G.W.R.R.A., TEXAS DISTRICT, CHAPTER W

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1 February, 2019 Volume 20, Issue 2 G.W.R.R.A., TEXAS DISTRICT, CHAPTER W Chapter TX-W Director Cindy Harris 2019 Valkyrie Cindy District Individual of the Year!!! I am so appreciative that she allows me to be her husband. The fun we have enjoyed for over 300,000 miles since she started riding with me has meant so much to me. Following her for most of those 300,000 miles has been truly magical. I am truly so proud of her, and I am glad the District recognized and rewarded her for all her dedicated hard work to keep the chapter Fun, riding Safe, and Knowledgeable. Lynn Harris It is hard to adequately share how proud I am of Cindy. Her tireless hours of efforts to provide places, ideas and plans for the chapter, amazes me. She puts so much effort into trying to provide the GWRRA motto into practice, Friends for Fun, Safety and Knowledge. At the Texas District Mid-Winter Round-Up, the District recognized her efforts with a Certificate of Appointment as Individual of the Year. She has never done what she does for the accolades, and she was quite shocked to receive such recognition from the District Staff. Cindy does what she does because she is committed to the joy motorcycling provides for socializing, fun and memory making with rides with friends. Lynn, All of us that are associated with Chapter W are lucky to have Cindy leading the group. She brings fun and enthusiasm to every event. I also am pleased that the District recognized that commitment on her part. Steve Wilkening Editor

2 VOLUME 20 ISSUE 2 FEBRUARY, 2019 PAGE 2 March, 2019 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 2 Upcoming Events for March 2nd Chapter Meeting th Planning Meeting th Training, Killeen Alternate is the 30th / Check our web site calendar for last minute events If you re a rider in Texas, motorcycle insurance from Suzanne Sansom Insurance Services Inc. can protect both you and your bike. At Suzanne Sansom Insurance Services Inc., we believe that good insurance is no accident and our dedicated agents will take the time to find you insurance products that are reliable and affordable. We are an independent agency and we will shop for the top carriers in the country to satisfy all of your personal insurance needs S. Mason Rd., Suite 260 Katy, TX Phone: Fax: suzanne@sansominsurance.com Motorcycle ~ Life ~ Auto ~ Home ~ Commercial

3 VOLUME 20 ISSUE 2 FEBRUARY, 2019 PAGE 3 Motorcycle Rider Course Options Hello Texas Riders! One of the best activities you can do for yourself in 2019 is to take a riding course to hone and reinforce your skills on the street. GWRRA offers 10 different courses to help you achieve this. I know some of you might be thinking, Yeah, but I can t ever find a class being offered close to me! I know a lot of you take the courses to keep your Levels current (and I strongly support that) but did you know there are a lot more classes out there that can also be counted for the Levels program? Following is the list of Approved Rider Courses for use in the GWRRA Levels Program. The first group of courses have a classroom and range component and should be taken every 3 years to maintain Levels. Riding Courses accepted for GWRRA Levels The following courses may be taken every 3 years consecutively for Levels 2 UP Co Rider participating in a Rider Course (GWRRA) 3WBRC Trike Rider Course (MSF) AORC Add-On Riding Course (GWRRA) ARC Advanced Rider Course (GWRRA) BRC Beginner Rider Course (MSF) CMSP California Motorcyclist Safety Program CSC Canadian Safety Council ESCS Evergreen Safety Council Sidecar ESCT Evergreen Safety Council Trike MORE Ohio State Program MSFARC Advanced Rider Course (MSF) SRC Sidecar Rider Course (GWRRA) STAR Idaho State Program TC Two Wheel Trailering Course (GWRRA) TC ARC Total Control Advanced Rider Clinic (Lee Parks) TC INT Total Control Intermediate Rider Clinic TRC Trike Rider Course (GWRRA) TTRC Trike w/ Trailer Rider Course (GWRRA) VRC Vanguard Rider Course (GWRRA)

4 VOLUME 20 ISSUE 2 FEBRUARY, 2019 PAGE 4 The courses listed below may be used in the Levels program, but the next rider course must be a course listed from above. These courses are essentially Track Day courses and must be alternated with a more traditional course that covers all the topics of safer riding. The following courses may be taken every 6 years, alternated with courses above for Levels ARC R BBBRC BRC 2 BRC 2SP BRCGRP OHPSR RLAP SPCW SSKLS STRR TRC R Advanced Rider Course Recert (GWRRA) Basic Bike Bonding Course (MSF) MSF License Waiver Basic Rider Course 2 Skills Practice Basic Rider Course Small Group Oklahoma Highway Patrol Safe Riders Ride Like a Pro (Jerry Palladino) Streetmasters Precision Cornering Workshop John Delvecchio's Street Skills MSF Street Rider Course (MSF) Trike Rider Course Recert (GWRRA) Co Riders may of course also take the Co Rider Seminar to maintain their levels. So, where do you find these classes? Texas Department of Public Safety has a comprehensive list of over 225 accredited riding course providers across Texas that include dealerships, colleges, and private providers as an interactive map at Many of the providers use the MSF or Total Control curriculum. If you are interested in specific GWRRA class offerings, there is a calendar of riding courses, modules, and seminars offered around the country at Be sure to check our Texas District Calendar It has just been revamped and in addition to all of the chapter events that are turned into us we will post all course offerings as they are scheduled. If there are specific courses or classes you are interested in taking, please contact me (txed@gwrra-tx.org) and we ll do our best to find instructors to put on a class near you, at an Education Weekend, or at the District Rally. Ride Safely, Ride Often, and HEY! Be careful out there! Randy and Kathy Reese Texas District Educators International Couple of the Year All The Gear All The Time txed@gwrra-tx.org

5 VOLUME 20 ISSUE 2 FEBRUARY, 2019 PAGE 5 Our Meeting Place and Time GWRRA Texas Chapter "W" holds its chapter meetings on the first Saturday and third Thursday of the month. The first is a meeting then ride and is at 9 ers Grill, 1800 FM359, RICHMOND, TX. The second will move month to month so see our calendar. The first is our regular chapter meeting starting at 8:15am while the second meeting is an informal planning meeting/social gathering starting at 7:00pm. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend. February Birthdays None we know of Anniversaries None we know of

6 VOLUME 20 ISSUE 2 PAGE 6 From the RIDE COORDINATOR s DESK At the Mid-Winter Round-up this year, I officially accepted the position of Ride Coordinator, even though I was helping Cindy with the position anyway. I have included what the handbook says the position entails. (at the end) No matter what we do in life there is risk. Think about walking. When you get out of bed you are not as quick at walking as if you have done it for a few minutes. You walk differently in dark light and very bright light, you will walk differently in rain, where there are crowds and not crowds. Why?? The reason is because we walk every day, it is second nature. Think about riding your behemoth motorcycle! For most of us, we have not been riding much over the past few weeks or months. The bike hasn t changed but we have, we are not in the riding mode of thinking, we are rusty at riding, our eyes, ears and situational awareness are all duller because of the inactivity. Yet, we jump on the bike and away we go without any thought. Is it over confidence, is it that s what I have always done mentality. What ever we think about our ability, it is not sharp now, it needs practice, it needs to become second nature to know what to do in various scenarios. Coming soon will be an education weekend whereby there will be riding courses, and classroom courses. Everyone reading this and the writer needs to take these courses, the course make us better riders, more aware, how to analyze better as we traverse down the road. Falling off a bike at 5 mph can do harm as well as at speed. MSF had a slogan for a while, TAKE A COURSE- The more you know the better it gets. Think about that until next month. Your now official Ride Coordinator Lynn FEBRUARY, 2019 FROM THE GWRRA HANDBOOK Ride Coordinator This position is being added to answer the request from MANY GWRRA who do not want to participate in Chapter life or cannot participate possibly due to distance. This is a critical and vital role to help GWRRA meet the expectations of our Members. Riders may only show a few times, that that is more than what we have now. This position is an Officer position under Rider Education. They are NOT a Chapter or District Educator. They are not there, at the Chapter level, to promote or push the levels program. They are more of a safety Officer to share with us safety tips; encourage discussion on safety topics; show us the way; talk the safety talk way and encourage us to adopt some or all of the safe riding techniques of our Association. Chapter Safety should be everyone's responsibility. Think of some fun ideas to engage our Members and then share them at the beginning of rides or at the Chapter Gathering. Focus on fun, adventurous rides and start with some sharing of safety tips and a good ride meeting. Bring a TCLOC to the beginning of a ride and then do it on your bike and have those with you do it on theirs. Ask questions, the group can help with answers and help. At the gathering you can share some new safety item they have found and like or they can lead a discussion. Or share something about some new gear. The key is the gathering should be informal, fun, relaxed and missing the formerly thought of "required" safety talks. Encourage discussion and sharing among your Members to engage them in safe riding thinking and practices. Let's have fun and keep it light and encourage our riders toward safer practices.

7 VOLUME 20 ISSUE 1 JANUARY, 2019 PAGE 7 FLEXING OUR WINGS A LITTLE TEXAS HISTORY Some February Texas Events February 3rd, 1896 On this day in 1896, the Galveston Brewing Company began operations. St. Louis brewers Adolphus Busch and William J. Lemp were major stockholders. By this time Texas boasted more than fifty years of brewing history that began with small home operations and gradually expanded to commercial breweries, many centered on sizable German populations. The impressive Galveston complex included a large ice plant, cold-storage rooms, several water wells, railroad tracks, and a brewery that produced up to 75,000 barrels of beer annually. The facility survived the Galveston hurricane of 1900 with minor damage. Brewed brands High Grade and Seawall Bond were popular beers. During Prohibition, the company produced Galvo, a nonintoxicating cereal beverage. February 18th, 1910 On this day in 1910, a Frenchman, Louis Paulhan, made the first recorded airplane flight in Texas. The first people in the state to fly, in the 1860s, were air-show balloonists and their passengers, although several inventors were also busy with plans for winged flying machines. The alleged flight of Jacob F. Brodbeck in 1865 has become a Texas legend. After the Wright brothers' controlled airplane flights in 1903, aeronautical progress generally was slow until , when European aviation made rapid strides and the United States government acquired its first aircraft. Aerial demonstrations proliferated at sites across America, including Houston, where Paulhan made his flight. Military aviation developed at the same time. Lt. Benjamin Foulois, a colorful pioneer pilot, arrived at Fort Sam Houston in February 1910, assembled the army's recently purchased Wright biplane, and took to the air on March 2, More than a hundred years later, Texas continues to be a leader in civil and military aviation. February 23rd, 1945 On this day in 1945, Cpl. Harlon Block of Weslaco appeared in one of the most indelible images to come out of World War II. For three days the men of Company E, Second Battalion, Twenty-eighth Marines, had fought their way to the top of Mount Suribachi, a 550-foot-high extinct volcano at the southern end of the island of Iwo Jima. They first raised a small flag to signal their victory to their fellows below, and a larger flag later. In Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal's picture of the six men raising this second flag, which won the Pulitzer Prize, the twenty-year-old Block was the stooping figure guiding the base of the flagpole into the volcanic ash. He never saw the famous picture, however, as he was killed in action on March 1 as his unit advanced in the direction of Mishi Ridge. Block was buried in the Fifth Marine Division cemetery at the foot of Mount Suribachi, though his body was taken home to Weslaco in February 28th, 1984 On this day in 1984, shareholders in the Dr Pepper Company accepted a buyout offer from a New York investmentbanking firm, and Texas's preeminent soft-drink company went private. Dr Pepper originated in Waco in Wade B. Morrison, owner of Morrison's Old Corner Drug, employed a pharmacist named Charles Courtice Alderton, who often served soft drinks to customers. Alderton enjoyed experimenting with various combinations of fruit extracts and sweeteners. One combination proved enormously popular, and Morrison named it after Dr. Charles T. Pepper, a physician and pharmacist for whom he had worked in Virginia. In 1898 the Southwestern Soda Fountain Company of Dallas purchased the rights to produce and sell Dr Pepper, and four years later changed its name to the Dr Pepper Company. The Dr Pepper Company was officially incorporated in By the early 1980s changes in the soft-drink business led to decreasing profits, and the company began looking for a buyer. After the buyout, Dr Pepper sold a majority of its fixed assets and within a year had reestablished itself as the third most popular soft drink in the U.S. In 1986 Dr Pepper merged with the Seven-Up Company and soon thereafter moved its manufacturing operations to St. Louis, although the company's corporate headquarters remained in Dallas.

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9 VOLUME 20 ISSUE 1 JANUARY, 2019 PAGE 9 Chapter U Member for Sale 2006 California Sidecar - Escapade Elite Trailer 25 cu. ft. capacity, with covered cooler on tongue, garment bag and spare tire included. Repainted in 2012, has new tires, covered and garage kept. Asking $1, Contact Court van Sickler Chapter W Officers Position Name Phone Number Chapter Director Cindy Harris (386) Assistant Chapter Director Vern Neal (713) Team Treasurer Social and Membership Enhancement Janice Hill Lynn Harris (386) Newsletter Editor Steve Wilkening (713) Ride Coordinator Lynn Harris (386) Webmaster Steve Wilkening (713)