May 2020

Director’s Ramblins 1

2020 Activities 2

Always use your Mask 3

Vette Parade 4

Ride to eat 5

After the Rains came 6

Ice Cream ride 7

Safety Resource Article 8-9

USA One Country 10

Well another month has gone by and most of us are settling into our COVID-19 routines. I should be sav-ing a ton of money since I am not running around shopping but I can't seem to find any extra money laying around. The strength of our relationship with our spouses and significant others has been tested and appears we are doing well and tolerating each other in small confined spaces. I have been told however, that request for new building permits for "She sheds, and Man Caves" have skyrocketed over the past four weeks. Some states are beginning to announce the re-opening of some businesses operating under fed-eral guidelines within the next two weeks. I person-ally am on the fence about this and prefer to give the virus more time to die down, but I also understand the need to get the economy up and running again. With the new cases of the virus showing up in our correctional center and the outbreak in our local Teen Challenge facility I am not sure now is the time to let our guard down. What's happening in GWRRA? Well, with all the spare time you have being stuck at home, why not enroll in one or several of the GWRRA university ONLINE training courses being offered through the month of May? There are many fine courses avail-able and signing up is easy. You all should have re-ceived an email from me with information about the training and a list of courses being offered. If you did not receive the email and would like the informa-tion please contact me at: mschome@aol.com or through our Groupworks network.

Other GWRRA news: We have new National Directors for our Mem-bership Enhancement Program.

Please congratulate Dan and Mary Costello on their appointment as National Directors of our Membership Enhancement Program effective either July 1, or at the close of Wing Ding. For anyone who may of considered attending the Nebraska District Rally scheduled for the 2nd weekend in June, this rally has been canceled. Hopefully things will begin to turn around soon, and we will resume our regular chapter activities with a lot more knowledge from this unfortunate experience. As things change you will receive updates from either myself or your other chapter officers. Until then, stay safe and stay healthy!

Chapter E Directors Mike & Stephanie Catlett

Note: We will tell you via the newsletter whether an event is cancelled or not. WING DING has just been CANCELLED. Right now activities from June to December are NOT CANCELLED.

March

3/26 - 28 Louisiana District Rally – Ramada Lafayette Conference

Center, Lafayette, LA CANCELLED

May

4/29 – 5/3 Mt. View - Mt. Pines Cabins - Jan CANCELLED 5/25 Flags at Cedarvale Cemetery, 7:00am put up, 4:00pm take

down LA NOT CANCELLED June

6/06 Peak to Peak Poker Run – Queen Wilhelmina State Park

MAY BE CANCELLED

6/30 Wingding 42 in Springfield, CANCELLED

July

7/1 - 4 Wingding 42 in Springfield, MO CANCELLED

August 8/14 – 8/15 Music, Mountains and Motorcycles, Mountain View, AR

September 9/19 Chapter E Picnic/Gathering

October 10/1 - 10/4 Osage Beach - Catletts 10/17 Memorial Picnic

10/27 - 30 Leaf Peeping Trip – Eureka Springs, AR .. Canceled

November 11/11 Flags at Cedarvale Cemetery, 7:00am put up, 4:00pm take down

December 12/3 Chapter E Christmas Party 12/? Salvation Army “Ringing the Bell”.

2020 Staff Chapter Director

Mile & Stephanie Catlett Assistant Chapter Direc-tors

Tim Starr

Treasurer John Bowers

Newsletter/Webmaster

Valerie Hewett

Ride Coordinator Jan Miles

Membership Enhance-ment

OJ Miles 512-913-4567

Facebook Administrator

OJ & Jan Miles

Meet to Eat Sherri Koch

Quarter Master

Dan Drennon

Sunshine Person Mona Harrison

Couple of the Year

Rick & Gerri Hiemenz Safety Resource Tom Harrison

May 2020

This pretty “hay lady” sits on Rt 5 right before the intersection of Rt 9 by the fire station at Crows

This little girl, Skylar, has down syn-drome. She was disappointed that she could not have a Birthday party be-cause of the Virus. So, the National Park Corvette Club (NPCC) organized a parade from the village to Fountain Lake school. There were 15 Vets from the village who paraded past Skylar standing in the truck. We all waved and she was so happy

This was a “spur of the moment” trip to

Mt Magazine where we had lunch. Then we went to Paris, to Center-ville, to Dardanelle, then to Petite

Jean State Park Then Home after a stop at The

Shack for ice cream

New Members Darlene

And Greg

This was a another “spur of the moment” trip to

, Petit Jean State Park Then Home after a stop at The Shack for ice cream

AGAIN!

Come on with me to

get Ice Cream

This is a rehash of previous articles and discussion topics but the subject matter is to critically important not to be repeated. I often look

at what causes motorcycle accidents in Arkansas and what we can do as riders to ride safer. The short answer is that Goldwingers are al-ready doing many things to avoid becoming a statistic. For instance, more than 50% of all motorcycle accidents in Arkansas involve alco-hol. Further, speeding is a heavy contributor to accidents. When you speed, every mistake you make is amplified and can result in severe injury and/or death. Most of our riders prefer to ride at a leisurely pace sober!! We also like group rides which are proven to be safer. So, having said this, where should we focus our efforts??? For this answer, I turn to accident statistics. 2/3 of all serious motorcycle accidents in Arkansas occur on rural roads and involve only the mo-torcyclist. This is almost the exact reverse of most other states. If you were to restore all of the white crosses that were temporarily placed along the highway to mark where bikers have been killed, you would be shocked by the sheer number. It should come as no sur-prise that the vast majority of those crosses were located in corners. The next time you ride, note what would happen if you missed a curve on the typical mountainous road. You stand a very high probability of serious injury and/or death.

This article is not intended to be a full discussion of cornering, for that, look at the in depth article on Chapter E’s website under Chapter Education and other web based articles. This is a brief review of the key elements of cornering intended to raise your awareness. First, make sure your tires are inflated to factory specification. If they are over or under inflated, it can have a profound impact on your ability to corner correctly. Second, if you are riding in formation and approach other than a gentle mild curve, concentrate on properly setting up and riding the curve. Break formation to position your motorcycle for proper execution of the turn. This is critical since your desire to stay in formation might compromise your ability to make a curve. Third, look as far through the curve as possible with two objectives in mind. De-termine how much speed to need to scrub off before entering the curve (the yel-low suggested speed signs are a big help in making this determination); find your exit point for that turn; accelerate smoothly through the turn and if necessary ad-just your speed so you do not override your line of sight. Fourth, if you are on two wheels, keep your head as vertical as possible while rid-ing the curve. Look at pictures of road racers and you will see that their heads are cocked to make them more upright. Try it both ways and you will see a clear dif-ference in control. Fifth, ride outside, inside, outside. You are rounding off a corner which makes it easier to ride. It also makes it easier to dodge traffic coming the other direction. Upon entering the turn you should be able to smoothly accelerate through it. If you find yourself making small adjustments during the turn, you technique needs work and/or you need more practice. In Europe, they refer to this as 50 pencing. Sixth, stay 100% focused throughout the curve. A split second lapse of attention could result in crashing. Seventh, if you would like some road training, contact me at (501)915-2542 and we will schedule a time.