"I love the feeling
of the fresh air on my face
and the wind blowing through my hair."
-Evel Knievel
YAY! it's summer in Northern California!
Hello again, my ever expanding HOG Family.
I hope all of you are having a good year so far, and preparing for
another awesome riding season. Here is an update of just what this
Chapter has been busy with this year, SO FAR....
Judy and the Team of Primary and Discretionary Officers have
worked hard each month to facilitate the smooth operation of our chapter.
So what do you members think?
Please let us know if you have any questions, suggestions, or
concerns. Or complaints!
You may contact us through
email: ca_northcoast_hog@yahoo.com
telephone, or at a meeting. Your
Officers appreciate getting feedback-good and bad.
Our Primary Officers brought back some more valuable info
from P.O.T. (March 16-17) to share and utilize with our chapter. They
also seem to have brought back some stories that maybe should have
stayed in Vegas, but that's ok, we're "family" after all...uh, yeah.
How does everyone like our slide show and occasional videos
being shown at the meeting? Isn't that great? Thanks to computer whiz
Wild Bill for putting it together, and to Tom "the sound guy" for the
adding music and P.A. at the meetings too.
Judy has been able to persuade two very busy individuals to
come to our General Meetings to regale us with Harley related tales
this year: Reg Kittrelle, founder of Thunder Press Magazine and
creator of the TOP GUN Program, and our infamous HOG Western Regional
Manager: the always affable and always even busier J.T. Hasley. His
territory encompasses: California , Oregon , Nevada , Washington ,
Idaho , Alaska and Hawaii. We hope members enjoyed their
visits. J.T.'ll be here for our June meeting -one you won't want to miss!
The Chapter has a new Senior Photographer Duo: Judy and Bob
Florka stepped up to become Discretionary Officers in May. If you
like to take photos please get in touch with them about assisting.
Rollin Trehearne has returned to the challenge of being the
Chapter Web Master, and we are thankful to him for rapidly updating
our web site. If you take any photos on a ride, or if you have
something to post, you can also email them to Rollin and he will do
his best to get them on the web site.
We love volunteers. Our Chapter is run by volunteers. If you
have some spare time and talent, a suggestion for a ride, or activity
you would like to share with our members please contact us.
Despite rains and chilly days, we HOGS have had an exceptionally well
planned bunch of rides from January through May, with more activities
and rides to come. Our 2 monthly Chapter Rides have seemed to
consistently entertain close to 30 or more riders on just as many, if
not close to it, bikes under clear, or at least dry skies.
In a "first" in a long time, many HOGS went to matinee'
together in March to see "WILD HOGS." One of the larger viewing
venues of the Bayshore Mall "MOVIES" was sold out and filled with
the aroma of leather.......And....popcorn. Chapter member, DJ
"Burley Man" Dana Hall worked with Teri and RH-D on promotion and
movie ticket give-aways for several lucky community members.
One of my favorite activities so far has been the March 18
Observation/Scavenger Hunt Chapter Ride and Lunch at Lost Coast
Brewery afterwards. Activities Officer Rebecca, with help from her
hubby Walter, planned a suitable and interesting route and I think
members picked up a few little known historical, if not darn amusing,
facts about our local area along the way.
Our annual participation in North Coast Big Brothers Big
Sisters "Bowl For Kids Sake" was 'cray-zee this year, man!." Most of
our bowling squad got in to the "dressup" portion, sporting 50's
threads. Among others, Pierre was one very cool hep-cat, Bryan was
swinging lots of partners on the bowling alley dance floor, and Rick
& Joy, and Rick 'n Vic were rockin' and rollin' at the 'hop. Those
bowling shoes went well with everyone's 50's attire. About a week
before, we HOGS shot a PSA with Fox 29 for the event, down at the
bowling alley, in costume. Afterwards, on a short ride through
Eureka, with Byran taking the lead, that cool kitten Donna was
mistaken -in her original prom dress- for a new bride.
The Chapter fielded 4 teams and 24 bowlers. We raised a lot
of money (over $7200) for the charity, however Umpqua Bank managed to
top our tentative first place position when they received a last
minute matching donation from their head office. The good news is:
for the second year in a row our Cap'n Jim Williams collected the
most single prepaid donations which alone totaled $3000.
Rockey, Phebe and Co. opened the Taj-Ma-Harley doors on
April 14 for their 1-year New Facility Location Party complete with
give-aways, barbecued hot dogs and cake. Several chapter members
assisted, and lots of people came by for socializing and a darn good time.
Some HOGS got a bit of glory - state-wide at least, in
print-form this spring:
The April Edition of V-Twin Magazine featured the Sacramento Easy
Riders Show awards. Several of us HOGS attended this event in
January, and witnessed Dewey & Deedra Alexy bring home the First
Place trophy for their radical custom chopper, designed by Dewey, and
built by their son Doug. Within the article is a photo of the group
of bike builders who received awards, and our Dewey is in the front
row. The glory for "D&D" continued to The Redding HOG American
Motorcycle Show in Feb., where they garnered another First Place
plaque for their fantastic machine. Director Judy won 3rd Place in
the same show in the "Custom Bagger" category. (By the way the
weather was awful that weekend, but despite the travails of travel,
it was a nicely arranged show, in Redding's Mt. Shasta Mall.) The
Redding HOGS hosted a delicious catered dinner with the awards
ceremony and dancing after, at the Elks' Club.
Back to Dewey and Deedra for a moment: I wish to pass on
CONGRATULATIONS! on the birth of their first grandchild, Devin Lee
Alexy, 8 lb. 14oz. who was born to son Doug and his wife Dulcie on
May 6. Spectacular! Just ask to see pics, "D&D" have loads!!
I let Kay Cardwell at Thunder Press in on Director Judy
(aka: "The Estrogen Express" ) and her long distance solo ride in
March, and Kay put it in print in the April issue.
"Princess" Cindy Haney was delighted with her press coverage
there as well, for being Judy's "sweep" in and out of Eureka. Thank
Goodness our Princess Connie travels much lighter than HRM Queen
Elizabeth of England, whose attendants toted 3 TONS of baggage to the
USA in early May for the Queen's SIX DAY visit. Cindy only needs one
thing in her "Tryke Trunk": her 12 cup percolator.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Riding a motorcycle on today's highways,
you have to ride in a very defensive manner.
You have to be a good rider
and you have to have both hands and both feet
on the controls at all times."
-Evel Knievel
May - being Motorcycle Awareness Month, several of us HOGS
and other Humboldt County motorcyclists led by ABATE Rep and HOG
member, Barbara Kennedy, approached the County Board of Supervisors
to receive a Proclamation stating such on May Day. This year I
would like to thankfully note that each member of the County Board of
Supervisors was attentive and appeared interested in Barbara's remarks!
Ok-ok, so some of you know that "Yours Truly" successfully
graduated from the Motorcycle Safety Foundation's "Basic Rider
Course" in April. What a great class - and I feel that I really
accomplished something by passing it: 100% on the written, and I'd
estimate an "average" beginner skills level. I'll keep practicing.
You will still find me on back of the Deuce navigating, with Jerry in
the pilot seat. Anyone out there who is curious about this highly
recommended class and its counterpart: The Experienced Rider course
need only look online for some information about it:
http://www.rrmt.org The team of instructors
are caring, supportive,
enthusiastic, and enjoy what they do. Several of our members: GregO,
Dave, Donna, Bryan and Teri took the Experienced Rider course in
May. More classes to come. We'll keep you posted.
Did I hear that right? Did 50 HOGS go to Steelhead Lodge for
dinner this year?? Unbelievable. Where did they all sit to eat? Donna
reports it was a great turn out and the food and service were spot-on
as usual. Take a look at the ear-to-ear SMILE on Dewey's face in the
photos on the web site! Hurray! We are having fun now!! Princess
Cindy put together an Observation Quiz that members enjoyed,
discussing possible answers whilst swizzling their fishbowl
margharitas and Diet Cokes, and really put everyone's -er-uh-
observational- skills to the test! Connie Pardi and Becky Graves were
winners with the most correct, or most coherent answers.
May 19 a handful of members participated in the annual Iron
Butt and Kiss My Butt rides. Lee led 9 on the Iron Butt: reported to
be a very nice, sunny warm ride, venturing on highways: 299, to 5, to
20, to 101 and home in about 10 hours, including a stop at
Granzella's in Williams for lunch.
The Geisers, "Princess," and Larry Stiggins covered
considerably less ground but certainly had as much fun. Home based at
the dealership, the 4 riders started out to go to Redway for lunch
but discovered rain drops on windscreens (not one of my "favorite
things" like whiskers on kittens). So...took a quick swoop to the
Marina for coffee, returned to the dealership to lead 2 demo rides
during the Open House, then took off for lunch at the Pantry. Total
mileage for this year's Kiss My Butt: 38.6 miles.
May 20 we invited RH-D employees on a "Shop Appreciation
Chapter Ride." Bruce, Grant, Vince and his wife Gwen joined about 25
HOGS on our ride to Brookings Harbor, Oregon for lunch at Smuggler's
Cove. Members were offered the option to play "Odometer Poker" and
high hand which was Vince's, won lunch. A few of us indulged in the
purchase of some fudge. m-m-m-m-m. (Frequently reported by Keith K.
and others to be the best in the world) We encountered a few drizzles
on the way north, past Crescent City, and scattered light showers and
more drizzle mostly on our way home. "Historically speaking," this
ride was actually wetter than the same ride for our "Polar Bear" on January 1!
Wetter still was our "wash out" of a Chapter Photo at 5pm.
It was a small but exuberant bunch of folks who showed up for this.
Note: we who appeared will receive extra points for attending this
activity during rain. Only a few, the already dampened from our ride,
plus Rockey and Phebe showed up. KUDOS and my personal "Dedicated HOG
Award" to Larry S. who rode up from Benbow 2 days in a row: for the
Kiss My Butt and again just to take the photo. We'll re-schedule.
June, July and August promise to produce some more fun for
chapter members: Our LOH led by Cheri has organized a trip to Gold
Beach, Oregon to ride the jet mailboats on the Rogue River; it will
be a blast. Also in June we're meeting up on a Chapter Ride with
Redding HOGS in Weaverville. In July there is a planned Family
Weekend tied in with a chapter ride to Trinity Lake. Stay tuned! In
August we will host Redding here "on the coast." They want us to
show them some "big trees." I think Sr. Road Captain Dan can handle
that well! We have just a few big trees around here... Pierre and
Rachelle are organizing another weekend ride/campout to the Grants
Pass, Oregon in August, offering another yet different opportunity to
ride jet boats at "Hell Gate." Talk about a 'wet and wild' summer.
I'll report back later as to how all these upcoming events panned out for us!
Riding season really heats up, with a bevy of rides and
events created by HOG National for our riding pleasure. Talk to GregO
in late summer or autumn and see how he did on the Cross-Country
Posse Ride. I for one am looking forward to attending a few HOG
State Rallies, and the HOG Provincial Rally in Sault Ste. Marie,
Ontario Canada, where I will spend my 50th birthday on this planet.
In September Jerry and I will head to Tennessee, Georgia, and North
Carolina for the HOG HIGH OCTANE Riding Tour. We're looking forward
to riding with several HOG friends from previous HOG sponsored riding
tours. For more info on these and other HOG rides go to
www.members.hog.com. If you've never
gone to that site you will be
asked to create a profile and make up a password. This useful site
has everything for HOG members.
That about wraps up my comments for this time, gang.
Remember to take a few photos along the road and send or bring them
to me for our Chapter Scrap Books!
I wish you all safe journeys filled with happy curves, no surprises,
and wonderful adventures out there on the highways this summer.
Your Chapter Historian,
Phylis G
"I am a lucky, lucky person."
-Evel Knievel