As they honoured one of their own, the sound of 55 motorcyclists’ engines roared down the Sunshine Coast highway on Sunday.
On Aug. 27, the second annual Motorcycle Awareness Ride gathered at the IGA parking lot in Madeira Park in memory of Roslin Booth. They embarked at 8:30 a.m., tracing the route Booth rode before her death on Aug. 24, 2022. While riding her motorcycle, Booth was killed in a collision with an SUV near Sutherland Road in Halfmoon Bay, police reported in a press release at the time.
A woman has been charged with one count of driving a motor vehicle without due care and attention, and is scheduled for first appearance at Sechelt Provincial Court on Sept. 27.
Last September, more than 80 motorcyclists united on the highway for the first awareness ride. At the time, the organizer said the turnout "speaks volumes."
The 48-year-old Gillian Roslin Alexandra Booth was described in an obituary as a “true Cove kid” and an independent spirit who was able to make life-long friends everywhere she went. Booth was a multi-talented artist and known throughout B.C. music festivals as the Renegade Pixie. A celebration of life was held in March 2023 at the Deep Cove Yacht Club.
On Sunday, Susana Williams, the organizer of the ride, gave a speech to start the group’s journey. The ride aims to remind drivers that everyone shares the road and to keep an eye out for motorcyclists. In the second year of the event, Williams said the reason behind the ride hasn’t changed: they continue to “bring awareness to motorcycles on the road and help prevent things like what happened to Roslin happening to any of us.”
Although they didn’t know one another, Booth’s death, Williams said, impacted her deeply. As a motorcyclist herself who lives in Pender Harbour, Williams passed the scene of the incident the next day. “It really shocked me and it shook me.”
Williams said she always acknowledges the memorial for Booth at the side of the highway. “I feel like she’s become a presence, like a reminder of how fragile life can be and how important it is to have community.
“All of those people that showed up yesterday and last year, were people from all walks of life. Some of them probably would never have coffee with one another, but this particular event just brings people together in a way that they normally wouldn’t otherwise.”
While many attendees were from the Sunshine Coast, Williams said riders came from all over. One, a Vancouver-based rider, opened the ceremony by playing the bagpipes.
When the riders arrived in Davis Bay, the German Corner Bakery & Bistro was waiting for them with refreshments. The business owners, who are motorcyclists themselves, sponsored the 2023 and 2022 rides. Williams already plans to organize another ride for next year.
