The Patch Is a Promise
Three words ride on our backs: Riding For Others. It is not a slogan somebody focus-grouped. It is the whole reason the club exists, and it is the standard every member is held to. Wear the patch, keep the promise.
Who We Are
About the Shadow Casters
Some clubs ride to be seen. We ride to be useful.
The Sierra Shadow Casters came together in 2003, out of Coarsegold, California, for a reason that has not changed once in more than twenty years: a group of riders worked out that the thing they loved doing anyway could be pointed at something that mattered.
These are hard, beautiful mountains to live in. The Sierra foothills give you some of the finest road in America and, in the same breath, they burn. Fire seasons empty houses. Winters isolate the people furthest up the ridge. The departments that come when you call are staffed by volunteers — your neighbours, in gear, unpaid. There is no cavalry out here. There is only whoever decides to show up.
So we show up. We run poker runs through country that people fly across the world to see, and we hand over the proceeds. In 2016 that meant a check for $6,200 to the volunteer firefighters at Station 10 in Yosemite Lakes Park. When the Detwiler Fire took families' homes, it meant $1,000 straight to the Mariposa Community Foundation to help them start again — no overhead skimmed, no press release first. Our Sierra Memorial Poker Run has sent its proceeds to the Children's Museum of the Sierra. Our Sierra Moonshine Run rides for veterans. And every winter we fill barrels with toys for kids in our own valley.
We are a 99% club. That means exactly what it sounds like: we are part of the overwhelming majority of motorcycle clubs that are law-abiding, that pay their taxes, that get on well with the sheriff, and that would like the town to be glad we rode through it. If the leather and the rumble make anyone nervous, come to a luncheon. Bring your kids. You will be bored by how ordinary we are, and then you will see the cheque we wrote.
The name says shadows. The work is the opposite. Every dollar we raise lands somewhere lit and specific: a fire station, a family, a kid who gets a Christmas. There is no head office taking a cut. There is a group of riders in the Sierra foothills who decided that a good day on a motorcycle should leave something behind.
If you love to ride and you want to give back, there is a spot in formation for you. It has been there since 2003.
What We Stand For
Four Things We Do Not Bend On
No Brand, No Barrier
Harley, Honda, Indian, Triumph, BMW, something you built in your own garage — we genuinely do not care what you ride. We have never had a brand restriction and we never will. Lady riders are welcome and encouraged. Age is not important. If it is street-legal and you are, come ride.
Local Money, Local Hands
We do not raise money for causes we have to look up. We raise it for the fire department down the road, the family whose house burned, the kids in our own schools. When we hand over a check, we usually know the person taking it.
Family First, Always
This is a family-oriented club. Spouses, kids and friends show up at our events, and that is exactly how we want it. The ride is the draw. The people are the reason anybody stays.
The Record
Two Decades, One Direction
- Founded
- 2003 — Coarsegold, California
- Detwiler Fire Relief
- $1,000 direct to the Mariposa Community Foundation for displaced families
- Volunteer Firefighters
- $6,200 presented to Madera County Fire Station 10, Yosemite Lakes Park
- Veterans
- Annual Sierra Moonshine Poker Run for Caring Veterans of America
- Children
- Sierra Memorial Poker Run proceeds to the Children's Museum of the Sierra
- Youth
- Ongoing toy drives with Mariposa Safe Families and local law enforcement
Covered by Sierra News Online since 2016. Read the coverage →
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