'Tis The Season!

It is that time of year again. It is the season for... Toy Runs! We've circled the sun again and we're right back here again participating in the weekly Toy Runs that lead up to Christmas. As I sit here tonight watching the first snow of this season falling, I find myself reflecting upon the generosity in spirit, time, and possessions that so many people demonstrated at this past weekend's 16th Annual Haywood County Motorcycle Parade and Toy Run. So many folks gave of themselves through the gift of their time, the gift of their money, and the gift of their ongoing support that it is a very humbling experience again this year to be part of the event.



The planning for the ride begins usually around June of each year when we get the date set. There is a lull in activity until about August when we start gearing up the planning and committee assignments. We hit full stride around October 1st in order to bring about a successful event. The number of man hours contributed to the parade and toy run is truly impressive. The parade also brings together many people from disparate parts of our community to work together in a very successful process. Law Enforcement personnel, secretaries, clergy, school employees, and, of course, bikers from all walks of life put together the event that has quickly become recognized as one of the best in the region.

So, if I didn't get to personally express my gratitude to you, please accept my thanks now for another job well done! Maybe next year we'll cook 600 lbs. of pork!

I ran across some interesting reading today while working on the website. If you haven't been following the changes in N.C.'s Helmet Laws, you might check out the link on the CBA/ABATE website. You can find the link on the Local Links page of www.blueridgethunder.org.

I think I'll close now and go check the fresh snowfall. Have a great Holiday Season and I'll see you at Toy Run!

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Let's Diet Together!

O.K., now that I've got your attention, let's talk about dieting. No, I don't mean eating less saturated fats or cutting back on your 4x a week double whopper with cheese value added combo meal. I'm talking about cutting back on our carbon usage. Unless you've been living in the wilderness for the last several years, you have surely been hearing about the looming crisis around the use of petroleum products and how carbon is literally heating up our planet. You have also been paying dearly at the pump for getting from point A to point B in your vehicles of all sizes and types. Well, a carbon diet will help the planet live longer and save you money. This seems like a pretty good idea all-in-all. If not for you immediately, then certainly for your children and grandchildren.

How do you go on a carbon diet you ask? Simple! Reduce the amount of driving you do and/or RIDE YOUR BIKE more. (See I was bringing it back to motorcycling!) Take the cabon diet challenge. Make a committment to ride your bike to work at least one day per week. Heck, do better, ride it every day! Join people like Nancy Johnson, who packs up and rides her Fat Boy to work in Asheville each day. Think of the gas savings in both dollars and carbon usage that Nancy is able to contribute by riding her bike to work. Can't do it every day? No problem, just do it more than you are doing now and you'll see the savings mount up.

Join Kathy and I as we make this same committment. While I have been a regular rider of my HD to work for a long time, we're going to try and combine some more of our fun time and travel with our carbon diet. For instance, this weekend we are headed to Clinton, SC to see our niece play softball. Rather than taking the Ford Escape or the Ford F150, we're packing light and heading out on the Ultra. We should see a significant savings in gas money as the price per gallon has now climbed to $2.85 again and I KNOW that we will enjoy the pleasures of riding to the game.

What else can you do? Well, you can change the light bulbs in your home to more efficient newer types of flourescent bulbs. This can reduce your carbon usage by 1000 or more lbs. per year. Kathy and I have already made this change, as have some of our other friends, and we enjoy plenty of good light for reading and illumination. Lowes and most of the bigger retail stores sell these new bulbs in bulk now. They cost a little bit more but they last significantly longer and use less electricity so we end up saving in the long run. As with all great capitalist processes, the more people buy them, the cheaper the prices will become.

If you are at all interested in going on a carbon diet, check out this link: Reduce Your Carbon. This link will take you to a site that is part of Presidential candidate John's Edwards plan for reducing global warming.

Well, I'd better quit writing and start riding! It is time to get the Ultra headed to South Carolina! Keep the rubber side down!

--Cecil

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Bill to Authorize Special MC Plates Introduced

State Senator Joe Sam Queen has introduced a bill into the N.C. Legislature that would allow motorcyclists to purchase specialty plates for their bikes in the same manner as we can currently purchase specialized plates for our 4 wheeled cages. The bill (Senate Bill 1036) has been referred to the Legislative Committee on Finance and is currently being considered for passage. Passage of this bill would allow you to show your support for your favorite organization if that organizaiton qualifies for the specialize plate program. For instance, you would be able to direct some of your funds to support either the Blue Ridge Parkway or the Great Smoky Mountains.

In my opinion, this is a good government program that allows each of us to support areas that we greatly enjoy as motorcyclists. Kathy and I have a Friends of the Greate Smokies tag on our truck and I'm very pleased to send a few dollars along each year that I know will go toward the upkeep and maintenance of this particular treasure.

If you are interested in seeing this opportunity come to pass, please write to your local legislators in support of Senate Bill 1036. You may contact your local representatives from this post by clicking on their names: Senator Joe Sam Queen>, Senator John Snow>, Represenative Phil Haire>, and Representative Ray Rapp>. The current Chairs of the Finance Commmittee are listed here: Finance Co-Chairs and you may write to them from this page. A short email to them asking that they pass this bill will help them understand the public support behind this measure.

So, on this Sunday where we have a return to winter weather, I wish for you a great riding season with the rubber side always beneath you!

--Cecil

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Important Bill in Congress Affects YOU!

Well, another Spring is here although this past weekend's snow perhaps challenges that statement. It was interesting getting our biggest snow of the year on Easter weekend. It has been awhile since I've put fingers to keyboard on this blog. I've started a couple of times but the words just didn't come. Fortunately, I've been sufficiently motivated to write now because of an important bill currently in Congress that affects all of us who are motorcyclists. (It actually affects many, many more Americans who enjoy skiing, horseback riding, and riding their ATVs.)

Two identical bills have been introduced in Congress (House and Senate bills 616) that can fix a health care/insurance glitch that affects motorcyclists and some other users of recreational equipment. The problem arose from the HIPPA legislation signed by President Clinton and interpreted by the Health & Human Services Department. The intent of the legislation, among much, much more, was to prohibit the insurance industry from discriminating against various subgroups, including motorcyclists. The AMA (American Motorcycle Association) was heavily involved in crafting the original language protecting motorcyclists. Unfortunately, after passage of the law the interpretation by HHR actually ended up doing the opposite and we are all currently under rules that could allow our insurance companies to refuse coverage for injuries sustained while participating in a legal activity. As I noted, this problem covers other activities besides motorcycles such as horse back riding and skiing.

The fix to this problem is in the form of two bills currently finding their way through Congress. If you go to the Rapid Response site on the AMA’s website (http://www.amadirectlink.com/legisltn/rapidresponse.asp), you can send letters/email to our State Senators and local Representative supporting the two bills. There are two links: 1 for the Senate bill and 1 for the House bill. Please take a few moments and send the correspondence to each section of Congress. It is very, very easy to do and can yield great benefit for us as motorcyclists.

If you don’t think this is an important issue, try this:

1) Close your eyes and visualize yourself having a nice Sunday ride down the Parkway. Really get into it. Notice the fresh smells of spring and the gorgeous colors beginning to pop up everywhere. Feel the slight cool breeze on your face as you move smoothly in and out of curves. Got it?

2) O.K., now while you are there, quickly catch a glimpse of the oncoming truck and camper and see it as it clips the side of your bike sending you off the road and over the edge of the shoulder. Be aware of the pain and wonder what happened to your passenger. Uh, doesn’t feel quite as good now…

3) Move the scene ahead to where you have been in the hospital for several weeks recovering from your injuries. Oh yeah, you’re out of work and have expended all of your sick leave so you have no income at this point. Still feeling o.k.?

4) Finally, see yourself opening correspondence from your insurance company in which they DENY PAYMENT FOR ALL OF YOUR MEDICAL SERVICES simply because YOU WERE RIDING A MOTORCYCLE!

This is the exact possibility that faces you now! Your insurance company can legally do this to you NOW! It has happened many times across the country already. (The AMA does a good job of monitoring this stuff and reporting it back to the membership.) So, if you want to take steps to insure that this doesn’t happen to you, please take 5 minutes and follow the link listed above and click on “Take Action”. You don’t have to know their addresses. Everything is pretty much done for you on the website including having written the letter.

Take care and keep the rubber side down!

--Cecil

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Snow, Snow, and More Snow!

Well, I could show you a picture of my Harley under "glass" but that would just be depressing showing a snow covered motorcycle. Since snow is the big topic around here right now, I thought I'd just share the following information from our enjoyment of the winter weather...

After having finally resolved my wireless network woes of yesterday and today, I was able to upload the images from our little sojourn to Stephen’s Creek yesterday. Nick, Jane, Kathy, and I rode up to see what the weather was like on the northern end of the county. Let me tell you, it was definitely different! From the minute we entered the gorge, we were in a winter wonderland. It was still snowing some 24 hours after the storm had officially arrived. I-40 was pretty clear and traffic was moving o.k. and the secondary roads were in pretty good shape. As soon as we turned off the State maintained road at Stephen’s Creek, 4 wheel drive seemed like a good idea. You can see the images at this link:

Click Here .

There are a couple of images in this series that really were taken at our house and you’ve probably already seen them. I haven’t figured out how to get them out of this series yet.

We measured 9” of snow at Debbie’s while we were visiting. She and the dogs were taking the storm pretty well in stride. Clancy, the greyhound, is still getting over the attack he suffered a couple of weeks ago . His back and neck are full of staples where the surgeon had to pull the skin back up and together. Floyd, one of her German Shepherd/Pyrenhees mixes was shot the other night and has to stay pretty much immobile for a month until his wounds heal. She certainly has a house full of ill dogs at the moment. But, it was gorgeous out there. She had a nice fire going and excellent views of the snow covered cove behind the house. (I failed to get a picture of that… ). As an update, Debbie called Jane early this morning and it was STILL snowing. She had received another 3” to 4” inches bringing her up to about a foot of snow. Nick found reports of 41” on Mt. LeCont in the Park.

While I’m somewhat on the topic of injured animals… As I was leaving work today and crossing the street at Wachovia, I noticed traffic piling up going into Bi-Lo’s. I watched for a moment and saw a raccoon ambling about stopping traffic. It didn’t seem fazed by the traffic (bad sign) and didn’t seem to be going anywhere purposeful. I came back by there a few minutes later and traffic was still trying to get around it. I stopped and watched it for a couple of more minutes and you could tell that it was pretty ragged, undernourished, and oblivious to what was going around it. I was afraid some well meaning tourist would decide to get out and help it but, fortunately, they didn’t. I’m pretty sure it was rabid based on how it was behaving. I called the police to see if they had any calls on it and they had not. The dispatcher was going to send Animal Control down to corral it. You don’t see that every day in town… 

So, this didn't have much to do with motorcycling but I did enjoy being out and about in my 4-wheeler! The weather is supposed to improve by Wednesday of this week and Spring can't be far behind!

--Cecil

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A Motorcyclist's Second Best Friend?

Man's "best friend" has for many eons been considered the dog. The constant companionship and unflagging dedication of dogs to men (and women) has been well noted throughout our written and oral histories. So, if dogs are man's best friend, what rates as the second best friend? I imagine that we could get some pretty solid arguments going in support of various other things/people to rate as second best.

For argument's sake, let me pose this question. What is always present whenever a motorcyclists takes to the road? What can start out enveloping you in comfort and, in a very short time, turn nasty, dark, and angry and challenge you to complete your journey? What, in fact, can many times prevent that journey? Well, if your answer to all 3 of those questions was "a spouse!", you might be right but I'll wager that more often than not the answer to that question is "The Weather!"

How many of us consult our local gurus before we ride? How many of us watch the 11:00 p.m. weather to see if "gee, maybe I can ride work tomorrow..."? How many of us study at our own observations through the years in making decisions whether to mount up? "Uh, gee dear, those rhododendron leaves are really curled tight today and that usually means the temperature is below freezing..."

I certainly will lay claim to being a "weather nut" and looking at all the data, radar and images that I can find when deciding to get the Ultra out. I've made decisions (some good, some bad) when it comes to deciding if a ride should go on as scheduled. I've studied prevailing westerlies, 24 hour satellite images, and historical wind flow patterns in trying to determine if that little patch of moisture is going to go west of the Smokies or east of the Smokies.

I really must admit that I've always had a feeling that if I just knew a little bit more information, I could REALLY tell the weather! Our local weather guru always says that "your weather is what is on your fence post." Well, I've taken that to heart and can now tell you EXACTLY what my weather is... except it isn't on a fence post. It is located on the top of my house! My lovely really, really "best friend" finally consented (or was worn down...) and I now have my very own weather station proudly spitting out data from the roof of the house.

The station went into service on January 8, 2006 and went live on the internet on January 9, 2006. So, I'm happy to share my little piece of the weather prognostication game. You may see my weather by going to our club's opening page at Blue Ridge Thunder or by going to Weather Underground and doing a search for our zip code (28786). The station ID is KNCWAYNE3.

So, check out the weather on "my fence post" and we'll all get together and talk about it and if all the cards fall out right, we'll go RIDE!

--Cecil

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Happy New Year 2006!

As we get started on a new calendar year, I wanted to wish each and every one of you a safe and enjoyable upcoming riding season. I know that with the temperatures floating around in the upper 20's in the mornings and only reaching the mid-40's during the day, it is hard to get out and ride. I really find myself appreciating days like yesterday where the skies were blue and the temperature reached into the 50's. I had a short but very enjoyable ride home from the shop.

The Ultra has been "visiting" with the guys in the shop for a week or so while they figure out the cause of some mysterious "finger prints" that seem to have appeared UNDER THE PAINT on my tank. I almost think we could get a print and run it through the FBI's database to see who, if anyone, touched the tank before painting and forgot to clean up behind themselves. At any rate, I have a long standing tradition of having a New Year's Day ride and I didn't want to break that record this year so I picked up my bike yesterday and will get out after my lunch of black eyed peas, cornbread, and greens for a spin. As I write this, the sun is out in force, the clouds are high and thin, and the temperature is approaching 50 degrees. Maybe I can entice Kathy out for the annual spin...

I wish for each of you a great upcoming riding season, a renewal of old friendships, many opportunities to make new friends, and the opportunities to reach out to others who are not as lucky as you may be today!

---Cecil

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