The new norm
Contents
Welcome
Monthly Recap
Monthly Pictures
Upcoming Events (2 months)
Members Birthday’s
Meet & Greet Update, (Portland, BC, & Seattle)
Club Business
Reader’s Corner
Day Rides
The latest news regarding rider skill enhancement classes
Officer Reports
The BRMC 2020 Calendar of Events
Non BRMC Motorcycle Events
Request for pictures & closing comments.
Welcome
Border Riders Motorcycle Club (BRMC) is an organized group of guys who like to ride and camp. Our membership spans the Pacific Northwest, with the greatest participation in Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver B.C. We have one of the largest memberships of gay clubs in North America. We welcome like-minded guests to come meet us at our monthly Meet & Greets and to join us at one of our club events and our local activities.
Check out our website. We are very proud of it. www.borderriders.com
Monthly Recap (April)
Dark times have descended as another month has come and gone with events being cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown and isolation orders. New norms of social isolation, limited contacts, and face masks when out and about. Not to be taken lightly, I’m sure that there isn’t one of us that has not been impacted in some way or another. I, myself, know of close friends who have contracted the virus… and have recovered. Having said that, I’ve learned that another has died, and he was the epitome of athletic health. Don’t get sloppy… be safe, be healthy.
On the positive side, the weather has been improving and many of us have taken advantage for solo and small group rides. We remain hopeful that we will be able to all get together again this summer for a ride/camping adventure. Keep safe, your battery charged, and the rubber side down.
This month the club held our first virtual meeting using the ZOOM conferencing tool. It was a blast! Don W set this up for us and provided a slideshow of old club photos he’s collected while we bantered about all things. We hope participation in this venue continues to build in our club for the times ahead that we still will not be able to get together live and in person.
Dave J
Monthly Gallery
Photos from members and guests from last month’s rides and adventures.
Kas, Stan & Alan up for a frosty ride in the mountains.
Chris gets a new hairdo
Stan, Alan, Blue with friends out for a ride up the Clackamas River.
Don & Jorge out kayaking with puffy white clouds
Member Tom C helping Charter Member John M with a haircut.
Upcoming Events
May
Saturday 5/2 - Day Rides. Watch our F.B. Page for regional details. Canceled
Wednesday 5/6 - Portland Meet & Greet @ the Eagle from 7 to 8 pm. Canceled
Wednesday 5/13 - BC Meet & Greet @ the Met Hotel New Westminster 4 to 6 pm. Canceled
Thursday 5/14 to Monday 5/18 - 51st Annual Victoria Day Weekend Run & Camp-out @ Pine Flats Campground, WA. Canceled
Wednesday 5/20 - Seattle Meet & Greet @ the Cuff from 7 to 8 pm. Canceled
I HATE YOU COVID-19
June
June 6th - BRMC Day Ride. Portland & Seattle agree to meet in Raymond for lunch. Watch our Face-Book page for the most current details.
June 14th - BRMC rides in the Portland Pride Parade - Canceled / May happen later in the year.
June 26th thru 28th - No Camp out
June 27th - BRMC Booth at Capitol Hill Pride Festival in Seattle, WA Canceled
June 28th - BRMC rides in the Seattle Pride Parade Going Virtual / Canceled
Upcoming Birthdays
We have 4 members that have a birthdays in May. Take and moment and wish them a great day!
Roy S - May 4th
Kas C - May 11th
Jeff C - May 16th
Michael C - May 27th
Meet & Greets
Due to Covid-19, Portland did not hold the monthly M&G in April.
BC M&G ……..
The Seattle Meet and Greet in March was one of the first of many things to be cancelled by Covid-19. April is already cancelled on our end, Looking forward to things being better in May.
Club Business
At this time we are unsure of club events for the summer. Last month the club’s board made the difficult decision to cancel Victoria Day in May. It is now looking like we won’t be able to have a club camp out until at July. On May 1st, the Oregon governing announced that the stay at home order and shut down will continue until July 6th. In Washington, the governor has announced a four phase plan to return to normal. Phase 1 begins on May 5 and each phase is expected to last a minimum of three weeks. Phase 3 finally allows for groups of more than 5 and up to 50 people to gather. This will put us into July before we can have a club function. At this time the board has begun the initial plans to host a Festival Camp-out at Jeff C & Tim M’s Gentleman’s Ranch near Mt Vernon. This will be like a mini-Victoria Day Weekend. The board would like to do something a little special rather than just a regular camp out to celebrate our finally being able to get together again, whenever that happens.
Reader’s Corner
A place for you, the reader, member or guest, to contribute.
Tell us about your travels, adventures, mishaps, etc.
To contribute send your story & pictures to President@BorderRiders.com
Tom's Little Late Winter Ride to Oregon
Friday: Suquamish to Olympia to Portland to Corvallis
I knew we were going to be locked down in Washington State, but it hadn't happened yet. It was coming, you could feel it.
I wanted to get out for one last motorcycle weekend, and a previously arranged conference down in Corvallis had been cancelled, but the motel room hadn't been. I also wanted to road-test some new gear I'd mounted - HippoHands hand
protection, crashbars with forward footpegs, a Mustang aftermarket saddle and some additional fender extensions. So at noon on Friday in late March, I threw a few clothes in a bag and hopped on the new-to-me Honda NC700X, and took off southbound. I stopped and visited with Stan in West Linn for a few minutes, then continued south to Corvallis. It was a beautiful day, showing 66 degrees F in Chehalis, with a good forecast for the entire weekend, though it was dark when I rolled into Corvallis, and getting cold. Early spring in the Pacific Northwest!
The motel was right downtown, and pretty much deserted - everyone was being encouraged to stay home, but it wasn't yet law. My reservation was for Friday night and Saturday night. It was a cheap motel, but just fine. And heck, I was social-isolating - I was riding alone, staying alone, and looking forward to riding those quietly-great roads that climb and twist over the Coast Range between the Willamette Valley and the coast. This trip was all about riding, and not getting anywhere in particular.
Saturday: Corvallis to Philomath to Alsea to Waldport to Newport to Kernville to Siletz to Logsden to Corvallis
It was a chilly morning, and I took my time getting up, drinking lots of coffee, hoping the sun would warm things. And no restaurants open - they'd all been closed a few days before. I had gone into the convenience store where I fueled and got some nuts and crackers, so this wasn't going to be a 'foodie' trip - or so I thought. I rode through the deserted streets of Oregon State University - all schools were closed - then on the west side of town there was a food truck on a corner. It was serving Korean food, surprisingly, all take-out. Mom and an aunt were cooking, with the beautiful daughter taking money. I got a to-go dinner, tried it - great! and packed up the rest for lunch. I followed Oregon Route 34 south to Alsea, and stopped at an unexpected roadside pie place. The owner and I had a pleasant discussion about pie, but a couple pies had only just come out of the oven and were too hot to cut into slices, so I continued on my way thinking of home-made pie. Before that, I had diverted off at Alsea Summit onto the Mary's Peak Road, but got blocked by snow and ice near the top. One of the useful aspects of the NC700X and how it's set up is that dirt roads are no problem, and I was hoping to get some Vitamin DIRT - but had to turn around and continue on pavement.
In Waldport I found an overlook that was sunny and protected from the wind, and enjoyed the rest of that Korean food. What an unexpected treat! I rode north on Hwy 101, and explored the Newport waterfront, with plenty of tourists, surprisingly. In fact, all along Hwy 101 there was a lot of traffic and many folks on the beach, obviously not sheltering at home. But then, neither was I.
I rode north almost to Lincoln City, then turned inland onto Oregon Route 229 which scenically followed the Siletz River, and at Siletz the road got even narrower, then crossed the range eastbound, following the Portland and Western Railway tracks past several covered bridges, back to Corvallis. I stopped and picked up another couple Korean dinners - for dinner, and breakfast. The motel was nearly deserted, and with the university shut down it was a quiet evening in Corvallis.
Sunday: Corvallis to Wren to Dallas to Willamina to Hebo to Astoria to Raymond to Shelton to Suquamish
Korean food makes really good leftovers for Sunday breakfast, and fueled by more coffee, I enjoyed riding up the rural western side of the Willamette Valley on Oregon Route 223 up to Dallas, then across to Willamina. The roads north and west of Willamina got skinnier, then the pavement turned to gravel, then dirt forest roads. I was definitely getting my fill of Vitamin DRT as I crossed the
range through some Siuslaw National Forest logging roads, then followed the Siuslaw River down through hillbilly country to Hwy 101 north of Hebo. There was a fair amount of traffic - enough to make the news - and I did see the plywood sheets put up as signs by locals imploring people to go back home in hand-painted letters. I diverted off onto the Three Capes Road west of Tillamook, and got a taste of winter cold as we've always experienced on runs down there. The weather was predicted to deteriorate, and it was - windy, cold, occasionally some rain. The heated grips were great, and the HippoHands protective, but it was that cold that just seeps into you. It was a bit of a forced march up Hwy 101, across the Astoria bridge into Washington, where I just wanted to get home before dark. Late Sunday afternoon, with imminent lock down, meant little traffic, so I pushed it into the 80's and made good time up to Raymond and Montesano. I stopped at Bill Hoy's place in Shelton and stripped down in his carport to put on the last of my clothes - wool long underwear bottoms. I made it home just as it was getting dark. On Monday both Oregon and Washington went into lock down. It was a magnificent, solitary, and very satisfying trip!
Some video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ot3Vt9XzzxI
Day Rides
Portland’s May Day Ride - Canceled due to the Corona-virus.
BC’s Day Ride -
Seattle’s Day Ride - Cancelled due to the current situation.
For details about this month’s day ride, please visit our Facebook page and seek out details for your area.
Motorcycle Training Opportunities
One of the instructors showing Dale how the S curves are done!
NEW I spoke with Team OR on April 17th. They, and I expect this event to take place as scheduled. However, due to the shortened season and their backlog, This will be the only formal motorcycle class we can do in 2020. Registration opens on the BRMC web-site the weekend of May 16th.
For those of you who were not able to make it to the Advanced Motorcycle Training class we did as part of the Rally, not all is lost.
Team Oregon and I have worked out a deal whereby Team Oregon is going to bring the entire 8-hour class to Portland, and we just purchased the whole thing. No outsiders, just us.
To make the class less physically demanding, Team Oregon has agreed to break the (1) 8-hour class into (2) 4-hour classes. Both classes will happen the same weekend to make it easier on those who will travel into Portland to take the class. The classes will be held in North Portland on August 29th & 30th, 2020.
The 1st class will be held on August 29th from 12:30 to 5:30. This will be slow cornering, u-turns, and weaving. This is what you watch when you watch those police rodeos. I’d love to put together a team to challenge them someday.
The dreaded Cone Weave.
The 2nd class will be on Sunday, August 30th, from 8:30 am to 1:30 pm. Sunday will wrap up day 1 and move onto group riding and group parking. Yeah, finally we will be able to look like pros when we go out to dinner at the camp-outs.
There are 9 available spots for this class and all spots will go for $200 each. Registration for this event will only be available through the BRMC website. It’ll be just like any other BRMC event only with limited availability. There will be an announcement regarding registration at the meeting prior to any announcement in the newsletter. This will sell out fast so be ready to register as soon as it becomes available.
This class will be in additional to all the other events that will happen in 2020 including the camp out in August.
Also, due to the demand from Seattle and BC, I will try schedule a class of some type, likely a rider review class, to happen in the Seattle area earlier in the summer. I predict people from Portland & BC will converge on Seattle and I expect Seattle people to register en mass. The results, I expect this class in Seattle to fill up very fast as well. I will announce the date for this class in the same manner as I will the Advanced Motorcycle Training class.
BTW, these motorcycle training events I put together are normally not a BRMC sanctioned event. This is just me organizing these classes because I keep getting request for it, I love them, and I learn something every time I go.
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions about these motorcycle training opportunities, please send me an e-mail and let us chat. Treasurer@BorderRiders.com
From the Handlebars of the President
Now that shelter at home, social distancing and other terms have become part of our daily vernacular we are all looking forward to the time that we can all gather together again as a group of members and guests. We did have our first Zoom social meet-up for members this past month, it’s just not the same. There was no rumble of motorcycles to be heard.
We have had to cancel the kick off to our riding season, our annual Victoria Day Weekend Camp Out. We were going to be able to ride for the first time in the Seattle Pride Parade but that has been cancelled. And we are unsure of when we can actually have a camp out…..but we are still able to be a club and keep the camaraderie going. We still need to reach out to each other.
I have seen on Facebook that some of you have been getting out and getting some miles in. Tom provided a story of his weekend ride in Oregon the end of March just before things closed down. Please feel free to share your stories or experiences via the newsletter.
The CARES Act was passed and signed into law on March 27th. On April 3rd the Paycheck Protection Program rolled out through the Small Business Administration (SBA). The first round provided $349 billion dollars to small businesses and the second round provides an additional $310 billion. I have been putting in long hours at work. In round one my bank approve 1,191 loans for $290 million and so far in round two we have processed 1,051 applications and had 890 of those approved for another $130 million. That is a tremendous volume of loans. In a normal year my bank usually does around 20 loans. Not 2,000 loans in a month! As the SBA Loan Administrator for the bank I have been putting in lots of overtime. In fact in April I had 146 hours of overtime!
I hope that each of you are taking care of your self, staying home and staying healthy. I am looking forward to the time we can again gather as a club.
…… keep the shiny side up!
Vice President Chatter
Greetings Everyone- It was good to see some of you at the Virtual Social Hour on Saturday 4/18, it made me realize how much I miss being with the group.
It is unfortunate we have to cancel VD, I was looking forward to organizing the event for the year, maybe next year! That being said, I am hoping we can pull off a mini VD at Jeff’s house in June, I plan to support him with food and organizing the group to support cooking and clean up for the weekend.
Dan if we do get to gather at Jeff’s house in June, you will need to work with Jeff on the fire!
Anyways, I hope everyone is finding some peace with all what is happening in the world today and I look forward to seeing everyone soon.
Be well
Alan
2020 Vice President
Road Captain Rumblings
With current restrictions it is an amazing time to ride. When was the last time you were able to go through Fife at 70 MPH? Just keep the rides to essential trips - who says that grocery shopping on your bike isn’t essential if the only store that has an ingredient for that special recipe just happens to be 80 miles away? :)
We will continue to monitor changing restrictions and put together activities as things lift - likely a little different for a while. Maybe a few more day rides with people bringing their own food rather than a place to eat. Meet and greets which have been a good way for members to stay in contact may have to be at someone’s house rather than a bar with a small group, which they typically are. We will make it through this.
Stay healthy, and hoping to see you all soon.
Treasurer’s Ramblings
All our account balances are where I expect them to be.
Don’t forget to read about the upcoming training in 2020. Registration for this opens in May and it’ll be on a first come first served basis with limited space. Reserve early and secure your spot on the course.
If you have any question, comments, or suggestions about anything I am dealing with, please feel encouraged to contact me directly & let us chat.
Secretary Thoughts
Since I live alone, I’ve had plenty of time for reflection over the last month and a half. Granted, a lot of that time has been spent feeling lonely and missing the people I normally interact with. Eating out, having drinks with friends, and visiting with neighbors to name a few of the things on that list. And I have to admit that more than once the authoritative teacher in me has stopped me and told me to get off the “Pity Pot.”
Slowly but surely, I have been learning new ways of not being alone. The first and most obvious participants in that awakening were my two companions, Abby the dog, and Lilly the cat when they quarrel about who gets to sit on my lap. Another has been the experience of learning how to use Zoom, Facebook Live, and my iPhone for face to face communication. This started when my church began having services live streamed on Facebook Live. Since I am one of the ASL interpreters, I was one of the eight people allowed to participate while still observing “social distancing.” It is a good feeling to be able to interact with real people, but it sure feels empty when looking out at the pews. I have to keep telling myself to focus on the little lens on the camera, because that is where the people are. At times we have been observed by more than a hundred people.
By far, the best experience I have had so far with socializing at a distance was early this week when BRMC had its virtual social gathering. It was so good to see everyone there, to join in on the jokes, story telling and catching up with each other. I have to thank Don W. for all the pictures he shared while we were talking. Some of them went way back before I joined the club, and I saw pictures of myself when I first joined the club. It was neat seeing pictures of the old camp site. It reminded me of my first ride with BRMC at the 1990 Victoria Day run. I didn’t join the club until twenty years later.
During that gathering on Zoom, I noticed that I would hear people talking about a picture but it wouldn’t show up on my iPhone for another minute or two. As a result, I have ordered a camera with a mic for my computer so I can better keep up with the conversation. See, you guys have made an old fart like me start learning more about technology! Maybe sometime in the future, I will be able to join the board meetings visually.
This last week I finally took advantage of the sunny weather and got out on my bike. I didn’t go far. My trips were to favorite places here in Seattle, up north to visit with a couple of friends, and south along Lake Washington. It was really weird riding on empty streets. The only thing that kept me from going crazy fast were some routes with speed bumps, but I did get to do some twisty curvy routes. Stan C. you will be proud of me for using some tips I learned at the class last summer. Riding on empty streets made it clear to me how important BRMC is to me. I love riding with you guys, and I look forward to when we can all do it together again.
2020 Calendar of Events
January 18th - Annual General Meeting - Seattle, WA
February 15th - Anniversary Banquet - Seattle, WA
March 21st - Hosted Club Meeting - Michael C home - Seattle, WA
April 18th - Hosted Club Meeting - Dan S home - Oakville, WA - Cancelled
May 15th thru 18th - Victoria Day Camp-out - Cancelled
June 14th - BRMC rides in the Portland Pride Parade - Cancelled
June 26th thru 28th - Camp-out at TBD Campsite (Seattle Area) - Cancelled
June 27th - BRMC Booth at Capitol Hill Pride Festival in Seattle, WA - Cancelled
June 28th - BRMC rides in the Seattle Pride Parade - Cancelled
July 17th thru 19th - Camp-out at Squamish Valley Campground, about an hour north of Vancouver and an hour south of Whistler BC
August 14th thru 16th - Camp-out at Union Creek, near Phillips Lake between Sumpter and Baker Oregon
August 29th & 30th - 2-day Advanced Motorcycle Training in Portland, OR
September 18th thru 20th - Camp-South Grandy Lake by Concrete WA
October 17th - Hosted Club Meeting - TBD Location
November 14th - Hosted Club Meeting - TBD Location
December 12th - Holiday Party - TBD Location
Meet & Greets
(May’s M&G have been canceled due to COVID-19)
B.R.M.C. members will be available for interested individuals to meet and learn more about the club and how to get involved. For locations and times, check out the cities listed below for your area. Also, in addition to the club's monthly events, local rides may be organized, weather permitting. To lean more about local event’s, check out our F.B. page or email the Road Captain at Captain@BorderRiders.com.
Portland: Meet & Greet - 1st Wednesday of the month, 7 pm at The Portland Eagle.
Vancouver BC Meet & Greet - 2nd Wednesday of the month. 4 to 6 pm at The Met Hotel, New Westminster
Seattle: Meet & Greet - 3rd Wednesday of the month, 7 pm at The Cuff
Non-BRMC Motorcycle Events
Contributions of Photos & Stories
If you have photos and stories to share, please send to news@borderriders.com
