September 19, 2025 • 15 mins
A powerful demonstration of kindness and forgiveness inspired me to reflect on how we motorcyclists interact with drivers who seem careless around us. When someone cuts us off or fails to see us, our default reaction is anger—labeling them as "idiot drivers" who don't value our safety. But what if we're missing crucial context? That driver who turned in front of you might be fleeing a traumatic situation, vision blurred by tears, world crumbling around them. We never truly know what battles others are fighting behind their windshields.
By choosing kindness over condemnation—a friendly wave indicating "it's okay" rather than an angry gesture—we might not only diffuse our own negative emotions but potentially inspire greater awareness for motorcyclists. The space between helmets and steering wheels contains human hearts capable of both tremendous hurt and healing. Craig's story reminds us that beneath our protective gear, we're neighbors and friends with capacity for extraordinary compassion.
What act of unexpected kindness have you witnessed recently? Share your story and help spread this message of compassion that our roads—and our world—so desperately need.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Ron (00:03):
I would like to dedicate this episode to my fellow Rocky
Mountain Tour guide and friend,craig, and I need to tell you
why.
This past week, the guides forGreen Jeep Tours in Estes Park,
colorado, up the road from myhouse we all came together to
celebrate Dolly's 15th birthday.
We met at a pub there in EstesPark and had wonderful snacks
(00:27):
and just such a wonderful timetogether.
Dolly wore a cute little pinkdress and she was so excited to
see so many of her friends there.
Dolly, by the way, is a dog whobelongs to Nikki.
Nikki owns Green Jeep Tours.
It was Dolly's 15th birthday itreally was and Nikki she just
(00:50):
loves her friends and loves herdog and her dog's friends.
So she brought us all togetherfor an evening at the pub and it
was just wonderful.
You know, this is why I loveRocky Mountain Tour Guides,
because they're goofy, they'refun and they're full of love.
They're some of my best friends.
(01:10):
Anyway, back to why thisepisode is dedicated to Craig,
as several of us guides sat at atable the other night and
shared stories about tours thatwent well, and mostly about
tours that didn't go so well.
Well, not as expected.
Anyway, craig shared a storythat topped them all, and for me
(01:33):
it demonstrated what kind ofperson Craig really is.
So here's the short version.
Craig again, fellow tour guideat Green Jeep Tours.
He received instructions topick up a family who wanted to
take a tour of Rocky MountainNational Park.
(01:54):
It's what we do all the time,nothing strange there.
Rather than coming to GreenJeep Tours, to the shop there in
downtown Estes Park, though,they asked to be picked up at
one of the national parkentrances.
So they asked to be picked upat one of the national park
entrances.
Craig was agreeable to that.
So Craig met the family thereand took them for the standard 3
(02:15):
hour and 15 minute tour throughRocky Mountain National Park.
And when they completed thetour and returned to the pickup
point, craig was informed by thefamily that they didn't have a
car there.
That's strange.
They told him that they hadtaken a rideshare there, like an
Uber, all the way from downtownDenver to Estes Park.
(02:39):
That's an hour and a half onvery twisty mountain roads as
they expected to grab anotherUber from Estes Park that
evening and go back to Denver.
Well, craig, being a local,gave them the bad news that
there are typically no rideshareservices way up here in the
(02:59):
mountains, especially not in theevening no Uber, no Lyft and,
this time of evening, no busservice either.
So they're kind of out of luck.
But Craig, knowing that theywere in need and assuming that
they would be grateful for hisefforts, craig offered to drive
(03:20):
this family all the way back toDenver, to downtown Denver, to
their hotel, in his personal car.
When Craig told me that, I saidto him.
When Craig told me that, I saidto him you've got to be kidding
.
And he said nope, I drove themto Denver an hour and a half one
way in my personal car.
Wow, you know, I try to be anice guy but honestly, I
(03:45):
wouldn't have done it.
I don't, I'm sure.
No, I wouldn't have.
I wouldn't have done it myself.
Anyway, here's the thing.
I wouldn't have done it myself.
Anyway, here's the thing.
We get paid a flat rate forevery tour, but the hope is that
you'll have very nice tips thatdefinitely supplement the
income.
So that's always helpful andmost of the time people do tip,
(04:07):
and some tip very well.
So Craig delivered this familyto their hotel in downtown
Denver, remember now, this isfollowing a three-hour Rocky
Mountain National Park tour thathe took them on, following
another hour and a half drive toDenver in his personal car.
So, after all that, they justsaid thank you and walked away
(04:34):
into their hotel.
No tip, nothing.
Then Craig drove for anotherhour and a half back up into the
mountains to Estes Park toreach his home.
A very, very long day and adisappointing day.
(04:54):
You know what makes my headexplode, though, about this
story?
It's what Craig told me and ourbuddies about his thoughts on
that experience.
Craig said that, yes, he wasdisappointed in the lack of
gratitude, like in a tip, but healso told us that it was his
(05:18):
hope for them, this family, thatthey had a great day in Rocky
Mountain National Park.
He felt like they did, and hewas glad to see this family get
home, safe, back to their hotelin Denver, and he wished them
all to have a wonderfulremainder of their vacation.
That, my friends, is an exampleof love for your fellow man,
(05:47):
something that we so, so needthese days, so so need these
days A demonstration of caringfor those who have only seen us
once and they may never see usagain.
That's why I say to you, craig,if you're listening, you are a
(06:11):
hero and I'm so glad that youare my fellow tour guide and I'm
especially glad that you're myfriend.
So today, as I was inspired byCraig's story and his
(06:34):
inspiration, we're going to stayon that topic of kindness and
how that relates to ourattitudes and our image as
motorcycle riders.
It's always our hope, right,that other drivers see us for
sure for safety, safety but Ithink most of us also do our
(06:57):
best to demonstrate that, yes,we are inside a helmet and
underneath protective gear, butwe're people, we're your
neighbors, we're your friendsand a great majority of us have
really good hearts.
We have a love for our fellowman and I hope that this story
that I'll share now, bringing itback, was originally published
two and a half years ago, but Ihope that it brings new insights
(07:21):
if you've not heard it before,about a heightened awareness of
kindness from the seat of amotorcycle.
(07:43):
It was a fabulous Fridayafternoon.
The six of us met up early androde our motorcycles into the
mountains.
We rode over to Nederland,surrounded by snow-capped
mountains, and we visited theCarousel of Happiness and we
took a ride on the classichandmade carousel.
It's wonderful, a lot of smiles.
(08:04):
We had such a nice coffee visittoo a train, car, coffee right
next door.
Before we hit the peak-to-peakhighway to carve the twisties
down through the canyons andover the mountaintops, just
having a blast, we decided tohead on down into the valley.
We cruised down Highway 34following the Big Thompson
Canyon.
(08:24):
There was very little trafficthis time and we followed
endlessly curving roads, pushingthe speed?
Yeah, a little bit.
Hey, we know what we're doing.
We've been down this road many,many times.
We're careful Enough, I guess.
Once we reached Loveland, wetook a left on Wilson Avenue and
(08:45):
headed north.
Our next destination was theHowlin' Cow Cafe for another
coffee that we probably didn'tneed, but oh my goodness, it's
just so good and so much fun tobe there.
Yeah, maybe we were riding alittle too tight and a little
too close, but it felt great and, more importantly, we looked
(09:08):
really good.
We're experienced riders, we'reall close friends and going
fast.
We tend to do that sometimes.
It was when we reached theintersection At the light that
it happened.
A very close call.
We most certainly had the rightof way.
(09:36):
How could she just turn rightin front of us, causing us to
slam on our brakes, narrowlymissing each other, and the
ditch, for that matter?
She looked right at us.
When she turned she lookedright at us.
Yeah, we were going fast andriding too tight, but surely she
must have been paying enoughattention to know that she
(09:59):
didn't have time to turn infront of us.
Then, to top it off, she justkept driving.
She didn't stop to see if wewere okay, she just kept on
going.
We pulled off at the next placewhere we could to check on each
other.
A few of us were shaken up alittle bit, but we just struck
this up to idiot drivers.
(10:19):
There are just so many idiotdrivers out there who just don't
give a darn.
There was one more right there.
She never expected her life toturn out this way.
(10:40):
She knew that when she marriedhim he had a mean side.
She thought that after thefirst child he would become a
good dad and be kind to her.
But when the next child wasborn three years later, it just
got worse.
Her hope that day that Friday,that it would be a day when it
(11:05):
all would stop and she could geton with her life with her two
kids.
No one was available to takecare of them when she had to go
to the court, so she had to takethem along and ask someone
there at the courts to watchafter them.
For a few minutes, while shetried to get through this last
argument about who would takewhat, including the children,
(11:30):
her world was completely shakenas her attorney escorted her out
to the car and someone from thecourts helped to bring the
babies out into their car seat.
She really wasn't sure if shecould drive, but she just had to
go home.
It was near that intersectionwhen, the perfect timing between
(11:52):
the time when her childrenbegan to cry and then she began
to cry too.
It was right.
Then, when she turned left andheard the sounds of squealing
tires and honking horns, shelooked right at them and she was
so sorry.
But she knew she couldn'thandle any more hurt that day.
(12:15):
She was already so broken upinside she just couldn't face
anyone who was going to be angrywith her, anyone else.
So she just drove on home,hoping that none of those
motorcycle riders would followher.
(12:42):
The places that I described,where we ride, we really do and,
yeah, sometimes we push thespeed limit a little bit.
But the story I think, eventhough it was fictitious, it
could be very, very real in alot of scenarios.
You see, we never know what'sgoing on in the life of someone
else.
Yeah, I very well could be justanother idiot driver who pulls
(13:06):
in front of us or drifts intoour lane, but it also may be
someone whose life has beenshattered.
It may be someone who needs tosee a little bit of compassion,
like a friendly wave indicatingthat it's okay, everything's
fine, all is forgiven, don'tworry.
(13:27):
It's really easy for us to getangry at those drivers who don't
seem to care, but I think wehave to take a bold step and
assume that by controlling ouremotions better yet, showing
forgiveness, showing kindness,maybe, just maybe, that driver
(13:49):
will be a little bit morecareful and care a little bit
more about you and me out on ourmotorcycles, as always.
Thank you so much for listeningand I wish you peace.
And I wish you peace and I wishyou love.
Thank you.
I would like to dedicate this episode to my fellow Rocky
Mountain Tour guide and friend,craig, and I need to tell you
why.
This past week, the guides forGreen Jeep Tours in Estes Park,
colorado, up the road from myhouse we all came together to
celebrate Dolly's 15th birthday.
We met at a pub there in EstesPark and had wonderful snacks
(00:27):
and just such a wonderful timetogether.
Dolly wore a cute little pinkdress and she was so excited to
see so many of her friends there.
Dolly, by the way, is a dog whobelongs to Nikki.
Nikki owns Green Jeep Tours.
It was Dolly's 15th birthday itreally was and Nikki she just
(00:50):
loves her friends and loves herdog and her dog's friends.
So she brought us all togetherfor an evening at the pub and it
was just wonderful.
You know, this is why I loveRocky Mountain Tour Guides,
because they're goofy, they'refun and they're full of love.
They're some of my best friends.
(01:10):
Anyway, back to why thisepisode is dedicated to Craig,
as several of us guides sat at atable the other night and
shared stories about tours thatwent well, and mostly about
tours that didn't go so well.
Well, not as expected.
Anyway, craig shared a storythat topped them all, and for me
(01:33):
it demonstrated what kind ofperson Craig really is.
So here's the short version.
Craig again, fellow tour guideat Green Jeep Tours.
He received instructions topick up a family who wanted to
take a tour of Rocky MountainNational Park.
(01:54):
It's what we do all the time,nothing strange there.
Rather than coming to GreenJeep Tours, to the shop there in
downtown Estes Park, though,they asked to be picked up at
one of the national parkentrances.
So they asked to be picked upat one of the national park
entrances.
Craig was agreeable to that.
So Craig met the family thereand took them for the standard 3
(02:15):
hour and 15 minute tour throughRocky Mountain National Park.
And when they completed thetour and returned to the pickup
point, craig was informed by thefamily that they didn't have a
car there.
That's strange.
They told him that they hadtaken a rideshare there, like an
Uber, all the way from downtownDenver to Estes Park.
(02:39):
That's an hour and a half onvery twisty mountain roads as
they expected to grab anotherUber from Estes Park that
evening and go back to Denver.
Well, craig, being a local,gave them the bad news that
there are typically no rideshareservices way up here in the
(02:59):
mountains, especially not in theevening no Uber, no Lyft and,
this time of evening, no busservice either.
So they're kind of out of luck.
But Craig, knowing that theywere in need and assuming that
they would be grateful for hisefforts, craig offered to drive
(03:20):
this family all the way back toDenver, to downtown Denver, to
their hotel, in his personal car.
When Craig told me that, I saidto him.
When Craig told me that, I saidto him you've got to be kidding
.
And he said nope, I drove themto Denver an hour and a half one
way in my personal car.
Wow, you know, I try to be anice guy but honestly, I
(03:45):
wouldn't have done it.
I don't, I'm sure.
No, I wouldn't have.
I wouldn't have done it myself.
Anyway, here's the thing.
I wouldn't have done it myself.
Anyway, here's the thing.
We get paid a flat rate forevery tour, but the hope is that
you'll have very nice tips thatdefinitely supplement the
income.
So that's always helpful andmost of the time people do tip,
(04:07):
and some tip very well.
So Craig delivered this familyto their hotel in downtown
Denver, remember now, this isfollowing a three-hour Rocky
Mountain National Park tour thathe took them on, following
another hour and a half drive toDenver in his personal car.
So, after all that, they justsaid thank you and walked away
(04:34):
into their hotel.
No tip, nothing.
Then Craig drove for anotherhour and a half back up into the
mountains to Estes Park toreach his home.
A very, very long day and adisappointing day.
(04:54):
You know what makes my headexplode, though, about this
story?
It's what Craig told me and ourbuddies about his thoughts on
that experience.
Craig said that, yes, he wasdisappointed in the lack of
gratitude, like in a tip, but healso told us that it was his
(05:18):
hope for them, this family, thatthey had a great day in Rocky
Mountain National Park.
He felt like they did, and hewas glad to see this family get
home, safe, back to their hotelin Denver, and he wished them
all to have a wonderfulremainder of their vacation.
That, my friends, is an exampleof love for your fellow man,
(05:47):
something that we so, so needthese days, so so need these
days A demonstration of caringfor those who have only seen us
once and they may never see usagain.
That's why I say to you, craig,if you're listening, you are a
(06:11):
hero and I'm so glad that youare my fellow tour guide and I'm
especially glad that you're myfriend.
So today, as I was inspired byCraig's story and his
(06:34):
inspiration, we're going to stayon that topic of kindness and
how that relates to ourattitudes and our image as
motorcycle riders.
It's always our hope, right,that other drivers see us for
sure for safety, safety but Ithink most of us also do our
(06:57):
best to demonstrate that, yes,we are inside a helmet and
underneath protective gear, butwe're people, we're your
neighbors, we're your friendsand a great majority of us have
really good hearts.
We have a love for our fellowman and I hope that this story
that I'll share now, bringing itback, was originally published
two and a half years ago, but Ihope that it brings new insights
(07:21):
if you've not heard it before,about a heightened awareness of
kindness from the seat of amotorcycle.
(07:43):
It was a fabulous Fridayafternoon.
The six of us met up early androde our motorcycles into the
mountains.
We rode over to Nederland,surrounded by snow-capped
mountains, and we visited theCarousel of Happiness and we
took a ride on the classichandmade carousel.
It's wonderful, a lot of smiles.
(08:04):
We had such a nice coffee visittoo a train, car, coffee right
next door.
Before we hit the peak-to-peakhighway to carve the twisties
down through the canyons andover the mountaintops, just
having a blast, we decided tohead on down into the valley.
We cruised down Highway 34following the Big Thompson
Canyon.
(08:24):
There was very little trafficthis time and we followed
endlessly curving roads, pushingthe speed?
Yeah, a little bit.
Hey, we know what we're doing.
We've been down this road many,many times.
We're careful Enough, I guess.
Once we reached Loveland, wetook a left on Wilson Avenue and
(08:45):
headed north.
Our next destination was theHowlin' Cow Cafe for another
coffee that we probably didn'tneed, but oh my goodness, it's
just so good and so much fun tobe there.
Yeah, maybe we were riding alittle too tight and a little
too close, but it felt great and, more importantly, we looked
(09:08):
really good.
We're experienced riders, we'reall close friends and going
fast.
We tend to do that sometimes.
It was when we reached theintersection At the light that
it happened.
A very close call.
We most certainly had the rightof way.
(09:36):
How could she just turn rightin front of us, causing us to
slam on our brakes, narrowlymissing each other, and the
ditch, for that matter?
She looked right at us.
When she turned she lookedright at us.
Yeah, we were going fast andriding too tight, but surely she
must have been paying enoughattention to know that she
(09:59):
didn't have time to turn infront of us.
Then, to top it off, she justkept driving.
She didn't stop to see if wewere okay, she just kept on
going.
We pulled off at the next placewhere we could to check on each
other.
A few of us were shaken up alittle bit, but we just struck
this up to idiot drivers.
(10:19):
There are just so many idiotdrivers out there who just don't
give a darn.
There was one more right there.
She never expected her life toturn out this way.
(10:40):
She knew that when she marriedhim he had a mean side.
She thought that after thefirst child he would become a
good dad and be kind to her.
But when the next child wasborn three years later, it just
got worse.
Her hope that day that Friday,that it would be a day when it
(11:05):
all would stop and she could geton with her life with her two
kids.
No one was available to takecare of them when she had to go
to the court, so she had to takethem along and ask someone
there at the courts to watchafter them.
For a few minutes, while shetried to get through this last
argument about who would takewhat, including the children,
(11:30):
her world was completely shakenas her attorney escorted her out
to the car and someone from thecourts helped to bring the
babies out into their car seat.
She really wasn't sure if shecould drive, but she just had to
go home.
It was near that intersectionwhen, the perfect timing between
(11:52):
the time when her childrenbegan to cry and then she began
to cry too.
It was right.
Then, when she turned left andheard the sounds of squealing
tires and honking horns, shelooked right at them and she was
so sorry.
But she knew she couldn'thandle any more hurt that day.
(12:15):
She was already so broken upinside she just couldn't face
anyone who was going to be angrywith her, anyone else.
So she just drove on home,hoping that none of those
motorcycle riders would followher.
(12:42):
The places that I described,where we ride, we really do and,
yeah, sometimes we push thespeed limit a little bit.
But the story I think, eventhough it was fictitious, it
could be very, very real in alot of scenarios.
You see, we never know what'sgoing on in the life of someone
else.
Yeah, I very well could be justanother idiot driver who pulls
(13:06):
in front of us or drifts intoour lane, but it also may be
someone whose life has beenshattered.
It may be someone who needs tosee a little bit of compassion,
like a friendly wave indicatingthat it's okay, everything's
fine, all is forgiven, don'tworry.
(13:27):
It's really easy for us to getangry at those drivers who don't
seem to care, but I think wehave to take a bold step and
assume that by controlling ouremotions better yet, showing
forgiveness, showing kindness,maybe, just maybe, that driver
(13:49):
will be a little bit morecareful and care a little bit
more about you and me out on ourmotorcycles, as always.
Thank you so much for listeningand I wish you peace.
And I wish you peace and I wishyou love.
Thank you.
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