GWRRA PA District Chapter Y Harleysville, PA Volume 4 July 2018 Issue 7

Transcription

1 GWRRA PA District Chapter Y Harleysville, PA PA District Chapter of the Year Volume 4 July 2018 Issue 7 CHAPTER Y GATHERING BLUE COMET MOTORCYCLE FACILITY 4042 Mensch Road Skippack, PA Our Next Gathering July 28, :30a.m. Table of Contents Chapter Y Staff 1 Upcoming Events 2 Thoughts from the CD 3-4 Food For Thought 4-5 My 600 Mile Week 6 Wytheville VA 7-8 From the Web Side 9 PA District Director 10 PA District Rider Educator 11 PA FUN FLYERS Take A Look Chapter Directors Peggy & Ron Kratz Chapter of Year Coord. director@gwrrapa-y.com Assistant Chapter Directors Bob & Elaine Williams assistantcd@gwrrapa-y.com Treasurer Jeff Kratz treasurer@gwrrapa-y.com Member Enhancement Coordinator Pam Kratz mec@gwrrapa-y.com Sunshine Jane Youells sunshine@gwrrapa-y.com Goodies Store Barbara Silverman CHAPTER Y STAFF Rider Education Director Motorist Awareness Coord. Doug Little rider-ed@gwrrapa-y.com Couple of the Year Coordinators Doug & Lee Little coy@gwrrapa-y.com Couple of the Year Bob & Elaine Williams Roll For Dough Coordinators Bob & Elaine Williams rfd@gwrrapa-y.com Newsletter Editor Joan Cope newsletter@gwrrapa-y.com Web Master Dan Reisinger webinfo@gwrrapa-y.com GWRRA PRESIDENT Anita Alkire president@gwrra.org Home Office, Phoenix, AZ PA DISTRICT DIRECTORS Harold & Diane Jackson Jackson2@zoominternet.net Friends for Fun, Safety & Knowledge 1

2 ********************** JULY 2018 UPCOMING EVENTS ********************** Chapter Y Events JULY 4 4 th of July Parade Skippack, PA 11 AM JULY Gettysburg Ride Rich McFarland, Road Captain JULY 21 Y Ride to Mt. Gretna Dave Youells, Road Captain JULY 24 Tuesday Y Ride to Woody s Crab House, North East, MD Pete Grillo, Road Captain JULY 28 Y GATHERING 8:30 AM Blue Comet Motorcycle Club facility RIDE to Antique Auto Museum Bob Cox, Road Captain SEPT 15 Bob Becker Celebration of Life, Sellersville Fire Company SEPT 16 Lyons Fiddle Festival, Around the District JUlY 4 PA-E Flag Retirement Ride, Belle Vernon to Punxsatawny JULY 21 PA-R Gumball Ride Sayre - $8/pp. JULY PA All Chapters East Old Mill Stream Campground, Lancaster AUG 4 PA-W Annual Bug Run, Everett, PA AUG 26 PA-D Annual Chapter Picnic 3 pm til? Butler, PA SEPT. 29 PA-V Annual Picnic, Cordorus State Park, 9am to 5 pm $10 RSVP 9/21 Other Districts JULY NEW ENGLAND Districts Rally Southbury, CT SEPT New York District Rally, Watertown, NY Hilton/Holiday Inn Express National.. WING DING 40 Knoxville, Tennessee 8 Y members have reservations at LaQuinta Inn & Suites Knoxville Central Papermill, 1317 Kirby Road, Knoxville, TN Check In 8/27/2018 Check Out 9/1/2018 Other AUG America s 9/11 Ride Police escort Pre-Register 8/ America s 911 Foundation 2

3 ************************************************************************** FROM THE DESK OF YOUR CHAPTER DIRECTORS HERE COMES THE HEAT!!! Peggy & Ron Kratz, Chapter Directors WOW! Spring brought us rainy weekends and now summer brings extreme heat! We ve talked repeatedly at Gatherings about knowing the signs of too much body heat and knowing what to do for yourself as well as a fellow rider. Hydrate in advance of an anticipated ride Hydrate frequently during your ride as well. Stop more frequently to move around water out, more water in! That said, Chapter Y has been riding. Pete Grillo led us 255 miles round trip to Rock Hill, Maryland for lunch at Waterman s Crab House, and a tour of his new sailing toy. Very hot day, great ride, cool ice cream on the way home. Informal Dinner at the PC Pub was a bit noisy, but food and comradery was great as usual. Our ice cream meet was rained out. Gathering was well attended even though the morning mist and fog prevented many from riding. Those that did ride, enjoyed a nice ride led by Dave Youells along the Delaware River with a lunch stop at the General Store right along the canal. What a great place. It is definitely a do over when more folks can experience it. We cancelled out of the ride to PA-B Dice Run & BBQ due to threat of nasty weather. We were disappointed to miss this event, but safety was our priority. Our June 30 ride was super! Racked up another 200+ miles. Jeff Kratz led a group to the Fogelsville meeting point and Bob Cox took over the Road Captain responsibilities from that point. It was a long ride, yummy BBQ chicken and ribs obvious a well-known and busy location. Hot day, no rain! Happy 4 th of July! By the time you read this, the July 4 th Skippack Parade will be done. At this writing, Rich McFarland and I will be participating representing GWRRA PA-Y. I will be flying the flags that our dear past member Craig Famous so proudly flew every time I use them, I think of all the memorable rides that Craig and Eileen gave us. July is the Gettysburg Ride planned and led by Road Captain Rich McFarland Rich never falls to do a great job not only in the planning but also in sharing his knowledge of the Gettysburg area. July 21 another favorite ride Mt. Gretna Dave Youells will Road Captain for us it s a nice ride with beautiful scenery come out and join the fun oh, and did I mention, there is big ice cream on site. Mark your calendars Pete Grillo will be leading another mid-week ride in July this time to another great shore around Woody s Crab House in North East, Maryland July 24 watch for with details. July s Gathering is on July 28. Bob Cox will be leading a ride plan to spend the day with your chapter friends. 3

4 Watch for s with spur-of-the moment ride opportunities. Hope to see you at some or all events this month See you all soon, Peggy and Ron Kratz GWRRA PA-Y CDS FOOD FOR THOUGHT!!! C.D. s Peggy and Ron Kratz THE WISE RIDER AVOIDS EVIL BY ANTICIPATING IT! Better to be prepared in advance than to be taken by surprise! Practice distraction-free mindful riding!!! I found this info, cleaned up the language a bit and felt it was worth repeating. Here are some types of deadly drivers and how to avoid them! ANTICIPATE THE BREAKERS!!! Imagine a crazy 4-lane highway drivers jockeying for position. Look far enough ahead to see the unexpected i.e., furniture in the lane,, truck tire treads, etc. The line of cars ahead apply their brakes. ANTICIPATE THE RUSHER!!! You re in the fast lane of 3-lane roadway when a fool comes charging up faster on your right. Comes so fast he starts tail-gating the car in front of him. He s in a rush and you know he ll want to change to the faster lane. Don t compete Ease off the throttle, give the reckless RUSHER the space he wants. ANTICIPATE THE PASSER!!! Cruising a 50-mph secondary road with lots of big rigs. Someone is always in a hurry. A PASSER is anxiously waiting to pass an 18-wheeler and is tail-gating! Its hard to see around a wide truck. Riders should move to the right-wheel track whenever you see a large or tall vehicle coming toward you to avoid the wind blast and the impatient PASSER who may not see you in the left wheel track. THE MISCALCULATORS!!! Because of our bike s skinny profile, to careless drivers we appear far away and slow moving we re invisible! Anticipate the MISCALCULATORS! A driver who s all too eager to pull out in front of you from a side street or parking lot will look to his left and see this skinny figure approaching. Little does he know that you ve got 150 horses between your legs and you re riding 10 mph over the limit. If you are mindful, you ll be in the left-wheel track where the miscalculator can spot you sooner. 4

5 THE TEXTER!!! Quite possibly the most distracted driver on the road. Talking on phones while driving makes you four times as likely to crash, and texting while driving increases your chances of a crash by up to 23 times, says the National Safety Council. All ages do it! Exercise chart for those long ride breaks see the next pages for why this might be helpful! 5

6 My 600 Mile Week By Dave Youells It was a rainy start for our June Chapter Y meeting. After the meeting three riders started out on a short ride I had tucked into my back pocket for a spur of the moment trip. The weather cooperated and we got to ride some of Bucks county country roads to the Homestead General Store. Being built in 1831 the building retains some of its' original charm. We enjoyed some of their fresh made sandwiches along with their own coffee. The beans had been roasted next door in the old barn. Smells great, when you come up the canal path from areas below. I ride my bicycle from different starting points to the Homestead, for coffee and canal views. Lunch at one of the tables with a canal and bridge view is enjoyable as I have been their many times. Peggy and Peter have photos which I hope will be attached to this writing. 100 miles, short but nice A few days later, my son called and asked me to join him for a ride to Scranton and then a return ride through the Pocono Mountains. 235 miles Peter called and invited Jane and I to ride to Rock Hall, Md. for lunch and a chance to look over his new 41 foot toy. To ride or sail, tough choice but someone has to do it. Rich and Nettie were part of the expedition and we all enjoyed lunch on Waterman's dock. It was a hot day as temps were in the ninety s. 275 miles 6

7 Wytheville. VA By Katie Green Every year for the last seven years, Bob and I have joined some good friends going to Americade in Lake George, NY. So in January when it came time to request my vacation time for the year, I put in for the first full week of June, as usual. But during the first few months of the year, we realized that although Lake George was always a good time with good friends, we wanted to do something different, so Bob got busy checking out places he wanted to go. He came up with Wytheville, which is located in southwest VA in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It would be a real challenge for motorcycle riders to find more beautiful driving trails than looping through the hills of the Blue Mountain Range. Interstates 77 and 81 converge in Wytheville, and it is the hub of 5 trails that total over 350 miles of excellent riding in all directions. Each loop of the Claw of the Dragon is mapped out and named for you, and we did them all! The most challenging was called the Back of the Dragon on Rte. 16. It said on the flyer that This unforgettable driving excursion extends across three mountains 32 miles of excitement with 260 curves and elevations of up to 3500 feet! THEY DIDN T LIE!! In case any of you don t know, I m not a roller coaster fan. When we started at the sign for the Back of the Dragon, I decided to count the curves to distract myself. It didn t really help They said 260 and I counted over 300!! One thing that was confirmed for me was my complete trust and confidence in my driver as he [unexpectedly] scraped a peg or two, and then later, spanked the ass of a fawn that ran out on us! We wobbled but didn t go down! I think the best part of all was the lack of traffic that allowed us to ride our own ride, and therefore get more enjoyment from it. One of the most unforgettable sites we came across was the Country Store and observation tower at the top of Big Walker Mountain. We were told that from the top of the 100 wooden tower, you can see seven states, and she told us it was only $5 for seniors. She jokingly said we d have to pay up front, and after going out to check out the tower, I could see why! While my new knees allow me to move like a gazelle, and Bob offered to buy for me, I had no desire to climb 240 steps of open wooden steps to the top and then a rickety wooden bridge over to the other side for that view! Maybe next time. I have to admit that I never had any urge or need to try the Tail of the Dragon, but I m sure these rides were comparable, and I found that it wasn t as bad as I anticipated after all! The beauty to be found in this country is phenomenal, and I m glad to be doing it on the back of a bike! If anyone wants any further information on this location or the rides, please feel free to contact us it s such a great destination with a lot of attractions, and we brought back a stack of brochures for future reference! 7

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9 From the Web Side Dan Reisinger, Webmaster Hello Chapter Y! Did you hear the latest??? G.W.R.R.A. has released a NEW dealer program! Anyone who purchases a new or used Gold Wing, cruiser, or touring bike from a participating dealer will get four FREE months of membership to G.W.R.R.A. What a great benefit and incentive for a buyer of a new (or used but new to them) Gold Wing, cruiser, or touring bike to meet some fellow riders that love to ride. I hope we hear from Jeff and Pam soon about Montgomeryville possibly participating in this program. The home office will even send out Wing World magazines to them what great reading material to have while waiting for that oil change, new set of tires, or waiting for your ride if you have to leave the bike. I am looking forward to more New Friends for Fun, Safety, and Knowledge! This past Saturday it was great to have Robert, Rick, & MaryEllen join the regulars of Chapter Y on a no destination ride. But coming upon the Blue Mountain Drive In Restaurant up in Lehigh Township was great. I got to test somewhat my new Garmin I still have some tweaking to do with getting out of towns LOL. This is a secret but Rick & MaryEllen know of an off the beaten path place where there you build your own burger for $5.00 on Mondays & Wednesdays! I think Pam might be looking that up for an informal informal dinner in our future! Hope Rick & MaryEllen don t mind us barging in on their hide-a-way. I just ordered a new headset for Joan she is wanting to break in that new helmet I got her late last year at Montgomeryville. Seems the ole bucket is just a little to heavy for her now. I think she will like the snap down sun visor shade, I know I do in mine. I should have it installed before our next outing. I don t think it is a moment too soon either because her connection on Saturday came loose and we couldn t communicate too well with each other. (OK GUYS don t be asking what is wrong with that LOL!). It looks like Dave Youells and Bob Cox & Katie Green had a fantastic week get-a-ways from their articles. Of course, I wish we could see some of those pictures Peggy and Peter took on Dave s ride. I agree with Katie I would have passed on the rickety bridge part too! I want to report that the migration of my Garmin Zumo 660 from the Gold Wing to my Vulcan went smooth as melted butter. I was able to get out on a ride with it and I have my mp3 music and directions to where I am going. I would also like to report that the 595 is FANTASTIC is the sunlight! Even with my hi-vis riding jacket on I can make out the streets and the map with ease. I don t need any guard to block the sun shining on it. They really thought that out on the screen. It being slightly larger also makes for easier following also. So if you are looking for a reason to spend a wad of money this one does have a nice payback. Until the next Ride..... Dan Reisinger 9

10 Pennsylvania District Directors Harold and Diane Jackson Many of us have been wondering where is summer? I guess summer is here; as I write this article the temperature is 90 degrees. And guess what; summer is on time. The first day of summer is June 21 st. Happy 4 th of July to everyone! The 4 th of July is a celebration and often referred to as Independence Day. Thank you to our military and first responders that keep us safe so, we can enjoy our independence and freedom. We just attended All Chapters West. Thank you, PA-P, for hosting the event and for a job well done. The weekend had a great ride, good food and FUN! Those that attend had time for socializing and were able to sit around campfires. The weather cooperated and we had a dry weekend. For those that did not attend, hopefully, you will consider attending next year s All Chapters West or go to All Chapters East this year. If you are not signed up to attend All Chapters East, July th at the Old Mill Stream Campground, Lancaster, PA please contact Jim Burr payellowtrike@gmail.com. Our host chapter PA-B has a great weekend planned. Have you made plans to attend Wing Ding 40? It is the National Rally being held in Knoxville, TN. The last couple of years Wing Ding has been on the western half of the USA. Knoxville is a great area to visit, is a great area to ride and it is practically in our backyard. Pennsylvania has been selected to sell tickets on Wednesday, August 29 th at Wing Ding. We need a few more volunteers to fill time slots. Please give us a call at or us at jackson2@zoominternet.net if you have time to volunteer. Thank you if you have already volunteered! Have you looked at the PA District events calendar? There are many great rides and events listed; you and your chapter should consider attending an event that is listed. We have noticed there are not many events listed on the events calendar as there were at the beginning of the year. We know many chapters have FUN events and outings planned. Let s get your chapter events listed so everyone is aware as to what is happening in the district. It is important for all of us to remember that riding and socializing are an important part of chapter life. So, let s go ride! Remember to always ride safe! Harold and Diane Jackson Your PA District Directors 10

11 Pennsylvania District Educator... Doug Motter Hi Everyone, I would like to change the topic this month. I recently encountered something that I have been teaching in CPR/First Aid courses. I want to share an experience about emotional consideration. I was at work recently and was called on my two-way radio to go to the main office for a medical emergency. As I started to enter the building, an individual came rushing out the door calling out that we needed an AED. I looked at him and told him that we have none. He claimed we did. So, I told him to check the building s lower level for one mounted on the wall. Meanwhile, I continued up a flight of stairs to the dispatch office. Upon entering, I found a number of people arguing about want to do for the gentleman lying on the floor. I interrupted the bickering and asked if anyone called 911. Then I started to check on the person on the floor. It was someone I had known for years. He looked up at me and said, Hi Doug. I asked for the room to be cleared so that he could be properly checked for a medical problem; I proceeded to evaluate his condition. While talking with him having him answer questions I realized that he was having a stroke. This is when I started to feel a little helpless. Here I am someone who has had many years of training and all I could do is sit beside him and comfort him until EMS arrived. After my co-worker was taken to the hospital, I started to feel sick and very disturbed. Realizing what was happening to me, I found one of the supervisors and asked him if we could talk. He was also feeling very emotional; he was the first one to arrive at the office to help. As one of my former CPR/First Aid students, he understood and shared my sense of powerlessness. We talked and it helped! Emotions are something that should not be ignored. Negative emotional responses may include: 1- Feeling abandoned or helpless 2- Recalling the event over and over 3- Self-doubt or a feeling that you have not done something correctly 4- Having difficulty concentrating 5- Experiencing heaviness in the chest 6- Suffering with an upset stomach 7- Having difficulties sleeping or having nightmares If you experience these or similar problems, you need to share your feelings. Talk to someone you can trust to listen without judgement. Get back to a normal routine as soon as possible. If the problems persist, you may want to seek professional help. It is important to recognize - and properly react to - the emotions that may result following an emergency situation. Remember: Be seen, and have Fun getting there. Doug Motter, Pennsylvania District Educator 11

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