The Colorado Sportbike Club

Memorial Page and Ride for Jessica
(aka PurpleFeet, CORiderXX)

Jessica McLeod - In Loving Memory
September 29, 1978 - July 12, 2003

[What] [About This Page] [Ride Details] [PurpleFeet Stickers] [Messages from her Family]

What
On Saturday, July 12 2003, one of our own - Jessica - was killed in a tragic motorcycle accident. Jessica touched the lives of everyone she met. She loved motorcycling, and rode whenever possible. We will all remember her as an enthusiastic girl who enjoyed life to the fullest, and would like to honor such an amazing individual by way of this web page and memorial ride.
This Page
We made this page as a memorial to Jess. Under the text are pictures of her; if you have any text or images to add please email them to webmaster@cosportbikeclub.org so we can post them.
Ride Details
The memorial ride will take place on Sunday, September 21st 2003. Please note the date of the ride has changed from Sept 28 due to a scheduling conflict, if you had marked down the 28th please change your calendars. We will be accepting donations before the ride leaves to Habitat For Humanity, to be made in Jessica's name. If meeting in Colorado Springs please find one of the ride leaders if you wish to donate. We will be doing the Bishop's Castle ride. It's where Jessica was heading with her group and was one of her favorite trips. The planned route is as follows: Meet at the Park Meadows Panera Bread parking lot (directions below) starting at 8am. Leave at 9am SHARP. Please be there at least 20 minutes before the departure time to hear the pre-ride safety speech and get everyone lined up. Panera knows we're coming and should have enough coffee available... :) Leave Panera via C-470. Go west to Santa Fe exit and turn South, to Sedalia. Right on Hwy 67 and left (very close) on Hwy 105 (Perry Park Rd). Take to Palmer Lake, get on I-25 South here. (We can also take Hwy 83 from here into the Springs, at the discretion of the group.) I-25 to Colorado Springs, we will exit at Cimarron/Hwy 24 West, EXIT 141. Meet Colorado Springs riders at 8th and Moreno off Hwy 24 (directions below) by 10AM, refuel, leave again at 10:30. If you are still fueling up please let a leader know so we don't leave without you. Take Hwy 24 past Divide ~25mi to Twin Rock Rd, turn left. Follow to ~5mi 1 Rd and turn left. Follow ~7mi to split at Llama farm and turn right on 11 Rd. This is the road where Jessica died. We may not be able to safely stop everyone due to the location but will at least slow down. After ~4mi, at 'T' junction, turn left onto High Park Rd. Follow this ~17mi to Hwy 9, then turn left (south). Follow ~8mi to Hwy 50, turn right. Hwy 50 appx 16mi to Texas Creek. South on Hwy 69 ~25mi to Westcliffe. Stop for a break and a bite to eat, fuel up. (~110 mi from last fuel stop) East on Hwy 96 ~20mi to Hwy 165, south ~12mi to Bishop's Castle. We will stop here and hang out for a little while. This will be a long ride, expect to cover 300 miles at a minimum. The route back can be decided by everyone at this point, some people will be more tired than others. There are literally a dozen ways to go, so we will leave this part up to the group. (Yes, we'll have a roadmap with us if you need it) If starting out in Colorado Springs, meet us off I-25 and Hwy 24 (exit 140) at 8th Street and Moreno. To get there, take I-25 to exit 141 (Cimarron/Hwy 24 West) and turn west on Cimarron. Ride a short distance to 8th street and turn left. Go approx. 1/4mi to Moreno, turn left into the Office Depot/Hobby Lobby parking lot, park down by the H.L. end. There is a large gas station in this center, and fast food within a block. This is a south trip, however most of the people going will be meeting in Denver. We have made the meeting spot as southerly as possible in the Denver area where we can still keep everyone together. Don't forget your cameras/etc! It may be a good idea to pack something to drink and/or eat for the lunch break; the plan is to stop in Westcliffe for food, however this is a very large group for any establishment to accomodate and we cannot guarantee tables for this many people. A word on weather: This will be an all-day ride in fall, through the mountains. Weather can do strange things, so please make sure to bring what you need for changing conditions. If the weather turns out to be such that it is dangerous or miserable to continue, we will stop the ride or alter the route as necessary. Directions to Park Meadows Panera Bread: - They are located at Park Meadows Drive and Yosemite, near the United Artists on the other side of C-470 from the mall. - Take I-25 to County Line, then go west on County Line. Go up to Yosemite and turn left. Follow around the mall, under C-470, and turn left at Park Meadows Drive. Take your next left, park, have some coffee! - There is a gas station across Yosemite if you need it, please make sure you are fueled up before we leave; we will fuel up again at Colorado Springs. This part is important - make sure you read and understand this: There will be a large amount of motorcycles on this trip. Because of the logistical challenges this presents, we will have some guidelines laid out for safety. Prior to leaving, we will go over basic ride safety. This will include some common sense things, hang signals, etc. as well as specific guidelines for this ride. Please make sure you are there for this part. It may seem redundant, but is necessary to ensure everyone gets back safe and sound. This is not a race, and is not a canyon ripping ride. If you want to go fast notify a ride leader before we leave so we may place you in front. If you choose to do this, we expect you to know the route and wait for us at turnoffs. We will place a group leader periodically in front of evenly divided numbers of bikes. The leaders will know the route and will be responsible for setting the pace for their group behind them. Rather than try to keep so many bikes with each other, this allows us to spread out but still remain together. No road changes will be made until ALL bikes are present. The leaders will take count at each turnoff or stop so that no one is left behind. If you need to drop off the trip, please wait until a stopping point and let your group leader know so we're not waiting for you or sending out a search party. This may sound complicated, but it is really just common sense. Of course we just want to have fun and enjoy the ride, and see everyone get home safe and sound! We don't plan to check up on it, but please make sure you have your insurance information on the bike or yourself. Something else CSC has been doing lately is asking members to keep emergency contact information with their driver's license. Please do this if you can, just in case. Your ride leaders are listed below. These people will know the route and will make sure everyone gets there, or will notify the rest of us if they don't for some reason. We will have printed route maps there for anyone that wants them, but if you have questions find one of these people: Ralph (rforsythe) - Yellow Superhawk Bob (Spiderman) - Red/White R1 Floyd (Speedfix) - Red ZX-9 Jenny - Blue R6 Marilou (tt600grl) - Blue R6 Chad Lukkes (ckl5899) - Blue/White GSXR-750 Dave Virtue (655321) - Green Bandit 1200 Jason Summers - Silver FZ1 **Will join us in Colorado Springs
PurpleFeet Stickers
Jenny and Matt (UnknownSoldier) have stickers printed up with Jessica's "Purple Feet" signature, for use on bikes, helmets, or whatever. They are available for free, however donations to her family will be accepted. They are available now, however if you cannot meet up with one of them before the ride, they will be available then as well. We encourage everyone to display a sticker for the ride, as a reminder of an amazing girl we knew.
Messages from her Family
From: Sandi Strickland To: webmaster @ cosportbikeclub.org Sent: Friday, September 05, 2003 1:48 AM Subject: Aunt Sandi The attachment is from words that Jessica forwarded me in a slide show of pictures on September 12, 2001 right after the Twin Towers tragedy. I don’t even know who created the original but I do know the powerful message contained herein and I know that message even more, today, two years after she sent it to me! They say a lot for some things that were important to her. I will send "Jessica's Recipe" tomorrow from work. It is on my computer there. It is the poem written in memory of Jessica and read at her funeral service. I know all who post on your web page are not necessarily Christian, but I also know that Jessica was. I know she left this world participating in the sport she loved as much as life itself and it is so very special that you all are riding in her memory. ESPECIALLY to the ones who read hurriedly over the references to ...sticking together and safety and carring identification and contact information...I say to you that if Jess had not had this information on her person when her accident took place, we, her family, spread from Dallas, TX to Natchitoches, LA would have been even further delayed in getting the news. IT IS IMPORTANT. Enjoy your ride, enjoy every minute of the world of riding that we were not fortunate enough to share with Jess. Just do so safely and everyone come home healthy and safe. My prayers will be with each of you. May angels go before you and keep the path clear and beautiful so that you may breathe in the amazing aroma of God's Grace with your eyes, your ears, and your heart. Jessica loved your sport. Memorialize her with a joyful and exuberant ride. Love, bigsandi@cp-tel.net The Attachment: Jessica forwarded me a slide show with these words on pictures on September 12, 2001 right after the Twin Towers tragedy. I don't even know who created the original but I do know the powerful message contained herein and I know that message even more, today, two years after she sent it to me! Today, we have higher buildings and wider highways, but shorter temperaments and narrower points of view We spend more but enjoy less. We have bigger houses but smaller families. We have more compromises, but less time. We have more knowledge but less judgement. We have more medicine, but less health. We have multiplied our possessions but reduced our values. We talk too much, we love only a little and we hate too much. We reached the moon and came back, but we find it troublesome to cross our street and meet our neighbors. We have conquered the outer space but not our inner space. We have bigger incomes, but less morals These are times with more liberty but less joy, with much food but less nutrition. These are days in which two salaries get home but divorces increase. These are times of finer houses, but more broken homes. That's why I propose that as from today; Do not keep anything for a special occasion, because every day that you live is a special occasion. Search for knowledge, read more, sit on your front porch and admire the view without paying attention to the needs. Pass more time with your family, eat your favorite food, visit the place you love. Life is a chain of moments of enjoyment, it isn't only survival. Use your crystal goblets, Do not save your best perfume, use it every time you feel you want to. Take out from your vocabulary words like "one of these days" and "someday" Let's write the letter we thought of writing "one of these days". Let's tell our families and friends how much we love them. That's why, do not delay anything adding laughter and joy to your life. Every day, every hour, and minute are special and you don't know if it will be your last If you're 'e too busy to take some minutes to send this message to someone you love and you tell yourself you will send it "some of these days", just think that "some of these days" can be very far Or even that you will not be there to see it. From: RDS Adminstrator To: webmaster@cosportbikeclub.org Sent: Friday, September 05, 2003 4:47 PM Subject: Jessica's Recipe This is Aunt Sandi. Here is the poem I spoke about last e-mailing. I hope everyone who knew Jessica gets a chance to read and/or copy it. JESSICA’S RECIPE YOU WILL HAVE TO COMMUNICATE AMONG YOURSELVES FOR THE RIGHT PORTIONS AND INGREDIENTS TO COMPLETE THIS RECIPE SHARE WITH EACH OTHER AND YOU WILL FIND EVERYTHING USED TO MAKE ME…ME START WITH A DOUBLE DIPPER OF RICH CULTURAL HISTORY, STORED OVER THE YEARS IN CONTAINERS OF TIME. ADD AN OUNCE OR SO OF PURITY AND A WHOLE CONTAINER OF DEPENDABILITY TOSS IN SEVERAL BOXES OF INTELLIGENCE, THEN BLEND IN TWO CUPS OF PURE JOY FOLD IN SOME STABILITY AND A TINY MEASURE OF INHABITION. SPRINKLE AND MIX IN A BIT OF TEMPER WITH JUST A TOUCH OF RESOLVE. EMPTY IN HALF A TEASPOON OF SARCASM AND TWO FULL CUPS OF WIT. SIFT EVERYTHING THROUGH ADVICE AND MOISTEN GRADUALLY WITH SUCCESS STIR THE MIXTURE WITH PEACE AND ADD SIX DROPS OF GENTELNESS AND A QUART OF UNDERSTANDING DROP IN ONE CUBE OF EXCITEMENT, A SMIDGEN OF IMPATIENCE THEN POUR ONTO A COUNTER OF LIFE IN GENERAL KNEAD TO A TEXTURE OF QUIETNESS AND SET ASIDE FOR A WHILE BASTE WITH THE GRACE OF SALVATION AND SHAPE INTO A PAN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS BAKE SLOWLY IN A WARM OVEN OF CONTENTMENT UNTIL LOVE HAS RISEN WELL OVER THE TOP OF THE PAN COOL DELICATELY IN A ROOM FULL OF FRIENDS AND FAMILY SERVE OVER A BED OF PASSION TOPPED WITH A GARNISH OF CURIOSITY AND A SIDE OF ADVENTURE IF YOU ALL TRULY JOINED TOGETHER TO RECORD THIS RECIPE, YOU WILL NEVER TASTE ANY BITTERNESS OR PAIN OR REGRET THOSE INGREDIENTS WERE OPTIONAL AND THE HEAVENLY COOK CHOSE NOT TO INCLUDE THEM IN MY MAKE-UP THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS AND IT IS UP TO EACH OF YOU TO SAVE A PORTION OF ME IN YOUR HEART TO SHARE SO THAT THE RECIPE WILL PASS FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION. INSPIRED BY GOD AND HUMBLY WRITTEN BY SANDI STRICKLAND IN LOVING MEMORY OF MY NEICE JESSICA DANIECE MCLEOD Click here to see and post comments to the above messages.

May the angels keep you safe.