Eight of us met this fine sunny day to discus ride plans for the coming months and the possibility of a multi-day trip to the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The meeting opened with a look ,via a new LHM video, at the Lutheran Hours plans for outreach to the majority of the planet's population that has not had the opportunity to hear about Jesus and God's plan for their salvation.

From there we previewed a route for a two day ride to the Blue Ridge Parkway and Mount Mitchell . The group concluded that the ride was best scheduled for September rather than June, to allow time for detailed planning and for  personal scheduling , It was also suggested two and a half days be considered rather than two, and to possibly including a Sunday. The weekend dates tentatively set were September 11-13.

For June 13th the group chose a ride to Fort Mountain with a stop in Chatsworth for lunch at Edna's. Larry will probably lead the ride with Bob S. supplying a route map with turn-by-turn description for the more confusing sections of the return. There will be more details available as the ride date approaches.

Fort Mountain and Edna's

The group briefly discussed the pending availability of the Honda Africa Twin that is reported to have a dual clutch mechanism. This led to a look at  how a dual clutch works

Still open is understanding how shifts are initiated manually (paddles?) or is it only "automatic". It was understood that a non-dual clutch model will also be available.

The URAL (motorcycle w/sidecar) was another point of interest. A video showing the military's use of the URAL was shown and its more civilian version discussed along with an example of the URAL's stream crossing capabilities.

Various other videos were watched, a few lessons learned, along a couple laughs.

Our next meeting will be on June 27th

There were all sorts of warnings this day about thunderstorms, hail, tornadoes and such, due in from Alabama, later in the day. At meeting time we only had rain, but  enough that everyone (10 of us) drove in rather than rode.

We discussed the plans from the camp-n-ride scheduled for May 15-16. The plan is to have those who will be camping at TWO meet at the Chevron at exit 27 of I 575, ready to go at 3:30 p.m. Friday May 15th They will ride up to Suches and set out tents in time for supper at TWO's restaurant, although there was some concern that the restaurant may not yet be open on Friday nights. Larry is leading the Friday riders and will check on the restaurant situation and plan an alternative for Friday supper if needed.

Saturday riders will meet at the Shell station on the corner of East Cherokee and Ga 140 at 7:30 a.m. Saturday the 16th, hoping to make their way to TWO by 9 a.m. to meet the campers at breakfast.

After breakfast the entire group will ride out on Ga 180, through Wolf Pen Gap to the spur road leading up to Brasstown Bald. If the weather afford clear views the group will hike, or take the shuttle to the observation deck.

 After Brasstown Bald they will ride over to Helen for lunch at The Meeting Place. From there over to The Richard Russell Scenic Parkway, Blood Mountain and home.

There was some discussion about a June ride that would include some miles on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Bob S. will lay out a route for consideration at the May meeting.

A number of riding safety video clips were viewed and discussed. The 2, 3, and 4 second safety gaps, and how they relate to sighting and stopping distances, was explored but the chart with details was not visible enough on the screen, so has now been added to the website under the "Training" tab.

Dan showed the group his video of some of the "crashes" he endured at the Trail Riding session some of the group attended in March, prompting a reliving of the session among those participants present.

The next meeting is scheduled for May 30th.

Nine of us met at Timothy on a cold Saturday morning that had temperatures at dawn hovering around freezing. Only one rider rode in, the rest were content to come on four wheels (with heaters).

After taking a look at an aged, but still relevant, Baloney Shop we turned to business  and set out a ride schedule for April and May as follows:

April 11th we plan to ride out to Alabama  to visit De Soto Falls, Little River Canyon, and Cave Springs.
Route Plan:  http://rideplanner.harley-davidson.com/rideplanner/share/567087  
Prior ride report:  http://tlcmc.org/index.php/news/77-little-river-canyon

May 15-16 is set for a camp/ride event that includes camping at TWO on Friday night and Saturday rides to Wolf Pen Gap, the Richard Russell, Brasstown Bald etc.
Riders going Friday afternoon may have the option to ride Forest Service roads part part way to Suches (TWO) while others may choose to take pavement. Riders that don't intend to camp Friday night can meet those that do early Saturday for the above described "Saturday Ride".

Details about both these rides will emerge as the dates approach.

Much of the rest of the meeting focused on reliving the fun from the previous Saturday's session at Honda's Trail Riding School. The group went stage by stage through the video taken during the session, stopping often to comment on personal perspectives of how it went, and lessons learned. There were lots of laughs.

Other videos, from Old Chainsawbob and Halfthrottle, along with discussions about Springtime Prep and various hazards filled out the meeting.

Nine of us (ten if you count Scott's cameo appearance) met to set a ride schedule for the coming months. We decided to give the twice cancelled Three Park Ride another try on March 14th. The original route will be augmented by adding some interesting back roads in Bartow and Gordon Counties. March 14th will be the first Saturday in this year's Daylight Saving Time and the sun won't rise until 7:50 a.m. However the temperature should be on the rise quickly enough, in an hour and a half, to allow a 9:30 a.m. start time. More details will be available as we approach the 14th.

For April we decided to go south to the Pine Mountain area on 10th. The route and other details will be discussed at our next meeting, March 28th.

There was quite a bit of interest in a camping/riding trip in May. Steve G. and Larry will work out a suggested itinerary based on their trip last summer.

Larry went through the food needs and volunteer list for the TLCMC hosted March 4th Lenten supper at Timothy.

Six of our group (Dennis, Paul, Melinda, Dan, Tad and Bob (the younger)) are registered in Honda's Introduction to Trail Riding course scheduled for March 21st. They'll have an opportunity there to experience a different kind of motorcycling that includes handling 150cc dirt bikes on dirt, mud, and among boulders on woodland trails and up/down significant hills. It is a fun experience that not only opens up a whole other two wheel sport, but pays dividends in street riding too.

We had a discussion on the workings of multi-plate clutches and sequential transmissions used in most motorcycles. The links to videos that supported this discussion are posted in Weblinks' Maintenance section on our website.

Our next meeting is scheduled for Saturday March 28th at 9 a.m.