MATTHEW TOBER MEMORIAL RIDE RECAP - ROTTWEILER PERFORMANCE

The old saying, "You don't know what you have until it's gone" rang true for us in a big way this past June 2022 when we lost our beloved MATTHEW TOBER. He had a pure heart, loved his friends, fishing, animals, and riding motorcycles. Not to mention, he was a team player that was down to help anyone in need both inside the Rottweiler Performance shop and out in the world. We will always admire all of these qualities and his smile will live in our hearts forever.

This past Sunday, July 24th, 2022 at 8AM we hosted a Memorial Ride to honor Matthew's legacy. Around 40-50 riders, friends, and co-workers attended the event, which kicked-off here at the Rottweiler Performance shop with bagels + cream cheese, juice and coffee. We shared stories about our time with Matthew and while we cried, laughed, and embraced each other, there was a sense of closure for everyone in attendance. The plan was to spread Matthew's ashes at four different locations to honor him the way he would've wanted, starting with the base of a tree in our back lot of the shop where Matthew rescued and cared for "Scratch" our pet squirrel.

We displayed a nice memorial of Matthew under our pergola adorned with our favorite photo of him, his everyday riding helmet, a pair of work gloves and safety glasses, a small bag of candy, candles, flowers, and four custom bottles that Chris laser-etched with short poems that held a portion of Matthew's ashes to be poured at each of the stops along the ride.

The second stop on the ride was Beach Parking in Dana Point as Matthew frequented this spot with his fishing buddies where he would enjoy the peaceful Ocean breeze; a Bloody Mary in one hand and a fishing pole in the other. We held a short ceremony on the Jetty where one of his best friends, Mitch, shared a few personal thoughts and then spread his ashes into the Ocean. One memory he shared was that he and Matthew once caught a baby great white shark, right off that Jetty. He was quite the character, Matthew! The morning haze started to burn off and left us with a beautiful day as you can see from the images above. We know Matthew was shining down on us!

The third stop on the ride was at Black Star Canyon Trailhead. There were two large Oak Trees that reminded us of Matthew off a paved road looking out over a strip of red rock mountains that we felt was a suitable location for Matthew's love of the road. Here, we took a few moments to share a cold beverage, relax under the shade of the trees, and enjoy the view before spreading the third bottle of ashes around the base of one of the trees. We asked one of Matthew's regular riding buddies, Brian, to do the honors.

The fourth and final stop on the ride was the legendary Cooks Corner, off Santiago Canyon Road, which was a common stop for Matthew on weekends where he would meet up with friends or make new ones. By this point it was around 3pm, so the Memorial Ride crew was ready for a bite to eat. So, we took a few minutes to grab a burger or hot dog and share a toast to Matthew (Thanks for the cold beer Chris & Mariel!). The Manager mentioned that there was a special spot on top of the hill behind the venue that was setup specifically for memorials, so we hiked up a small dirt trail to the top of the hill overlooking the location. We found an American Flag next to a large wooden cross, where we each took turns spreading a few of Matthew's ashes. It was a perfect way to end the day and going from sea level all the way to the top of a hill was really symbolic of Matthew's journey to heaven. Thank you to everyone that made it out for this experience and for being so brave to share your stories and memories with us! We are all one big family.

0:00 (INTRO)
0:11 (MEMORIAL RIDERS ARRIVE)
0:30 (HUGS & MINGLING)
1:15 (CHRIS’ SPEECH)
1:49 (SHARI’S SPEECH)
2:24 (LOVE OF HIS ADOPTED FAMILY)
2:45 (SPREADING OF ASHES)
3:24 (RIDING OUT)
3:56 (LOCATION 2 - DANA POINT)
4:05 (FAMILY & FRIENDS ARRIVE)
4:17 (MITCH’S SPEECH)
4:39 (LOVE OF THE OCEAN)
4:45 (SPREADING OF ASHES)
5:31 (LEAVING SECOND LOCATION)
5:39 (LOCATION 3 - BLACK STAR CANYON)
5:46 (RIDERS ARRIVE)
5:56 (HUGS & MINGLING)
6:09 (LOVE OF THE OPEN ROAD)
6:40 (SPREADING OF ASHES)
7:07 (RIDING OUT)
7:49 (LOCATION 4 - COOKS CORNER)
8:04 (HIKING UP HILL)
8:19 (LOVE OF HIS FRIENDS)
8:51 (SPREADING OF ASHES)
10:04 (GROUP PHOTO)
10:10 (OUTRO)