of the City of Glendale,
over to the Fairplex in Pomona for a BBQ lunch, an All-Star Band
featuring Robby Krieger (The Doors) and the main afternoon headliner;
Rock ‘n Roll Hall Of Fame recording artist Gregg Allman. A special Love
Ride 24 compilation CD was also recorded and produced for sale by the
All-Star Band. “We’re still counting monies coming in from the Love
Ride merchandise sold at the Fairplex, so hopefully we’ll have more to
give to all the beneficiaries,” says Shokouh.
After the concerts by the All-Star Band and Gregg Allman, the top
fund-raisers for Love Ride 24 were announced. Eric Schmoranzer
set the bar by individually raising $26,324. Jim and Kitti Carnes
came in second with $5,300 while Melanie Postell and Lowell Kay
finished third with $4,469. Rounding out the top ten were Kent Vest
(4th at $4469), Rod Houle (5th at $3430), Kirby Yale (6th
at $2866), Scott Siegel (7th at $2501), Rick Young (8th at
$2040), Gerard McKenzie (9th at $2001) and William Speeg
(10th at $1950).
Winners of the bike contests were: Rick Valusek, who took home an FLHX
from the Love Ride Opportunity ticket drawing and James Deluca, who won
a 2007 Fat Boy and autographed plague signed by Love Ride 23 celebs for
the Signature Bike Raffle.
Beneficiaries of the Love Ride Foundation include the Muscular Dystrophy
Association, Reading By 9, Providence Saint Joseph Foundation,
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Special Olympics of Southern
California, Cure Autism Now, Frostig Center (Learning Disabilities),
Scleroderma Research Foundation, Catholic Big Brothers Big Sisters,
Optimist Youth Homes & Family Services, Glendale Community College,
Diabetes Institute and The Friends of Castaic Lake.
Sponsors of this year’s Love Ride 24 included HUMMER, Budweiser,
Southern California Harley-Davidson Dealers Association, Event 360, KLOS,
Cycle Trader and Recycler Classifieds. For more information on the
Love Ride or to purchase Love Ride 24 items, including T-Shirts and the
Love Ride 24 Born To Ride Compilation CD, go to www.loveride.org.
About Love Ride: Glendale Harley owner Oliver Shokouh founded the Love
Ride twenty four years ago as a way to raise money for Muscular
Dystrophy and local children’s charities right here in our community.
This past August, in recognition of his achievements with the Love Ride,
Shokouh was inducted into the Sturgis Motorcycle Hall Of Fame.
High
Resolution photos are available on the
www.loveride.org website under the photo
section of the web site.
Harley-Davidson/Buell of Glendale is located at 3717 San Fernando Road
in Glendale, California 91204. For more information contact Oliver
Shokouh at 818-246-5618, ext. 102.
