Who We Are!
The Border Riders Motorcycle Club “BRMC” is a not-for-profit 501(c)(7) organization for gay men who like to ride motorcycles and who like to go camping on their motorcycles. Our membership spans the Pacific Northwest with the greatest participation in the Portland, Seattle and Vancouver B.C. areas. We are one of the largest and longest-running gay motorcycle clubs in North America. We welcome like-minded guests to our Meet & Greets, day rides, and to our monthly meetings and summer campouts with a sponsoring BRMC member.
Table of Contents
All the news you need to know about the BRMC
August Run Weekend Recap By Jerry K.
August Photos By Don W., Peter M., Ron S.
September Meet & Greets Portland and Seattle
Plus
Members’ Birthdays
The BRMC 2026 Calendar of Events
Non BRMC Motorcycle Events
Request for Pictures & Closing Comments
August Campout Recap
The August campout was held at Sutton Campground, just north of Florence Oregon, at the beginning of the natural wonder known as the Oregon Dunes.
It was a much needed respite for many coming from the East and North after weeks of heat and fire-smoke. The cool ocean air and gentle sea-breeze provided a refreshing contrast to most of our summer environs and as a bonus, allowed for a campfire. Stan, Alan, and Paco came out a couple days early as “wild-fire refugees” and were able to enjoy the cool misty air of the Oregon Coast while Paco established a no squirrel zone around the campsite. The majority of the crew arrived throughout the day on Friday depending on how far or slow they travelled (ya know, sightseeing!).
On Friday, most went into town to eat dinner at the Rest-O-Bar. A few stayed back and waited for late arrivals and get an evening fire started.
The first day and night were accompanied with an increasingly thick, and moist, marine layer. Some heavy condensation occurred over Friday night but nothing notable other than amazingly fresh air the next morning. Saturday the group went into Florence for breakfast at a local place called the (Red/Blue/Green/Brown?) Hen. Legend has it Dale has called it by all four names…
As it was nearing noon the decision to explore the Yaquina Head Lighthouse near Newport Oregon was made. Most of the group rode back up US 101 to tour the monument. With some lovely coastal mountains loaded with twisties and high over-looks, it was about an hour ride (short by any standard, but lovely nonetheless), to the light house and with only a short reroute.
A few parted ways at the light house to do other things, but a contingent explored the historic lighthouse and obsidian beach known to have “dragon glass.”
Along the way, Ron found a stray cat named Mossimo who was out for a ride and couldn’t find a campsite. He turned out to be a pretty awesome guest and evidently is planning to break a world record riding long distance with his dog in a side car. We will keep our eyes peeled for more info about his adventure. Saturday evening was greeted with a beautiful sunset, and an amazingly starry sky. A group of 12 rode into Florence to dine on some local family Thai Food. The evening was filled with a great campfire, and laughter spawned by mostly inappropriate jokes courtesy of Don… Some stayed up late into the night to enjoy the camaraderie of the campfire and good talk.
As dawn arrived, the slow wake ups, packing, hot coffee, and goodbyes (as well as plans to meet again!) ushered in the end of a wonderful weekend on the Oregon Coast.
- Jerry K
August Photos
September 2026 Day Rides
Portland
No day ride for September.
Seattle
September day ride will be on Saturday the 5th. Meet at 9:30am at Charlie’s Cafe, 1335 Roosevelt Ave E, Enumclaw WA 98022.
Dale
Please let Dale know if you want to attend future day rides!
September Campout
The September campout is at Ruckle Park on Salt Spring Island, BC, September 18-20. It’s on the sea like last month but with better weather due to the San Juan Islands microclimate.
Ferries are integral since it’s, you know, an island. For those arriving Friday there are three ferries from Tsawwassen BC to Long Harbour on Salt Spring Island:
10:25am (3 stops, 2h 55m)
2:25pm (nonstop, 1h 25m)
7:20pm (1 stop, 2h 8m)
Leaving Sunday is less convenient because boats from Long Harbour to Tsawwassen leave at 6:10am, 3:30pm and 6:55pm, all with stops on other islands. When most of us will want to leave, the way off the island is from Fulford Harbour to Swartz Bay on Vancouver Island with ferries every 1h 45m or so starting at 9:25am, then on to Tsawwassen with ferries on the hour. There is no direct connection between boats, you have to leave the Swartz Bay terminal, make a 5 km u-turn loop via Wain Rd and McDonald Park Rd and reenter through the tollbooths. (For those looking to extend their stay, McDonald Park is now SMONEĆTEN Campground, a national park without the new $20 non-resident fee charged at BC provincial parks.)
You can register here, and we will see you there!
September Meet & Greets
Portland M&G
Portland’s June Meet & Greet is being hosted by Jason S on Wednesday September 2nd. You can find us at Steeplejack Brewing - 2400 NE Broadway - Portland, OR. 97232. Arrive around 5:30 for dinner & conversation.
This is a great way to meet club members, learn about the club, & learn about our upcoming events for 2026.
Stay tuned, we’re looking to switch up locations.
We hope to see you there!
British columbia M&G
We are still looking for a member in BC to take the lead on this. Please let Dennis know if you are able do this.
seattle M&G
The Seattle area Meet and Greet for September will be on Wednesday the 9th at Slim's Last Chance on First Avenue in the SODO area of Seattle. They have good chili!
Arrive around 6 or thereafter for dinner, official Meet and Greet starts at 7pm
Address is: 5606 1st Ave S, Seattle, WA 98108
We hope to see you there!
High Mileage Competition
Members are invited to join our annual High Mileage competition! Read the rules in the Members Area.
This mileage competition is open to any and all active Border Riders Motorcycle Club (BRMC) members who choose to compete in the most miles ridden on their motorcycle(s), including 3-wheeled vehicles that have handlebars and a saddle for the use of the rider.
Reader’s Corner
A place for you, the reader, member and/or guest, to contribute.
Tell us about your travels, adventures, mishaps, etc.
To contribute, send your story & pictures to News@BorderRiders.com
Keep in mind, you can write about a trip that happened over the summer. It’s doesn’t have to be something you did last month.
Gear Store
The Gear Store is officially closed until the 2027 banquet. If there is something you need from the Gear Store before then, let a member of the board know and we will get it to you.
From the Handlebars of the President
It’s hard to believe that our summer riding season only has one camping trip left, and a big thank you to Dale for arranging all of the sites.
One of the wonderful things about camping is hanging around a campfire. In spite of all of the fires around the area we were lucky enough to have a fire at each of our monthly runs.
I hope that many of you can make it to the September camping trip. For most not the riding distance to Sutton or Baker Lake but has its own complexity with BC Ferries. The ferry ride will give you an opportunity to get off the bike for a while, have a snack and hydrate while still getting closer to the destination
Dennis H.
President
president@borderriders.com
Road Captain Rumblings
How can it be that there is only one more camping trip left for this season? We have had four great camping runs so far in 2026 and Final trip will be on beautiful Salt Spring Island. Please keep in mind the days are going to be a little bit shorter the nights will be a little bit cooler by the middle of September when we go on this run.
September day ride will be on Saturday the 5th. I'm working on a plan for something interesting.
For September meet and greet will be on Wednesday the 9th at Slim's last chance on first Avenue in Sodo area of Seattle. They have good chili !
With fall approaching this is a great time for us to think about what direction we want the club to go in. What do you want the club to be?
Dale C.
Road Captain
Treasurer’s Ramblings
“Piggy Bank Looks Good”.
See you all at the September campout.
Stan C
Treasurer
Secretary Thoughts
A Brother’s Birthday
We have two brothers with a birthday this month:
September 5th - Kevin S.
September 28th - Jeff B.
Take a moment out of your day to send birthday wishes!
2026 Events
Sep 5 - Day rides
Sep 18-20 - Ruckle Park on Salt Spring Island BC
Oct 3 - Day rides
Oct 16-18 - Monthly Meeting, Creek House, Tampico WA
Nov 7 - Day rides weather permitting
Nov 21 - Monthly meeting hosted by Jerry K in West Seattle
Monthly Meet & Greets
BRMC members will be available for interested individuals to meet and learn more about the club and how to get involved. For locations and times, check out the following list of times & location. Watch our FB for last minute details or changes.
Portland: Meet & Greet - 1st Wednesday of the month, now a moveable feast! 5:30pm at a restaurant in the Portland area. Watch the newsletter and/or Facebook for last minute details.
Vancouver BC Meet & Greet - The club is looking for a host for this event, please contact Dennis if you are interested.
Seattle: Meet & Greet - 2nd Wednesday of the month, 6 pm at someplace new. Watch the newsletter, website or Facebook for exact location. We usually meet for dinner at 6 pm followed by the M&G at 7.
Member & Guest Non-Sanctioned Day-Rides
In addition to the club's monthly M&Gs, local rides frequently happen on the 1st Saturday of every month. Additionally, members & guests going on an impromptu day-ride, or to some other activity, will post their plans on our FB page so others can tag along. Again, watch our FB page for last minute details or changes.
To learn more about local event’s, impromptu events, or to check status on any event, check out our FB page or email the Road Captain at Captain@BorderRiders.com.
Hey, did you notice that trend? Yep, keep an eye on our FB page for last minute changes and details for all events.
Contributions of Photos & Stories
Please feel encouraged to send us your photos of our activities to News@BorderRiders.com. Please be aware that often your email client or and/or our storage system might downgrade the file size/image quality.
Club Archives - We are working hard to consolidate the digital archives. We recently added over 4,000 new photos going back to 2004, but there are still lots of gaps.
We need your help!!! Please consider scrubbing your image archives and submitting them to the club in the original size. This will help us complete the picture. (You will be given instructions on how to upload them to our Google Drive.)
Create folders if needed and include the year and month first, then your name. Event name is helpful but not required. For example:
2021 03 Seattle Day Run – Don Pics
2025 01 Don Pics
2025 02 Don Pics
Also, if you do anything interesting outside the club, we’d love to hear about it. Send us a short story with some photos and we will try get it into the next newsletter. It doesn’t have to be motorcycle related to be interesting. We are very diverse.
If you have photos and stories to share, please send to news@borderriders.com