Another sad story

We hear about those terrible  motorcycle accidents all the time from the news, papers, our mothers and our friends.  I don't know why this one upset me so much but it did and I just have to unload my sadness.
 A cyclist was on the freeway a couple of days ago and put on his brakes to avoid some debris in his lane.
The car behind him ran right into him killing him. Well the article says he didn't have  a helmet on. Judging by the picture on the news it wouldn't have mattered much if he did. They never mentioned if the driver of the car was paying attention, was driving too close to the motorcycle because they were in a hurry to get home, or maybe the driver of the car was on their cell phone??? That didn't seem to come up only that the motorcyclist didn't have a helmet on. What about the car/truck that dropped the boards in the middle of the road? Why weren't they cited for not having a secure load? I hate to be a bummer but I care about my fellow riders.
Please be safe out there and always anticipate the worse because no one is looking out for us but ourselves.  Live to ride, ride to live!
Dru

Membership Has Its Privileges. And Responsibilities.

In your July/August 2011 (duh!) issue of Women On Wheels® magazine, several pages are devoted to upcoming elections for three upcoming positions on the WOW Board of Trustees. There are four people vying for those places, however, so members need to vote to choose which three get the job. Starting on page 10, the whole process is explained and the candidates' biographies follow.  Please vote. And please, follow the instructions about handling the ballot exactly as it is explained to you. Note that photocopies will NOT be accepted; it has to be the actual ballot in the magazine.  Lastly, note that the postmark has to be not later than August 31.


Does this date seem vaguely familiar? That's because the deadline for entering the annual mileage contest is August 30th. So, for those procrastinators (you know who you are! I am one of them.) it is not too late, but really, do it now. Just do it. Go here, find the Annual Mileage Contest form, and follow the instructions. I highlighted the form, brought it to my computer, then filled out all the little spaces. I then sent it as an attachment in an email to the address listed on the form. Not hard, really! You just have to do it. Yes, I am addressing the procrastinators again, 'cuz I know how it is, being a card-carrying member of the Yeah, I'll Get To It, I Promise Club.  They will also list our mileages by state, so even if you know you aren't going to win individually, contribute to the team! Send it in!


On pages19 & 20, there is information and a ballot for State Ambassador nominations. If you are interested, contact me and/or Dru. We have to sign your ballot. 


There is also a personal cumulative mileage count, btw. Click on the here (essentially the same link as above), and check out that information, too. It works on the honor system--you have to tell them when you have met another goal, such as the 5,000 mile mark, 10,000, etc. But this time, as you reach a mileage mark and send in the info, you get a bar pin to had to your WOW pin. You can jingle like a five-star general! Bigger miles end up with patches. Remember, these are any miles you rack up after you become a WOW member. Not just miles gained during WOW functions, but all your miles ridden. However, it doesn't include any of your pre-WOW mileage. No, it doesn't. Just let it go . . . ;)


Remember to vote, remember to submit your mileages soon if you haven't yet, and remember to ride safe & have fun!


--Margaret

Pix from the BBQ at Dru's

Fun was had by all! While we played in the pool . . . 

Rod slaved over a hot grill in the hot weather.

We ate good food.  Really good food.  Some of it was even good for us.

Yes, as a matter of fact, that is a homemade pumpkin roll.

We hung out together.

Reno (foreground and four paws) hung out with us, too!

Dru contemplates Coke vs. lemonade.

Talking, laughing . . . your basic good time.

 

Dee and Maggie from Rumble Pack joined us.

Rosemarie needs to work on her ATTGATT.

Dru gives Cathy a hand backing up.  Note the darkening skies on the left.

Debbie loves her new bike.

Even good times must end!  Some left earlier than others, but nearly all of us got caught in some serious rain on the way home.  Wish everyone could have made it.  Maybe we'll catch you next year!

The BBQ at Dru's!!

It's time! July will has more rides and more ice cream, and on July 24th, we will have a cookout at the home of our co-director, Dru. She has a lovely, spacious house and grounds, and a swimming pool. There is ample room for all. Even if you have not been regularly attending rides or meetings, we would love to see you here!


An Evite has (finally) been sent out. Margaret is new to Evites, and hopes fervently that anyone who was hoping for an invitation received one. It was fairly easy to do, but when it comes to the final "send" phase, I, um, hesitated. For over a week.  Sorry.  IF YOU DON'T receive one in your email, please let me know, via email or PM on Facebook! One of the nice features of Evite is that you get to make comments, such as what you would like to bring.


If, perchance, you forget to bring your bathing suit, it may--ahem--be a good idea to bring a complete change of clothes. ;) No, I wouldn't.  Of course I wouldn't! (Probably.)  But we are all adults here, and the time for Jr. High self-consciousness is lonnnng gone.  Have fun!

The Ride to Dawes

Was fun! After the early thunderstorm swept through--it delayed our departure--the air was humid, but pleasant while we were moving. 

Once we got to the Arboretum, however, the air was still and hot. Dru's bike braved the sun, but the rest of them huddled in the shade, along with their owners (and Dru herself). Happily, we discovered there is a driving path through to the lake & tower, so we were moving again.

Up on the tower, Susan tries to get the view of the hedge straight on her camera.

This is how it comes out, otherwise. ;) The arbors below spell out "Dawes Arboretum," and I'll bet the view from a plane is impressive. The lake and surrounding lanscaping are very pretty, too.

We ate at the Jack Town Pub--fun on the shaded deck, great staff--and spied a potential ice cream location en route. Maybe the meeting after next.

Some of you are busy packing or thinking about packing for your WOW Ohio weekend . . . enjoy! And tell the rest of us about it at the Ice Cream Run on Tuesday!

--Margaret

Calendars/Events

This week on WOW:
Margaret finally posts about her trip to Mid-West WOW (see below.)
The calendar is chock-full of riding opportunities this week. (Does anybody know how full a "chock" is?)

• Ride to Work Day is today. It's not too late to go back and get your bike at lunchtime!
• 10:00 AM tomorrow: meet at Motohio for the BSLR trip to Dawes Arboretum. KICKSTANDS UP--as in we leave at 10. (Hint: be there before 10, and be ready to leave at 10. Gas stations are nearby.)
• Motohio Dinner Ride this Wednesday leaves from Motohio only, and goes to Peggy Sue's. Where they have pie. (Need I say more?)
• Throttlin' Thursdays is at the Pub in Gahanna. Many, many bikes to gawk at.  (This week's band is Soul Annex.)
• The Ohio WOW weekend is this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. It's in Lake Hope, and sounds like a beautiful location. A bunch of you signed up, and I'm a little jealous. I'm planning to ride out there on Friday, although I can't stay for the weekend. Who all is going, and can we meet and ride out together?

Cheers, and hope to see you out there this week!

--Margaret

Mid-West WOW Conference

Well, here's the true confession:  when Northwind Riders says "conference," they mean "social get-together." They were a lot of fun, and very friendly and welcoming. They were so pleased that someone from Ohio made the trip, but now I am challenged to meet the same goal as WOW president Cris Baldwin: to double the attendance from our chapter next year! Cris rode from St. Louis, MO to attend, and together, we were the state of MO-hio, population: 2. 

But they never let us feel like outsiders! Here is the pre-ride group photo. That's Josey on the back of the bike:

We went to beautiful Nauvoo, IL, founded by Joseph Smith and overlooking the Mississippi River. The river is in the background of this photo:

  Below, you can see the Catholic church spire, far left, and the re-built Mormon Temple on the right. 

The ride consisted of 30 bikes: many Honda VTX 1300s, some Goldwings, and a variety of Harley full dressers. Along with my li'l 650 and two 250cc scooters! All were welcome, and all kept up just fine.

I relearned Mexican-train dominoes, and met a bunch of truly cool women. They've been having this get-together for about 20 years--it used to be a camping trip. Moved the venue to the Stoney Creek Inn a couple of years ago and voila! attendance doubled!

Big Changes to General Meeting!!

In a stroke of what I personally consider to be brilliance, your intrepid officers hit upon a new idea for conducting the BSLR meetings for the summer . Whatever business needs to be conducted will be done so briefly, in the parking lot, on our bikes (to keep it brief, y’see.) Then we ride to . . . to . . . (here is the most brilliant part, get ready) . . . ice cream! You like? We like a lot!

At the ice cream destination, we can then mingle and chat, choosing whichever topic interests you most.  Share ride stories, ideas, favorite gadgets, bring out pics of your dog, whatever.  Of course, this also means that more of the every day information will have to be gathered and shared online. I think we will try emailing out a notice to everyone when there is an update on the blog site, so you can see it there.

So, for our first jaunt, we will meet at the Panera restaurant parking lot--there is some shade in the back, look for motorcycles.  Our first ride will be to Knight’s Ice Cream in Westerville, so latecomers are welcome to meet us out there. We can then start entertaining ideas for our next ice cream place--all areas are welcome. I think it would be especially cool to go to different areas of the city--perhaps your neighborhood? 

Let us know what you think!

:) Margaret