Gold wing Road Riders Association Friends for Fun, Safety & Knowledge

Transcription

1 Gold wing Road Riders Association Friends for Fun, Safety & Knowledge IOWA O NEWSLETTER Come Ride with Us!!! November 2018 NOVEMBER Sunday, Nov 4 Ride Planning Meeting (Donna & Rich s, th Street B, East 1:00 p.m.) Saturday, Nov. 10 Chapter O Monthly Machine Shed Sunday, Nov 18 Chapter Dinner/Get Grandma 2 p.m. DECEMBER Saturday, Dec 8 NO DECEMBER MEETING - Christmas Noon CHAPTER O GATHERING Saturday, November 10, Northwest Blvd Davenport, IA 52806

2 Iowa O Chapter Officers SENIOR CHAPTER DIRECTOR Dennis & Karen English englishdj@mchsi.com TREASURER Tom Smith Smithjet@mchsi.com MEMBERSHIP ENHANCEMENT Rich and Donna Wesolowski dlwesolow@aol.com NEWSLETTER EDITOR Donna Wesolowski dlwesolow@aol.com Iowa District Officers DIRECTOR John & Yvette Moravec (F) ASST DIRECTOR Randy Heath (A) RIDER EDUCATOR Greg Hayes (A) MOTORIST AWARENESS COORDINATOR Sue Thompson (F) MOTORIST AWARENESS COORDINATORS John & Barb Kilmer UNIVERSITY COORDINATOR Roxanne Oder MEMBERSHIP ENHANCEMENT & SOCIAL COORDINATORS Roger and Vicki Harris (W) TREASURER Linda & Mike Huppenbauer (E) NEWSLETTER EDITOR Sue Thompson (F) WEBMASTER Kevin & Cheryle Miller (E) DISTRICT DIRECTORS CONTACT INFO WEBSITE ILLINOIS Steve & Diane Gottschalk ildistdirector@gmail.com IOWA John & Yvette Moravec iamoravecfam@yahoo.com MN/ND Joe & Jan Marck injmarek@bbci.com MISSOURI Ken Lueckenotte & modirles@gwrra.com Jan Schanbacher NE/SD Lance & Diane Brozek directorgwrranesd@gmail.com WISCONSIN Frank & Sharon Jackson director@gwrra-wi.org ` National GWRRA Officers DIRECTOR GWRRA Anita Alkire president@gwrra.org RIDER EDUCATION Tim & Anna Grimes director-re@gwrra.org DIRECTOR TRAINING Clara & Fred Boldt toledotriker@gmail.com MEMBERSHIP ENHANCEMENT DIRECTORS Larry & Penny Anthony mepgwrra@gmail.com DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF OVERSEAS Dan & Rachael Sanderovich dan.sanderovich@gmail.com DEPUTY DIRECTORS A & N Bob & Nancy Shrader floridadd@msn.com DEPUTY DIRECTORS B, E & L Bruce & Barb Beeman bbbeeman@charter.net DEPUTY DIRECTORS D, H & K Jack Wagner jwagner10@cox.net DEPUTY DIRECTORS F, I & J Ray & Sandi Garris director@gwrra.org

3 Dennis & Karen English Senior Chapter Directors November marks the end of riding season for many of us unless Mother Nature surprises us with some great weather. Otherwise it s time to put the Gold Wing away for the winter season. You know the drill: Fill the gas tank and add the Stabil. If you use gasohol remember to use the Stabil specifically formulated for it. Otherwise, we try to wash the bike, do the gasoline thing, change the oil, and put the Battery Tender on it. At our house the Gold Wing dominates one car stall along with the Escapade trailer. So the car sits outside in the cold. That s the way we ve done it, and it s worked for us for years. That is the car that Denny drives. LOL Just because the bike is stored doesn t mean activities have slowed. We still have winter activities, and several chances to visit other chapters. Going back to the start of the month we said we d report on the Iowa District Rally. The weather didn t cooperate much at all. It was chilly, overcast when it didn t drizzle, but you know the story we still had FUN! There were a number of indoor activities, so those who didn t go on the rides still had plenty of fun. From the Valley One of the parade rides got cancelled due to the weather, but the bike show, and light judging went on. The final construction of the powered mouse trap was supposed to happen in Fort Dodge just before competition, but that never happened. We forgot to bring it! It was all set to load in the car, but it was forgotten. Dennis was pretty embarrassed. Judging from the performance of those who brought theirs, getting it just right wasn t as easy as it looked. A couple mouse traps ran perfectly, but most careened out of control way short of the goal line. We congratulate Don and June Detwiler of Iowa I for becoming the 2019 Iowa Couple of the Year. They are a deserving couple for sure. Congratulations to John and (We Appreciate Yvette) Yvette Moravec and their team for putting on a very good district rally. The district staff did a fine job with their leadership. We no sooner got back home and caught up when we left for Colorado Springs to attend Dennis USS Duncan reunion there. We had a great time, and returned too late to attend the October social at the Shed. Thank you Tom Smith for conducting the meeting and leading the ride afterwards. The next event to El Allende was cancelled, and then the weather turned to a hard freeze the morning of the Tanner s Orchard ride. Dennis had taken on a serious cold, and couldn t go, and riders decided it was too chilly to ride for apples. So that ride didn t happen either. However, Karen took the car and brought home plenty! Then we got news late in October that Tony McClure passed away. Several of us attended Tony s visitation on October 26 th. Tony is a past Chapter Director of the now inactive Illinois Chapter J, and has been a loyal GWRRA member for many years. Our thoughts and prayers go to Myrt and her family. May he rest in peace. On October 27 th Dennis attended Illinois H2 s Oktoberfest in Galesburg. That event has been a regular for many years now, and is always a lot of fun. Coming up very soon is our chapter s Ride Planning Meeting at Richard and Donna Wesolowski s home in East Moline. They have hosted this meeting before and we really appreciate that they do. We hope you can make it to this important event. It s always difficult to plan rides and events when only a few show up. We need to know if what we re planning is what you like to do. If you have ideas we d love to consider them. In addition to helping with the 2019 calendar we d love to see people step up to staff the chapter. It doesn t take a lot of time when there s plenty of help and it is part of the FUN of belonging to the chapter when you participate. A GWRRA chapter is a gathering of people who have rides and activities in common with each other on their motorcycles, especially their Gold Wings. Without YOU there is no FUN! Spur of the moment rides and/ or activities can also be FUN! We re still in the harvest season. There is still plenty of corn standing in fields due to the poor harvest weather. That means farm machinery and mud on the roads we love to ride. Whether it s dry dirt, or mud, it s bad for traction. Farm machinery being moved from field to field is also dangerous. Machinery is slow moving, and you can never tell when it will make a left turn across your passing path. Be careful out there! Dennis & Karen English Senior Chapter Directors

4 MEMBERSHIP ENHANCEMENT The Tanner Ride turned into a four wheel event for those who went. It was too cold to ride the bikes. This is a picture of Karen s successful day at Tanner s. Rich & Donna Wesolowski Membershp Enhancement Halloween is upon us and the riding season almost over. Sadly I missed almost all of the October Chapter rides due to other commitments. I did go all the way to McGrath s in Cedar Rapids to get an oil change because it was a beautiful day for a ride. They do good work at McGraths and I enjoy talking to all the staff. Rich and I are hosting the ride planning meeting Sunday, November 4. I always look forward to deciding where we will be riding next year. We really need your fresh ideas so please join us. We will be serving lunch and could use a head count. Come on out and have fun with us planning our fun next year. We also need to start thinking about where our Chapter Christmas Party will be this year. It is time to start making reservations so we don t get left out in the cold. So put on your thinking hat and give us some ideas of what you would like to do. Dennis attended H2 s Oktoberfest this past weekend. This is a longstanding event for H2 that I always hear good things about. It looks like Dennis really enjoyed himself. Come join us for the November social We look forward to visiting with everyone. If you know of anyone who is sick or injured, please contact Rich and I. We would like to send a card and let our members know that their Chapter O friends and family are thinking about them Please send an to: WESOLOWSKI77@AOL.COM Or call us at:

5 Karen s Kitchen The Best Ever Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes Prep Time: 5 mins Cook Time: 4 hours Yield: 10 servings Give yourself a break on Thanksgiving Day, and use your Crock-Pot to make the Best Ever Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes! Ingredients 5 pounds Yukon Gold or Russet potatoes (or a mixture), peeled and chopped 1 cup chicken broth 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste 2 cloves garlic, minced 1/3 cup sour cream 1/2 cup 1 cup whole milk Fresh chopped chives, for garnish Instructions: 1. Combine the potatoes, broth, butter, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and garlic in the basin of a slow cooker. Cook on high for 3-4 hours, or low for 4-6, or until the potatoes are very tender. Stir occasionally throughout the cooking time to make sure all the potatoes touch the broth at some point. 2. Mash the potatoes using a hand-held potato masher until no lumps remain. Then, mash in additional salt to taste, sour cream, and whole milk, starting with 1/2 cup, and adding more until the potatoes reach your desired consistency. 3. Optional: Using an electric hand mixer, fluff the potatoes just for about seconds to get that whipped potato texture. Do NOT overmix or you risk your potatoes turning gummy. Sprinkle on chopped chives, cover the potatoes, put the slow cooker to warm, and then serve.

6 FROM THE DESK OF THE IOWA DISTRICT EDUCATOR Grey Hayes Recently, while I was riding my motorcycle, someone gave me the opportunity to test out a couple of survival skills. It was on the way to a meeting that I had in Cedar Rapids. The weather was a little chilly but not too cold. It was actually a pretty nice ride from Des Moines in the morning. I enjoyed seeing the fall colors and the progress the farmers have had in the field. My return trip that afternoon was going to be a little less nice with the temperature dropping and I would be headed back into the wind. But it still was not too bad and worth getting another longer ride in. I think driving straight into the wind is still better than a side wind. I was on the north side of town and had turned north, just about a half mile to my destination. Ahead of me was a concrete mixer. This was a very large red truck and I had limited visibility in front of it. It slowed up to make a right hand turn and was over in the right hand lane. I moved over to the left hand lane since I knew the truck would really have to slow down for the turn. Prior to moving over to the left lane I had noticed a car on the side street to the right, where the truck would be turning. As we approached the corner the car would be out of my vision. Of course, if I cannot see him then he cannot see me. Had he seen me? Reasoning that he was more concerned about the concrete truck I thought there was a good chance he had not looked at what was also coming down the street. I slowed as I approached the intersection. The concrete truck was making his turn as I was on the left side of him. All of a sudden I saw the car making a left turn right in front of me. I came to a quick stop. It seemed to be well executed and I don t believe I activate the ABS. The car stopped as well. After looking at each other in the eye - I am sure he did not see my glare behind my sunglasses and face shield - he waved me on. I shook my head, not trusting this guy. So he took off. Seek - Analyze - Act. If I had not been looking well ahead to search for hazards, if I had not analyzed the situation and considered the what if he didn t see me ; if I had not set up a plan, which was to slow down, get ready to brake if needed, and watch to see if he did pull out, I would not have been as ready to act. If I had over-reacted and jammed on my brakes I am not sure what would have happened. My motorcycle is new this year, which now comes standard with ABS. My previous bike did not have ABS and it was a feature that I was really forward to having. So, I am not sure if how quickly I came to a stop was from the practice I get from teaching motorcycling or if I actually activated the ABS and didn t feel it. Although I like to think it was the practice, I just won t know for sure. It most definitely had to do with being prepared. Total stopping distance is made of three part. First you have to see something and realize there is a hazard, then it takes some time for our brains to react and tell our hands and feet what to do, then there is the actually braking distance. The first part is called perception. The second part is reaction. They both take time, which means I am traveling down the road during that time. Time multiplied by speed equals distance. So, if I had not been looking for this car then I would have taken a longer time to see and perceive the car. If it took an extra second to perceive the hazard then, assuming a speed of 30 MPH, then my total stopping distance would have been lengthened by 45 feet. My hands were ready to react, so I had reduced my reaction time as well. I had already slowed so my braking distance was also reduced. When. I did brake I had used a progressive squeeze and did not stomp on my brake pedal. So, I maximized the effectiveness of my brakes. I say that but it also seems that if you do not activate the ABS that you might not be braking as hard as you can. But, I like using the technique that is taught in the MSF and GWRRA riding courses - use a progressive squeeze on the front brake lever and don t stomp on the rear brake pedal. I am sure most of you who have had similar experiences and can relate to this incident. This article was certainly meant to brag about me avoiding an accident. That is not really something to brag about since this is probably the norm and is what we expect should happen. We should be and typically are using the proper skills to avoid accidents. There are a lot more near accidents than actual accidents. This means good training and having a lot of experience can give us the skills we need when an emergency maneuver is required. This is not the only near-incident I had this year. I occasionally get people coming into my lane on the highway because they fail to check their blind spots when doing a lane change and I happen to be right next to them at the time. I just had time to contemplate how what happened in this particular incident corresponds to what we have been taught. It brought together the concepts of 1) other motorists don t always see motorcycles, 2) blind spots are not only the ones we have behind us but can be caused by many things, including concrete trucks, 2) we must never stop using Seek-Analyze-Act (or Search-Evaluate-Execute) anytime we are on the motorcycle, 3) that total stopping distance includes the time and distance to perceive the hazard and our mind-body to react, as well as the time it takes to stop once the brakes are activated, so we need to apply strategies to minimize each part, 4) slowing reduces braking distance, and 5) we must practice the proper braking techniques used in stopping quickly. Greg Hayes hayeswing@gmail.com

7 IA-O COUPLE OF THE YEAR / INDIVIDUAL OF THE YEAR IA-O 2018 Couple of the Year Dennis & Karen English IA-O 2018 Individual of the Year Randy Scott

8 Happy Anniversary Tom & Sue Mulder-17 Jerry & Sherry Proehl-23 Jim & Carol Blasz-28 Happy Birthday 50/50 Winners Tom Smith Rich Wesolowski Faith Sorensen Pat Wassenhove-8 Chuck Sinkler - 11 Steve Spitzer-18 Lonnie Borseth-22 WING DING 41 Nashville, TN WHEN: August 27-31, 2019 IOWA DISTRICT RALLY???????? WHEN: Sept 28-29, 2019

9 Iowa Chapter Meetings Chapter A first Saturday of 8:00 AM Gab Sessions at the Flying J, Max s Highway Diner, 3231 Adventureland Drive, Altoona, IA. There will be a ride after the gathering weather permitting Chapter D third Sunday of 6:00 PM meal with meeting to follow Village Court Family Restaurant 687 South Taft, Mason City, IA Chapter E second Saturday of 6:30 PM (5:30 PM dinner) Fort Colony Family Diner, 5102 Avenue O, Ft. Madison IA Chapter F third Saturday of 8:30 AM (8:00 breakfast) Hy-Vee 3235 Oakland Road NE, Cedar Rapids, IA. Ride to follow weather permitting Chapter H third Wednesday of 7:00 PM (6:00 dinner) - Hotel Ottumwa (Keokuk Room) 107 East 2nd Street, Ottumwa, IA Chapter I fourth Sunday of 6:00 PM (5:30 dinner) - Junie s 1800 Plaza Drive, Elk Run Heights, IA` Chapter O second Saturday of 9:00 AM (8:00 breakfast) Machine Shed 7250 Northwest Blvd, Davenport, IA. Ride to follow weather permitting. Chapter W second Saturday of 9:00 AM (8:00 AM breakfast) 10:00 AM (9:00 AM breakfast) in non-riding weather. Zakeer s Restaurant 425 2nd Avenue S, Fort Dodge, IA Illinois Chapter Meetings Chapter H2 first Tuesday of 6:30 PM (5:30 dinner) - Sirloin Stockade 2200 North Henderson Street, Galesburg, IL Chapter G second Wednesday of 7:00 PM (6:00 PM dinner) - Pizza Ranch 3900 E. Lincolnway, Sterling, IL