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December, 2013December, 2013December, 2013December, 2013December, 2013December, 2013December, 2013December, 2013December, 2013December, 2013December, 2013December, 2013————————————January, 2014January, 2014January, 2014January, 2014January, 2014January, 2014January, 2014January, 2014January, 2014January, 2014January, 2014January, 2014

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What’s Inside How We Spent Our Summer(Con’t)2 Rocky Mountain Air Show 2013.... 3 News & Notices ....................................... 4 Meetings Information.......................... 4 Classifieds.................................................. 5 Calgary Area Team Listing............... 5 Meeting Events........................................ 6 Meeting Winners..................................... 7 Rocky Mountain Air Show(Con’t).. 8

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T wo months ago, I provided a sum-mary of summer weekend trips for Wing Wag. It ended with “This might be it for the year. Maybe one

more? We will see.” As it turns out there was one more. Mark Murray and I were musing about how it would be nice to have our bikes available down south for the winter in case of Sea-sonal Affective Disorder…of the type that can be cured by a motorcycle ride in the warmth. Hummm. Did you know that stor-age lockers are plentiful in Phoenix, and that a 10x10 can be had for $70/month? Really! How far is it? How long would it take to ride

the bikes down there? Straight down Inter-state 15, or via Denver? Haven’t been to

Denver in a while. Isn’t that close to Inde-pendence Pass? Hey, did you know that Denver is just over 1,000 miles…the same distance as required to complete an Iron Butt SaddleSore 1000 ride? What’s that? Well, you do 1,000 miles in 24 hours and you can join the cool-kid club, and have a license plate holder that ad-vertises your accomplishment. Oh. And if we did that, we’d ride over Independence Pass, through Aspen to Durango Colorado, and then maybe ride past the Grand Can-yon? Something like that. So, on the Friday before the Canadian

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Text by Gord Stevenson

Wing Wag December, 2013—January, 2014 Page 2

Thanksgiving weekend, we worked until noon, jumped on the packed bikes already parked in the parkade downstairs, and went to the official starting point…a PetroCan gas station near the Grey Eagle casino. Janice, Mark’s better half, met us there to sign the witness forms, and with a gas receipt time stamped 13:38pm we were off. Snow in the fields by High River caused some comment but we persevered reaching the border (Sweetgrass) at “approximately” 17:09, Great Falls at 19:25 and Billings at 23:14. After gassing up, we checked into a hotel at 23:45 for 4 hours of sleep, departing at 04:30 and reaching Denver at 13:11. Yes! We made it! 1,000 miles in under 24 hours! The last hour into Billings and the first few hours af-ter leaving Billings were a tad chilly, but other than that it was at or above the freez-ing mark with very little wind. I had a heated jacket liner, Mark had a heated vest, and we both had a few layers on, so it was cold but manageable. The plan was that we would take the rest of the day off to rest up, and then ride over In-dependence Pass the next day (Sunday), but it had snowed up there a few days earlier, and temperatures were only slightly above the freezing point. Hummm. Do we really want to do that? What happens if we go south first…down to Albuquerque…and then over to Phoenix? That could work. Wouldn’t it be nice to be a little warmer? Let’s have a look at that. Hummm. Albuquerque is just about 500 miles from Denver. What’s the second level of achievement with Iron Butt? A Bun Burner 1500 is 1,500 miles in 36 hours. What time is it? What are you do-ing right now? So, at 14:30 we jumped back on the bikes and left for Albuquerque. OK, that was a bit painful given 4 hours sleep and having worked half a day before leaving…but we made it! We arrived in Albuquerque at 22:40 and stopped for a refreshment and to as-sess. Looking at distances, contingency was a little thin and we did not want to miss the

1,500 mile achievement by 10 miles…so we got back on the bikes and drove to Los Lu-nas, NM, the next town south of Albuquer-que to get our final gas receipt and witness signatures at 23:58. 1,612 miles according to my odometer or 1,629 according to Mark’s. 1,576 miles is the optimal route ac-cording to Microsoft Streets and Trips. There were a couple of interesting notes given that we travelled the exact same route at exactly the same time and in the same conditions. Our odometers and speedome-ters were very close. Mark’s was slightly higher/faster, but within 1%. Despite my use of a Michelin Alpin PA3 car tire our gas mile-age was 0.2 MPG different over the whole distance. 34.3 MPG overall, with the 04:30 – 08:30 stretch from Billings climbing into the wilds of Wyoming being the worst at 32.5 MPG. Coincidentally that was also the stretch with our fastest average speed…and oh yes, and Mark was leading. The next day (Sunday), we rode over to Saf-ford, Arizona, just over the state border and well positioned at the base of Highway 191, previously called Highway 666 – The Devil’s Highway. Monday we travelled up 191, through Show Low, and west to Phoe-nix. Highway 191 is fabulous. It starts at something like 3,000 feet and climbs to about 9,000 feet. 80 miles of twisting and turning. Spectacular. After a few days of riding around Phoenix, we locked up the bikes in a storage locker near the Phoenix airport, and flew home. What a fun way to end a season. Oh wait…the season doesn’t really end, does it?

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Wing Wag December, 2013—January, 2014 Page 3

A ir shows are really cool; you get to see many different types of air-planes and how the skilled pilots can push their planes to the limit.

Getting involved with the Rocky Mountain Air Show was really just by chance. One boring snowy day I was on the computer looking up future rides for the summer. Tail of the Dragon looked pretty cool and a lot of riders have talked to me about their experience on it. Sounds like fun! Hell Yea! Problem is it’s too far for a weekend trip. Well how about British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, or Montana. As one web page leads you to an-other and another, I came across ‘Race on the base’ at Cold lake Alberta. Wow, this looks cool. In the past they’ve had souped-up cars racing against each other, tank dem-onstrations, helicopter performances and of course different types of jet fighters. Well after a couple of emails to the base and the local paper I received no responses. Their web page was out of date and no further races planned in the near future. Okay, now I’ve got interested in the air show stuff so I started checking into other air shows. Lethbridge, Airdrie, Rocky Mountain House. Hey Rocky Mountain House! Now there’s a very beautiful drive there and back and also the possibility of continuing on to do the Saskatchewan crossing and down to Lake Louise. OK, I’ve picked the location, now to get in contact with someone. Their web page was very easy to do this. I clicked on the “contact us” and wrote a short note about the show and maybe getting pictures of a bunch of Gold Wing bikes with various planes in the background. Jackpot! I re-ceived a response from Rob Ironside the president of the air show. He was very inter-ested in getting photos of bikes and planes together and being the president and main photographer, he was certainly the right guy

to be working the details with. So after some emails back and forth Janine and I took a car ride up to Red Deer to meet Rob. We had a great visit and Rob told us they needed volunteers, so I said I would bring this up at the next Gold Wing meeting and see what kind of a response we get. Suddenly I realized a big problem, the show is on a Wednesday, July 23rd. Rats! Right in the middle of a work week and it was set to start later in the day and end around 8:30pm. Needless to say the response from the GWRRA membership was not very great for volunteers or attendees. As it turns out I decided to take the Tuesday and Wednesday off and have a mini midweek vacation. My son Justin decided to join me and follow me out on our Yamaha FJR 1300. Turns out on Tuesday the 22nd Justin had to write an entrance exam for Mount Royal Uni-versity so he would have to take a car up and meet me later in the day. He only had his learner’s motorcycle license so he couldn’t come up on the FJR. So Tuesday morning I headed out to Red Deer on my way to Rocky Mountain House. It was a beautiful sunny day, 19C, no wind and very light traffic. When I arrived I checked into my hotel and then met up with Rob and just a couple hours later Justin joined us. We went to work moving chairs and tables and doing various odd jobs around the hangers at the airfield. Various planes were landing and taking off to practice their stunts so we got a bit of a pre-show. I got to meet Stunt Pilot Dave Mathieson who’s mom had voted him

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Text and Photos by: James & Janine Tremblay

Wing Wag December, 2013—January, 2014 Page 4

Monthly Meetings Monthly meetings are held on the 2nd Monday of each month. This is a time to share informa-tion and to meet old and new friends who like to ride together for FUN, Safety and Knowledge. See you at the next meeting at the Fox Hollow Golf Club, 9th Street and 32nd Avenue N.E. Dinner @ 6:30; Meeting at 7:00 PM.

Rain, snow, or shine, we meet for breakfast every Sunday morning about 9 AM. This is a great year round way to stay in touch with your GWRRA friends. So, if you have missed the op-portunity to join us for breakfast recently, why don’t you come on over to the Fox Hollow Golf Club, 9th Street and 32nd Avenue N.E.

MEETING SCHEDULE

DAY/DATE

January 13 -------- January Monthly Meeting February 10------- February Monthly Meeting

“Friends for Fun, Safety, and Knowledge”

Come ride with us.… …..Everyone Welcome!

For the latest updates on what we are doing and where we’re going,

check out our website:

www.goldwingcalgary.com

Greeting Cards: If you know of any member, their spouse, or immediate family who would appreci-ate receiving a greeting card from our Chapter please contact Judy Istvan, email address judy.istvan @ nucleus.com. Judy will arrange to send the appropriate card on behalf of the Calgary Chapter.

Veterans Food Bank: Please remember the men and women who committed themselves to ensure the freedoms that all Canadians enjoy every day of our lives. Bring your non-perishable food items or monetary contributions to the Monthly Chapter Meetings and help support the Veteran's Food Bank. Thank you to all who choose to support this worthwhile cause.

2013 Mileage: It is time once again to send your 2013 ending mileage to Lisa Miller at wingwag @ telus.net. To be included in the high mileage count, please submit your mileage before the end of the day on January 31, 2014.

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CALGARY AREA STAFF Chapter Director Ron Syroishka (403) 256-0912 Chapter director @ goldwing calgary.com

Assistant Gary & Susan Premech (403) 238-8478 Chapter Directors assistant chapter director @ goldwing calgary.com

Quartermaster Barry Lammle (403) 938-2287 quartermaster @ goldwing calgary.com

Newsletter Editor Lisa Miller (403) 288-0845 editor @ goldwing calgary.com

Treasurer Eric Roberts (403) 256-7683 treasurer @ goldwing calgary.com

Ride Coordinator Vacant (???) ???-???? ride coordinator @ goldwing calgary.com

Rider Educator Kim Coubrough (403) 912-9116 rider education @ goldwing calgary.com

Rider Course Terry Burrill (403) 333-9914 Instructor rci @ goldwing calgary.com

Special Events ??? (???) ???-???? Coordinator specialevents @ goldwing calgary.com

Webmaster Bill Haggerty (250) 493-0153 webmaster @ goldwing calgary.com Membership Tracy Boyda (403) 279-0383 Enhancement mec @ goldwing calgary.com Coordinator

Classified AdsClassified AdsClassified AdsClassified Ads The Classified ads are free to all members and associates of the GWRRA. While advertised items do not have to be Gold Wing related, we do insist that all ads pertain to motorcy-cling. Ads will appear on a space available basis for one month. Should you wish to continue to run your ad for a sec-ond or succeeding month, you must resubmit or renew your ad. Deadline for submission is the 25th of the month pre-ceding publication. To post an ad or if the item is sold or the offer withdrawn, please contact Lisa Miller at: editor @ gold-wing calgary.com

GWRRA TOLL FREE NUMBER (CANADA & US) 1-800-843-9460

NATIONAL LEADERS Executive Director Jere & Linda Goodman (???) ???-???? Asst Natl Director Rider Ed Milt Sorensen (403) 346-0756

Region J Directors John & Leslie Waite (604) 628-6657 District Directors Vacant

NOTE: Email addresses in this publication are displayed in a manner that will deter automatic address harvesting programs. This step is taken to reduce unsolicited email to any email ad-dresses we post. We regret any inconvenience caused for our legitimate visitors. REMOVE ALL THE SPACES IN THE EMAIL ADDRESS TO MAKE IT WORK.

Wing Wag December, 2013—January, 2014 Page 6

Congratulations to Brian Goddard who received his Rider Education Levels 2 and 3 patches.

Gary and Susan Premech were sworn in as the new Chapter Directors.

∗ Harley and Sharon Sanders received a recognition award for their work putting together and publishing the chapter’s photo directory. They were not at the meeting so their award was to be presented to them at the Christmas party.

∗ A cheque in the amount of $425 has been sent by the chapter to the Veterans Food Bank.

Wing Wag December, 2013—January, 2014 Page 7

NovemberNovemberNovemberNovember 50/50 Winner50/50 Winner50/50 Winner50/50 Winner

Alex MiddletonAlex MiddletonAlex MiddletonAlex Middleton

Susan Premech won the door prize of his and hers water bottles.

Phil Poirier won the door prize of a men’s fleece jackets.

Wing Wag December, 2013—January, 2014 Page 8

number 1. A CF-18 with the new paint scheme came roaring by for a few passes then landed…my dream toy.

Later in the evening a fantastic buffet style supper was set up for all the volunteers by a local catering company. Justin and I mo-seyed around and visited before we sat down with the chief of the fire department. We had a great conversation about safety and different emergency situations. They loved Justin’s quick wit and sense of humor and ask me how I could handle it on the way here…did I mention we came out in separate vehicles? After dinner everyone went outside to watch a private air show just for the volunteers. Watching the various stunt planes was cool but I especially enjoyed watching the CF-18 do his stunts. There was also a water

bomber who did a fly by with a small jet plane that is equipped with a siren that passes over the drop site area 1st with it’s si-ren blaring away to warn fire fighters on the ground that the big payload of water is about to be dropped. When the water is dropped there is enough force to knock down trees and blanket a large area of fire. You might have seen it on TV but when you see it in person it’s pretty amazing.

As our private performance continued the night grew dark there was a huge thunder/lighting storm that was approaching. There were lightning strikes and flashes that made people wonder if the air show could go on Wednesday. The lightening to the west was awesome but the light show from the ultra-light was even better. The pilot had been working on his ultra-light all day attaching flares and fireworks to various parts of his plane. When he flew this compact unit it was like watching a flock of birds flying in unison with sparklers on their wings. After that per-formance everyone headed home for the night to get rested for the big day. Justin followed me back to the south end of town to our hotel and I thought he was flashing me with his headlights but that was the lightning storm from the west now just about on top of us.

�Editor’s Note: The remainder of this article will be printed in the February Edition of Wing Wag.

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