The Sidestand

HAPPY NEW YEAR! It’s hard to believe how fast 2003 went! But then again, when you’re having fun…….! Susan and I can honestly say that our “fun” for this past year had a lot to do with this club and we are looking forward to another great, and hopefully safe, year. From Bike Week in March to the Shrimp Peel we certainly shared some great times with our friends in the club. Our past President has left me with an excellent base on which to build and can only hope that I will continue to get the same help and support that you gave him. As a relatively “new kid on the block” I will need the advice of the more experienced members of the club so know that you will be asked!

As we all know, change is a reality of life, particularly these days and necessary not only to preserve a healthy organization but also to grow it and make it better. We must consider change with an open mind and make decisions as objectively as possible in the best interest of the club. “That’s the way we’ve always done it” must be routinely challenged in order to make progress and remain a healthy organization. Also, we must continue to realize that with all functions there are burdens, we all must share in those burdens, and the more we do share the less we have to do individually. Starting with the meeting on 01/13, there will be new initiatives presented to the forum for consideration. The intent of all initiatives will be to keep our organization modern and healthy so we can enjoy even more the functions that we have, promote new membership and public relations, and last, but certainly not least, do as much as we can to ensure that our motorcycling is SAFE.

We started out the year with a great impromptu ride to LaGrange and West Point/Lanett on Sunday the 4^th with outstanding participation! I am sure the fine weather that weekend had a lot to do with it. Looking forward to many more in 2004!

Unfortunately, I must send my regrets that I will not be able to attend the first meeting of the new year due to business travel, but I will leave it to very capable hands. It promises to be a very important and informative meeting so I hope all of you can attend.

RIDE ON!

Roger

VMTA Shirts

Members: If you do not have you green short-sleeved VMTA shirts, this is what we have left......2-medium, 2-Large and 3-XLarge, $20.00 a shirt. We have no other shirts left.

Interesting Photos

Do you remember that Bikes for Badges ride we did in October? For those of you who had gone on it may remember the lady taking photographs. Well here’s the link to see the photos, www.Tediturnipseed.com., click enter, then go to online previews.

I went to this site and let me tell you the pictures were terrific. Check these out of George Carter. In the fourth Bikes for Badges the number BA 23, in the sixth album numbers BB 113, BB 5015.

For Jackie & Althea look in the forth album number BA 7, and in the sixth album numbers BB345, BB5018, & BB5022. There is a nice shot of Althea in BB 20.

For Sid Martin look in the fifth album number BBGS 49, BBGS49, BBGS 55, and in the sixth album numbers BB 5004, BB5005, and BB5032.

For Roger Miller look in the fifth album BBGS 47, and the sixth album numbers BB109, & BB5006.

Sorry Denny, but all I found was one of you and the number is BB5014.

You’ll find Linda and I in the 4^th album number BA 8, and in the sixth numbers BB110, BB111, BB 114 (with Denny in the background), BB40, BB5012, BB5019, BB5020.

And then the action shot of the VMTA in the sixth album BB94.

Looks like Linda and I made it in a lot of the pictures. That was really a great ride for a really great cause. It was really our good fortune to ride and to shine for the VMTA!

Around the Bend: Barry’s Bulletin Board and Ride Schedule

January 15^th ~ Crystal Valley Oyster House ~ Meet there 6:30 Just a night out on the town, come and join us!

January 17^th ~ Columbus Civic Center Snakes Game ~ Meet there 7:00

Goodness Snakes Alive. Let’s go watch the Cottonmouths put a whopping on the Greenville Growls. Let’s meet at 7:00 in the lobby, game starts at 7:30. The Upper level is $10.00, the lower is $14.00 and the Ice level is $16.00. There is $3.00 off for military and $1.00 off for group (which would consist of 15 or more). If you’ve never been to a Hockey game, it sure is exciting!

January 25^th El Carrizo’s ~ 6:30 Meet there

February 7^th ~ Moultrie Car Show ~ Roger Miller ~ Victory Drive Burger King 7:30 A.M. This is an event well worth the ride. The largest car show and swap I’ve ever seen. There is something of interest for everyone.

February 14^th ~ Festival Of Camellias ~ Chris Aycock ~ Miller Road Burger King 10:00. Fort Valley GA. Ten acres of Camellia gardens provide easy walking; self guided tours of the gardens, a landscaped greenhouse, a Japanese Garden.

March 6^th ~ Daytona Bike Week ~ Roger Miller ~ This going to be discussed at the January meeting. If interested in going contact Roger Miller ASAP and get all details of ride leave out time, motel reservations, etc.

March 12^th ~ 13^th ~ St. Patrick’s Day in Dublin ~ Miller Road B.K. This is a GWRRA Event and there’s going to be a lot of Goldwings there. We have always had our first campout of the year in Eufaula at the GWRRA event. However this year they changed it to Huntsville so we’re going to be headed to Dublin Georgia for this year’s event.

Food will be available for sale and the free coffee will be perking all the time. The camping, for those of you who wish to camp will be free. There will be Vendors, Door Prizes, Bike Show, and Entertainment. The Irish getaway will be held at the Civitan Club Fairgrounds on Highway 257. There is no Registration Fee and No Charge for on-site camping.

If you would like to motel it there are several motels in the area. Comfort Inn (912) 274-8000, Days Inn (912) 275-7637, Holiday Inn (912) 272-7862, Hampton Inn (912) 275-1600, Super 8 (912) 272-5141, Shamrock Inn (912) 275-2650.

March 18^th ~Bowling ~ Peach Bowl Lanes~Mary Fiske~7:30. Here we go again.....something to do.... due to cold weather. Let's go bowling!!!!!!!!! The bowling alley will do for us whatever they did last year. There will be prizes for men’s & women’s high game scratch & with handicap, high averages for both. Sounds like everyone enjoyed last year so Mary will try to be there this time.

March 20^th ~ Macon Cherry Blossom Festival ~ Barry Cowall ~ Miller Road B.K. 8:00 AM. This year there is going to be hot air balloons, an air show, and even a bed race downtown. Lots of arts and crafts, with a whole lot of other things going on.

March 28^th ~ Spring Celebration; Iron Butt to Panama City ~ Clete Richardson ~ Waffle King in P.C., 8:00 AM. As in years before Clete has taken on the honor of leading this ride. Last year we had a very good turnout, and we’re hoping history repeats itself. It’s a ride to bring in the spring and ride to Panama City, eat lunch, and return the same day. Let’s get those motors humming and hit the road!

On the Road……

A list of events in and around the Valley area:

Cycle World Motorcycle Show ~ January 16-18 ~ Cobb Galleria, Atlanta Ga. Some of the club has attended this show in the past and it is very impressive. They have displays by all of the Japanese, American, and even some European manufacturers. There are demo teams as well as vendors. This being January it’s all indoors. It is well worth the $11.00 admission price.

Rattle Snake Round Up ~ January 31, 2004 ~ Wigham Ga. Sun up until Sun Down. Arts and crafts, food, snake handling, snake cooking, snake demonstration, kiddy rides

Wild Game Dinner ~ February 19th, 7:00 A variety of Wild game like snake, alligator, venison, bear, wild boar, and more! Admission is FREE! Guest speaker is going to be David Blanton.

Annual Jordan Car Show ~ February 28^th, Starts at 9:00 am and is over at 3:00. Always a good number of cars showing. Nominal fee required.

Georgia Renaissance Festival ~ April 17^th ~June 6^th This will probably turn into a club ride. Linda and I went there a few years ago and found it to be VERY entertaining. The whole festival had people dressed in the medieval era. Plenty of great food, great shows (free), and a very festive atmosphere. The web address is www.georgiarenaissancefestival.com

Columbus Riverfest Weekend ~ April 23^rd ~ 25^th

Gay Cotton Pickin’ Fair ~ May 1^st & 2^nd, this charming and award winning festival of antiques, arts and crafts is a must see for the entire family. East side of Georgia Highway 85. Saturday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sunday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Adults $5, Children $2. For additional information call 706-538-6814.

Billy Bowlegs Pirate Festival ~ June 4^th ~ 6^th ~ Fort Walton Beach ~ If you would like to view this on the web go to search, “Billy Bowlegs” and it will bring you right to the web page or you can go to (just highlight and copy), http://www.tripsmarter.com/destin/archives/events/billybowlegs_gen.htm. This may turn into a club ride if we can find enough people interested, it sounds very exciting.

The notorious scoundrel and pirate Billy Bowlegs has vowed to take the city on June 6th from the Mayor. As he's been successful the last forty-five times he's invaded the city, expect to see the pirate krewe and their followers reveling in the streets!

The festivities begin Friday night at around 7:00pm as Billy Bowlegs and his krewe make their first attempt to take the city. Ft. Walton Beach responds with a dazzling pyrotechnical display... fireworks will light up the night sky, and the pirates, if everything goes according to plan (and tradition) will make their escape.

If they are successful in routing the pirates, the city of Ft. Walton Beach has a full night of entertainment lined up for the event. Live music, food vendors, arts & crafts, and a children's area should help ease the city's nervousness of another pirate invasion... one which is certain to happen the next day.

And so it will. While the party continues, the pirate and his minions will be plotting their revenge... and sometime Saturday afternoon, expect them to come sailing into town with vengeance on their minds!

Celebrations!

What a night this turned out to be. It was dark, raining and a cold evening. We always had a good turnout for this outing, but it was not to be this time.

Connie had called earlier and asked to meet in Shiloh. I suggested we meet at Oscars and that turned out very well. When I arrived at Burger King I wasn’t surprised to see John and Mary there. They attend most all the rides, and they are good travlin’ buddies. They had brought a guest with them, Anne. What a delightful person, just a pleasure to converse with.

Since it was raining we were all in vehicles so John, Mary, and Anne all road in our van. When we arrived Johnny and Connie were there along with Sara. They were also surprised to see not many people show for this event, however, it was a gloomy evening.

Sara got Johnny to challenge me to a game of pool, so being the nice guy I am, I accepted. I won the first game, the second he was beating me pretty bad, when, he sunk the eight ball by accident! He just beat himself. I was happy, two for two. We would have played more, but I figured the food should be ready by now, and if we played, he might win one.

Needless to say the food wasn’t there, and everyone was very hungry. I remember in the past the food was always real good, however the last time we were there they didn’t even serve Denny’s order and he went home hungry. This time was even worse. It took them over an hour and a half to serve us our food. They had some type of problem in the kitchen and our order was delayed. All of the orders were either cold or lukewarm. After a complaint to the manager she gave us three free dinners, however the damage was done. Every one had been hungry and disappointed.

After eating we said our adzes to Johnny and Connie and headed to Warm Springs. By now no one was in the Christmas Sprit and no one wanted to get out and walk the town. So we just headed back to the Burger King where John had left his SUV. That is where we bid our adzes and went on to the house.

It was a shame that you weren’t able to meet with Anne. She was a charming individual that seemed to fit right in with the VMTA.

This ride has always had a special place for me. This is a time to reflect and realize how fortunate I am and the opportunity to give back some of my blessings. However, this ride started out, or maybe should I say wouldn’t start out right.

I had been having trouble with my radio for about the last two months. It started out when I went to start the bike after letting it sit for a week. It wouldn’t start; the battery was dead. Now this battery was hardly a year old and never gave me problems before. I charged it and everything was fine; for a couple weeks, then the battery was dead again.

I hate having trouble with stuff like this so I wasn’t taking any chances of being broke down so I bought a new battery and installed it after charging it. There was one thing I noticed when I installed the new battery, the ejector on the cassette deck was trying to eject the tape but the door wasn’t opening. That was kind of odd. I popped on the lid and it opened, I closed it and it seemed to work.

Everything was fine so I thought. For a couple more weeks, however I thought I could hear the cassette trying to eject some of the time. Then the strangest thing happened, the radio quit playing. If I put in a cassette the radio would play right, but as soon as I ejected the tape, the radio would quit again. I thought my radio was just bad and wasn’t really going to fret over it, maybe get it fixed in the distant future.

Now you are thinking what has this to do with the Toys for Tots ride? Saturday we were gone all day and Saturday evening we had the Christmas Dinner. So Sunday Linda and I made plans to get up early and start on the bike and get it decorated for the ride.

We got up extremely early and got to work on it at about 7:00 in the morning. Let me tell you it was freezing! I built the wood frame for the banner and made the banner on the computer. We attached everything to the bike, unloaded the presents and loaded them into the trailer. Got done right at 10:00 and were fixin’ to head to Ruth Ann’s to meet with the club. We were looking good!!!

I turned the key on and nothing, no lights, no starter, nothing. The battery was stone cold dead. I tried to put the charger on it, but it wouldn’t even take a charge. Now I’m in panic mode, one of the most important rides of the year and my Wing is dead. I got the battery out of the garage that I had originally taken out of the Wing. You see I used it in one of my Halloween scenes and after a charging it seemed to work fine.

Well after charging it for about 30 minutes the Wing finally cranked. We headed to Ruth Ann’s a half hour later than we anticipated, but we were there. Now the anxiety was rising, was it going to start again? After going in and grabbing some eggs and hash browns we went out and the moment of truth arrived. I hit the starter and the motor started humming. The radio still didn’t work, but I was happy!!!

The group got together and we all headed to the Civic Center, and man did we look good! We all parked, and then re-parked so we would be in line and all together when we pulled out. It worked like a dream; the VMTA rode as a whole.

At about 5 minutes to 1:00 it was time to fire them up and hit the road. There was electricity in the air when all those Harleys fired up and roared to life. We left the Civic Center and headed to the north end of town, got on 80 west to 185 south, took that to Victory Dr. and went to the Farmers Market on 10^th Ave., really great ride.

Upon arrival I thought I could keep the club together and pulled over to the side with plenty of room to park for everyone. Cut the bike off and was fixing to dismount when an Iron Cross member said we would have to park in the back. I hit the starter and nothing, I was dead again. When the Iron Cross member came back and told me I had to move, I said my battery was dead, he said he didn’t think that could happen to a Wing that was reserved for their bikes.

Thanks to Cal who had another spare battery and I installed it. Thanks to Clete for carrying jumper cables, which got me started and headed on my way home at the end of the day. It was a day I won’t forget with all that went wrong. However, the most important thing is the toys were delivered, and I had another eventful and successful ride with the VMTA!

Oh yeah, took my radio out that same day and sent it off to Sierra Electronics. The next Thursday I received it back, repaired in 7 days and it is now back in our Wing working right.

Who would have thought that January would have brought temperatures in the high 60s with clear skies and soft breezes? It’s almost like living in South Florida!

I was hanging out on the first Saturday night of the year when Roger Miller called about a ride he wanted to put together for the following day. It sounded like a good idea.

We met at the Welcome Center on Sunday morning. I refrain from naming the attendees, as I fear I would miss someone. At any rate Clete counted nine bikes, with Susan Miller on her new Honda VLX, bought off of Ebay. It is a very sweet machine.

We took off on back roads to LaGrange to Susan’s folk’s place. Roger led us on a nice ride there. Susan’s folks had a great spread out and were some of the nicest people you could ever hope to meet. My daughter Parker had a great time playing their electric organ, a most impressive musical device.

Roger deserves special considerations here. He mistook the Packers game time so we were riding during their playoff game against Seattle. I doubt I could have had such self-control had I been confronted with the same dilemma in March if my beloved Tar Heels were playing.

After goodbyes were exchanged we all headed to the dam at Lake West Point. There were plenty of other bikers there with the same idea we had. The temperature was easily in the upper 60s and almost touching the 70s. It was a good day to live in the Deep South.

Roger took us to Lanette AL, which held the promise of an impressive gravesite in the city cemetery. A little girl had died right before Christmas in the 1930s and her grief-stricken family built a small enclosure, resembling a brick dollhouse over her grave. Her presents for that year still adorned the little house. It was touching yet sad.

Susan saved the day, as we did not have a firm idea of the grave’s location. We stopped at a gas station and she chatted up a fellow biker who was more than happy to lead us to the cemetery. It was a pleasure to meet him.

While we were there a fellow in a truck came up the cemetery passageway on which we were parked. We were concerned that he could not passed but when we offered to move he hollered “I want to look at these fancy machines here!’ We all spoke to the fellow and he seemed to enjoy himself immensely. This sort of thing is one of my favorite things about riding.

After the cemetery we took a nice scenic route back to Phenix City and into Columbus, arriving around five. It was a great way to start the New Year.

The President’s Message

The Editor’s Note

Announcements

VMTA Shirts

Interesting Photos

Around the Bend: Barry’s Bulletin Board and Ride Schedule

On the Road……

The notorious scoundrel and pirate Billy Bowlegs has vowed to take the city on June 6th from the Mayor. As he's been successful the last forty-five times he's invaded the city, expect to see the pirate krewe and their followers reveling in the streets!

Happy Birthday!

4^th - Sidney Martin

Ride and Event Reports

Oscars’

Barry Cowall

OSCARS’

Connie McRae

CHRISTMAS PARTY

Gwen Carter

Barry Cowall

Lights Ride

Bob Smith

			January 2004
Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
				1	2	3
4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11	12	13 Business Meeting-Ruth Ann’s 7:00	14	15 Crystal Valley Oyster House- Meet there 6:30	16	17 Columbus Cottonmouths vs. G’ville Growls-Civic Center 7:00
18	19 M.L.K Day	20	21	22	23	24
25 El Carrizo’s 6:30 Meet there	26	27 Board Meeting 1030 1st Av 6:30	28	29	30	31

			February 2004
Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
1	2	3 Newsletter Submission Deadline	4	5	6	7 Moultrie Car Show 7:30 Victory Dr. Burger King
8	9	10 Business Meeting-Ruth Ann’s 7:00	11	12	13	14 Festival of Camellias 10:00 Miller Rd Burger King Valentine’s Day
15	16 President’s Day	17	18	19	20	21
22	23	24 Board Meeting 1030 1st Av 6:30	25	26	27	28
29

The President’s Message

The Editor’s Note

Announcements

VMTA Shirts

Interesting Photos

Around the Bend: Barry’s Bulletin Board and Ride Schedule

On the Road……

The notorious scoundrel and pirate Billy Bowlegs has vowed to take the city on June 6th from the Mayor. As he's been successful the last forty-five times he's invaded the city, expect to see the pirate krewe and their followers reveling in the streets!

Happy Birthday!

4th - Sidney Martin

Ride and Event Reports

Oscars’

Barry Cowall

OSCARS’

Connie McRae

CHRISTMAS PARTY

Gwen Carter

Barry Cowall

Lights Ride

Bob Smith

4^th - Sidney Martin