Benefit ride to aid biker’s family

By WAYNE QUESENBERRY/Staff

Motorcyclists are known for their concern and support of each other. They always rally to a cause affecting one of their own.
Mark McKee, owner and operator of McKee’s LLC in Bastian, is organizing a benefit ride to help the family of Kathy Pennington Looney, 53, who died Aug. 31 from injuries she suffered in a motorcycle accident on Brushy Mountain. He is recruiting fellow motorcyclists for this Sunday’s event.
“We’ve listed it as a love ride and poker run,” the Rocky Gap resident said from his Bastian shop earlier this week. “Kathy was raising her grandson Devon and now her mother is doing it. All the proceeds from the love run will go to her mom for Devon.”
The Nov. 16 ride will require a $15 donation per entry. It will begin at McKee’s business on 4934 North Scenic Highway in Bastian at 11 a.m., proceed along Route 61 to Narrows, jump onto Route 100 and to Route 42 ending back at the shop.
“It should take about three hours,” McKee noted. “We measured it and it’s about 86 miles round trip.”
The poker run, he said, will cost $10 and run the same route.
“We’ll have hot dogs and hamburgers here when we get back,” McKee added. “The public is invited to come out and make a donation and eat with us.”
According to him, no rain date has been set. The ride will be held as planned unless the weather is really bad.
“We just hope the Lord blesses it and we do good,” McKee commented.
After years of working as a mechanic and carpenter, McKee bought the Bastian property and opened the small engine repair business last December. He hopes to eventually add a line of motorcycles and four-wheelers for sale.
It’s a family business of sorts. McKee’s wife, Laura, and daughter, Crystal Atkins, help out on weekends and evenings but have full-time jobs elsewhere.
McKee’s cousin, Richard Beers, also is a mechanic at the shop.
“I’ve been dealing with motorcycles most of my life,” McKee said. “I have an ’84 Super Glide Harley I’ve been riding for the last 25 years. I see a lot of people riding motorcycles now as their main ride because of the economy.”
For more information on Sunday’s ride, contact McKee at 688-4900.
Wayne Quesenberry can be reached at 1-800-655-1406 or .