The Its
All Good ride was established in 1997 after Cindy Koder, Shannon
Sidwell, and Tory Brown came back from their first experience of
the Sturgis biker rally. Cindy and Tory Co-founded the It's All Good
ride and planned the first ride on a cold fall day on October 5th.
Those who rode will fondly remember the journey to Carter Lake and
then riding way east to a little town outside of Greeley called Kersey.
It rained, it poured, and the wind ended up nearly blowing the bikes
over. It was was the begriming of a ride with purpose and new friendships.
Initially the funds raised were donated to The Epilepsy Foundation.
Tory had lost a few beloved clients to Epilepsy and truly wanted
to do something special in memory of his friends.
On the
3rd year of the ride Cindy proposed the idea of raising the money
for Breast Cancer. After going to a large non-profit to see if they
could get their support to enhance the ride to raise funds for the
organization she was denied. Not out of disrespect but the organization
has bigger fish to fry so to speak and a few thousand dollars that
may be raised was not enough for their effort. This did not discourage
Cindy, she took it upon herself to start a non-profit to benefit
women living with Breast cancer through the transition of hair loss.
It ended up being a blessing in disguise. That year they raised $14,000.
You see Tory,Cindy and Co-Creator Victoria Gray are hair stylist
and this enabled them to create a mission that they could do with
their own two hands. The Its All Good ride gave birth to the Its
All Good Foundation. Now called The Tara Wellness Group.
Each year
around September the ride happened. Bikers would roll into Zangs
now Senor Sol across from the Aquarium to register for the days event.
They lined up to give their donation and collect their T-shirt. It
was a sight to be seen as the energy would build. An eclectic array
of bikers flavored the crowd. Through the years there have been a
variety of things happening. Bike contests, raffle tickets ,bike
washes and even live ladies auctioned off for rides with solo bikers.
One thing that always lingered was a good vibe. People seemed to be
happy and looked forward to the days happenings.
The Its
all Good ride became known for Pretty girls, good food, and the traffic
control. The ride always headed north and stopped at scattered country
bars though out northern Colorado. It's the ride that evolves in
your olfactory system. A blend of onions, sweet grass, and oh yes.....Cow
Poo. Once you get that whiff you know you are close. The straight
shot of the Weld County roads created a stream of bikes roaring through
the country side. The farmers would stop what they were doing, little
kids would run to the fence lines, and horses would buck wildly from
the thunder.
The Kersey
Inn has provided lunch for 9 years of this event. Lou Koder is Cindy's
mom and the owner of the Kersey Inn. She and her crew have always
been so amazing. Lou has donated the food all these years for the
riders which has been a huge contribution. Much gratitude goes out
to her for kindness and hard work.
The Its
all good ride has had it's share of live music from the likes of
Brethren Fast, Blues Planet Project, Bad Rufus and the Ambassadors
of Soul, and the Informants. We appreciate there time and talent
as they all have come out for the cause and performed for free. We
love them for doing so.
2007 marks
10 years of the Its all good ride and we have decided to switch it
up. We will be riding the peak to peak tour through Rollinsville
and Lyons and back to Golden. It will be a special way to celebrate
10 years of the event and to create new energy. Getting out of the
city into the hills enhances a person for sure.
The Tara
Wellness Group:
A few years into the mission key members of the board
Victoria Gray, Karen Radman and Shannon Sidwell decided to change
the name from the Its All Good Foundation to The Tara Wellness Group.
The ride is "all good" but in reality, even
with a positive out look on breast cancer it is not "all good" so
they switched the name to The Tara Wellness Group which is more fitting
for the vision. Tara is the Goddess of compassion. As the organization
evolved, Victoria and Cindy realized how intense it was for women
to go through the transition of losing their hair because of chemotherapy.
The women are going through so much physically, mentally and spiritually.
It all happens pretty quickly too. About 16 days after chemo, the
hair begins to come out like crazy. It is devastating and scary to
have this happen. The best choice is to cut the hair down very short
and eventually shave it. Its not only the hair on a woman's head that
comes out, its the eyebrows, and eyelashes as well. So, the attributes
of a woman's face and being that is part of her femininity are gone.
It is a huge shock and very overwhelming. This is one aspect of what
is happening. Some women are dealing with losing a breast or both.
Emotions are high and most women naturally just break down and cry.
As hair
stylists, we are one of the first professional people women see after
they are diagnosed that they share their open hearted feeling with.
We have a big responsibility to hold a space for them as they are
vulnerable, sad, scared, shocked, angry, and completely overwhelmed.
The mission has been to offer them wigs if they so desire. Most women
make that choice for comfort and to feel like they have some "normalcy" in
their looks. We have discovered that as time goes on that women wear
the wigs from time to time but more are embracing being bald. They
wrap there heads in scarves, and cute hats and ball caps as an alternative.
The Tara
Wellness Group is evolving to be a resource for women's health in
the alternative health care world. As we move into 2008, we intend
to host workshops, and seminars for all women in preventive health
to prevent breast cancer and to assist women living with breast cancer
on another level to get alternative resources for themselves. It is
one step at time and a big mission but we feel like we have some great
resources that can make a difference.
We want
to thank each and every person that has participated in the Its all
good ride over the years. We believe that the money raised has helped
on a local level and will continue to grow because of all the riders,
volunteers and people who we have helped.
