The History of SoC

Below we review the history of the SoC initiative.

On the afternoon of 1/10/2020 I, like some many other Rush fans heard the horrible news that Neil Peart (drummer of the band Rush) had passed away from brain cancer. Having followed the band for years and having been inspired to take up the sport of motorcycle touring because of his various writings, this news struck me to my core. I review what lead me to start the SoC initiative on this related page.

After that initial shock wore off, my mind immediately started spinning on what I could do to honor someone who, through his writings (lyrics and books) and generosity [he once gave me a pair of drum sticks at a concert (see: The Magic Show) had impacted my life in such a profound way.

As described in Prime Mover behind SoC, I was in the processing of planning a major motorcycle trip when I had heard of his passing and it did not take long for my mind to settle on a way to honor him. I would attempt to organize motorcycle charity rides (to raise money to help fight brain cancer) in his honor as he was such an avid motorcyclist. I would start this effort with my local shop since I was in regular communication with them in prep of this upcoming trip!

Initial phone calls with the shop about this idea were quite productive (after all, Neil often had them service his motorcycle when he was in the area for a concert!) and we got a little bit of momentum in planning. We chose 9/12/20 (which would have been his 68th birthday) for this first event! Things were underway and headed in the right direction. It then occurred to us that this idea should expand to a much wider audience! In the process of thinking about this expansion, we knew we needed a name for this effort. Beyond myself, early on I had 2 friends deeply involved with the organizing. One is a BIGGER Rush fan than myself and the other, a Rush fan as well, worked at that BMW shop, so, we had a critical mass of expertise available! I first thought of "Farewell to a King" but it was not embraced and to be frank I really did not like it myself. After some back and forth, the BIGGER Rush fan suggested "Sunlight on Chrome" (a line from the Rush song Red Barchetta, off of their Moving Pictures album).

"Sunlight on chrome, the blur of the landscape
Every nerve aware"

This was simply BRILLIANT! As it links to the very essence of riding a motorcycle! We had our name (on 1/14/2020)!

We then made various social media accounts (Twitter: @sunlightonchrme, Instagram: @sunlight_on_chrome, fb: sunlight on chrome)

Our next two important efforts were:

1) contacting other motorcycle shops (and clubs) to host events

2) researching a fundraising partner as we wanted all funds donated to go directly to a reputable/established nonprofit.

For item #1, we got to work sending emails to as many motorcycle shops/clubs as we possibly could! In the end (towards ~March of 2020) we had sent emails to various contacts in all 50 states and had had some positive feedback from a handful and had already had rides lined up in NJ, CA (red), shops in VT, CT, NV, NM, NC and FL were all considering how they could be involved (green) and we had some positive feedback from a shop in OR (blue).

Things were going well!

For #2, we identified a great partner in the American Brain Tumor Association (www.abta.org). Various correspondence related to our previous fundraisers can be fund here:

While the above was going on, we thought it would be very useful to plan a virtual fundraising event (not specifically focused on motorcycle riding) for the dedicated Rush and Neil Peart fans who were following the effort on various social media platforms. We called this first event "Virtuality" (after a song in their Test For Echo album). We had set $2112 as our goal for this fundraiser and had raised ~50% of that ($1157), so we thought it was a successful start to the effort. More information on this and other fundraising events can be found here:

To boost engagement for this first event, and to draw attention to the SoC effort, we regularly posted memes on our various social media platforms. Below are just a few of the first ones, others can be found at the bottom of the Events Photo Gallery:

It was only a couple weeks after that first fundraising event when everything, almost worldwide, came to a complete halt! COVID.

In mid March of 2020, the SoC effort had gone into statis - this lasted for ~1.5 years.

In September of 2021, on what would have been Neil's 69th birthday (9/12/21), we thought that would be a good time to reboot SoC. However, as much as there was still good engagement on social media with the Rush and Neil fans that followed the accounts, all interest by previous motorcycle shops and clubs had vanished! Most certainly doing anything extra following the great economic slowdown that was the result of COVID was completely understandable. We however were left at a cross roads. Do we table SoC again? Do we just close it out? Do we pivot? After some reflection and discussion with a few very dedicated followers, it was decided that we could leverage the success of the first event which allowed any who wanted (not just those who road motorcycles) to participate in a fundraising in Neil's honor! This second SoC event was called "Celebrate seven 29" (as that was the date on which Neil joined Rush, 7/29/74) and it was a resounding success! We HIT our fundraising target of $2112 in Neil's honor, funds going directly to the American Brain Tumor Association. More information on this and other fundraising events can be found here:

As much much as the SoC initiative's original (and inner core) focus was on motorcycling charity rides (of which we still have not had an official one), SoC has expanded to be SO MUCH MORE! Yes, Neil loved riding his motorcycle, but he also loved the outdoors, he loved hiking, he loved reading, there was a time when he loved riding a bicycle, he loved watching his birds in his bird feeders, he loved cross-country skiing, he loved taking long drives in his sports cars, etc. The list of his passions (just a few pictured below; please see: Disclaimer) goes on and many people connect with him on deep levels because they too share those same passions!

One of Neil's quotes that have captured his enthusiasm for life is "What is the most excellent thing I can do today?"

And for him, as much as that MOST EXCELLENT thing often revolved around getting on his motorcycle, that was not the only passion he had!

As I describe in Prime Mover behind SoC, my "sphere of influence," is slowly growing to include all of the states in the US (in terms of riding my motorcycle in them!). Neil Peart's sphere of influence on others is so multifaceted that focusing solely on organizing motorcycle charity rides as the primary goal of the SoC initiative only honors one aspect of someone that so many admire, respect and miss. As such, on this day, 1/17/23, 3 years since we started the SoC initiative, we rebrand! We move from

Sunlight on Chrome: Motorcycle Ride to fight Brain Cancer (in Neil Peart's Honor)

Sunlight on Chrome: Brain Cancer Fundraisers in Neil Peart's Honor

...though we will keep the motorcycle images and still post motorcycle pictures! Yes, we will strive to organize those elusive motorcycle rides (they will happen some day), but we will do more, MUCH MORE than that!

And, as much as it was thought that we would rotate the day (year to year) to recognize different Rush or Neil relevant dates, it seems quite likely that we will retain ~7/29 (see: Celebrate seven 29 on the Fundraising Events page) due to its overarching significance! As Neil joined Rush on 7/29/74!

As for the 2023 SoC fundraising event? Please stay tuned!

Prime Mover behind SoC

ABTA correspondence

Fundraising Events

Events Photo Gallery

Fundraising Events