Photography by Jen Muecke

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Main Feature

The Wild Quest Through The Wild West

Movement Energizes Motorcycling Through Community

By Jen Muecke

In the shadow of the Bighorn Mountains in Wyoming, halfway between Devil’s Tower and Yellowstone National Park, the small city of Sheridan is home to a group of younger-generation motorcyclists determined to spread their unique message about motorcycling.

The founders of the lifestyle brand Go Fast, Don’t Die realized after riding all over the world, attending bike shows, events and rallies, that their beloved home state deserved a little more attention.

The Devilstone Run was born to showcase the best Wyoming has to offer. Held over Labor Day weekend, the ride starts at the country’s first national monument and winds its way west through Sheridan, over the Bighorns, past the cowboy capital of Cody and into Yellowstone, the first U.S. national park. The ride officially ends at the Old Faithful geyser, but most people continue south, past the jagged peaks of the Tetons to finish in Jackson, Wyo.

From a rider’s first interaction on the Devilstone Run, there is a sense something different about this run, and that feeling comes from the organizers.

Brady McLean, Brett Riley and Rhett Raha make you immediately feel like family, working with Josh Law and his staff at the Sheridan-based marketing company Only Co., where Go Fast, Don’t Die originated.

They call it “Making New Old Friends.” Their enthusiasm is infectious and free of pretense. They have fostered a community of riders that gets to the core of what makes motorcycling so great: It’s about having fun.

This is not a high-mileage endurance ride, nor is it tightly organized. It’s a loose, entertaining, choose-your-own adventure in an incredibly beautiful part of the country. Follow the route, or don’t. Ride with the group, or go off on your own.

Basic instructions and meeting points are provided, but you aren’t required to follow them. The three days of riding start late. There are frequent stops to take breaks for lunch and fuel. Everyone collects in the evening for an organized street party or at a hosting bar’s outdoor patio or at the campground. It’s a moving carnival.

I’ve been participating in this ride for the past three years of its four-year existence. I originally was invited by the energetic founders after a chance meeting while working at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, but I almost didn’t go. I had a list of excuses: I’d be the oldest person there (I’m a good 10 years outside their demographic). I didn’t really know anyone (I was going solo). It’s a boring ride from Wisconsin to the Black Hills of South Dakota.

However, by the end of the 2,800-mile round trip that first year, I had learned a very valuable lesson: Do it. Set your expectations aside and just go.

Having worked in powersports the past couple of decades, I’ve heard much about the maligned younger generation that is “killing the business of motorcycling.” That idea has never really sat well with me.

The industry doesn’t do a very good job of tracking used-bike sales (which younger folks are more likely to purchase), because its primary concern is new units and profit. The industry also gets weighed down by stuffy, jaded opinions, which, over time have taken a lot of the enjoyment out of the experience for me.

Events like this ride are refreshing, and every year I’m reminded of what I loved about motorcycling in the first place: beautiful scenery, the connection of all your senses to your environment and meeting great people.

Young people are not killing the industry. They’re energizing it, paving their own way and finding their own voice.

Jen Muecke is an AMA member from Cedarburg, Wis.

Photography by Jen Muecke