Hello everyone!

 

Fall has fallen and the leaves are slowly turning and falling fast. We did not have a Thursday night dinner ride this month, but apparently no one noticed since I did not hear from any of you. We thought we would try something different and have one on Saturday. Well there was six of us that enjoyed the good food in Waynesboro along with the twisted roads to get there. Sadly to say the Saturday dinner ride attendance did not turn out to be any better than the Thursday night dinner rides. 

We had ten people from this chapter to go to the Mississippi District rally. Fun was had by all with a lot of good food and fellowship with others.

Andy did a wonderful job with his magic tricks. This trip was very humbling after all the destruction from Katrina. The coast is making progress with all of the infrastructure work. There were very few homes being rebuilt. They have already built two huge condo buildings and this will probably all that you will see in the future.

This upcoming meeting will be our last for this year.  We want everyone to come prepared to talk about what direction they would like to see the chapter go this coming next year.

We have talked with many of you about the upcoming Christmas party. This year W-2 will be joining Ms Y with their Christmas party down on Mud Island. We have 24 people that confirmed they would be attending. This is a great opportunity to meet and get to know the people in this sister chapter.  Ms Y supports a girls home for abused and neglected girls in Hernando, Ms. They will be accepting donations at this party for the girls home and you may contribute if you would like to. Ms Y does this for Christmas by giving each  girl a gift card. If you would like to make a donation and receive a receipt for tax purposes this can be arranged also.

Please remember to shop for your list for the Alzheimers day center.

We would like to take this opportunity to welcome Todd Ferrell and Fred Sparkes to our Chapter and hope to you come and ride with us often.

 

Ride safe and watch closely for deer as they are on the run.

 

Pat & Jim

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Hello W2,

     This month’s newsletter article includes information taken from the Jan/Feb National RE Newsletter and was originally written by Tom Durham, a former Chapter Educator for Chapter Y2 in Texas.  It is used with his permission.  I have condensed the wording for space sake.  His info is simple, but yet very important.  Tom calls the technique errors he talks about BAD IDEAS.

 

Riding in Blind Spots:  One of the most dangerous mistakes motorcyclists make is to linger in other driver’s blind spots.  Motorcycles easily disappear in the invisible area between typical car and truck mirror coverage.  Few drivers seem to practice head checks to determine if a lane change is safe.  A motorcyclist is riding along, and all of a sudden, a vehicle is coming into their lane.  A rule of thumb is to ride through blind spots.  Also, avoid changing lanes into a driver’s blind spot and position your motorcycle within your lane to ensure optimum visibility in traffic.

 

Trying to Keep Up:  Group rides can be a lot of fun.  But too many times, group rides turn sour as inexperienced or less skilled riders, crash trying to keep up with the group.  This often happens if a rider is afraid of losing touch with the group, or appears less capable than the others.  It’s important for group leaders to have a plan that keeps the group together and to assure slower riders that they won’t be left behind.  It’s also important for individuals to recognize when they are being influenced by the need to stay with the group.  Let the group leader know if you are uncomfortable or have concerns.

 

Accelerating Through an Intersection:  It is tempting to twist the throttle through an intersection to try and beat a red light.  It is a reflex many of us have, and even the smartest riders have been known to do it.  The problem is that intersections are the number one location where crashes occur.  Motorcycles are smaller and can be lost in the traffic jungle.  It makes it harder for others to judge our distance and our approach speed.  Keeping this in mind, you can see why other drivers often pull out in front of motorcycles, thinking it is safe to process. (CEC note:  A lot of Shelby county drivers do this and if you try it at the same time, it’s CRUNCH TIME)

 

Stopping Too Close to the Vehicle in Front of You:  Too many riders position themselves poorly for escape when stopping behind vehicles at a stoplight or stop sign.  Give yourself plenty of room to maneuver incase a driver approaching from behind you can’t stop in time.  This means positioning your motorcycle well away from the vehicle in front, and to one side.  Be sure to keep your eyes on your rear view mirrors to monitor vehicles approaching from the rear, and make sure your motorcycle is in first gear so you can respond quickly if needed.

 

Signaling Too Late:  Miscommunication is a major cause of traffic-related mishaps.  One of the most common examples of this is slowing down or maneuvering before signaling your intent, which forces surrounding traffic to guess what you are up to.  Well timed communication ensures that traffic around you is not surprised by your actions.  Signal 3 to 5 seconds prior to turning and activate your brake light early to alert other drivers of a change in direction or speed.

 

Leaving Riding Gear at Home:  It is too easy to leave your riding jacket, gloves, boots, or helmet on the shelf for a short trip to the local store or restaurant.  But many crashes happen close to home, and at relatively low speeds.  It doesn’t take much of an accident to render yourself brain-dead without some head protection.  And road rash is no laughing matter either.  A simple low speed fall can do a lot of damage to your skin without the benefit of sturdy protection.  Wide skin abrasion can easily turn into infection, and the risk of lethal septic shock is real.  Do yourself a favor and make riding gear a mandatory habit, no matter how short the trip.

 

Can you see how easy it is to pick up any of these BAD IDEAS, and how little effort it can take to turn them into GOOD IDEAS with some common sense?

 

I encourage everyone to share your comments about this or any other safety topic with me at our next chapter meeting.

 

Chuck Caldwell  CE  W2

This year’s annual car and bike show to raise money in support of the Tennessee Special Olympics turned out to be one of the largest ever.  There were more than 425 cars and motorcycles entered into the show so it was easy to walk around for hours just dreaming about the car or bike you had years ago as well as the one you would buy right now if the owner would just name their price.  The show was held on Saturday, September 29^th which turned out to be a perfect day for it because the weather cooperated – not to hot, not to cool but just right.  The sponsors for the annual event are 1) the Collierville Police Department; 2) Bill Heard Chevrolet - they pay all the operating costs – which is a big thank you from everyone that participates; 3) Central Church – the pastor seems to have a direct line to the weather department or so it seems and 4) FedEx - the FedEx NASCAR Nextel Cup race car was one of two special cars on display (more on this later in the article). 

So how do you prepare for a bike show you might ask – if it is a GWRRA bike show, you wash your ride a couple of times because after you dry it – you still find those elusive spots you missed the first and even the second time you washed it.  Second, you work from the top down being careful to polish every inch of your bike just to make it look showroom fresh and by the way don’t forget the leather.  Third, you work on the chrome and finally the rims – oh how fun it is to clean and polish those rims.  If you want a first place in a GWRRA event you might even scrub the tires too.  Now that’s just to get you started because if you have a trailer, well you guessed it, you really need to spend sometime cleaning it too.  The Collierville Car and Bike show did not demand the same attention to detail but “Pride in your Ride” would suggest that a couple of hours cleaning would be in order which is what we did to prepare. With Bruce and Pat Merrill’s GoldWing and ours in the show we felt confident that GWRRA TN W2 would be well represented but our bikes would have loved to have a lot more company for the show.  In addition, we brought our trailers which drew a lot of attention as most people who ride know about them but really have not been able to inspect them up close.  Bruce, Karen and I enjoyed meeting the public as TN-W2 representatives as well as passing out information about GWRRA and our

chapter.   We also setup a small picnic table, chairs and a large beach umbrella which provided a place for people to gather as well as share their riding stories.  Even though there weren’t a lot of two wheelers entered into the show, those that were enjoyed being the center of attention.  It didn’t hurt that we were less than 50 feet away from the FedEx Nextel Cup racing car either.  As I said earlier, we were able to spend some time with the husband and wife team, Mark and Elise Ness that represented FedEx and Joe Gibbs racing.  They are a great couple and they even invited us inside the transport vehicle which was awesome.  Also, Mark and Elise have ridden motorcycles and are in the market for one now which is great so, of course, I invited them to our meeting if they are ever in the area as well as any GWRRA event nationwide.  Mark also started the race car which, given the raw power of the engine, was heard many miles away from the event.  All in all, it was great meeting them and sharing time talking about racing and motorcycles.  I hope that they get to visit with us in the future and meet our chapter members. 

At the end of day, we had talked to fellow wingers from some of our sister chapters as well as wingers from both Mississippi and Arkansas.  It was great being there as we were entertained by “Elvis” twice and live music from a couple of bands.  Food was served on site and there were different vendors offering special, hard to find items for your car or bike.  During the awards ceremony, Bruce and I walked away with “First” and “Second” place in the touring division for the show.  So maybe next year, we can all focus on attending the event as it is free to the public if you just want to see the entries.  There is a minimal cost of $20 to enter a vehicle which is a 100% donation to the Tennessee Special Olympic fund. This is a small price to pay as an entry fee when you stop and think about how much good this does for the special people that participate in the Olympics. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    

 

 

     The weather has finally started to let us ride again.  The weekend trip to Dixon was great because of the perfect weather and the great people who were on the ride.  Jim Brewington did a wonderful job of taking us through some beautiful back country on the way up there…. Until his GPS sent us down a rough road then told him to turn right at a sign that said “DEAD END” and we quickly found out that it did not mean a cemetery.  Jim rode right on past the sign and kept on going but the rest of us stopped at the house on the corner where the owner was out in the yard and told us without any doubt that it was a dead end road.  While Jim was on his ‘MISSION’ to the dead end we were getting directions from the locals who told us we should not have turned off the main road in the first place.  Don’t feel too bad Jim because we have all let our GPS systems take us astray.  I have learned that when you are on a good road and are going in the right general direction and the GPS says turn on a bad looking road “DON’T DO IT ! !” 

     Jim can tell the story of our trip to Ohio last year when I was using my GPS to get us back from a place where Jim got us,  to be kind I will say we were in some beautiful country but did not know exactly where we were.  While Jim and Pete were getting directions at a little store I turned on my GPS and got a route back and that went well for a few miles until it sent us off on a road where the bridge was out.  But at least I did not ride past a “DEAD END” sign. 

     So for the benefit of ya’ll who are getting new GPS’s just remember that along with it you have to think a little also.  Mine has sent me down several roads that I did not want to be on.  We also had a great time in Biloxi but the coast highway is still depressing.  So until next time,  try to keep it between the ditches.

 

Andy & Bev

 

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     It was a cool Saturday morning when we, Ron, Karen, Alan and Glenda, left our houses bound for Jackson.  We met at the gas station, did a quick radio check and took off to meet Tennessee Chapter N, our sister chapter to enjoy breakfast and then join the Wings Across Tennessee group going to St. Jude Children’s Hospital in Memphis.  Breakfast at Casey Jones Village was great and Cathy Webb, the CD for TN-N had a super meeting.  At the conclusion of their meeting, we gassed up our wings and went over to the rendezvous point.

     Wow, GoldWings were everywhere and the excitement was at a fever pitch as our guest of honor and long time St. Jude patient walked around.  She is known as the Three Million Dollar Miracle Baby and is the only survivor of a very delicate operation which explains the motivation we, Chapter W2 members, feel as we support this annual ride.  (Note: if you have not made the ride to St. Jude, please know that we have the opportunity to support this ride next year and the year after that etc…). 

     The fellow wingers we met in Jackson really appreciate Chapter W2’s team and enjoy the security of having a lead GoldWing out front that’s been there done that as we zip into the hospital. 

     This year the lead bikes from TN W2 were driven by Bruce Merrill, Chuck Caldwell, David Ray, Alan and Glenda Keough as well as Ron and Karen Page.  Our team gave a group safety overview that detailed the route (Note:  we took the same route around Memphis that Jim Brewington put together for us last year) and identified the six potential road hazards reported to us by the Tennessee Highway Patrol as well as the Memphis Police Department.  Bruce suggested that every group use a different CB channel to keep the chatter down which worked very well.  As the group saddled up and prepared to ride, our GWRRA rider education training demonstrated to the public that WE ARE SERIOUS motorcycle riders focused on safety. 

     The actual ride from Jackson was a joy.  I lived up to my nickname which is “Slow Riding Ron” as the group Chuck was leading caught us on the highway and we had to speed up.  (An aside – prior to our departure I was approached by several of the people in my group with a request to ride between 60 and 65 MPH as they were radio challenged as well as unhappy with the speed they had ridden coming from Dickson – now all of us who have lead or been the drag know that even though the lead bike may be traveling at 65 sometimes a yoyo effect occurs which means the bikes in the back of the group have to go faster than intended just to keep up – this can be very dangerous).  All the groups arrived at St. Jude around twelve noon, parked wherever we could find a space and took a group picture before going into the hospital. 

     Again, WOW, it is so impressive just to see the entire parking area filled with GWRRA members and friends with big hearts.  St. Jude feed us and then each group presented their donation as well as told how they collected their donation.   This year Bruce presented $1500 from TN-W2 – way to go team.  It is a true pleasure to ride with you as I believe that TN-W2 does it better and leads the way.          

 

 

 

 

November 2007

 

 

 

Andy Anderson owns the “Bike of the Month”