Tom Ritter: TEAM Arizona Rider of the Month November 2014!
Last Updated: November 30th, 2020
Community. At the core of the motorcycling experience is the simple fact that riders belong to a very small, passionate group of like-minded individuals. At the core of the motorcycling community are folks who give of themselves in order for the community to progress, succeed, and evolve. These individuals sacrifice for the betterment of the group; the unsung hero. Today, we’re doing some singing. Tom Ritter is one of those giving individuals, and for this reason and many more, we are honored to have Tom as our Rider of the Month for November 2014.
Tom’s resume is impressive. He spent seventeen (17) years in the El Zaribah Shrine Motorcycle Unit. He spent ten of those years as a Shrine parade drill team member. Can you say precision? For the past eight (8) years, he’s made the Run for the Wall cross country from Los Angeles to Washington DC with roughly 500 riders in the mix. Four (4) of those years he acted as Road Guard, and in 2013 he served as a Road Guard Captain. That duty is not to be taken lightly as he was in charge of thirty (30) Road Guards. If you’re doing the math, each Run for the Wall is about 6,000 miles per run, so close to 50,000 miles in just those rides alone.
An individual might think that fifty five years (yep, you read that right 55!) in the saddle would jade a person about training. Wouldn’t that person think they have nothing to learn about motorcycling or the experience? Not Tom. Throughout the years he’s attended several BASIC RiderCourses along with several Advanced Riding Techniques courses. Why? His mindset is that a person can ALWAYS learn new things about riding.
What has he done recently for the riding community? He’s served on the Arizona Motorcycle Safety and Awareness Foundation (AMSAF) board. He directly supported the recent Rider Training Scholarship campaign. He was vital to making sure the financial aspects to the campaign were handled properly. The result? Six hundred scholarship recipients are walking away better educated, better trained riders. As an unpaid volunteer, he sacrificed many hours of his personal time with his family to make sure the Arizona riding community is a better place. What more could be asked of an individual?
If you ever get a chance to see Tom at one of the motorcycling events, we encourage you to thank him for his service. We sure will.
Riders, we want to honor YOU! Do you know someone who should be TEAM Arizona’s Rider of the Month? Entering their name is SIMPLE.
- Email Bill (bill@motorcycletraining.com )
- In the subject line, type “Rider of the Month”
- In one paragraph, tell us why this rider deserves the title TEAM Arizona Rider of the Month!
Let’s have some serious FUN with this gang! There are some great stories out there and we don’t want to miss them, so tell us about yourselves!
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