Ride To Remember

.............Saturday May 19, 2007, I took part in the 3rd Annual “Ride to Remember” Poker Ride to benefit the Alzheimer’s Association. This 125 mile ride started at the Macon Harley-Davidson Dealership and after three stops, ended at the Jones County Fairgrounds in Gray, GA. The best poker hand won $500.00 plus there was food and entertainment at the end of the ride too! The Macon HOG Chapter assisted by providing road captains and I was asked to give the safety briefing. This was very much a learning experience for me. It is the first ride of this magnitude where my involvement was more than a rider. With an estimated 135 bikes it is not a time to practice. As the HOG Chapters Safety Officer I tend to analyze every ride I attend now. This was not a chapter ride but I couldn’t help looking to see what could be done better. Let me say the difficulty factor explodes the bigger the event is. I only had a glimpse at the work and dedication it took to pull this ride off. I have to tip my hat to the organizers. Oh, I forgot to mention, this was one of six rides being executed simultaneously. YES, six separate Harley-Davidson Dealers joined this years “Ride to Remember” with rides kicking off in Atlanta, Dalton, Augusta, Albany, Savannah, and Macon, each location a separate ride. Did I see any mistakes? Well yes, there is always room for improvement. Will I mention them here? NO! The reason is the event went off very well. Let me repeat myself: THIS EVENT WAS GREAT! They raised a heck of a lot of money and all the riders had a great time. As for any mistakes I observed, criticizing this year’s event would serve no purpose. I’ll see what I can do to help make the next event better. Oops! I think I just volunteered. I was not involved in the planning of the event and it’s easy to find fault looking from the outside in. I would like to challenge all who take the time to read this article to take action. When you see something that you feel could be done better, step in and do something to improve it. Saturday I was fortunate enough to witness how one couple’s drive to finding a cure for Alzheimer’s disease resulted in raising thousands of dollars in a STATE wide poker run. Why, because they lost a loved one to this terrible disease. They will never get their loved one back, but they have stepped forward to make a change. I consider myself to be fortunate because they let me ride with them Saturday, more importantly I consider them my friends. I would like you to meet Clay and Lisa, the couple I’m talking about. All you have to do is drop by one of our Macon HOG Chapter events. Take time to get and know some fantastic people who are making a difference. To see some pics from the ride visit http://public.fotki.com/0808/2007-ride-to-remember/

Poker Run

Saturday April 28 I rode in a local poker run to raise money for The Make-A-Wish Foundation. The event was hosted by The Boeing C-17 Wings of Freedom Riders. It was a police escorted ride and I was glad to be able to take part in the event. I would have not ridden in this event if it were not for the local HOG Chapter. The event organizer offered to pay $100 to the club that brought the most riders. The Macon HOG Chapter was able to bring over thirty riders to the event bringing the total number of bikes to 200. We were proud to win the money and I was proud to see the chapter donate it all back to Make-A-Wish. After all, it’s not about who’s the best, or who brought the most, it’s about the kids. The ride was approximately 60 miles long with four poker stops along the way. I really enjoyed one part of the ride. In fact I loved it so much I took my wife out Sunday so she could see what she missed. Buckeye Road is country road connecting Hwy 41 to Hwy 96. What makes it special is one small stretch where the trees provide a beautiful canopy over the road. You just can’t help but to back off the throttle and take a deep breath as you ride through this area. Even during the event the riders slowed down as they entered this stretch of road. We made a right hand turn on Hwy 96 and a couple of miles down the road stopped at Lane Packing Company. If you have never visited Lane Packing I recommend you make plans too. Any time will do but this is PEACH country so if this is out of the way, I would recommend peach season. Visit their web site http://www.lanepacking.com/ and check them out. While you’re on the net visit Make-A-Wish online and make a contribution to your local chapter http://www.wish.org/ . Until next time “Live to Ride and Ride to Live”

Time to Ride

It’s time to ride.
I intended to add an article a month to this blog to chronicle my riding experience. You may notice a gap starting in September. That is because I was involved in a motorcycle traffic accident. I am very thankful my guardian angel was with me on Sept 29th. For without him, and yes I am well aware of who he is, I would surely not be among the living today. I am very fortunate and my life is forever changed. The police officer told me there was 60 feet of skid marks. They were from the van in front of me. Long story short, I broke three bones in my left foot, both bones in my lower right leg, a rib, my right collarbone, dislocated my left shoulder, and deflated my right lung. And can you believe NO road rash. Like I said my guardian angel was with me. I still use a cane and the limp is getting better. The titanium rod in my leg really helped speed up my recovery.
I picked up my new ‘07 Ultra on March 24th. Yes, it’s time to ride.
Today, April 5th, I rode to Atlanta by way of HWY 22. What a ride. I really enjoyed the trees as they border both sides of the road. I left at 8:00 AM and the temperature was a brisk 49 degrees. By the time I reached Atlanta it was 44. YIP, glad I wore my leathers. I plan to take this route again when it is a little warmer. I bet the trees provide some great shade and temperature variations that will add to the excitement of the ride. Also the Open air Barbecue was not opened at this early hour. I picked this route to Atlanta to avoid the interstate. My destination was Granite Mountain Harley-Davidson. It was time for the bikes 1000 mile service. If you have not taken an ‘07 out for a test ride, I highly recommend it. I cannot believe the difference between my ‘05 standard and this ‘07 Ultra.
This break in my riding made me appreciate the warm climate here in Georgia. I cannot imagine living up north where the weather prevents riding for months at a time.
I cannot finish this writing with out acknowledging Paula, my wife. She is my earthly angel. I cannot imagine how I would have managed through the recovery without her. She already had my heart, now I owe her my life too.