New Meeting Day and Location
We have
changed our meeting day to the first Monday of the month at 7:00. We are now holding our meetings at
ShoneyÕs on Airport Throughway in Columbus (in front of the Wal-Mart).
Meeting Minutes Online
Peggy
Martin has graciously agreed to supply the meeting minutes to the VMTA web site
for posting after every meeting.
Hopefully this will be of use to those
who miss a meeting.
The March
minutes are online now.
The PresidentÕs Letter
GREETINGS! And what a GREAT riding month we had in March! The practically zero rain we had this
month translated into some gorgeous weather to enjoy our sport. We had a great turnout for the Dublin
Rally, which Susan and I went to for the first time. I actually put on over 600 miles that weekend as we headed
up to Athens after the rally and then up to Gainesville to see the
grandchildren. Then there were
plenty of conflicts the weekend of the Cherry Blossom Festival, which did not
pan out, but instead we had a good group that took a short ride to Eufaula to
see a car show. And, of course,
the annual Iron Butt Ride which also had a great turnout with around 15
bikes. All in all, a very good
start to the riding season! With
all that good weather in March maybe yÕall have got the yard behind you too and
can enjoy riding even more.
April looks
like it will be equally active as we have the Westville Wedding Festival,
Riverfest, Sasser Flea Festival, and the Membership Drive for starters. I would like to discuss the Membership
Drive again at the meeting because we have come up with another alternative
that may be more effective. Again, letÕs together think about ways we can
promote our Club and get some new members. And donÕt forget to start planning for the annual Fish Fry
on May 1! It will be upon us
before you know it.
We are still
struggling to get member pictures for the website. How about making a point to come to the meeting on Monday
(remember itÕs at ShoneyÕs!) prepared to take your picture. IÕll bring the camera.
Speaking of
the website, this will be the last month for printed hardcopy newsletters unless
specifically requested. As you all know one of the main
purposes of the website was to conduct our Club communication via this facility
thereby relieving the expense (and effort by someone) of printing, copying and mailing
the newsletters. If you havenÕt
used the website already, Chris has done a great job of organizing it and
making it easy to use.
Hope to see
you at the meeting, RIDE ON!
Roger
A Special Thank You
Dear
Friends,
I am rapidly approaching the end of my
prescribed odyssey with cancer and chemotherapy, and I want to tell you that I
have been blessed with the ease of my treatment. I have truly been without energy, but that is truly the only
major side effect IÕve experienced.
The minor side effects do not bear mentioning!
Sid and I
want to tell you that we are most grateful for all the support youÕve shown us
throughout this time. We have
absolutely been overwhelmed with your cards, calls, visits, flowers, and
especially your love. Thank you so
much for every thought. I know
that you and my family have made this very easy for me, and I appreciate you
all.
Peggy
Announcements
Mary Fiske
is working to update the club contact list. We are also looking to collect
memberÕs cell phone numbers for use during club rides. These will only be used in
emergencies or if the club loses contact with a club member who has a cell
phone.
If your
address or telephone number has changed in the past 18 months or you have a
cell phone number you want to share please contact Mary at (706) 561-3543 or
send an email to contact@vmtacolumbusga.org.
For privacy
reasons the club contact list will not be placed on the club web site.
Ladies
it's been awhile since we've been for an outing at night so here we go. Supper
is at the Peachtree Mall, April 23rd, 6:P.M. and then a movie of our choice at
7 P.M. at Peachtree 8.
Biloxi Turnaround
Leaving July 10th, 9 AM from behind
Dennys on Macon Rd. (Office Max parking lot) Arrive at Boomtown 3:00 P.M.
Receive $10.00 in free play, play 5 hours, depart from Boomtown at 8
P.M. Arrive at Beau Rivage at 8:30 P.M. Receive $15.00 in free
play, play 4 hours, depart from Beau Rivage at 12:30 A.M.
Arrive at Palace Casino 12:45 A.M., play 4 hours. Bus departs for
Columbus at 4:45 A.M. Arrive back in Columbus approximately 10:30 A.M.
Sunday morning. Get your reservations & $30.00 by June 1, 2004 to
Mary Fiske, 3951 Biltmore Dr., Columbus 706-561-3543.
The EditorÕs Note
Chris Aycock
I
was rummaging through my desk the other day and saw my old British DriverÕs
License. Since we lived over
there for more than a year both Meitra and I had to take the tests for driving
and obtain a UK License, as our US licenses were only good for one year.
In
order to obtain a driverÕs license in the UK you had to take a written and
driving test, similar to a US test.
From there the similarities ended.
The normal failure rate for UK driving tests is 50-60% and 30-40% for
motorcycles. Lessons are a must.
British
driving is a totally different process than driving in the US. In fact, driving on the left-hand side
of the road was the easiest part to get.
A good deal of UK car and motorcycle operation depends on observation of
your surroundings.
This
concept is a most valuable lesson.
According to British rules, before you make any direction change on the
road such as a lane change (or even a change in your position in your current
lane!) or a turn into a side street you must observe, signal, and
maneuver.
The
observation part was two-fold.
First, you check your mirrors.
Second, you take a quick look over your shoulder, a technique the
British call ŅThe Lifesaver.Ó It
makes sense to check your blind spot in all circumstances if you sit down and
think about it.
HereÕs
the second, more surprising rule; you should observe behind you, doing both the
mirror check and the ŌlifesaverÕ before you accelerate or slow!
The
rationale behind this is if you are accelerating a car or another bike may be
trying to pass you. if you
accelerate you will trap the other driver or rider in the face of oncoming
traffic.
As
for slowing, the explanation is looking for the possibility of a vehicle
bearing down on you from behind with no chance of stopping or slowing in time
prevent a rear-end collision.
It
left an impression on me as I now do a ŌlifesaverÕ as a matter of instinct now.
It
must work. The bikers in the UK
are sport bike crazy so you would expect a high rate of single-vehicle
motorcycle crashes but car on bike crashes are much more rare than here.
Thinking
back on it the British enforce a type of 360-degree awareness where you as a
rider are aware of everything around you and its possible threat. This is what people here in the US
spend hundreds of dollars on for ERC courses and custom street riding courses.
Next
month: Lane positioning.
April Birthdays
12th
Š Faith Mack
22nd
Š Jeff Howell
April Anniversaries
28th
Š Roger and Susan Miller
Ride Reports
Eufaula
Bob Smith
John Fiske and I did not
expect anyone at the meeting place for the ride to the Macon Cherry Blossom
Festival Ride. Most had cancelled
during the bowling games on Thursday evening. But just in case, we were there before 8am.
By 11am a lot of bikes were waiting to
leave for a pleasant day in Eufaula. We had Clete, John, Larry & Faith,
Bob, Gerry, Roger & Susan and Jeff Howell for a total of nine diverse
bikes. Weather was spectacular with
a high temp of 87 deg. We passed
the big Bass Tournament at Lake Point Park on the way down.
Old Creektown Park is on a point with
lots of water at the edge of town, where quite a few cars came from Fla., Al.,
and Ga. This is the second get
together of the year for the local car clubs. They had a singer for a while in the afternoon, some food
and lots of hot rods to look at.
Some very rare cars were presented along with a couple of clones of rare
cars. Big engines were the topic
of the day of this group. There
were some great 50s & 60s Mopars, Chevies & Fords restored to
impressive condition. All the cars
were being decorated with fresh pine pollen Š soft yellow!! (cough, cough)
Larry helped me pass out flyers of the
upcoming River Fest Car Show in April.
Of course, our club loves to eat, so we stopped at the Cherwalla buffet
for a pretty good meal. The
deserts and fresh fruit were especially welcome.
We did not stay long as everyone had
evening commitments to get back to, so we headed back up #165 and thru Phenix
City to J R Allen Parkway. I think
it was a good day to chat with friends and reminisce about the old daily
drivers we had way back when.
Bowling Night
Mary Fiske
We all had
great expectations but reality set in. It was fun and learning how to
play poker hands on strikes & spares which is normal to see at the bowling
alley now. We are all gamblers each
day.
Winners:
MenÕs High Average: Jake Kaplan
WomenÕs High
Average: Mary Fiske
MenÕs High Game
with Handicap: Johnny McRae
WomenÕs High Game with Handicap: Connie McRae
WomenÕs Low
Games Scratch: Gwen Carter
MenÕs Low Game
Scratch: Can't remember
It was nice to see everyone there. Some just ate
supper and some came for the support of our
event.
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