Members,

I have tried to sit down several times this week and write up the trip report from the Jacksonville Ride for Kids, but just never seem to be able to do it.  So I am forcing myself to finish it now (if it doesn’t make real good sense, I got off work this morning at 6am and it’s now 4pm and I still have not gone to sleep).

I arrived at the Cracker Barrel Restaurant around 6:30am.  Cesar and his wife Cindy were already there.  First time rider with the club Doug (sorry but I forgot your last name) and his son Doug Jr would be riding up to Mt Dora and then returning the same day, Mark Hendrix arrived next followed by Doug Johnson and his son Trevor shortly afterwards.  Ken Aronoff called saying he would be arriving, just a little late.

We finished our meal, adjusted our weight settings after that big meal and soon were on our way with Doug Johnson leading the way.  Temps were in the high 60’s.  Shortly after turning onto US 27 North, we saw some nasty clouds up ahead.  Luckily we only encountered some light sprinkles for a couple miles; just enough to dirty up the bikes. L

Just south of South Bay, Doug turned right onto a County Road.  I have never been down this way so I found it nice.  After going east for a few miles the road turns sharply to the north and up towards the east side of the lake.  One left turn a little early took us through the ghetto area.  Soon we were taking our first break along Lake Okeechobee. Some pictures were made (please send them to me Doug or Doug Jr so I can post) and we were back on our way.

We continued up to Hwy 441 north staying towards the center of the state and off major highways whenever possible.  We could not have asked for a better day.  A little side note, Ken Aronoff is officially a bird killer.  Just as we were getting into the city of Okeechobee, what appeared to be a Mockingbird or female Blue Jay came swooping across Ken’s path.  His windshield was no match and the last I saw of the poor bird it was laying on the median.

At each stop along the way, I called Jeff and Hanne Joffe in Orlando to try and time our arrivals to Mt Dora.  Since we were staying in the center of the state, it is hard to gauge something like this.  We took a couple of side roads, back to the Florida Turnpike for a quick hop over to US 27 again and then some of the best curvy roads Florida has to offer.  The sky was a clear brilliant blue, light wind, and a temperature in the 70’s, perfect riding weather.

Just before Mt Dora, we met up with some friends of Doug Johnson’s.  We ended up arriving in Mt Dora for lunch a little behind schedule, but Jeff had notified the restaurant of our arrival and a table for all of us together was waiting for us.

After lunch we took a scenic ride along the lakeshore.  WOW!  You should see some of the houses here.  Eventually our route took us up through the Ocala National Forest on State Roads that had some great curves and very little traffic.

It was starting to get dark and we were just arriving at our destination for the night.  Most members stayed at the Host Hotel for only $69.00 a night.  The reviews of the place were great.  Doug J, Trevor and myself stayed with club member Rodney.  Rodney had a feast waiting for us.  Thanks again Rodney ( I will be sending you something in the mail next week).

Sunday morning came fast and we were greeted to temps in the middle 50’s and cloudy skies.  We arrived at the Northeast Ride for Kids start point with just enough time to register, grab a quick breakfast, say hello to some old friends from South Florida and it was time for the ride.  This was the inaugural ride for Jacksonville.  There were probably around 60-70 motorcyclists.

The ride was spectacular with the ride mostly in the countryside.  We crossed over the St. John’s Waterway (not exactly sure of the name) more then once.  The police who escorted the ride were the best I have ever seen.  Each intersection was blocked with precision of a finely oiled machine.  Approximately 75 minutes after we departed, we returned to the start point for the Celebration of Life.

Our club was #5 in money raised.  I think next year we should strive to be #1.  We just missed being the #5 dealership.  Not bad for being over 300 miles from our home.  Mark Hendrix represented our club on stage.  He was the only one wearing our club shirt.  Thanks Mark for the nice speech and for representing the Gold Coast Rider’s Club and Rick Case Honda. 

The ride raised close to $15,000. 

Soon it was time for us to head home.  Today we would take the faster route home, via I-95 and the Florida Turnpike.  We stopped at Destination Daytona and J & P Cycles to look over the place and have lunch.  I thought it would be more crowded, but Bike Week had already passed.

I ended up arriving in my driveway around 8:30 p.m. and my odometer showed I had traveled 850 miles roundtrip in the two days. 

I would like to make a special mention of our newest and youngest club member.  Trevor Johnson’s first full club ride with us was amazing.  Here is a young man who set the bar for us old timers.  Trevor took the number 2 spot right next to his dad for most of the trip.  He demonstrated skill handling the Sabre 1100. He was very open to constructive criticism to improve this riding and by the end of the ride looked well seasoned.  Great Job Trevor!

For those of you, who receive my emails but have never ridden within a club environment, don’t forget the ride on Saturday, April 25^th.  I will send out a reminder email.  This will be a great introduction to club ridding and a short ride also.

Our next club ride is Saturday, April 18^th.  The South East Police Motorcycle Training Seminar and Safety Trials will place on Saturday, April 18th, 2009 from 8 am – 4 pm at the Citi Centre Mall, 1955 N. Federal Highway, Pompano Beach, Florida.   We will meet and depart from Rick Case Honda Powerhouse at 8 a.m.  A short ride to Café 84 for breakfast and then ride up to Pompano Beach for the event.  The ride will end here, so you can leave at your leisure.  If you prefer, you can just meet us at Café 84, we should be leaving there around 8:45 a.m.  Bring your Sun Pass and a water bottle.  It will probably be hot watching the riders.

Any questions please email me.

Ride safe,

Greg Mathes

Gold Coast Rider’s Club

Members,

Over the past couple of months (a year actually) we have been working with Rick Case Powerhouse on getting club members discounts for service and accessories. Rusty Johnson (General Manager) and I came to an agreement on this recently and now I want to forward it to you.

First of all, if you have been on any recent rides, you may have noticed I was wearing the new club t-shirt or the club patch on the back of my leather vest. Thanks to Ken Cimetta for designing this. He put a lot of work into an emblem that stands out.

Some members fronted the club money to purchase the patches and Rick Case fronted the club money for the purchase of the t-shirts. Both will be paid back with sales of each.

The dealership initially offered to sell the shirts at the dealership, but then I would not know who was a member of the club. Ken changed some features on the web site and you are now available to purchase the shirts and patches directly. Rather then mail the patches to you and incur another expense, I will drop off your shirt/patch to the dealership and you can pick it up there at the cashier window.

Before you can purchase a patch or t-shirt, you must be a registered member. Membership fees are only $25.00 a year for the entire family. This is very cheap considering what other clubs charge.

Now here is where the discount comes in. Rick Case Powerhouse will give you an additional 10% discount off your service/accessory purchase each Wednesday when you are wearing your club shirt or patch. Add that to your “Reward’s Points” and you get 20% off! With today’s economy, I need every coupon or discount I can get. If I were going to make a major purchase or service appointment, this 20% discount could pay for my membership fee and shirt the first time I used it.

There will be additional membership benefits. These will include the opportunity for free give-a-ways on club rides, ice-cream socials, members’ only events and more. The membership will decide what we do. Remember, this is your club, take action to make it better.

Questions and Answers:

1. Do I have to be a dues paying member to ride with the club? No, not for basic rides. But if there are special give-a-ways or free lunches, only dues paying members will have this opportunity. The easiest way for me to recognize you will be your wearing your club shirt or patch, but if you are not into patches or our club shirts, I will have a membership list in my cell phone.

2. Where does this money go? The club has some administrative expenses that we need to pay for. Adrian & Ronnie Sue Goldfarb have been offering their legal services to register the club as a “not for profit status” and there are federal fees to pay. HRCA charges the club a yearly registration and then there is the issue of insurance to consider. I would like to start having regular club meetings at local restaurants and the club could pick up part of the food bill. No club member can profit from any funds collected. The club would decide how funds are spent.

3. What is my place in the club? That is entirely up to you. How involved do you want to become? I would like more Ride Captains. Available positions are endless. Here are some samples: Welcome Committee, Ride Planner, Ride for Kids Task Force Member, Safety Officer, Training Specialist, etc. Or you can just be a member and ride with us and enjoy the great outdoors.

4. Will I still get all your wonderful emails? For the short term the answer is yes. But there will be special opportunity emails sent out to dues paying members only.

5. What privileges will I have using the club website? Working with the webmaster, you should have the ability to post comments about any given ride, pictures, make suggestions, etc. I would like to see a club bulletin board soon so you can post items for sale.

6. When does this start? What better time then now? I have the shirts in a wide selection of sizes, but only a limited number of patches left.

7. What if I already purchased a shirt/patch from you earlier? Thank you for your purchase, but you are requested to register as a dues paying member.

For registration, go to http://www.goldcoastriders.com On the right side you will see a tab for Register. This will allow you to choose a login and password. Next, log-in and go to the “Pages” tab to purchase your membership and shirts or patches. We are still trying to work out some of the bugs ( I should get an email that you registered and size shirt). I will send you an email regarding when you can pick up your shirt/patch at the dealership cashier. If you don’t hear from me within a couple of days, please send me an email so I can chase down the order.

Looking forward to riding with you.

Members,

This past Sunday’s ride was perfect.  I know if you were not on your motorcycle, you didn’t want to hear that.

Anyway, perfect is not quite the right word to use.  There were some issues that arose that made this ride one to remember.

Members met at Rick Case Honda Powerhouse at 7:30am for the safety briefing.  6 Gold Wings, 2 VTXs, 1 ST-1300, and our token Harley Davidson (Kenny).  Doug Johnson took  the back door with his CB and we departed at 7:50am.

Our route took us west on Griffin Road to US 27 north.  The sky was a brilliant blue with temperatures in the middle 60’s.  Our ride through South Bay was uneventful, but just as we came upon John Stretch Park, John S. radioed he was having control problems.  Doug J. came along side and noticed an almost flat back tire.  We pulled into the park and diagnosed a hole in the center of the back tire.  Before you could complain, fellow member Cesar came to the rescue with a tire patch kit and battery inflator.  In less then 3 minutes he was pumping air back into the tire.

Now tire repairs on a motorcycle are not like a car’s.  John will have to replace the tire at his earliest opportunity.  But a quick repair like this allowed John to finish the day’s ride without having to wait for a tow truck.  We were soon on our way again after a quick stop at a gas station to top on John’s tire pressure.

At the stop, I informed the group that as we come over the bridge into Moore Haven, that I would be slowing to the posted speed of 35 mph.  This is a well known speed trap!  As we rode up the bridge and started slowing to the posted speed, a Honda Pilot blew by us.  The local police were waiting for him at the town’s entrance.  Guess my safety briefing paid off this time.  I would hate for the local police to pull the whole club over at one time.

We continued north on US 27 and turned left on State Road 29 South.  In one mile we turned right on Rural Road 74.  This takes you through nothing but cow pastures.  Plenty of cows and cow pies, not much else.  Be careful on this road, highway hypnosis can take control easily.

North on Hwy 31 towards Arcadia and a quick stop to top off the tanks before the last leg to Solomon’s Castle.  At his stop we changed our route slightly.  It was suggested to take Lily Road instead of the usual Route 661.  I am always up for a different route.  As we are going north on Lily Road, I notice what first appeared to be fog ahead.  How could this be fog?  It was so hot already and the sun was high in the sky.  Surprise Surprise Surprise!  The road came to an abrupt end because of construction.  We found ourselves on what use to be a road, except all the asphalt had been removed down to the hard pack white gravel.  Anyone behind me was instantly covered in a white dust on their clean motorcycles.  Sorry!  We road this bumpy rut filled road for about three miles before my GPS told us to turn left onto another dirt road.  After 100 yards, I realized it was a mistake and everybody was able to demonstrate their U-Turns in gravel.  What fun.

So we were back on the paved asphalt and only a mile from our destination.  Pulling into the parking lot Jeff Joffe was waiting for us.  He had driven down from Orlando to have lunch with us.  Jeff was one of the founding members of the Gold Coast Rider’s Club.  It was great seeing him again.

Lunch at the “Boat in the Moat” was good as expected.  We had two waitresses and the food was served promptly.  Remember, if you visit here, its cash only!

We passed on the dessert and chose to take in a small ice-cream parlor I had seen the previous year.  No one chose to do the Castle Tour and we were heading north from the castle and turning right onto Florida Cracker Trail.  (I don’t make these names up).  A turn north on Hwy 17 and I thought this place was right there.  Wrong!  About 10 miles later there it was; a BBQ place with ice-cream.  A big sign said “Trucker Welcome” so it had to be good.  With the heat of the day, a double scoop of fudge-vanilla in a waffle cone was just what I needed. 

Soon we were heading back down Hwy 17 to State Road 76 towards US 27.  You join up on US 27 south of Sebring, so this way you miss all the traffic lights.  Maybe next time we can just come up here and try the BBQ?

I returned to my house about 5:30pm.  I picked up my wife and headed over to Weston Town Center for a new Bike Night in the Town Center at the “Fresh Restaurant”.  This was a first night for this event and we wanted to show our support.  Set-up was running late and since I had worked the midnight shift before, we decided we would visit it another time.  Maybe next Sunday we can meet up there.  I hope my bike will be cleaned from the dust by then.

As rides go, this was a great ride.  We had some new riders who I hope will join us again.  You never know what we will experience.  Remember, it’s all about the ride and journey.  Hope you can join us!

Ride safe,

Greg Mathes

Gold Coast Rider’s Club

www.goldcoastriders.com