The 8th Annual Layne Creed Memorial Ride was held this past Saturday in Mt. Airy, North Carolina.

(photo credits Layne Creed Memorial Ride)

You may remember that I wrote about this ride in 2012.  Check out this link to learn about Layne Creed, his family, and the reason behind the ride.  Over the years, the Memorial Ride has raised well over $55,000 for local EMS, the Surry Community College, and the Children’s Center of Surry, which is where all of this year’s proceeds will go.  In honor and memory of Layne Creed, this memorial ride has become a favorite of North Carolina and Virginia bikers, and has done incredible things for the community that Layne called home.

Each year a group of friends rides down from Virginia, and this year we were geared up for rain.

As always, the Poker Run starts at 13 Bones in Mt Airy, NC, a local restaurant known as much for their charitable donations as they are their good food. A  poker run is an organized event where motorcycles (or boats, cars, bicycles) and their riders visit five checkpoints, drawing a card at each one. The one with the best poker hand at the end is the winner … although really, it is the children that are the winners.

A new checkpoint in the ride this year was Round Peak Vineyards.

As is obvious from the photos, the clouds threatened rain all day long.

Luck was with us though and we rode on dry roads.

The donations are still coming in, but the last I heard, around $7000 was raised.  An incredible amount of time and energy is put into the ride each year, but the Creed family gladly does it to benefit the children of Surry and Yadkin Counties …

(photo credit Velvet Creed Leonard)

… and in honor of their loved one, Layne Creed.

You can visit the Layne Creed Memorial Ride on Facebook and see lots of photos of bikes, riders, and fun!