-
*********************************************************************************************
Note to newsletter recipients: If you do not wish to receive this
newsletter any longer, please send a note to [email protected] and
you will be removed from the email list.
*********************************************************************************************
National Tennessee District Chapter H Let’s go riding!
Harpeth Wings Chapter H
Franklin, Tennessee We eat at 9:00 am, meet at 10:00 am at
Shoney’s Restaurant, Hwy 96 (exit 65) just west of I-65 in
Franklin, 4th Saturday of each month. Come join us at our next
meeting – no meeting in May, hopefully we’re back to normal in time
for the June 27 meeting
Check out our Facebook page at TNChapterH Volume 13 Number 5 May
2020
Gold Wing Road Riders Association (GWRRA) Friends for Fun,
Safety and Knowledge
*********************************************************************************************************************
Director’s Corner
Hi, one and all. It seems like the country is starting to slowly
open back up. As long as we don't get a large uptake in the virus,
maybe we will get things going again.
I am pretty sure that by now everyone knows Wing Ding in
Springfield, Mo. has been canceled for 2020.
I called our usual Chapter meeting place, Shoney's, to see about
us having a meeting there this month, but did not get an answer.
So, I will not say our May meeting is completely canceled, just
CANCELED at Shoney's in Franklin, TN. Weather permitting, we will
get together on May 23rd for a
Will & Thu Horsley Chapter H Directors
[email protected] (615) 483-2335
Page 1
-
ride down the Natchez Trace Parkway, stopping at a picnic area,
or ride to Hohenwald and having short meeting there. Again, weather
permitting.
We had a couple members on May 2nd go for about a 120 mile ride.
It was a great day for a ride. Thu and I were supposed to go, but I
had been having occasional bike starting problems for some time. It
would crank for several seconds before it would start. Then Friday
before the ride, it gave me problems twice in a row, with the
second one causing the engine light to come on and stay on. I was
able to retrieve a code this time. Called Sloan’s in Murfreesboro
and was told it was a code for a bad crank shaft sensor or a bad
connection or maybe a mouse. Les from Cookeville met the group in
Franklin and rode all the way with us. Frank, from Clarksville, met
us at Sycamore Creek Recreation Area for lunch. Chapter H members
on the ride included Pat & Angela and David & Karen.
Be Safe, Ride Defensively
Will & Thu Horsley TN-H CDs
615-483-2335******************************************************************************
Chapter Team
Will & Thu Horsley Jim Panell Chapter Directors Assistant
Chapter Director [email protected] (931) 306-3335(615)
483-2335
Pat & Angie Eiting David & Karen Hill Membership
Enhancement Ride Coordinators Chapter Treasurer Newsletter Editor
[email protected] District University Coordinators
[email protected] (David)
******************************************************************************
Ride Coordinator It’s 2020 and time to schedule some rides for
the year. To start the list, we saw a segment on “Tennessee
Crossroads” about The Brick Oven Grill and Deli in Lafayette, KY.
In looking at Google maps, it appeared to be a little under 100
miles and would take about 2 ½ hours. It will be a full day’s
ride.
I still want/need your suggestions for rides. Otherwise, we’ll
ride to locations Karen and I want to go. At least the weather is
beginning to warm up so we should be able to hit the roads very
soon. Of course, the rains are beginning, too.
On our normal meeting day in May, we will not have a meeting.
Instead, weather permitting, we will meet on our meeting day and
hit the road. Our tentative plan is to take a leisurely ride down
the Natchez Trace and drop off the Trace and head over to
Hohenwald. We will NOT be going to a restaurant for lunch. Instead,
this will be a BYOL (bring your own lunch and water or soda) ride.
We will stop for a picnic lunch somewhere during the ride.
Page 2
-
If the weather looks like it might be bad on the ride day, a
note will be posted on the Chapter H Facebook page and also on
Groupworks on Friday evening.
More details about the ride will be forthcoming and will be
posted on the Chapter H Facebook page and on Groupworks. All riders
are welcome to join us.
Ride Safe and we will see you on the road (eventually), David
& Karen
******************************************************************************
Page 3
-
Lunchtime at Sycamore Creek Recreation Area. LtoR: Les (from
Cookeville), Frank (from Clarksville), Angela, Pat, Karen from
Chapter H.
Karen & David working on lunch not realizing that our photo
was being taken.
Rider Education
Three things to believe (even though they're not necessarily
true)
Lance Oliver, Apr 20, 2020, Published in Common Tread, April 25,
2020
Page 4
-
Sometimes when we’re brainstorming to try to come up with a good
title for an article, Spurgeon complains that my thinking is too
literal. I have to admit he’s usually right. I don’t take much of
anything on faith and if the facts don’t show something is really —
literally — true, then I don’t believe it. But there are a few
exceptions. When it comes to riding and safety, there are a few
cases where I’ve decided to believe certain things, even though my
hyper-rational side tells me they’re not literally, always
true.
Here are three things you should believe.
Ride like everyone in a car is trying to kill you This has been
said a hundred times in the comments on stories we’ve run on crash
stats, safety, riding skills, etc. Of course if it were literally
true, the average motorcycle street-riding career would last 30
seconds. As soon as I pulled onto the road, the first car driver
who saw me would instantly swerve into me and squash me dead. It’s
easy enough to do. Since that’s never happened, I know, rationally,
everyone isn’t trying to kill me, but there’s still value in
thinking that way. Consider this: If you’re riding down a two-lane
country road, do you flinch in terror every time you see a car
coming in the other lane? No. Because about a million times you’ve
passed a car going the other direction with no drama. So it’s easy
to assume the next time will be the same.
Adding a dose of paranoia shakes you out of that complacency. It
may mean doing something as simple as shifting your lane position
as a car approaches or as you approach an intersection. At least
999 times out of 1,000 it won’t matter, but the one time a texting
driver drifts across the center line, it could make all the
difference in how you spend the rest of your life. If you have
one.
It’s a tiny cost for a potentially huge benefit. I like that.
The paranoid mindset keeps you thinking and looking for escape
routes. So go ahead and ride like everyone is trying to kill you,
even though they aren’t.
Every crash can be avoided I first heard this said by the late
Lawrence Grodsky, the founder of Stayin’ Safe Motorcycle Training
and author of the similarly named column in Rider magazine for many
years. The fact that Larry died in a motorcycle crash (after
hitting a deer at dusk on a rural Texas highway) disproved his
statement, in the coarsest way imaginable.
Larry’s successor, Eric Trow, teaches in the Stayin’ Safe course
that 99 percent of crashes can be avoided. Whatever the number, I’m
convinced of two things: They’re right, that almost all crashes can
be avoided but, even more important, you should ride as if they can
all be avoided.
That mindset puts the responsibility on you. When a car pulls
out in front of me, I can scream obscenities and rage about
“cagers” and consider the risk “unavoidable” or I can analyze what
I could have done to improve my odds. Was my attention on the
greatest risk, the car waiting to turn left across my path, or was
I focused elsewhere? Did I shift my lane position to give myself
the biggest possible buffer between me and the greatest threat? Was
I thinking ahead about “what if?” scenarios, so I had an escape
plan ready? Did I have the brake lever covered because I
Page 5
-
was entering an intersection, a high-risk zone? Had I checked my
mirrors to see if there was a car tailgating me that would hit me
if I braked hard?
If a car turns left in front of me, it’s the driver’s fault. But
I’m the one likely to pay the highest price. So I ride as if I am
responsible for avoiding the crash, not as if I’m just a helpless
victim of fate.
Even though you’re in too hot, you can make this curve It’s
happened to most of us. We’re enjoying a winding road and then we
get into a curve too fast and suddenly we think we can’t make
it.
The most common reaction at that point is to panic, give up,
stand up the bike, brake, and run off the road, as seen in the
video above, which I wrote about a few years ago. Giving up is not
the best choice, however, because it may mean plunging into a
ravine (as happened in this video) or smashing into the grill of an
SUV (as almost happened).
If you’re on any kind of performance motorcycle, odds are very
good it’s capable of making the turn, even if you feel you can’t.
Your best option is to look farther ahead to the exit of the corner
(look where you want to go), lean the bike over more and try to
make the curve. If you’re on a cruiser with limited lean angle,
your odds may be a little worse, but if you shift your body weight
(you’re going to have to have practiced that before it is needed in
a panic situation) you still have a fighting chance of getting
through without dragging hard parts badly enough to cause your
tires to lose traction.
So believe you can make the curve. It might not be true. Maybe
you really did screw the pooch and get into that curve so fast
there’s no way your motorcycle can get you out the other side and
still on the tires. But you’re better off believing and trying,
because you probably can make it.
The thing is, for these three things to save your hide you have
to believe, really believe, or you won’t act on them in the moment.
For the first two, it means keeping your brain active and
maintaining awareness, instead of riding carefree and letting your
mind wander. As for the third, when I’m coming to a winding stretch
of road, I’ll actually remind myself: If you have a “moment,” don’t
panic and give up. Lean more and ride through it.
For your own good, sometimes you have to believe.
******************************************************************************
Plaques
Tennessee Traveling Plaque TN-E, Smyrna TBA COY Plaque TN-G,
Tullahoma TBA Middle/West TN Traveling Plaque TN-E, Smyrna TBA
******************************************************************************
Coming Events
NOTE: Some of these events may be cancelled depending on the
corvid19 situation. Also, some events that were supposed to occur
in March and April have been moved to this fall. Dates will be
posted when available. Be sure to verify before heading off to one
of these events.
Page 6
-
May 30: ARC/TRC, Blount County Sheriff’s Office Training Center,
1431 William Blount Dr, Maryville. The registration form is online
at www.gwrratn.org. Click on the tab for Events. For information
contact Gary Hamilton (865) 661-9121or by email at
[email protected]. July 30 – August 1, Illinois District
Rally, Rock Falls Community Building, 601 W 10th St., Rock Falls,
IL. Flyer is available at
http://gwrra-ildistrict.com/uploads/3/5/1/3/35139771/summer_rally_2020_1-16.pdf.
August 13-15: “The Blast”, Kentucky District Rally, Lawrenceburg.
Registration form available at
http://www.gwrraky.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Kentucky-Blast-2020-Registration.pdf.
September 24-26: “Wings Over the Smokies”, North Carolina District
Rally, Waynesville. Flyer available at
http://www.gwrranc.org/WOTS2020/WOtS2020Flyer.pdf . October 1-3:
“Monster Mash”, Alabama District Rally, Eufaula. Flyer available at
https://gwrraalabama.org/al-rally. October 8-10: “Come Ride With
Us”, a Riding Rally. Georgia, Dillard, GA. Flyer available at
http://gwrra-ga.com/Rally/rally2020/2020_Come_Ride_With_Us.pdf.
October 15-17, Mississippi District Rally. Gulfport. Flyer
available at https://miss-gwrra.com/rally/2020/ms_rally_2020.pdf.
October 22-24, Louisiana District Rally, Houma. Rally flyer
available at http://www.gwrra-la.net/rally-page.html. Check out the
District Newsletter and the www.gwrratn.org website for coming
events and a lot of other information.
******************************************************************************
Page 7
-
Memorial Day, May 25
Page 8
-
[email protected])
Before visiting any Chapter, be sure to confirm they are
meeting.
- -
Shoney's,
- -
& Marrilee - -
Lacosta Restaurant,
138 The Crossings
- -
Gene and Donna Dunn
Gene (631) 848-9435: Donna (631) 495-0031
Will & Thu Horsley 615-483-2335
- -
- -
Thomas & Carolyn Jarrell, 423-383-0339
The Smyrna Bowling Center, 96 Weakley Rd Walter & Barbara
Darnell, 615-210-6942
- -
9 0 am
Belle's Little Country Kitchen 210 W High St. - -
Olympic Steak House 5711 Hwy 412, Bells Ross Cole,
731-415-9052
Page 9
-
- -
Milo Coffee House, 125 Main Street, Portland, TN
- -
a, Corliss Cooper - -
Eat at 9:00 am/Meet at 10:00 am,
Trinity United Methodist Church, 2303 Jones Blvd,
Murfreesboro, TN
- -
Golden Corral, 2811 Wilma Rudolph Blvd,
- -
:00 / :00
,
Lee Ann & Wilburn Hayes, 865-497-2945
3 - -
- -
Page 10
-
Page 11
-
Page 12
Blank Page
