HSTA Newsletter - January 2004

January 2004

HSTA Newsletter

by Dan Hytry

Happy New

Year!!!

Features

Ų Seattle Motorcycle Show Review

Ų Thank You to Tim and Heather

Ų 2003 Club Awards

Ų 2003 Year in Review

Ų 2004 WMRRA & OMRRA Schedules

Ų Mike Sullivan Track Riding School

Ų 2004 Planning

Bob Kramer, Chris Harnish, and I attended on Friday night. I wanted to be one of the first ones in the door to snap pictures without hoards of crowds. I made the mad dash for the first 15 minutes and then settled in to normal grazing. I'm not going to state any personal opinions on the bikes, but was disappointed that the new 1000RR was up on the rotating pedestal and that many manufactures were still handing out 2003 brochures.

The booth for Destination Highways was out promoting their Northern California book. More consumers, shorter time to publish was the methodology they used when deciding to skip over Oregon in their progression. I pre-ordered my copy and look forward to seeing what we've been missing. After talking with one of the authors, I found it interesting that he felt many California roads were in various states of disrepair. WHAT? I don't know what goat trails he was riding and at what reckless speeds, but my personal experience is that Cal-Trans is second to none in maintaining road quality.

We ran into Marv and Dan K. at Pyramid following the show and all decided to all go over to see the movie FASTER. It was a great recap of the 2001-2002 MotoGP seasons with personal looks into a number of past, present, and upcoming champions of the sport. Valentino Rossi's opening comments (seen in the trailer) pretty much hit a home-run with all the viewers. Another clip I enjoyed was Schwantz saying that Biaggi was hardly a challenge to Rossi and that any challenge he posed was only imagined.

Tim and Heather hosted a fantastic Christmas Party at their home in Puyallup this year. Most all the regulars showed up, including Brad, who normally rides only the multi-day outings.

Since I put off the awards from the November dinner until the Christmas party, I had to make sure that they were worth the wait. IMHO - I think they were. There were some that were expected and some that were complete surprises. Everyone also received some trinket (most were practical) to go along with the theme of the award.

We had plenty of food to eat; Tim and Heather will have leftovers to hold them until 2004 (perks for hosting the party). Mark brought his PS2 and his MotoGP 3 game for entertainment. The graphics were so real, that at first blush, you couldn't tell if you were watching an actual race or not. We also watched the DVD of the Mt St Helens ride that Chris Appel made back in September. There were requests for more copies so I'll put in an order to Chris.

Planning for 2004 included some discussion on others leading club rides. I think that was Tim's way of saying that he doesn't like starting at O-dark-thirty in sub-30 temperatures, riding 500+ miles, and skipping all meal stops only to fuel, and ending at 9pm only to get up the next day and do it again.

I heard him volunteer to lead a ride or two to change things up a bit. I'm all for it! Anyone, who wants to lead is welcome to do so. The ones I scheduled myself for are the ones that I'm planning on attending - things are always subject to change. Jim, Marv, and Don have all lead successful rides so please step up! That gives me more opportunities to shoot video next year!

And the moment you've all been waiting for has finally arrived. This year's awards were the culmination of funny stories and adventures over the past year. After reading through all the past newsletters of this year, it was pretty easy to come up with some, yet very challenging to come up with others. Without further ado...

Jim Holzberger - The Domestications Award, for missing most all the club rides to spend time at home doing Ms. Fix-It items. To go along with the award, he also received a multi-bit screwdriver to continue with his tasks.

Dave Bolton - The Wick it Up Award, for having his "member" most closely resembling a melted candle in Joseph, Oregon. Don't ask me how I know this! With his award, he was presented a "limp" candle to signify the event, as well as a condom to "protect" it.

Tye Aldana - Penicillin Award. After fighting the Ebola Virus for the first couple of days on the Oregon Outing ride, he finally sought the help of a professional. He will be getting a bottle of Vitamin C, to prevent future such occurrences.

Mark Grabrick - Minute-Man Award. This comes from Mark losing about a year and a half of riding due to the birth of his child and then getting back on his bike only to toss it early in the season at the top of Mt Baker. Since Mark couldn't contain himself longer than that, I presented him a condom, to prevent future early departures.

Cary Perkins - Light Packer Award. He stated that to do a multi-day ride, that all he needed was a toothbrush and credit card. In the past, he has also shown that rain gear is unnecessary. He will be getting a toothbrush, color coordinated to match the green machine, and also a pair of Size Q panty hose, leftover from last year (see the Laguna Seca write-up from 2002).

Dawn Hytry - Stewardess Award. Oh miss, what is the in-flight movie today? Dawn rode the VFR to BC in July and having a digital thermometer and a communicator handy, she kept me in stitches with time/speed/temp/altitude updates along the trip. Thank you for flying Honda International Airways...

Bob Kramer - Mud Max Award. After a long ride out to Neah Bay, the only road out the point is a gravel one. Add rain and you get mud. Add Bob, and you get Mud Max. He was given a small towel to help with cleaning.

Marv Travis - M.T. Phone Home Award. Marv knew that he would take heat for his tire incident so I wasn't about to disappoint him. He used up all his favors getting home from Heppner, Oregon in August so he won't be able to call his daughter the next time. Marv got a $5 phone card so he can make a few calls for help the next time.

Heather Armour - Super Bee-atch Award, recognizing her moniker. Heather suffers from ROAD RAGE brought on whenever a bug hits her windshield, or someone makes turn without using a turn signal. Stay clear, or beware! Heather received a thermometer large enough for a rhino, to monitor her own aggression levels.

Troy Shuler - Willy Wonka Award for his self-description of noises coming from his motorcycle as "Wonky". He got a chocolate Wonka Bar to go with the certificate, hopefully with the GOLDEN ticket!

Brad Kuehner - aka THE WORM Award. Every time we stopped to gas up, Brad was off somewhere eating, causing him to be missed in most of the pictures. I gave Brad a travel kit of utensils, which some didn't miss a beat in asking if I bought one for myself too. Very quick guys!

Steve Dorsey - Catch Up Award. Steve was just about to master the Nighthawk 650 when he decided to upgrade to a 2002 VFR. Since he was mostly bringing up the rear on club rides, the award seemed appropriate. Along with the certificate, comes a small supply of Heinz Ketchup.

Tim Popovich - Solstice Award. The longest day of the summer and shortest of the winter are known as solstice. Tim would regularly arrive late (blaming me for leaving early), and end his day mid-afternoon, thereby shortening his riding time. He received sun/moon temporary tattoos to signify day and night.

Dan Hytry - Because I'm the Dad Award. I'm sure you've all experienced "Do as I say, not as I do" in your lives, usually from your parents. After preaching about not crashing, and then crashing on the last club ride of the year, I set the example!

Chris Appel - Hercules Award for lifting me and my 500lb VFR around like we were nothing following my crash. I figured that Hercules probably ate like Popeye and therefore Chris garnered a can of spinach.

Don Grabrick - DNR Award. The Department of Natural Resources wishes to congratulate Don on riding all year and using up only one tire. Of course that meant that he missed out on most of the season. Due to the rubber shortage, Don will be given a condom, signifying what little rubber he has left on his tire.

Alan Belnap - The Plunger Award. Alan missed a lot of the riding season because he took the plunge and took scuba classes for most of the year. This was something he always wanted to do. Little did he know, that come the end of the season, he would take the ultimate plunge in proposing to his girlfriend, Joyce. Congratulations were extended and a not-used plunger was awarded. The suction worked great on his bald head!

I sincerely hope that no one was offended. These were all issued in good fun and hopefully you can find a practical purpose for the gag gifts. I wouldn't recommend using the condoms because they are at least 10 years old!

What a fantastic year of riding! Following is the Reader's Digest condensed-version of 37 pages of previous newsletters... take a breath now... go!

The 2003 riding season started out at Claim Jumper with a small gathering. We then moved over to Sykart and bashed into each other as much as we could without getting black flagged.

April kicked off the riding season with a spin through Snoqualmie Valley, then east to Sultan. Cary's CBR had been sabotaged by his 748, forcing us to perform roadside repairs to conclude the ride.

May brought on another Granite Falls fiasco followed by pushing a couple of Harleys as fast as they could go. We ended the month with the Oregon Outing ride, our annual trek to Pendleton. Tye got sick as a dog and everyone seemed to have some issue that weekend. This was the first time my bike had met the road after surviving a stampede.

In June, Mark blew his load, Steve chased the guys through Idaho, and Don checked out on the Leavenworth ride.

July was to be California, but not for me. Dawn, Marv, and I pre-rode the Banff / Jasper trip to occur at the end of August. The ride was most excellent as we bagged a moose sighting, I finally broke 100k on the 900RR, and Dawn practiced her spiel for Alaska Airlines. The Mt St Helens ride followed where we were passed by Bryan Bailey, shaking his head, "Oh look, another squid in the weeds."

July continued with a ride to Neah Bay led mostly by Dan Thomas, IronButter from Port Angeles. The Columbia River ride was next on tap - basically another excuse to do St Helens. Don showed that he can ride just as fast two-up as solo, and Tim said, "Screw you guys, I'm going home."

August started with a ride to Winthrop, where Mark helped add more miles to my 900, being back in the saddle for the first time since his get off. He squared off the tire a little more than it was, making it the perfect track tire (lots of meat left on the sides). I subsequently used it for TWO track days!

Marv roasted a tire in Oregon on what was supposed to be the Cascade Locks ride. We just rode and rode until his tire was done. He burned up any favors that his daughter owed him by calling her to pick him up in Heppner, only 6 hours each way!

Closing out August was the Canadian Rocky Ride. Tye got hassled at the border and Tim explained who Russ Meyer was. We lacked the same scenery as in July due to large number of forest fires. Heather provided a SB demonstration and we all avoided the water nozzle during dinner in Radium Hot Springs.

September opened with Mt Baker II (sans Mark) and other than Troy's "wonky" noises and some winter solstice riding by Tim, an uneventful day though many close calls with the guardians of the road.

The NE Washington ride was accredited with being one of the best this year. We spend three days exploring many roads and avoiding many jurisdictions. Don't miss this one next year.

The last weekend in September 27, Mt St Helens, officially ended our riding season, and mine more so than others. My highlight was getting to test ride the back seat of a CBR-XX.

In October we raced and watched the video of the aforementioned ride. Others in the lobby of Sykart took more interest in our video than in the cart racing. November we went around the table at dinner and shared stories of the year. Steve's wife will probably not let him out to play with the boys again.

The motorcycle show came and went and the Christmas party was a huge success, in most part to Tim and Heather's credit!

If you are looking for more detail into any of the above references, check out the Newsletter link and read all about it. Until next year... enjoy your Holidays!

Okay, so that's not exactly what the brochure says, however this title more accurately reflects what we at the street rider level will get out of his class. The correct title is Mike Sullivan Motorcycle Road Racing and Riding School.

Following the motorcycle show on Sunday, I spent some time with Mike, his wife Valerie, and others talking about development in his schools and where they want to take them in the near future. I was speaking partially from an instructor point of view (for business aspects), buy mostly as an active street rider about how his class could work for those not interested in racing, but want to get on the track to learn skills for high levels of performance.

Last month, you read my synopsis of my experience with the school. I think back to it and still smile at how much fun it was. I plan on doing two more of his classes this year, one at Spokane and one at Portland. I want to learn the track and ride fast without having to fumble my way through a number of open track days figuring out lines and gearing, and also spending lots of money on lodging for each of those events. I firmly believe in instant gratification!

I am currently planning on doing May 27 in Spokane, and June 15th in Portland. We're looking at Dawn attending the July 29th date.

As you can see, the 2004 Ride Schedule is posted. At the Christmas party, the idea was brought up for others to lead club rides. I think that was Tim's way of saying that he doesn't like starting at O-dark-thirty in sub 30-degree temperatures, riding 500+ miles, and skipping all meal stops, stopping only to fuel the bikes, and ending at 9pm only to get up the next day and do it again.

I heard TIM also volunteer to lead a ride or two to change things up a bit. I'm all for it! In fact, ANYONE who wants to lead a ride is welcome to do so. There are many available holes in the schedule. Feel free to suggest new routes too! I certainly don't know it all and I'm all for improvement! The rides that I've scheduled myself to lead are the ones that I'm planning on attending. Many members have all lead successful rides in the past so please step up and show your navigational ability. That gives me more opportunities to shoot video next year!