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By Irene Middleman Thomas
After 19 years of helping the needy, Herman Arellano, president of Pueblo Bikers United, Inc., says one memory stands out. The Colorado non-profit motorcycle organization had presented a hand-pedaled bicycle to a boy, Andres Madrid, born with Spina Bifida, a congenital disorder of the central nervous system that affects the spine. "He was ecstatic," says Arellano, a Customer Service Supervisor. "I'll never forget the look on his face. It was probably the same look I had on my face when I bought my first Harley."
Despite his fringed black leather jacket, motorcycle boots and massive silver jewelry, the goateed 47-year-old somehow still looks, well, gentle. As he displays his gleaming, $16,000 Harley Police Special, he modestly admits that it attracts a lot of attention. Arellano's passion was born when he rode his first motorcycle at 16. "I knew I was destined to ride bikes."
A 10-year postal veteran, Arellano has recruited about a dozen Postal Service coworkers into PBU. Frank Chavez, a customer service supervisor who recently transferred to nearby Canon City, is PBU's vice president, and manages its annual publication. His dark eyes crinkle when he smiles through his short black beard. Chavez recalls a time when he and three other bikers were delivering a food basket to a wary elderly woman. When she finally realized the burly bikers were trying to help her, she began to cry. And so did the bikers, he remembers. "All four of us were trying to be cool. One guy had to rush out of the room."
Every autumn, several thousand people give $5 and a toy as entry to the PBU's Toy Bowl, a rowdy eight-man flag football game against the Police Athletic League. Chavez, 41, no longer plays, but two crooked fingers are a reminder of a Toy Bowl tustle with a 268-pound cop. Thousands of toys are distributed by the bikers to about 1,500 needy Pueblo children during the December Toy Run, the nation's oldest to provide toys to children for the holidays. Arellano designs the annual Toy Bowl T-shirts, from which proceeds are also used for charity.
Arellano and Chavez praise the Postal Service for its support. "We have a great postmaster Bob Podio in Pueblo, who gives us the time to do charity events. He's not a biker himself - yet," Arellano says, grinning.
PBU members are committed to fighting the stereotype of "bad-boy" bikers. "It's not just to ride bikes and get together," adds Chavez. "It's to do something good for others. We've been doing this for 20 years. And, that's what keeps us in this year after year."
Irene Middleman Thomas is a Denver-based freelance writer whose articles have appeared in Hispanic and Latina Style.
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