Rider Spotlight
- Role
- Historian, ALR Post 259
- Riding with the Post since
- 2020
- Hometown
- Oneonta, NY
- Rides
- 2019 Can-Am Spyder F3T, “Selena”
- Off the bike
- Manages properties and Airbnbs. Gardening, knitting, baking, and volunteering with animal shelters and support groups
Angela Apostolakis
Historian, ALR Post 259
“Kill Switch”
Bluntly, join our group!
For Angela Apostolakis, riding with American Legion Riders Post 259 comes down to family, purpose, and the plain freedom of wind therapy. Ask the other members about her and the word that comes back is sweetheart. She looks out for everybody around her.
She first rode with family in Greece, and it was her fiancé, Rob Martinez, who got her back in the saddle years later. Getting comfortable on her own bike took a few hands. Charlotte Chase let her test drive the Spyder she was riding at the time, so Angela could find out firsthand what one felt like, and Rob and Chris Chase put in the road time with her that built up her confidence and her skills.
Seven years later, in 2026, she is still on “Selena,” her 2019 Can-Am Spyder F3T. The name Kill Switch came out of a roadblock, where she hit the switch by accident. It stuck. She serves Post 259 as Historian.
Angela hands that same favor along. She offers other people a turn on “Selena,” the way Charlotte once did for her, because she has seen what a first ride on a Spyder can do. Somebody takes one out, and the next thing is a bike of their own and a spot with the group.
Recruiting, for her, is mostly a matter of showing people what they are missing. She shares the photos, the stories, and the memories from the runs and the adventures so people can see how much fun the group has, and how easy it would be to start making memories of their own.
Off the road, this self-described workaholic manages properties and Airbnbs, gardens, knits, bakes, and volunteers with animal shelters and support groups. What she wants more of is the charity work. Helping veterans and giving back to the community is the reason she is in this, and by her count that matters more than the miles.
Ask her what she would say to anyone on the fence and she does not soften it. “Bluntly, join our group!” It is lots of fun, she says, full of good people, and it supports incredible causes. A win/win all around, the way she puts it. Long-time rider or brand new to it, Angela will make room for you.
