MORE IOWA WORDS OF WISDOM
Reprinted from Iowa Chapter “L” Newsletter
Written by Chuck Mincks, Asst. Chapter Rep
Greetings to all!
I have just completed a whirlwind month of vacation and have only now had time to sit down and even begin to think about writing. July was a fabulous month for motorcycle riding. Iowa Chapter “Ls” first Gold Classic with AGWA was held July 18-22. Having never ridden a cycle in West Virginia, I was anxious to get out there. We had three options to ride with different folks on the way out, choosing to leave with the group that was getting out of town the soonest. Nothing against the other groups -- we will continue to ride with those people and others, just as we did at Snowshoe. But we really had the “antsies” to get going. Consequently, we rode with the Foxes, Wiercks, and Wolffs, with Denise Benson -- and her mother Jody -- in a chase car. Not a bad way to travel, considering we had the opportunity to “butter up” our State Rep on the way down. Not sure if that actually worked or not …. He just kept laughing….
My hat is off to Rick Wierck for planning an extremely fun route down (and Donna’s patience during all the time he spent on it). We took a circuitous, 2-1/2 day route south through Illinois, east through Kentucky and Tennessee, where we rode the famous “Dragon” of Deal’s Gap, and finally north through a short piece of North Carolina and on to Snowshoe in West Virginia. More than one of us scraped foot pegs and/or highway pegs on those 300 and “something” curves.
We were not disappointed at Snowshoe, either. The experience of meeting so many new faces and personalities was great. I said it at the business meeting, and still firmly believe that a group like AGWA should be placing as much emphasis on riding cycles as they can, and not on the petty political jealousies that continue to plague at least one other large motorcycling association here in the U.S. Sue and I, more now after the Rally than ever, believe that the democratic process adopted by AGWA in its business affairs is the best way to run such an organization and hope to see it continue its success in the future. When one can walk away from a meeting and feel like they actually had a say in the business, through the representation of one’s State Rep, it makes one feel like they are actually a part of the group - not just a number. Without trying to be too corny, I left Snowshoe feeling like I found a new family of sorts. Not just politically, but because of the success of AGWA, everyone seems to be more relaxed and easier to get along with. AGWA -- I am afraid you are stuck with us for a while.
While in West Virginia, Sue and I rode several hundred miles of beautiful, curvy, mountainous roadways that were a much appreciated change of scenery. We look forward to working our way both up and down the Appalachian chain further in the future. We have vacationed several times out west, but few in the eastern part of the U.S. We now know we have been missing some awesome riding and new adventures.
We chose to go it alone on the way home. We were on vacation, and not in a hurry to get back to anything in particular. We spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday working our way across western West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and eventually arrived home. There was just one incident along the way. In Monticello, Indiana, I began to slowly move ahead from a stop light, while looking in my left rearview mirror for a hole to change lanes, and was struck - at low speed - by a car behind that was not paying attention to my progress. Luckily, the only damage was a cracked tail light lens to our “new” used trailer, and a slightly bent flat bar that connects our trailer tongue to our hitch receiver. No injuries, and the driver could speak little to no English, so I waved her off knowing I could take care of it much quicker and with much less aggravation instead of waiting hours for a police officer and a “no habla” interpreter.
Back home for less than a week, and I left for a 10 day backpacking trip to Rocky Mountain National Park with one of Sue’s brothers, his two sons, and one of their cousins. Was gone from Aug 1st until the 10th. Won’t bore you with the details of that trip, but have been cleaning up ever since getting back -- some of it still from the first trip.
Sue and I hope you all have had as great a summer as we have so far, and that your year continues in a positive direction. We continue to listen for updates concerning Curt Bothel’s (Chapter L member) treatment and recovery from cancer. We are sure you will all hold him in your prayers - as we do.
Chapter L convinced the AGWA board to allow us to host the 2007 Gold Classic here in Iowa. Now it is our turn to show the rest of the members some Midwestern hospitality. I am looking forward to this event and have an open ear to anyone with advice and the “lessons“ learned from their own experiences. Of course, our State Rep Don Fox has been involved with many rallies, while a member of that “other” organization, but I am sure we still have our work cut out for us. It should be a great time.
Until next month, everyone take care and have a safe but great time riding like “L.”