Schedule of Club Events

BMWMOA Club #353 & BMWRA Club #339 February - 2016 Schedule of Club Events 2/6 Saturday 10am Social Gathering Asheville - Eurosport Asheville 30 Bryson Street, Asheville, NC 28803 2/16 Tuesday 7:00pm Monthly Meeting Program: TBA Asheville - Eurosport Asheville 30 Bryson Street, Asheville, NC 28803 3/15 Tuesday 7:00pm Monthly Meeting Program: TBA Asheville - Eurosport Asheville 30 Bryson Street, Asheville, NC 28803 3/20 Sunday 10am Social Gathering / Asheville Atlanta Bread 484 Hendersonville Rd., Asheville, NC 2/21 Sunday 10am Social Gathering / Asheville Atlanta Bread 484 Hendersonville Rd., Asheville, NC 3/5 Saturday 10am Social Gathering Asheville - Eurosport Asheville 30 Bryson Street, Asheville, NC 28803

The Blue Ridge Breeze F e b r u a r y 2 0 1 6 P a g e 2 Mark Your Calendars March 31-April 3, 2016 March Moto Madness Tellico Plains, TN 75 Hours of the most fun you can have with your motorcycle for just $1 per hour $75 registered & paid on or before 3/17. 3 nights camping, 3 Breakfasts, and 2 Dinners. Door prizes, Friday Night Barrel Races, and Saturday Trials course with a new hill climb. (marchmotomadness.com) Hosted by Asheville BMW Riders. See abmwr.org for information. Registration begins March 1 st at abmwr.org. January Meeting By John Koenig I counted 46 folks in attendance Tuesday Jan. 19th, a very good turnout considering a cold evening in January. There were a lot of new faces present, plus a lot of faces I hadn t seen in a while very nice. Yes, the discussion could have rocked on for hours more, but 9:00 pm was about time to call it quits. We only had time to hit half the Talking Points, so maybe we can finish my list at a meeting later this year. April 22-24 2016 MOA Getaway Fontana, North Carolina The MOA will host another great MOA Getaway at the Fontana Village Resort on April 22-24, 2016. The beautiful Fontana Village Resort will be the base of operations for all there is to see and do in the area. For accommodations information and to make your room reservations contact the resort at 828-498-2211 and be sure to mention our Group Code BMWMOA. More information on the resort can be found at fontanavillage.com. April 29- May 1 2016 26 th Annual Georgia Mountain Rally The BMW Motorcycle Club of Georgia returns to the picturesque fairgrounds in Hiawassee for its 26th Georgia Mountain Rally over April 29th to May 1st, 2016. The area offers rewarding twisties, inspiring vistas and renowned mountain hospitality. Plus, this is dual-sport heaven for all skill levels. The perfect start to anyone s riding season! The rally setting has lakeside tent and RV camping, and local hotels offer alternative accommodation. Registration is $65 each, but sign up before April 12th and registration is just $55 and you get a free entry into an exclusive Early Bird prize drawing and a free limited edition rally pin as well. May 13-14 2016 Blue Ridge High Pass Boogie Asheville, North Carolina This single day fundraiser has a ride for every rider! Dual sport, pleasure and endurance routes over majestic Appalachian high country and hidden mountain valleys showcase world class terrain, sweepers and twisties guaranteed to please. Proceeds minus basic expenses are donated to the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation. A silent auction during the Friday night pre-event mixer at Eurosport Asheville offers those attending additional opportunities to further the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation s efforts to preserve, protect and enhance the Blue Ridge Parkway. What a FUN evening! Good eats, drinks, and conversation. Huge thanks go out to Eurosport and their team for once again supporting us and accommodating us in so many ways at our January meeting. We are fortunate to have them. Follow Us! Are you on Facebook? You can join the Asheville BMW Riders Public Facebook Group too! There you ll find up to date info about upcoming rides and activities, and shared posts, photos and videos of club activities. Search Facebook for Asheville BMW Riders Public Group then go to the group and ask to join. We ll see your request and add you to the group. We realize Facebook isn t for everyone and that some members use the Club's website (abmwr.org), while others prefer Yahoo email, and we're pretty sure some of you only trust carrier pigeons. So if you

The Blue Ridge Breeze F e b r u a r y 2 0 1 6 P a g e 3 just want to check the page without joining, go to abmwr.org and use the homepage s link to Facebook. Food for Thought Life is full A professor stood before his philosophy class with some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and filled it with golf balls. Then he asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was. The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar gently. The pebbles rolled into the areas between the golf balls. He asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was. Next the professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course the sand filled up all the remaining space. He asked once more Is the jar full? The students responded unanimously, yes. Volunteer Opportunity BMW RA Vice President Karen Jacobs needs a couple of R1200RT riders to help with an important project in Greenville, SC, Tuesday and Wednesday, April 5 & 6, 2016. If you re interested, email Karen at bmwravp@gmail.com ABMWR ONLINE STORE Don t forget the new AMBMW online store at http://abmwr.qbstores.com/ and support your club. There are plenty of shirt styles to choose from. They also have some stylish ball caps or knit hats to keep your head warm. Speaking of keeping warm, there are also toasty warm fleece jackets available thru the online store, and with the recent winter storm they look like a good idea! Happy Valentine s Day The professor then produced two beers from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, filling the last little bit of empty space between the sand. The students laughed Now, said the professor as the laughter subsided, I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life: -The golf balls are the important things - family, children, health; your friends and your favorite passions -and if you lost everything else and only they remained, your life would still be full. -The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car. -The sand is everything else -the small stuff. If you fill the jar with sand, he continued, there is no room for pebbles or golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you. In the statement of important things above is included Favorite Passions, we all know what ours is, so get out and ride when you can! and please spend your energy on the important things, not the small stuff :-)

President s Message By Jim McMains The Blue Ridge Breeze F e b r u a r y 2 0 1 6 P a g e 4 raiser. Linda puts her heart and soul into our events, so when she puts out the call for volunteers please step up if you can. The more hands we have the less work it is on each of us. February 2016 Happy February everyone and I hope it finds you all healthy and excited about what 2016 might hold in store for you. From the club side, it seems some change is in the air and we are excited about the new look our website should have. Robert Stew Stewart, our Web Administrator, is constantly working at making it the best it can be and he does not stop trying. More of you have finally asked for your access to the website and we hope more of you continue to do so. We really want to make this a great interactive site where you can stay on top of things and make connections with each other. The members only area should be enticing for all and we really hope you take advantage of it. Any comments or suggestions you have should be given to Stew, as he strives to make it a website geared towards everyone. With your help it will be. Contact him at: webadministrator@abmwr.org January has been a mix of weather with some really cold days and some milder ones. After December s warm riding month, January felt like winter might have finally arrived, but then we get fooled with some warm days. Please do not forget that with overnight freezing temperatures you still might hit ice on the dark side of a mountain twisty even if it is 50 or more degrees out by afternoon. February will probably give us more of this weather so be vigilant if you are out there and watch the roads! Linda Cox is hard at work with preparations for our next Blue Ridge Parkway High Pass Boogie fund If you already know that you want to volunteer, please send her an email and let her know at: abmwrevents@gmail.com The call is still out for you members to submit any type of motorcycle related article to our newsletter editor, Gary Cox. With all the members we have, I know there are quite a few of you who have info you could share. How about a ride experience, or a how to article on an expertise you might have, even if it is amateur, we can all learn from each other.from trip packing to maintenance to whatever you feel like sharing. It does not take much time to sit down and type up a short narrative and email it to him. Please consider this and send it to him buy the 23rd of the month at: gcox5150@yahoo.com After a short holiday vacation into early January, Eurosport is open and ready for the New Year with a plethora of products and bikes. Make sure to stop by as time allows and check out the new stuff and maybe run into a fellow club member or 2 to socialize a little. You just never know who you may run into when you stop by or where it may lead you :-) If you see a new club member at the dealership, gathering or a meeting, please take the time to say hi and make them welcome. Remember that you were in their shoes at one time not knowing many others and it is easier for us to make the first step. We all gravitate towards the established friends that we have made in this great club, but it is nice to let others in so we can expand our friend base. It is a hard thing to do sometimes because we may not see each other that often. The natural tendency is to catch up when we do see one another, but try including a new face in the conversation and you will give yourself an opportunity at a new friendship and make someone feel like a part of the group.

The Blue Ridge Breeze F e b r u a r y 2 0 1 6 P a g e 5 CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE >>> Presidents Message Continued It is sometimes a difficult thing for the officers or Board members in our club to do as we may only have that time to discuss a club matter. I am going to try and remember my own advice here and include those around me in the conversation, if they desire, since it is their club too. If I forget to do this, please remind me. Sometimes I have so many people coming at me wanting to talk that I feel like I need to be cloned but it is welcomed :-). Almost last but not least! Please do not forget that Valentine s Day is February 14th. Make sure you treat your wife, husband, significant other, boy or girl friend to a nice day. Chocolates are always a favorite, but a nice new motorcycle, jacket, helmet, or item from our club s online store at Queensboro might go a looong way towards a really romantic evening!!!! With this cold weather we have been getting I almost hate to say that I am heading off at the end of this month to a tropical place and won t be back until April, but I will say it anyway ;-), I am heading off to a tropical place with Maggie for a few weeks. I won t say where, but will give a hint An American State in the pacific ;-). Aloha, Enjoy February, and I will see you Down the Road (in April), Jim Welcome New Members Scott Brauer Brevard, NC Dolores Brauer Brevard, NC Richard Shrier Northborough, MA By Linda Cox February 2016 After a week of slogging through snow on 4 Blizzaks snow tires, I am ready for some 2 wheel adventure! Thank goodness Gary s out in the garage servicing the 1200 I m itching to try out my Santa gift (Gerbings)! Maybe an indoor event if the weather continues to freeze the pavement? The Victory Sports FMF Indoor Motocross Winter Series will be held at the WNC Agriculture Center in Fletcher February 5th and 6th, with the main event at 6:30 pm. Admission is $15/adult/day and $10/child/day if you re recruiting future members for Asheville BMW Riders! There s not a lot of special motorcycling going on in our area but that doesn t stop this club. The January fifth Friday daylight meet-up is just one way this group keeps the momentum going. Our January Tuesday night club meeting was a huge success and very educational! I hear the February presentation is something like What to do when you re first on the scene! My thanks to the 16 members who ve already volunteered to help with this year s Blue Ridge High Pass Boogie. Volunteer opportunities are separated into before, during and after tasks, so you can still help if you re otherwise committed during the event. We re trying to keep most volunteering commitments reasonable too, less than 4 hours. Of course, tasks like route development take a larger time commitment so please let me know if you d like to help with specific skills like mapping or GPS plotting. Also, we want to be sure we have great silent auction and door prize items so please share your ideas with me: abmwrevents@gmail.com.

The Blue Ridge Breeze F e b r u a r y 2 0 1 6 P a g e 6 The Ride is ON! Linda Editor s Ramblings By Gary Cox Suffering from Motorcycle Fever I m not talking about the new bike fever. You know, the one that hits when you see that new R-nine-T or the new R1200GS Triple Black that s sitting in the showroom. The new bike fever has the following symptoms: nervousness of figuring out which bike you are going to trade, severe headaches that develop by trying to figure out if you really can fit just one more motorcycle in the garage. Nope, I m definitely suffering from Motorcycle Fever. Motorcycle Fever is the uncontrollable desire to go for a ride, where you are nearly stir crazy from not riding for several days or this time of year, weeks. Motorcycle Fever is kind of like Cabin Fever but mush worse, and with the recent winter storm, the poor bikes are sitting idly by on their battery tenders. In the meantime I just sit in the garage, staring at the bikes. To alleviate my symptoms, sometimes I just sit on them. I haven t started making the VROOOOMMMM noises yet, but I have a feeling that I will need that for strong medicine before long. The good news is that SPRING is really not that far away, March 20, and the better news is that the days are indeed getting longer. Starting about now we get an additional 2 minutes plus of daylight each day. In my mind more daylight equals more opportunity to ride. So come on March before I go MAD.. The ABMWR Members of our club share many things in common, including a love of riding, being outdoors, a fondness for BMW motorcycles regardless of type or age, and the camaraderie of our sport. We are a social club, focused on riding, and take full advantage of our area s beautiful roads and scenery. Although our club is based in North Carolina, membership and participation from all surrounding areas are encouraged. For membership information, view our website at www.abmwr.org or drop us a line at. ABMWR PO Box 5103 Asheville, NC 28813 Safe Riding, Gary

The Blue Ridge Breeze F e b r u a r y 2 0 1 6 P a g e 7 Featured Member Part One Jean Larsen I had my first two wheeled experience when I was 16 in Rome, Italy. I rode sidesaddle behind a cute Italian boy on a Vespa. It was magical with the summer air blowing through my hair. Of course, no helmet! At the same age, I spent some time in the Alps and fell in love with mountains. Once the group rode to Aspen to camp and ride. A bunch of us were on our bikes headed into town and another member of our group came from the opposite direction headed to our campground. I pointed at them and my finger followed their car s progress, as did my bike. I went across the opposite side of the road and into a swale that had a bunch of rocks that were about 10 in diameter. Luckily, there were no cars coming. Without thinking, I stood up on my pegs and rode out of it. I rode up to Robert and he said, You almost bought the farm. Cute. Lesson 1: Your bike will go where you look! We had a Siberian husky at the time and he loved to run. He would run behind us on the trails, and when we got onto a road, he would hop up on Robert s tank. He was a pretty big dog, and if Robert looked to his right or left, a drooling Misha would look that way too. I often look back on those days with great fondness, but we didn t see much of Colorado since we rode the Rampart Range pretty nearly every weekend. Some years later, in 1971, I moved to Denver, CO and met my husband, Robert Larsen. He hung with a group of guys who rode dirt bikes in the Rocky s and in no time, I was encouraged to ride. I almost didn t survive the first experience, west of Denver in a big area that was pretty barren. I almost went over a short cliff because my knowledge of breaking and accelerating was not too well honed. From the beginning of my serious riding, I was advised to wear a helmet and boots. Other than that, we didn t wear much gear. I soon acquired a green Yamaha 175 dirt bike and we began camping at a place we called Windy Bluff, off of Rampart Range Road where there were many dirt trails to ride. The guys I rode with told me if I dropped my bike, it was my problem to pick it up, but I later learned that Robert was often hiding in the bushes to see how I was doing. This was a time when there weren t too many women riders and I was proud that I became a pretty decent rider. Even so, I made mistakes. Lesson 2: Stop riding if you are too tired or have had something alcoholic to drink. We always went to a place we called The Bar near Rampart Range Road and had wonderful burgers and sometimes, beer. Then we would ride. I once ran into a tree after a long day of hard riding and a bit of booze. I had a dent in my thigh for a month or so as a result. Enough of that!

Continued on next Page >>> The Blue Ridge Breeze F e b r u a r y 2 0 1 6 P a g e 8 Featured Member: Jean Larsen Continued. Lesson 3: Be prepared for weather changes. One day we rode up a canyon by a lovely river. It was warm and we were wearing T-shirts. All of a sudden the temperature began to plummet rapidly and we were far from our car. We raced back freezing all the way. From then on, we carried a jacket just in case. And I had a bit of fun one day riding braless on the trails. It was fun to see the reaction of the guys coming towards me. Robert and I began living together in 1973. He was getting catalogues from Edelweiss Bike Tours and we used to look longingly at the brochures, but they were pretty expensive and we weren t flush! Even so, it planted a seed that was always in the back of our minds. In the mid-70 s, we moved east, first to Orlando, and later to Virginia and Maryland. There were no Rocky Mountains, so we mostly rode on the streets. Riding was always fun, but we missed riding in the mountains. During this time, both Robert and I had Honda street bikes. Robert s was a 69 CB750 (Pre K-1). Mine was a 71 CB 350 4 cylinder. Ironically, when we sold them they were worth more than we paid for them. We moved to FL in 1981 and continued to ride on the road. In Port St. Lucie, we had basically two routes. Both went to a dam on Lake Okeechobee. Sadly, the roads were pretty straight. Once we towed our bikes up to the Space Coast and my Honda wouldn t start again. So for the first and only time, I hoped on the back of Robert s bike and we went in search of a bike dealership. The first one we saw was a Suzuki dealer, so I bought a 500 Suzuki and we rode off. I didn t care what it was, as long as it was two wheels! In 1999, we had come into a little money and we scheduled our first Edelweiss bike tour. We selected the Royal Alpine tour and it was magnificent. First, I was able to expose Robert to the Alps and second, we enjoyed the challenges on the winding roads with sharp turns. We rode lots of great roads and managed not to drop our bikes. Lesson 4: How to take the turns. That was challenging at first, but with practice and good advice from the guides, we got better and better. I did discover a problem with down shifting and hoping for first gear, but ending up in neutral. Going around a turn involves leaning and accelerating, which doesn t work too well in neutral. I ended up dropping my bike once and it rolled down hill, followed by me. Neither I nor the bike were hurt, but it did damage my confidence just before we rode one of the more challenging passes in the Alps Stelvio. Now that is a scary pass! The last time I rode it, I wanted to quit because of all the traffic on a very difficult road, but you can t quit. You just have to go on. The biggest surprise on the numerous tours we took was the camaraderie with the other riders. We would share breakfast and dinner with them and often we encountered them on the road. We didn t always ride with the group because we wanted to take photos. Eventually, we rode the Alps numerous times as well as the Dolomites, Ireland, Canada and Alaska. I also served on the FL Commission on Ethics, and several times we rode up the middle of Florida to Tallahassee. That was lots of fun. The middle of the state has a few hills! It turned out one of the investigators was a BMW rider. We tempted the CEO of the Commission so much that he bought one too!

The Blue Ridge Breeze F e b r u a r y 2 0 1 6 P a g e 9 Part Two of Jean s story will be in the March News Letter. Stay Tuned Staying Safe By Jean Larsen I love to ride these wonderful Western NC roads. Every bit of good weather will find my husband and me, and friends if they are available, enjoying the twists and turns. We have lived here in Waynesville for almost four years and rode here for five years before that. One thing I have been paying attention to over the years we have ridden here is the repaving of the roads and the attendant result of gravel on the newly paved roads. I have made different comments about it over the years, such as there seems to be a magnetic relationship between newly paved roads and gravel. It was so dangerous that I found myself mulling it over on every ride. I have even called the various counties through which we ride to find out when a road would be completed so as not to endanger riders I would be leading. The response I got wasn t wonderful, or even remotely accommodating. Frequently, I find myself writing a letter in my head to the NC DOT about the danger on these roads to the many riders who take these turns. That s exactly what was happening the week before Christmas when my husband and I rode with his son, Lance. Having ridden 209 many times, I was well aware of all the gravel on the road and I warned Lance about it. We were not riding fast, but he came around the corner near the intersection of 63 with 209 and got caught up in some gravel and went down. We were fortunate he wasn t on the bike when it ended up in a 5 swale. If he had been on his bike, it would have been very likely that he would have hit his head on the rocky mountainside. I shudder to think of the consequences of that. As it was, his bike was totaled and he broke a rib or two. Lance s accident was the impetus I needed to start investigating what we might be able to do to influence the NC DOT to be more responsible in repaving roads. roads. Failing that, my next idea would be putting tar on top of the gravel to keep it from being loose. Others have suggested that the DOT asphalt the shoulders. Of course, I am really not well versed in road building and repaving, so there may be other solutions and I am not unaware that DOT budgets are tight and there are costs associated with whatever improvement is chosen. I emailed Jim McMains to see if our BMW group would back me in contacting the DOT. I also contacted MOA and the local Harley group. Clearly, it is in all of our best interests to have safe roads to travel. I still have contacts to make to build a coalition of motorcycle groups. So far the response has been very positive. A guy from the Harley group contacted me back. He was very informative and seems well connected both politically and with DOT. He pointed out to me that NC works on about a five year planning period and that any solution would not be implemented quickly. He also suggested that he would try to get the DOT to sweep 209. I have not heard back from him as of yet. I am hoping that one or more of our members might be connected in some way that could help move this forward. We have so many riders who come from other areas who won t know to expect gravel on the turns. Even knowing it is there, a rider can get caught up in it and go down. It is also important to note that riders from all over bring lots of tourist dollars to our area. Someone suggested that we consider involving the tourist development areas in government as well. If you or someone you know might be willing or able to help us influence these dangerous road paving practices, I would appreciate you contacting me. You can reach me by email at: jmlarsen1@me.com. Any help would be greatly appreciated. In my mind, it would be great if the DOT stopped putting loose gravel alongside the newly paved

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