GWRRA Texas Chapter O - Capitol Wings www.goldwingaustin.org Greetings from the [Name] Family! 2017 Texas Gold Chapter of the Year / 2008 Texas Chapter of the Year / 2007 GWRRA Internat l. Chapter of the Year A Word From Your Chapter Directors Lyle & Sheri Altes Hey O August is here and we can wave a very hot July goodbye. Let s just hope that August (which is typically our hottest month) does not live up to its reputation. As everyone, I believe everyone is well aware that Wing Ding is in Knoxville TN at the end of the month 8/28/2018 9/1/2018. This look to be a very interesting event with a lot more emphasis on riding and it s a beautiful area to ride in. We hope a great many of you can make it this year. We have heard from a few that are going and would love to have a big turn out from the Chapter. There are several of us taking campers and a few riding if any of you need help hooking up with someone that is going that you can ride along with let us know and we will see if we can help. Like I said, July was a very hot month and we did not get much riding in. We did do the ride to Red Rock Steak House and plan to do it again in a few months. Also, we had the Chapter O Barbeque hosted by John & Wanda Osborn. We had a very good turn out with lots of food there was plenty of shade and a breeze that made it a very nice and enjoyable afternoon. We would like to extend a big thanks to them for inviting all of us into their home. As always, we are looking for places you want to ride to or some things that we can do as a chapter. If you have any ideas please let us or Ken & Teri Burnett know and we will try and make it happen. Not much on schedule for August yet. We are talking about a couple of breakfast rides but nothing firm yet. Watch your email we will post as soon as it is planned. Meanwhile, everyone try and stay cool, ride safe and we hope to see you at Wing Ding. Important Dates: 08/21 Chapter O Mtg El Rincon Pflugerville 8/28-9/1 Wing Ding Knoxville, TN 9/27-29 OK District Rally 10/6 Chapter T Rally 10/13 K2 Rally 10/20 Chapter H Rally 11/2-4 Louisiana Ride-In A Budding Artist As many of you are aware, John and Wanda s grand-daughter Taylor is a budding artist. She has created many beautiful paintings like the one at right and she has them for sale. She is donating 1/2 of her profits to the Ride for Kids. She will have many on display at the 2019 Texas District Rally. You can help her help the Ride for Kids organization by purchasing one of her pieces of masterpieces. Chapter Meeting: The August meeting will be the 3rd Tuesday at El Rincon (back room), 200 E. Pecan, Pflugerville. Join us at 6:00 pm to eat and visit followed by the Meeting @ 7:00. NOTE: It s 1/2 price enchilada night.
Kickstands Up! Additional rides will be announced via the website and Google Groups. For an up-to- date monthly list, visit the Chapter O web site at www.goldwingaustin.org/page4.html Date Chapter Event Location Contact/Email/Web Phone 8/14 T2 Meeting & Ride 8/21/18 Chapter O Meeting Central Texas Powersports El Rincon Pflugeville, TX Scott Finnell 412-977-9988 Lyle Altes 512-897-0860 8/28-9/1 Wing Ding 40 Knoxville, TN wing-ding.org/ 9/13-15 Colorado District Rally Gunnison, CO www.coloradogwrra. com 9/18 Chapter O Meeting TBA Lyle Altes 512-897-0860 9/27-29 Oklahoma District Rally Lawton, OK www.gwrraokla.org 10/6 Chapter T Rally Killeen, TX www.centexwings.org 254-415-7109 10/13 K2 Rally Castroville Regional Park www.gwrrak2.com 10/16 Chapter O Meeting TBA Lyle Altes 512-897-0860 10/20 Chapter H Rally Louise Hays Park 202 Thompson Dr. Kerrville, Texas http://www.gwrratxh.org/rally.htm 11/2-4 Louisiana District Ride In Natchitoches, LA See flyer in newsletter
Ken & Teri Burnett Asst Chapter Directors Chapter Summer Functions It is hard to believe that it is already August, but here we are in the dog days of summer. This summer has been extremely hot as we all know too well. We have not had many rides due to the heat, but we did have a potluck dinner at the Osborn's house in Cedar Park in July. It was a good turn out and a lot of fun visiting with many that we don't get to see very often. That was one of the good things about doing something that doesn't involve riding our bikes and we had lots of good food to eat. We really could do more things that don't involve our bikes, especially during the hot weather. If you want to do something like go bowling and would like to have some friends join you, just let one of the staff know and we will get the word out. We are always looking to hear from the Chapter members and would love to try something new to enjoy with our friends. We look forward to hearing from YOU and we hope to see YOU at the next function. Why Do We Call Them Dog Days of Summer? Becky Little, National Geographic 7/15 It doesn t have to do with dogs lying around in the heat the phrase comes from ancient Greek beliefs about a star. originally, the phrase actually had nothing to do with dogs, or even with the lazy days of summer. Instead, it turns out, the dog days refer to the dog star, Sirius, and its position in the heavens. To the Greeks and Romans, the dog days occurred around the day when Sirius appeared to rise just before the sun, in late July. They referred to these days as the hottest time of the year, a period that could bring fever, or even catastrophe. If you go back even as far as Homer, The Iliad, it s referring to Sirius as Orion s dog rising, and it describes the star as being associated with war and disaster, said Jay B. Holberg, author of Sirius: Brightest Diamond in the Night Sky. All throughout Greek and Roman literature, you found these things. The phrase dog days was translated from Latin to English about 500 years ago. Since then, it has taken on new meanings. Now people come up with other explanations for why they re called the dog days of summer, [like] this is when dogs can go crazy, said Anne Curzan, an English professor at the University of Michigan. This is a very human tendency, she said. When we don t know the origin of a phrase, we come up with a plausible explanation. The meaning has been lost, said Holberg, but the phrase has lived on.
Dawn Sprague Membership Enhancement Coordinator Chapter Birthdays August 3 Russ M August 6 Randy R August 12 Yolanda G August 18 Hubert J August 22 Mary (in memory) August 23 Julie D August 29 Teri B August 30 Ken B Anniversaries August 4 Heenes August 21 Jacksons Osborns received their Senior Master patches and 100,000 safe miles patches. GWRRA Anniversaries 2001 Garcias 2003 K. Burnett 2004 T. Burnett 2006 Poullards 2008 C. Nybro 2008 Winfields Kathy won the WingNut for backing into a gate. Door Prize Winners 50/50 Winners
Texas District Educators Red Rock Steakhouse Lunch Ride Ken Burnett Ride Coordinator Wow! What a great turn out, ride & lunch we had on Saturday June 30th. We had 14 people on 5 bikes, 5 trikes and a car meet up in Del Valle and 4 others that met up with us in Red Rock for a great lunch. We had a nice 55 mile ride through the countryside and several small towns. The steakhouse was a unique, country restaurant which welcomed us with a friendly staff. We had plenty of time to visit and take pictures. It took us a while to get our meals, but we had a group of 18 and the server did not show up that morning. The manager took good care of us until she could get a server in to help out. The portions were large and I think that everyone enjoyed their meals. When we were done eating and paying our bills there were several of us that wanted to sit in the rocking chairs on the covered porch and take a nap, but alas we all headed out to go to our homes before the heat got to be unbearable.
Texas District Educators Where Do You Practice I often ride by a water park in our area that has a huge parking lot. About once or twice a month I see a large group of police officers out in the back of the lot practicing maneuvers. It is really a sight to see when up to 25 bikes are all running the course at once. Some of the maneuvers are quite complex and done at a quick pace, but I noticed most of the exercises were relatively simple and done at a slow pace. They looked very similar to the parking lot practices that GWRRA promoted for many years. I rode in and visited with several of the officers about their constant training and practice and heard many responses that supported the ideas of safety that GWRRA supports. They understand that even the most basic skills can lose their edge if not practiced often. They felt that low-speed maneuvers are much more important (and sometimes challenging) to master than higher speed, complex maneuvers. I told them about some of the activities we do to sharpen and maintain our skills including parking-lot practice, skill challenges such as Shiny Side Up, the Amazing Team Challenge, Drill Team courses for Novices and Trikes, and the Top Gun field events. They were fully supportive of our programs and encouraged me to promote anything that helps sharpen our skills for the road. I am lucky enough to live on a quiet cul-de-sac and often spend 3-5 minutes before leaving for a ride practicing slow and quick turns, figure eights, weaving, and U-turns. It helps me get focused on riding before I head out. We also have a middle school around the corner where Kathy and I can go find a segment of parking space lines we can use for practicing our maneuvers. There is a lot you can practice in a small space and it is fun! You can be fancy and use cones or tennis balls halves to mark your course, but most maneuvers can be accomplished without them. Talk to your chapter and try to schedule some practice riding. Just Google parking lot practice for lots of ideas and games. With this hot weather, you can still have some fun on your bike and not have to get very far from home! Ride Safely, Ride Often, and HEY! Be careful out there!
Kathy Reese Newsletter Editor Dehydration, Over-Hydration & Electrolytes Oh My! printed from Woman Rider, July 2018 Why is proper hydration important? Why would a motorcyclist even need to worry about hydration? It s not like we re exercising or exerting ourselves. Anyway, I drink plenty of water when I m out riding, so I m good right? Wrong. I am going to start by telling you a personal story of enlightenment. I was in my early 20s and I decided to participate in a two-day, 150-mile bicycle ride to raise money for Multiple Sclerosis. The course for day one was primarily flat for the first hour through the desert and then a grueling uphill stretch to Yucaipa, where we camped overnight. The ride was well supported. They offered juice, water, Gatorade, bananas, orange slices and Power Bars approximately every 20 miles. Sounds great right? Well, I don t like oranges, overly salty things or Power Bars. I love water and bananas, but never really ate any of the bananas because I was not hungry. (Clue No. 1.) But I knew how important it was to stay hydrated, so I gulped my water like a good girl every chance I got. That night they served spaghetti for dinner at the campground, but I still was not hungry. I just picked at my food and then, exhausted, crawled into my tent and fell fast asleep. Breakfast the next day was oatmeal. Again, I was not very hungry. I ate a few bites and began slamming my water one thing I knew for sure was how important it is to keep hydrated! The next day was hot and breezy, but mostly downhill. I was definitely feeling the fatigue, but I knew all was well because I was doing so good, drinking my water. When I finished I could hardly keep my eyes open. I picked up my bike, loaded it onto the car and promptly headed home. Amazingly, I was still not hungry. Again, because I knew it was the right thing to do, I continued to drink my water! Day three: this is where the fun really starts! I got up for work and poured a bowl of cereal, but took just a few bites because I didn t have an appetite weird. It just didn t appeal to me. I was really tired but I figured that s normal for what I just accomplished. I got to work and called in the first patient. As I was performing an ultrasound on the patient, I started to feel this queasiness overtaking me oh no. I quickly excused myself and just made it into the bathroom. I pulled myself together, shook it off and went back to the patient to finish the ultrasound. I barely finished and here we go again, back to the bathroom! I told my boss I needed to go home because I was sick, but at this point I still had no clue what was wrong with me. I got myself home (with several stops), and when I tried to sip water it wouldn t stay down. When I got home, all I wanted to do was to lie down. Also, I had not gone to the bathroom for a very long time. It was not registering to my foggy brain that all of these things were related. When I woke up and from what I know now, there was a decent possibility that wasn t going to happen I was craving a popsicle. Luckily, I had some fudgsicles, which contain sodium, calcium and some trace magnesium since they contain chocolate. At the time, I did not realize these humble fudgsicles possessed some of the important electrolytes I needed to save my own life. The one I ate stayed down, so over the course of the rest of the day, between naps, I would get up and eat another fudgsicle. (cont d on next page)
By late evening I actually wanted real food and it stayed down. It was amazing how fast I turned around! It wasn t until months later that I learned what I d done wrong: I d been careful to stay hydrated, but I neglected the other half of the equation electrolytes. So what are electrolytes? According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine: *Electrolytes are minerals in your blood and other body fluids that carry an electric charge. *Electrolytes affect how your body functions. *You lose electrolytes when you sweat. You must replace them by drinking fluids or consuming foods that contain electrolytes. Water does not contain electrolytes. Four of the most important electrolytes are: Sodium. Found in basically any smoked, cured, salted or canned meats, and salted nuts. Potassium. Good sources of potassium are baked potatoes, sweet potatoes, bananas, canned clams, spinach, lentils, milk. Calcium. It really does your body good. Sources include milk, kale, yogurt, broccoli, watercress, cheese, bok choy, okra and almonds. Magnesium. This overlooked element is necessary to the cellular functions of all known living organisms. Spinach, chard, salmon, cashews, avocados, dark chocolate and pumpkin seeds are all good sources. The pendulum can swing both directions when we are talking about electrolytes. It s possible to have too much or not enough. Your risk of overdoing the electrolytes is small as long as you consume sports drinks in moderation and balance your intake with plenty of water. The key word is balance one of the most dangerous problems, and the one I learned about in the story above, is called hyponatremia, and it can be life-threatening. Hyponatremia is a big fancy word that means you over-hydrated with water (because you were being really good and drinking your water) and now you have depleted your electrolytes. What is really happening is you drank so much water that you have diluted the sodium in your blood and overwhelmed your kidneys. Some symptoms you may experience when this happens are: 1) Lethargy a lack of energy, 2) Confusion (mild or severe, 3) Headache, 4) Muscle weakness, 5) Muscle twitching/spasming/cramping, 6) Digestive cramping/diarrhea/constipation, 7) Swelling, 8) Lightheadedness, 9) Feeling very thirsty, 10) Change in appetite, 11) Sudden drop in body weight. (Don t celebrate this is NOT a good thing.) In very severe cases seizures and coma or death can occur. So when do you need to replace your electrolytes? As a rule of thumb, if you have been sweating (not necessarily profusely or even exercising, just sweating) for more than 60 minutes, you probably need to hydrate and replace some electrolytes. This means drinking a sports drink, or water along with some of the foods listed above. (See below for more insight on sports drinks vs. natural juices.) Your body s rate of electrolyte loss will depend on many factors, such as metabolism, age and even what you ate for breakfast. But you are more prone to lose electrolytes more rapidly (and therefore need to replenish more often) or your body already has a higher water-to-electrolyte ratio if you are: Over 55 years of age / female / Diabetic / Obese / Taking prescribed diuretics, antiepileptics, Benzodiazepines or some psychiatric medications. Another side note is to try and stay away from tea, coffee and sugary drinks while trying to accomplish anything that requires endurance, i.e. road trips of more than two hours in duration. If you do partake in more than one cup of tea, coffee or a sugary soda then you may need to add a few more electrolytes to your intake. How do we get electrolytes? Of course there are many sports drinks out there that will fulfill the need. These drinks are not the first source I reach for. However, they are very popular and many claim to be electrolyte replacements. How you decide to replace your electrolytes is up to you, what s important is that you do it! It takes more focus to ride a motorcycle than it does to drive a car, and is prudent that we follow good nutrition and proper hydration that includes water and electrolyte replacement on long journeys. Travel not to escape life, but so that life does not escape you.
How Does Riding Style Effect Motorist Awareness? Have you gotten a chance to ride this summer? It seems like we went from 3 great weather days into the depths of the summer heat. But whether you only had a 100 -mile chapter ride or a cross-country trip, have you considered that your riding style effects motorist awareness? Judy and I just returned from a 5-week, 7600 mile trip to Newfoundland. Along the way, I had many miles to consider how our riding style impacts motorist awareness; sometimes for the good and sometimes for the bad. Consider what a motorist thinks when they see a rider. Often on TV and in the movies if you see a rider, it s a bad guy. Not always but very often. First of all, we are glad when they see us but part of our mission in the motorist awareness program is to let non-riders know that we are people just like them. We re not the bad guys. We have jobs, families, responsibilities and people who care about us. If we are riding recklessly, speeding or darting in and out of traffic, we reinforce the negative Hollywood image of riders. Our motorist awareness program wants to emphasize that every GWRRA member is an ambassador to the non-riding public. I encourage you give that some thought as you prepare for the next ride. When we put on all the gear (even in the summer), we communicate our dedication to safety. When we allow a safe distance between ourselves and other vehicles, we do the same. I followed Judy almost every mile of our trip. I think she hurt her arm waving at all the truckers we passed along the way. I m sure they saw her and had a much more positive attitude toward her than they would have if we had cut in front of them in an unsafe manner or used an obscene jester because they blocked the road for 5 minutes trying to pass another truck. Motorist awareness opportunities are all around us. I hope you will consider your riding style as just one of them the next time to head out on a ride. Be safe. See you at Wing Ding. Scott & Judy Finnell Motorist Awareness
Chapter O Team Chapter Director Lyle & Sheri Altes 512-897-0860 Assistant Director Ken & Teri Burnett 512-497-1259 Secretary/Treasurer Tricia Winfield 512-576-9985 Membership Enhancement Dawn Sprague 512-301-3092 Ride Coordinator Ken Burnett 512-497-1259 Couple of the Year 2017-2018 Tom & Dawn Sprague 858-755-6071 Newsletter Editor Kathy Reese 512-848-3144 Ways and Means John & Wanda Osborn 512-528-8105 Webmaster Lyle Altes 512-897-0860 Camping Coordinator Tom Sprague 512-301-3092 Seamstress Gayle Thomas 512-832-9559 Merchandise Coordinator John & Wanda Osborn 512-528-8105 Chapter of the Year Coordinator Kathy Reese 512-848-3144 Motorist Awareness Coordinator Randy Reese 512-744-3635 Texas District Team District Director Jim & Alvalin Woodul 254-634-4658 Assistant Director Dan & Donna Rymarz 847-702-6667 Assistant Director Tom & Dawn Sprague 858-755-6071 District Rider Educators Randy & Kathy Reese 512-744-3635 Ride Coordinator Butch & Marie Schmit 817-573-7763 Assistant Educator Chris Schoenthal 972-660-6286 Treasurer Tim Brooks 254-290-5462 District Trainer Open Assistant District Trainer Jim Scholes 832-627-8423 MEC Coordinators Lyle and Sheri Altes 512-897-0860 COY Coordinators Dale & Carleen Garrett 254-554-4123 CHOY Coordinator Sheri Altes 512-415-1920 2016-2017 COY Sal & Phylis Pesta 210-662-8161 Vendor Coordinator Michael Pineda 210-707-6071 Newsletter Editor/Webmaster Tom Sprague 858-755-6071 Motorist Awareness Coordinator Scott & Judy Finnell 512-591-7631 GWRRA National Team President & Wingman Anita & JR Alkire 623-445-2680 aalkire@gwrra.org Director of Rider Education Tim & Anna Grimes 301-994-1394 tgrimes@gwrra.org Director of Membership Enhancement Larry & Penny Anthony 205-492-9728 mepgwrra@gmail.com Director of GWRRA University Clara & Fred Boldt 641-484-5140 toledotriker@gmail.com Director of Finance Randall & Janet Drake 303-933- 6073financedirector@gwrra.org Director of Motorist Awareness Mike & Barri Critzman 760-486-3405 itsawingthing@hotmail.com Executive Director Overseas Dan & Rachel Sanderovich 942-542-300-311 dan.sanderovich@gmail.com Chapter O Monthly Gathering Want to experience Friends for Fun, Safety and Knowledge first hand? Chapter O s August gathering will be Tuesday, August 21st at El Rincon Restaurant, 200 E. Pecan, Pflugerville TX. (we will meet in the back room). Come join us at 6:00 pm to eat and visit with your friends. The meeting will start at 7:00 pm. Please see page 2 for our Ride Calendar of Events. For more information, we encourage you to contact any of our team members or visit our websites (links to all are provided on this page). Wondering why you should join GWRRA? Check out the benefits you will enjoy!
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OUR SPONSORS 11900 IH 10 West San Antonio, Texas 78230 (210) 696-2000 YAMAHA POLARIS SUZUKI KAWASAKI HONDA Friends For FUN SAFETY AND KNOWLEDGE