Biggs HOG Chapter) Booking Cutoff: 3/5/2019 ~ Cancellation Cutoff 3:00 Pm 3/15/2019
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HOG EXPRESS MARCH 2019 HOGHOG EXPRESSEXPRESS BIGGS CHAPTER #0270 NORTH SAN DIEGO COUNTY H.O.G. Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Research Ride NEXT CHAPTER MEETING Friday MARCH 8th 7:00 pm Biggs Harley-Davidson 1040 Los Vallecitos #113 San Marcos, CA 92069 (800) 4-Harley (800) 442-7539 biggshd.com Store Hours Tues - Sat 9am - 7pm Sun - Mon 10am - 6pm Greetings, Biggs HOG family. March is upon us, and unless the weatherman decides to change moods, we’re going to break last year’s number of total rainouts with ease - but it’s not like we can’t ride at all, like our sister chapters in the Midwest who go months in a row suffering from “PMS”… Parked Motorcycle Syndrome… every winter. So, let’s ride when we can, and enjoy the lower water bills when we can’t! Shifting gears, there is some sad news of which most of you already heard… but I would be remiss if I did not mention the passing of long time chapter member, Howard Burke, who succumbed to injuries suffered in a single vehicle accident while riding on his own in the De Luz area. I know I join all of you, as well as his brothers and sisters from the North County Indian Riding Group to which he also belonged, in passing along our thoughts, prayers, condolences and sympathy to Howard’s family. No one likes losing one of our own, but doing what we do, no matter how safely, carries a risk… a fact we all know and acknowledge every time we fire up our bikes. But, I have no doubt that Howard would want us to keep doing what we all love, and that’s riding. And so ride we shall, and if you give a little thought his way the next time you saddle up, I’m sure he’ll know about it. On the other end of the news spectrum, the good news department, as anyone who was at the February chapter meeting is aware… we won National HOG’s 2018 mileage contest, RIDE 365! There were a few technical hiccups on the road to this win, but you all stuck with it and kept turning your mileage numbers in – and kept doing what we do… ride… and it paid off with a great big W. The contest was done regionally, so as to allow for chapters that have longer or shorter riding seasons, and was tallied in two categories: total miles, and average miles per participant in the contest. Being in the Western Region of NHOG, where riding goes on pretty much all year long, we had some stiff competition – but we won the title for average miles per participant. That is something no one can ever take away from us, and it’s all on you guys for being the best, riding-ist (is that a word?) chapter anywhere! Awesome job, Biggs HOG!!! So, what’s next? What else do we have on tap in the coming months? Let’s see… There’s a hockey game to ride to, a baseball game to ride to, an overnighter to ride on, and LDT to ride on, and (weather permitting) a whole bunch of other fun local rides to take in. Sensing a theme here? If you like to ride, you joined the right chapter! Speaking of the hockey game, we are a little past halfway to our goal of 50 tickets sold, and we have until through the March chapter meeting to get there. I’d be worried, but it was pretty similar last year, and we hit the magic number plus one. Why 50? Three words: Zam. Bo. Ni. Actually, it’s one word, but if we sell 50 tickets or more, one lucky member will get to ride the Zamboni during the first intermission – something that’s a fantasy of just about every hockey fan on the planet. So let’s do this thing, and get a different kind of bragging rights – to my knowledge, none of the other local chapters have ever done this, so let’s go for two years in a row and keep the other guys in our rear view mirrors! So, what say you, Biggs HOG? Are you ready? It’s that time. Saddle up… Let’s Ride!! Bob G 3 Asst. Director... To heck with Punxsutawney Phil, early spring – not exactly! The Sierra Nevada snowpack has now reached 141 Percent of its seasonal average and is already above its April 1 benchmark, which is considered the end of the California rainy season. So that’s good news for us with regard to the drought. The bad news is that we have already had a record amount of ride cancellations and if you’re like me you’re itching to get that bike on the road! Well, not to worry. In just a couple of weeks we will start our 2019 Long Distance Rides with our Victorville Overnighter. This will be closely followed by our trip to Death Valley, the first of four multi-day long distance trips. Have you made your reservations yet? I love our long distance rides and not just for the destinations but also for the chance to bond with fellow chapter members. With the bikes on the jiffy stand for the night I enjoy sitting around with a beer or bourbon (or both) and listening to, and telling stories. Congratulations to everybody that participated in last year’s Ride 365 Challenge. This serves to prove that Biggs HOG is the chapter that rides the most in the West! But we already knew that. And honestly, we don’t need to prove that to anyone. So thanks for telling us something we already knew. See you on the ride! Scott N Celebrating Dave’s (Quip) 100th Chapter Ride! Mike’s 300th Chapter Ride! 4 DEALER NEWS... Check us out at www.facebook.com/biggsharley www.instagram.com/biggsharley or www.twitter.com/biggsharley For more info, email [email protected] or visit. The Staff at Biggs H-D 5 Military Liasion... The ride with 3D Assault Amphibian Battalion that we teased about last month happened February 8, and was a great success. We had a total of 24 bikes. The ride was a nice, 105-mile loop from Camp Pendleton up to Richie’s in Murrieta for lunch, and then back to Camp Pendleton. I guarantee that we will be doing this again, so please consider joining us. The battalion chaplain, Chaplain B, had to go on emergency leave to be with his mother and therefore missed the ride. We all wish the very best to the chaplain and his mother. In the meantime, Jensen R, aka MGySgt R, filled in and helped make the day a success. One minor issue that I had with our ride, and it involved the lunch. As I’ve aged, I really have to watch what I eat. I love hamburgers, fries, and shakes as much as the next guy, but I usually try to stick to salads or some other light option. It is kind of disheartening to look around from my rabbit-food meal, with dressing on the side, and see a bunch of young Marines and Sailors pounding down those delicious burgers, fries and shakes without a care in the world. I swear that if you listen closely, you can actually hear their bodies metabolizing all of that food. Grrrrrr!! Don “Agent 86” Adams - Military Liasion Ken F - Assistant Liason 6 Road Captain... Our road guard in training (RGIT) season is officially underway. Mike M, John S, Joel K, and Ken W have already endured, er, enjoyed two of three classroom sessions covering our manuals and some of our road guard methods and techniques. Within a couple of weeks you will start to see them riding for signatures. And these signatures aren’t merely autographs. When RGITs ride for signature, they must perform up to a certain level, and be ready to discuss and critique their performance, or risk having the supervising road guard decline to sign their book. Ouch! And by the way, you may see a RGIT offering some cookies or other delights to the road guards when asking for a signature. Please be assured that you are not witnessing bribery. That would be wrong. What you are witnessing are genuine expressions of friendship between road guards and RGITs. Nothing more. Let’s shift gears and talk about waivers. If you, or your guest have not renewed your Biggs H.O.G. local membership, you must sign a waiver for each ride. Kind of a nuisance, right? You know where I’m going with this? Here’s the solution: Simply renew your membership! And while you are waiting for your membership renewal to process, you can save us all a bunch of time by downloading the appropriate waiver from our website and bringing it to the ride all filled out. Easy. At last month’s meeting we presented Mike L with his third 100-ride pin. That represents a lot of tires and oil changes. Way to go, Mike! See you on the road! Don “Agent 86” A - Road Captain Joe C - Asst. Road Captain Volunteers... Thank you Biggs Volunteers!! We have had some great events and opportunities to volunteer already this year. Recently, some of us were lucky enough to serve those that are serving us by assisting in a short classroom instruction from our own Don Adams, followed by a beautiful ride to Richie’s and back to the base. Here are the young Marines practicing our formations.