Transcript
Rider Motorcycling Touring Club
Mountain Wheelin’ Volume 31, Issue 9
September 2017
Welcome September! This newsletter is full of photos from August’s trips and tours. Thanks to all of you that sent photos and detailed descriptions of your time on the road. Scroll down and you’ll see some pictures of a “Larry Trip”. Anyone who rides with Larry never know where we are going or where we’ll end up! Next page contains photos and information about the West Virginia tour put together by Jim and Linda Catanzaro. Looks like you all had a wonderful time! Also included… the Scooter Meltdown where several of our members spent a great weekend doing the scooter thing. Scott’s gadgets is also located on this page. Then, with the big celestial happening occuring in August, you know I had to add An unusual formation some eclipse/motorcycle news! With the internet, anything is possible! found in the cave….
Please be aware that the Grey Ghost trip is cancelled. However, the Niagra Falls Tour is taking place Labor Day Weekend. We’ll have photos in October’s newsletter SEPTEMBER 09/01 - 14/2017 09/03/2017 09/05/2017 09/06/2017 09/10/2017 09/13/2017 09/17/2017 09/20/2017 09/24/2017 09/27/2017
(DeYoung stalagtite)
Niagara Falls Weekend Trip 9:00 AM DWG Visitor’s Center 6:30 PM Billy's Diner 9:00 AM Billy's Diner 9:00AM DWG Visitor’s Center 9:00 AM Billy's Diner 8:30 AM Billy’s Diner 9:00 AM Billy's Diner 9:00AM DWG Visitors Center 9:00 AM Billy’s Diner
Rider’s Choice – Leader picked at arrival. Dinner Meeting Top of the Hill Gang Ride New Jersey – Sue Boland Top of the Hill Gang Ride Breakfast Meeting – Heisler’s Dairy Bar – Alice Swink Top of the Hill Gang Ride Chris Krohn Top of the Hill Gang Ride
?? A 6:30 PM 9:00 AM 10:00AM 9:00 AM 8:30 AM 9:00 AM 10:00 AM 9:00 AM 10:00AM
Fallen rider to Benefit Valor INFO of come Dinner Meeting Top of the Hill Gang Ride Fall Foliage Ride – Scott G. and Jim C. Top of the Hill Gang Ride Breakfast Meeting – ( Open ) Top of the Hill Gang Ride Berks County – Bob McImoyle Top of the Hill Gang Ride ( Open )
OCTOBER 10/01/2017 10/03/2017 10/04/2017 10/08/2017 10/11/2017 10/15/2017 10/18/2017 10/22/2017 10/25/2017 10/29/2017
?? Billy’s Diner Billy's Diner WaWa Blakeslee Billy's Diner Billy’s Diner Billy's Diner DWG Visitors Center Billy’s Diner DWG Visitor’s Center
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Down in and round Jim Thorpe
with Larry
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The big 2017 tour for RMTC was the trip to West Virginia. On the right is a photo of the group and the asylum sign? … well, that was part of the tour and it just happened to fall next to that squirrely bunch of people! I’m happy to report that all who entered the asylum, did come out and resume the tour! The first 350 miles to Fairmount WV ended with dinner at the Cracker Barrel and a well deserve rest after a rainy start. On day 2, RMTC visited the Summersville Dam and Carnifex Battlefield. Lunch at Fat Eddies Ice Cream. Day 3 started with a trip to a grist mill in Clifftop WV. Very scenic! Hawks Nest State Park was next on the list with a tram ride down to the river gorge to take a jet boat ride to view the River Gorge Bridge. The next day began at Lost Caverns with a tour…photos do not do it justice but looks like everyone enjoyed it!. A banana split was the highlight of the day at Green Briar Luxurious Hotel. The afternoon was spent at a confederate cemetery in Lewisburg, WV. Now, here is an interesting tidbit…. All I heard is that the motel in Lewisburg is unforgettable. I don’t know why… I guess we’ll have to ask someone! However, seems that this group ended up having dinner at the Asylum Sports Bar. (do you detect a common theme?) The Appalachian Glass Blowing Demo took place on the next day and then to the Lunatic Asylum in Weston. It had been opened for 130 years before closing in 1994. Day 6 included a four hour train ride into the mountains on the New Tygart Flyer Train. The last day was heavy rain so it was a pizza party until it was time to start home. All safe and sound. Sounds like a fabulous trip! Thanks to Jim and Linda for coordinating the trip and leading the group. And, thank you for sending me this information to share with the rest of our members!
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Meltdown 2017 Each year the Three Mile Island Scooter Club holds their Meltdown Camping Rally in Camp Hill on the first weekend in August. If you like scooters this rally is like your “Super Bowl”. There are a ton of activities and rides which make for a very busy and enjoyable weekend. Jim Catanzaro and I have attended for years and we always come back with a smile on our face and great memories. The event started with greeting arrivals, registration and setting up tents. Jim and I set up our tent at a local hotel and went for dinner with a number of friends. Following dinner, we rode in a monsoon to get back to our tent! Those in tents were still drying out when we arrived the next day! Saturday’s events began with a long ride to Caledonia State Park and a visit to Mister Ed’s Elephant Museum and Candy Emporium. No one ever told me that fudge would not survive the ride home in my Vespa glovebox. Actually, Jim did! Arrival back at the campground saw scooter games, a wonderful BBQ dinner and raffles with a few adult beverages. On Sunday Jim and I were treated to a guided ride home via the Millersburg Ferry. Alice is smiling because she knows that I have never been on a club ride that was able to ride the ferry. Tried numerous times but never made it. We then had a wonderful ride on Route 209 all the way home. As always, life is always good on a scooter.
How many of you have lost a bolt down inside your motorcycle? I bet more of us than we would care to count. I have seen people try to get them out in many different ways but I must tell you that the best techniques include using a magnet. As I get older I can tell you I lose nuts and bolts at an alarming rate! All kidding aside, a good magnet with a slim handle and suitable reach can be a lifesaver. Motion Pro just introduced a new magnetic pick up tool which I think will suit most needs. It comes with a billet aluminum laser etched handle, powerful magnet and an 18-inch arm with protective rubber coating which won’t scratch aluminum or plastic surfaces. The unit retails for a suggested retail price of $14.99 at your local shop or Revzilla. For the price, it may save you a lot of aggravation. Happy Motoring!
Scott
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INDIAN MOTORCYCLES.NET sent this message to their crew: Get to the blue line on 8/21. Pack up your Indian, get your best girl and all your buddies and head for the line and hope for good weather. This is the first total eclipse in the US sense 1979.
Harley Davidson Solar Eclipse Limited Edition
There are many stories on the internet describing motorcycle trips taken on August 21st….but my favorite titled his trip as… “I’m adding the solar eclipse as an Iron Butt Ride…Heading to the “path of totality”! The Eclipse Rumble Pack measures about 12” long by 10.5” wide and it's roughly 6” deep. The Rumble Pack expands by unfastening 5 metal snaps around the perimeter and pulling upwards. This nearly doubles its depth to about 12" (30.5cm). Eclipse claims that when the bag will hold a fullface helmet when it's expanded.
REV′IT! Men's Eclipse Black Jacket $179.99 mountain wheeler 5
‘Podcycle’ globetrotter arrives in \ John Day for eclipse Philip Funnell has traveled more than a million miles and visited 74 countries on motorcycle during his life. (Thanks to the East Oregonian News Publication for this story)
Philip Funnell calls it a “podcycle,” with a tiny sleeper-trailer made out of thick foam and fiberglass rigged to the back of his Yamaha 250 motorcycle. At just five and a half feet long, the homemade camper has barely enough room for Funnell, 80, to stretch his legs. It’s not always comfortable, Funnell admits, but he says it has served him well during multiple tours across the globe, spanning more than a million miles and 74 countries since he began riding in 1953. “It’s not tiring for me,” he said. “It’s an instinctual thing. It’s become automatic.” Funnell arrived Saturday in John Day from his home in Chilliwack, British Columbia, where his latest adventure has brought him to experience Monday’s total solar eclipse. The moon started crossing the sun at 9:08 a.m. in John Day, with approximately 2 minutes, 6 seconds of totality beginning at 10:22. Inside his podcycle is everything Funnell needs for the trip — a butane stove and utensils for cooking, spare sweaters, a can of bear spray, a deck of cards to play cribbage and an old cassette tape recorder to take down his thoughts and experiences. Though he has traversed deserts and jungles on his bike, watched the most beautiful sunrise in Costa Rica and met the toughest people in Afghanistan, this will be Funnell’s first, and likely only, solar eclipse. “The light will disappear alarmingly,” he anticipated. “And then it’s over. And I’ll never see another.” Born in South London, Funnell speaks in a soft British accent with an incredible memory for details. His whole life has revolved around motorcycles, and the places they have taken him. He has been around the world twice, including every state, country and territory in North and South America. Rifling around the back of his podcycle, Funnell finds a bound edition of a book he once self-published, titled “The Sport of Not Getting Tickets.” It was written in 1980, when he says he was still going fast. “I had a reputation for fighting these things,” he said with a chuckle. Nowadays, however, Funnell said he prefers a more gentlemanly, low-anxiety style of riding, taking the time to soak in the prairies and Canadian plains. “When you go through those places slowly and look at the antelope, you learn to appreciate them more, and the journey doesn’t seem so long,” he said. Funnell is no stranger to John Day, where he says he has visited before and greeted every deer that wanders into the small town. He plans to watch the eclipse in the grocery store parking lot before eventually making his way back to Canada. Funnell has built three podcycles in his life for these kinds of journeys. The first, he said, was stolen and the second now resides in a BMW motorcycle museum in Maryland. The little trailer, with its all-tooappropriate decal, “Snug as a bug,” offers him a place to kick up his feet at the end of a long day. Funnell said he was attracted to motorcycling at first because they were cheap, and he couldn’t afford at the time to buy a car. Since then, he has been inducted into the Canada Motorcycle Hall of Fame and spent years as a BMW dealer in Canada, where he earned the nickname “Dr. BMW.” “People have done the most amazing things with motorcycles,” Funnell said. “Your whole lifestyle goes over to it.”
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Mountain Wheelin’ General Membership Meetings: 1st Tuesday of the month – Dinner at 6:30 PM at Billy’s Diner, Rt. 611, Tannersville, PA 3rd Sunday of the month – Breakfast at 8:30 AM followed by meeting at 9:30AM at Billy’s Diner, Rt. 611, Tannersville, PA
We’re on the web visit us at: www.poconoriders.com
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