John Wood aka Johnny Killmore, E4 Corporal, US Marine Corp
Veterans Charity Ride to Sturgis 2018 Mentor and Sidecar Pilot

​Johnny grew up in Huntington Beach, California and lived there most of his life. Since he was a small child he loved machines, taking things apart and putting them back together. He wanted to be a race car driver and ended up becoming a truck driver in military, later working on aircraft and jet machines. He loves mechanics.

He grew up interested in the military all through his childhood. He had many family members in the military. He met a marine at a party when he was a young man, that got him interested in the Marines. He joined the Marines right out of high school, graduated in June and was in boot camp in September that same year. From 1996 – 2000 he was on active duty, and he got into motorcycles at that time.

Johnny Killmore is a veteran of both the United States Marine Corps and the California Army National Guard, including a 2005 combat deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Returning to civilian life was a hard transition, and the struggle continues. After deployment civilian life was a new way to look at the world and everyone in it. He has had to slowly reevaluate, reassess, and set new boundaries of what is right and wrong, what is safe and unsafe.

Currently Johnny divides his time between full-time sidecar racing, and freelancing as a writer, journalist/photographer. Johnny is among the fastest sidecar racers in North America. After winning championships in multiple series, he turned to hill climb racing, holding the record for fastest sidecar to summit the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.

Motorcycle riding has been a big part of the healing process. “It integrates you with the environment instead of isolating you from it. When on the road for a couple of days, the noise tunes out. Few things help turn the noise off. Music helped at times, but became a grind. Riding a motorcycle is great way to clear your head.”

Johnny first heard about Veterans Charity Ride (VCR) in an article describing the organization and the ride to Sturgis. He immediately saw the combination of motorcycle therapy and veterans and he knew had to do get involved. Returning this year as a Veteran Mentor and Sidecar Pilot, Johnny looks forward to supporting the Veteran’s Charity Ride to Sturgis 2018.

“I met so many great people last year and I’m excited that I can give something back to the Veterans Charity Ride for 2018. Riding around the country with like-minded people, making memories that will last forever and giving injured vets back that sense of community and camaraderie… what’s not to be excited about?”