MAGNA, Utah — The yellow bandana tied to the back of a motorcycle parked on Main Street in Magna wasn’t there by accident.
It was Shannan Hulinsky’s favorite color.
A year after Hulinsky was killed in a motorcycle crash, riders from across Utah — and from hundreds, sometimes thousands, of miles away — gathered in Magna for a memorial ride in her honor.
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For many, the ride was about remembering a woman they say loved motorcycles and the riding community that became her extended family.
“We needed to be here. Something was pulling me here,” said Cheryl Stewart, who traveled from Nebraska to attend.
The event, organized by Hulinsky’s husband, Randy, drew riders from multiple states and served as both a memorial and a reminder of the risks motorcyclists face on Utah roads.
“This is what she loved,” Randy Hulinsky said. “This motorcycle community and these people.”
Last year, Hulinsky was riding on Mountain View Corridor when she was thrown from her motorcycle in a crash. Traffic camera video captured the moments. She died from her injuries a day and a half later.
Her husband said the loss extended far beyond their family.
“A lot of times people don’t realize that just one person on that bike affects everybody,” he said.
That impact was evident throughout Sunday’s ride.
Among those in attendance was a longtime friend known as “Cheddar,” who said Hulinsky was the type of person who reached out when people needed support.
“She’d call and be like, ‘Hey, come on up, get away,’” he recalled. “They’d have me stay the night, go riding, just to clear my head.”
When he learned she had died, he said he had to pull his semi-truck to the side of the road.
“I was heartbroken,” he said. “I had to pull over for a bit and just cry.”
The ride eventually made its way to Magna Cemetery, where riders paused to remember Hulinsky and others who have lost their lives.
For one rider, the stop carried special meaning.
He brought a portion of his brother’s ashes and planned to release them from a motorcycle exhaust — a tribute he said his brother would have appreciated.
“I think he would’ve loved it,” he said.
As Utah enters the “100 Deadliest Days” — the period between Memorial Day and Labor Day when traffic fatalities often increase — riders said they hope the stories shared Sunday serve as a reminder to pay attention, watch for motorcycles and remember the lives behind every helmet.
For Randy Hulinsky, the day was about more than a ride.
It was proof that a year later, the woman at the center of it all has not been forgotten.
