June 25th Meeting Recap

We opened the meeting with the third and final episode of Facing Disasters Like A Man. We decided that next month we'll begin alternating between The Baloney Shop and another selection from The Men's Network.

We followed up on the Maggie Valley trip by reviewing the short video from the ride report followed by another video from Wheels Through Time showing a few of the bikes from their museum on the road...on the Dragon no less. You can see this on this website under the Weblinks tab #8 Motorcycle Memories.

Also from the Maggie Valley trip we discussed the pros and cons of staying on the road when lightning present. Those at the meeting that were on the trip agreed we did the right thing pressing on cautiously rather than pulling off into an unsheltered  turn out. More discussion on riding in the rain and lightning exposure followed.

Most of us clocked over 400 miles on the Maggie Valley trip. While not that big a deal it did lead to looking at what real long distant riders do, especially this time of year in the Iron Butt Rally ( 11 days where a minimum of 11,000 miles are covered). This rally is going on right now and daily reports can be found on the Internet.

We reviwed and discussed a short helmet cam video of an accident that came about through two circumstances: obscured vision at an intersection and what appeared to be the rider's target fixation. A short clip but telling.

The trip to Chickamauga National Battlefield is scheduled for July 16th. We looked at a proposed route that essentially takes backroads up to Chickamauga and I-7, Ga 53 back. The group agreed the routing (slow up, fast back) made sense.So far five have indicated they plan to make the trip. More information will be available as the date approaches.

We briefly explored other rides for later in the year including Andersonville and Milledgeville, both of Civil War significance as well as the Tallulah Falls, Bull Sluice area .

After the meeting Nelson and Bob (the elder) rode over to Sylvia's to see if she still makes great hamburgers (she does).

Also, Steve Garland asked me to mention there will be no Straight Shooters get together in July.