GOLD WING ROAD RIDERS ASSOCIATION MINNESOTA DISTRICT REGION E AMERICA S HEARTLAND CHAPTER R NEWS Monthly Newsletter

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1 GOLD WING ROAD RIDERS ASSOCIATION MINNESOTA DISTRICT REGION E AMERICA S HEARTLAND CHAPTER R NEWS Monthly Newsletter July 2017 Chapter R Team Directors Robin Pettit & Fred Rennpferd Robin Fred robin.pettit01@gmail.com Assistant Director Vicki Holst turncrest@kmtel.com Rider Education Dean Plank cdplank@yahoo.com Motorist Awareness Ricky & Bonnie Johnson johnkren4fun@hotmail.com Membership Enchancement Wade & Carolyn Nelson kc0aku@msn.com Treasurer Al Horejsi achorejsi@live.com Sunshine Coordinator Barb Beeman bbbeeman@charter.net Historian Ed & Karen Sharpsteen efsharp9@hotmail.com Socials are held at the Pizza Ranch in Austin, MN, on the third Saturday of the month beginning at 6:00 pm for the months February-July, September & October. January Social at Dick & Barb Ochs home. August BS Session New Richland City Hall, New Richland, MN 11:00 am November Chili Dump/Calendar Planning Dick & Barb Ochs home 3:00 pm December Christmas Party Owatonna Hy-Vee Club House 12:00 pm From your Chapter R Directors Robin Pettit & Fred Rennpferd Hello Chapter R Friends! The month of July bring us our nation s birthday, Independence Day. Some say it marks the half way point of summer, but we all know that we have several more months of riding left. According to the History Channel s website, Independence Day has been a federal holiday in the United States since 1941, but its history dates back to the 18 th century and the American Revolution. The MN/ND District Rally is nearly here, beginning on Friday, July 7 th. We hope many of you can attend and support our District. Saturday morning is the Chapter Challenge and all chapter members are invited to participate. It will be interesting to see what Chapter C has in store for this fun event. Chapter R is in charge of the bike show again this year and this will take place Saturday afternoon. We hope many of you can participate in this as well. There will be trophies! We had to postpone our Pizza Ranch bike show in June due to rain and it s been rescheduled to July 15 th beginning at 5:00 pm. The guy with the drone we had lined up to take the picture in June doesn t know for sure if he will be - Continued on Page 2 Friends for Fun, Safety & Knowledge

2 - Continued from Page 1 available for the July show, so if you know of someone who has a drone and would like to take some pictures for the chapter, let us know. There are two supper rides scheduled during the week in July as well as two different weekend rides. Rumor has it that the Ronald McDonald ride scheduled for July 23 rd has been cancelled. If we find out that they are able to run it again, we ll let you know. Reminder: the flyer for the Region E Rally and the Black Hills trip flyer are later in this newsletter. Be sure to get your reservations made if you re planning to attend. That s it for this month and be sure to watch your for weekly updates. Robin & Fred Chapter Directors GWRRA Anniversaries July 06 July 08 July 13 July 24 Bruce Beeman Alan Bartholmey Carol Smith Robin Pettit None of July Roy Bremseth Doug Kenney Ed Sharpsteen Karen Sharpsteen Connie Blinsky Barry Jacobson July 01, 1995 July 12, 2000 July 27, 2007 July 27, 2007 July 10, 2013 July 25, 2013 Friends for Fun, Safety & Knowledge 2

3 GWRRA Directors Ray & Sandy Garris Region E Directors Bob & Nicki Fowkes MN District Directors Joe & Jan Marek From your Chapter R Educator Dean Plank It is hard to believe that our riding season is almost half over. It seems like we just dug our bikes out of winter storage. This month I would like to discuss group or team riding. Whether you ride as an individual or in a group, in order to survive on the open road, your motorcycle riding habits and techniques must be constantly thought of as defensive. When you ride in a group, your actions not only affect you, but the other riders as well. Therefore, it is important to recognize and remember that riding in a group is a TEAM effort.. Whenever we ride in a group, someone is in the lead position, the ride Captain. The main function of the this position is setting and maintaining safe, consistent speeds. The ride captain is the primary decision maker during the ride. He/she is the first bike and therefore will first be aware of any hazards in the road, slow drivers, or other obstacles that may impede the progress of the team. I would recommend using a CB to transmit to the rest of the group. Since the lead bike is looking for landmarks, road signs, and turn offs, another important person or rider is the second bike in line in right track of the lane as he has the best visibility and can spot potential problems early. The lead always keep us aware of hazards on the road and all around us. We know they are looking out for the safety of the group. I recommend that riders that take these positions be someone who has completed the Gold Wing Road Riders Association Road Captains course. The next position is the tail gunner or rear of the group. Their job is to work with the lead bike to secure lanes when needed and inform the group when a car is attempting to pass the group. Next let s discuss the middle of the group. We all need to remember that even those of us in the middle of the formation have responsibilities. We are responsible to pass on the hand signals from the leader, such as for single file, stagger formation (two second interval from the bike in front of you in your track of the lane), pointing out potholes and road kill, sand in the corners, and other hazards, etc. We need to be aware who we are riding with too. The burden is not all on the Road Captains. We cannot take it easy because we ride in the middle of the pack. We need to maintain safe spacing with the other bikes around us. And most importantly, we need to ride our own ride. We must stay alert. Hazards don t always appear in front of the lead bike. Sometimes they come at the riders in the middle of the group. We need to be aware of our surroundings and always be prepared to react to the unexpected at all times. We must remember that, just because our Road Captain is leading us, we are not excused from thinking for ourselves and riding our own ride. We are all responsible for our own safety at all times. I also recommend that when you fall in line on a group ride, as a rider pick a lane track, that you feel most comfortable with whether it be the right of left track of a lane. Once you are in that position, maintain your position and don t wander back and forth between the right track and left track of the lane. If you tend to do that then the riders behind you are trying switching back and forth to maintain the staggered formation. - Continued on Page 4 Friends for Fun, Safety & Knowledge 3

4 - Continued from Page 3 Remember, not everyone has a CB on their bike and will not know what is going on in the group. So we need to still use the hand signals for hazards, gas breaks, bathroom breaks and even a lunch break. I recommend making sure that prior to riding in a group that you have a short safety talk and discuss the places that you will be taking breaks. As always be safe! Dean Plank Chapter Educator GWRRA MN Chapter R Link to a YouTube video demonstrating the universal hand signals for motorcycle riding. Friends for Fun, Safety & Knowledge 4

5 July 7-8 July 15 July 15 July 16 July 18 July 22 July 27 August 5 Upcoming Chapter R Events MN/ND District Rally - Owatonna, MN Bike Show - Austin Pizza Ranch at 5:00 pm June Social - Pizza Ranch in Austin at 6:00 pm Ira s Ride - leave Casey s gas station in Medford, MN at 11:00 am. Rootbeer floats at their home following ride. Dick s Ride to Channel Inn in Fairmont. Leave Albert Lea Hy-Vee at 5:30 pm Bruce s Ride to Nusbaum s in Waterville. Leave Albert Lea Hy-Vee at 9:00 am Dick s Gobbler s Roost Ride. Leave Albert Lea Hy-Vee at 6:00 pm Chapter D Selfie Ride - Duluth August 11-2 Region E Rally - Williamsburg, IA August 16 August 19 August 20 August 25 August 29 August 30- September 2 Supper Ride to Rib Crib - Mason City, IA. Leave Albert Lea Hy-Vee at 5:30 pm BS Session - New Richland Community Center Chapter N Wings for Wings Fundraiser Supper Ride to Famous Dave s - Owatonna, MN. Meet there at 6:30 pm International Couple of the Year Selection - Grapevine, TX Wing Ding - Grapevine, TX Friends for Fun, Safety & Knowledge 5

6 2009 Honda Gold Wing Blue Metallic Heated seats and grips $12,500 OBO Contact Ben Kluender Friends for Fun, Safety & Knowledge 6

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12 Chapter N Wings for Wings Fundraiser Chapter N is cordially inviting you to join us for our annual fundraiser at a new venue Whitetail Woods Regional Park is located at Station Trail, Farmington, MN Please note specific directions on the back of the flyer to remain on non-gravel roads. August 20th, :30 am - 2:30 pm Our menu includes wings with various sauces, salads, drinks and dessert $10/per person We will have 50/50 and tickets to purchase for chances to win fabulous prizes Hope to see you there! Friends for Fun, Safety & Knowledge 12

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