From the Rider’s
Seat
By Roy Hooper
I
dedicate this issue to my wonderful Dad
who passed
away on Dec. 19 in Simi at 9pm at age 83 of heart failure.
He is the first one to pass away in our large family-
30 people- so we've been very fortunate. Our family
spent all
day Friday at his bedside and I had to leave at 6pm.
You can view a video of my Dad playing guitar.
Here is his obituary. |
Our
Club had a lot of activities in November and December.
In November we rode up Angeles Crest Highway and stopped at
Newcomb's Ranch for lunch. Even though it was a bit chilly up
 there at 5,000 feet
the place was packed and our male waiter did
a very good job of serving our large group. He wasn't perfect
but
he sure did try his hardest and he's doing something that a lot of us,
including me, would not want to do
for a living. You can read
more
about this ride in Carla's story below.
Then in December we went to the always rewarding Bikers for Christ
Toy Run which started in Simi. For next year I have this toy
ride
and the Santa Barbara toy ride listed on our Ride Calendar and this way
you can chose how many toy rides you want to go on.
I plan
on going to both.
Our December Club ride took us along the Santa Barbara
Tea Garden fire where we saw many burnt homes. This
devastating fire was started by a warmth fire in the Tea Garden.
2 nights before the fire ignited a group of SBCC students thought
they had extinguished the fire but when the Santa Ana winds
whipped up and restarted the warmth fire the embers
went on their way and started the damage. Bill Muneio mapped
out this ride and led us too. The pace was slow so we could
see the
all the damage and this was a perfect ride for cruisers.
And the following weekend was our Holiday Party hosted
by Suzana and Tim in Canyon Country where I was presented with
$350 . You can read all about it in this newsletter.
Don't forget to stop by our 2009 Ride
Calendar so you can plan
out your 2009 weekends. And we have two 3 day rides like
many of you requested so if you plan on going you might want to
book your rooms asap. Bill's ride to Mammoth, Yosemite and
Pacific Grove is coming up soon and it will cover some nice
scenery.
September's 3 dayer to Big Bear is going to be a lot of fun as
well and Suzana is putting that one together.
On April 17-18-19 Ventura-based
Rider
Magazine is celebrating
its
35 anniversary with
a rally at the Ventura County Fairgrounds and this will be huge.
There will be
demo rides, vendors and many more events.
Click
here for the Editor's article about the rally.
Rider has been my favorite MC magazine since
1980 and I will participate.
POSTPONED
Bill
Muneio from Santa Barbara is our new Ride Coordinator
and he has helped me tremendously and that in turn has
helped the Club. So the next time you see him please thank
him and let's all encourage him.
CCR
Club Shirts
 
Be sure to
order
your warm
Club shirt online. |
Group Riding Video
I have run across a video by MSF that demos how to group ride.
I
would love everyone to view this so we can all be on the same page and
it will explain why I do certain things on the rides.
View
video here.
|
We
are always looking for volunteers to write
about
our rides. No experience necessary.
|
November Ride
Newcomb's Ranch
By Carla
The club met first in Ventura with a
second
pickup point in Simi
Valley. The turnout was high with app. 17 bikes. Everything from the
customary FJRs to our new sporty friends and a few standby cruisers,
including Larry on his beautiful Harley. We also met up with Norm
Sakamoto at the bottom of Angeles Crest.
As we proceeded up the mountain we
encountered a
wreck ......this
looked like a mini van that blew the turn. Luckily there were no
motorcycles involved!
The group continued on to the restaurant
for
lunch. When we
arrived at the top it was quite cold. There was a feeling and the smell
of snow in the air.
Lunch at Newcomb's was OK and most of us
were
able to sit at one long table with Bill presiding at the head.
Out in the parking lot we
examined a
one of a kind sport bike. The
paintwork was best described as Thrashed Camo, [Ed note-Camo
refers to camouflage] with the front master
cylinder held on with tie wraps! Must be great to never have to wash
your bike or be afraid to drop it!
Bill led the main group over Big Tujunga
with
Joe leading the crazies.
Fun was had for all at their own pace. It
was a
successful. safe and enjoyable ride
See everyone next time and until then be
sure to
keep the shiny side up!
View Suzana's
photos.
CCR
Dec. 13 Ride
Ventura County Toy Ride
Story and Photo By Suzana
Very
cold and rainy morning in Canyon Country! Who wants to get
out of a nice, warm bed to go
riding on a day like this? Even though the bed was warm and
comfortable, there was a more warming feeling taking
over—helping those
children who were counting on us to come…Roy, as always has
come up
with a great ride that was not only for a worthwhile cause, but also
spiritually uplifting and fulfilling. The Toy Run was
sponsored by
“Bikers for Christ,” who organized the event;
they’ve been doing this
for a while. No matter what religious view you hold (if any at all) you
can’t deny that this was a good cause.
The following club members
participated in the ride: Teresa, Daniel, Rick Bell, Neil
Ingram, Ron,
Larry M. and son Shawn, Roy, George and of course me - Suzana the
writer
of this letter. All of us were very proud to take part in
such a
worthy cause. I have been riding for different charities for
years,
but “Bikers for Christ” activities are among the
better organized
events. Sweepers were at each intersection, ensuring that our
groups
stayed safe and stayed together.
Even
though George and I were on sport bikes we were not made to feel as
though we didn’t belong, but rather were embraced by all of
the Harley
riders. Shockingly, even I, with my personalized license
plate:
“DVLGRL1” was not banished by the church-going
crowd.
Most likely
they just prayed for my soul (I no doubt need that ; )
). Roy
was pleased
to take me to the multipurpose room where the children went around and
picked up two toys each. The best part of the ride was seeing
their
big eyes and happy faces full of surprise and excitement.
I have
always known that Roy is a wonderful, courteous, gentle, sweet, and
compassionate man, but I was reminded of all of this when I watched him
help a little girl find a specific toy for her baby brother.
The girl
was about 12 years old and she looked intensely for a stuffed car
toy.
She couldn’t find it and Roy instructed her where to look,
but
she
still had trouble finding it. Roy didn’t mind
leaving the comfort of
his chair and helped the little girl find the toy. Watching
him warmed
my heart as he is such a “wonderful
soul.” We are all lucky and should
be proud to have Roy as our leader.
View more of Suzana's
photos.
CCR
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Dec. 14 Club Ride
Santa Barbara Tea Garden Fire
Story
and Photo
By Suzana
This ride was led by our darling Bill. Before this ride, I
think
he still had “Leader training wheels” on, but now
he has
graduated to “Full-fledged ride Leader” and we are
all very
proud of him. I do have a concern that Bill, who appears
quiet
and shy is slowly “taking over” and
“dominating the
scene” so I am thinking how to stop him from
“over-shadowing” the rest of us. ; )
The following club members participated in this ride: Carla,
Jeff
Lardner, Jerry Purdy, Richard Sweet, Bill, Roy, George and me - Suzana
the writer of this newsletter. As Bill led us on Rt. 192 and
East Mountain Road I
looked
around at the beauty and thought: “Now I know why people like
to
live in Santa Barbara.” Where else can one see all
kinds of
beautiful flowers and plants in full bloom in the middle of
December? The surroundings were majestic and very seductive
to
the eye. I was taken in by the sights, sounds and even smells
all
around me. I became envious of those who live in such a
wonderful
place…
However
strong my desire to live in Santa Barbara, it evaporated as Bill led us
to the devastated “Tea Garden” fire area.
My heart
just sunk. I felt the pain of the people who lost their safe
haven - their most valued
property - their homes. It was very
hard seeing the ruins that were devoured by that merciless
fire.
Some lost everything, but as I looked around I saw some beautiful homes
which sustained fire damage to the lawns only, but the houses were
still intact. I thought how those people must have been relieved and
very grateful their houses were spared. The residents showed
their appreciation for the hard work of the firefighters on big
“home-made” signs saying “Thank
you.”
After visiting the devastated part of Santa Barbara we rode to Burro
Beach where we took some photos and enjoyed brunch. From
there,
people “broke off” and most went home.
The four
“last musketeers:” Carla, Roy, George and I made a
last
stop in Carpenteria for something sweet and to hold a
“bonding
session,” after which we all went home.
View more of Suzana's
photos.
CCR
Dec. 20 Holiday Party
Hosted by Suzana and Tim
By
Roy Hooper
Without being asked, Suzana of Canyon
Country and who is one of
our newest Members offered her home for our Holiday Party where
she and her husband Tim did a wonderful job. The decorations
and the food which was mostly cooked by Chef Tim all made
for a great time. The dessert cake was baked by Suzana and
topped with Tim's frosting but it was so big that even though all
of us had a piece it looked like no one touched it. This led
Suzana to repeatedly ask "What's wrong with my cake?
What's wrong with my cake???"
So thanks for Tim's cooking and for all the food that the
Members brought- no one left hungry!
 |
Standing left to right-
Jerry Purdy, George Crespo, Jeff Johnson, Roy.
Sitting left to right-
Joe, Mieko, Mariam,
Rick, Jeff Roe, Suzana,
Jennifer, Bill. |
We then played the gift exchange game which was a lot of fun
and there were no fights over all the good gifts. Personally I
think Bill Muneio's girlfriend Jennifer got the best gift which
was alcohol-filled chocolate bottles. Jennifer was very kind
to share her gift with us for drinking later at home.
Thank you Jennifer.
During the Party, the group surprised me when Bill presented
me with a cool homemade "Thank You" card which included
3 new and crispy one hundred dollar bills and 1 fifty dollar bill.
They said this was to thank me for all I do for the Club and I
replied by saying thank you and that it's the Members that I
do it for and that keeps me going.
No one would tell me who started this gift idea but I have found
out that Bill initiated it and that Carla had thought about also
doing this earlier in the year. And 2 years ago Carla did a
similar thing when she collected $400 from our gracious
Members so I could buy the Corbin Smuggler for my FJR which
was $700. When I went to order this at Cal Coast Motorsports
the balance of $300 was contributed by Club
and Cal Coast Motorsports owner Craig Adams.
I want to thank all of you who were able to help out with
my surprise gift. These are the names that are listed on the
card-
Bill Muneio; Carla; George Robinson ; John and June ; Louis
Vanderveen
; Marty Cohen ; Suzana ; Rick Bell ; Michael
Hoover ; George Crespo ; Eric Grabowski ; Jeff Roe ; Jeffrey Lardner ;
Norm Sakamoto ; Jeff Olmstead ; Jerry Purdy ;
THANK YOU!
This club means a lot to me. I built it from its very
beginning so it
is like my baby and on Jan. 1 it will be 5 years old! And
people
like
you are part of this loving and caring family.
View more of Suzana's
party photos.
CCR
*************
One of the things that makes our Club fun is the different
personalities. On a recent ride, each time we stopped
at least 3 riders would pop out their cameras and start
shooting away. When Suzana started to take one of
Alison she quickly put her arms up and jokingly said
"Enough with the cameras!" So during our Holiday Party
we thought we would take a photo just for Alison. See below.
Photo above taken by Suzana.
Photo
above taken by Tim Jones
CCR
HAPPY NEW
YEAR EVERYONE!!!
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