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 (October) West Linn, Oregon
With October comes the changing of the seasons into Fall and the official end of riding season for the club. From here until Spring of next year, its an ad-hoc option for our riders. Having said that, our October meeting held in West Linn Oregon and organized by Stan & Alan turned out to be an awesome day that saw many of our members and guests enjoy a ride to the meeting hall.
The Robinwood Station was rented for the club meeting. This is a retired fire station now used as a community event center. It was well equipped with a full kitchen, video and audio, tables and chairs, all with a comfortable space to hang out in. Sadly, it is a single story building, so no fire pole to slide down and play on, but it did have the station bell that could be rung.
After a bit of socializing with the attending 18 members and guests, the official business of the club meeting was held. As we had a quorum this time, we finally got to vote and approve the last several month's of meeting minutes that had been bunching up.
Nominations for next year's board were discussed and potential candidates identified, with Jeff C announcing he will not be up for re-election again for next year's position of president.
Additionally, we discussed the next few meeting locations, including the Christmas Party and annual banquet held early next year.
Dave J introduced the new poster graphic for the club to be on display at The Eagle Portland, a refresh from the last dated poster. Plans to also do one for The Cuff Seattle were also discussed.
After the business meeting, the guys headed out in front of the station for the group photo. Then, it was back inside to chow down on a tasty dinner of pasta, salad, and pie!
At some point, Ben, the guy who lives across the street, came over and introduced himself to some of us. He told us he was a volunteer firefighter for many years at this station, had his share of motorcycles and riding, and even showed us his beautiful classic car collection - a fully restored Model-A and an amazing Willys-Overland. For those of us loving classic cars, this was a real treat to see him fire up the Model-A and ride around the block a few times.
Around dark thirty, the group started to break up and head off to places unknown. Another excellent club meeting to round out the season.
Dave J
BRMC Group Photo - Robinwood Station, West Linn, Oregon
Monthly Gallery
Photos from members and guests from last month’s rides and adventures (or stolen from Facebook pages due to a lack of submissions). No photos were submitted this month.
Upcoming Events
Respectfully, please complete your 1st & 2nd vaccination 2 weeks prior to attending any “live” club event or wear a mask.
November 3rd - Portland Meet & Greet, Eagle, Portland
November 6th - Portland and Seattle area day rides
November 17th - Seattle Meet & Greet, The Cuff, Seattle
November 20th - Monthly membership meeting, Burien, WA
December 1st - Portland Meet & Greet, Eagle, Portland
December 4th - Portland & Seattle area day rides
December 11th - BRMC Holiday Party - Burlington, WA
December 15th - Seattle Meet & Greet, The Cuff, Seattle
Club Business
November Meeting: Burien, Washington
The November meeting is being hosted by Dennis H in Burien. As is customary for the November meeting it will be traditional Thanksgiving fare.
The menu will be salad, roast turkey breast, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, roasted brussel sprouts, pie and ice cream. A vegan alternative to the turkey will be available.
The social hour will begin at 4:00, the club meeting at 5:00, followed by dinner and more socialization until 8:00.
Registration will open soon on the website and will close on Wednesday the 17th.
Holiday Party - December 11th
This year our annual Holiday Party will return to the home of members Chris and Richard. The white elephant gift exchange will also be returning. Be sure to bring that wacky crazy gift. Maybe it is something you can’t wait to re-gift, or maybe some thrift store fine or even something new but keep the price in the $20 to $25 range. Next month’s newsletter will provide additional details. Also be sure to check the club website.
A brief membership meeting will be held at 6:30. Roll call will be taken and a couple of business items quickly taken care off.
Board Nominations
As most of you are aware, board nomination are done at the October, November and December meetings with the elections held at the Annual General Membership meeting in January. At this time several of the current board members have indicated a desire to retire from the board. Please give some thought to your ability to serve your fellow club members by serving for a term on the board. Each board position is for a term of one year.
The following have been nominated for next year:
President - Stan C & Dennis H
Vice President - Chris L
Road Captain - Dennis H
Treasurer - Stan H
Secretary - Jeff B
Membership Nomination
Guests that desire to become a member of BRMC must be sponsored or nominated for membership by any charter, active or disabled member. A motion to nominate for membership must be made at any club meeting by the sponsor. Guests are encouraged to ride with the club for a year in order to get to know the club members before they are nominated for membership. Election of new members occurs at the Annual General Membership meeting in January. If you are a guest and would like to be considered for membership please feel free to reach out to a club member and inquire about sponsorship. Two individuals have been sponsored for membership and their bios will be soon posted on the members only page of the website.
AGM - Annual General Meeting
The annual AGM will be held on January 15th. We will gather at the Cuff Complex in Seattle to conduct the annual club business and elect our officers for the year. Please mark your calendars. Also, this is the time to renew club dues. Please remember that if your eligibility to vote has lapsed that you must attend two business meetings in order to be able to vote at the AGM. If you have questions about your eligibility to vote please contact the club secretary. Watch your email for the announcement of payment of club dues. Dues are to be paid in advance of the AGM and will again be payable beginning January 1st via the members page of the club website.
Upcoming Birthdays
We have 1 member with a birthday in November. Be sure and help us make him feel special.
Don W - November 13th
Meet & Greets
Portland M&G - Portland’s October M&G was attended by members Blue B, Jeff B, Dave J & guests Ryan C. Portland’s November Meet & Greet will be held on Wednesday, November 3rd at the Eagle on Lombard at 7pm. We will likely meet out for dinner before the M&G so watch the FB page for last minute details. We hope to see you there.
Seattle’s M&G - Seattle’s October Meet & Greet was well attended beginning with dinner at Little Big Burger before the meeting at the Cuff. November’s Meet and Greet is Wednesday November 17th. (same day that registration closes for the November Meeting) If you choose to join for dinner it will be at Bai Tong Thai Street Café, 1121 E Pike St, Seattle, WA 98122 at 6pm, followed by getting together at The Cuff at 7pm - remember to bring proof of vaccination to enter The Cuff.
Reader’s Corner
A place for you, the reader, member and/or guest, to contribute.
Tell us about your travels, adventures, mishaps, etc.
To contribute, send your story & pictures to President@BorderRiders.com
BRMC Masters the Precision Maneuvering Clinics 1 & 2 offered by Team Oregon
by Stan C
Oh Lord, it’s Mr. Verbose again. I’ll try being brief but as one of my college professors once said, “great report, very detailed, but you left brevity a long time ago”. So, here we go!
What is the PMC 1 & 2 all about? Watch https://youtu.be/sBngfmXsihc to get an idea of what we were working towards. In attendance were members Alan H, Buck W, Stan C & guest Chris T.
Our class was that YouTube video broken into its components so we could learn how to master each challenge. Once mastered, putting them together will be the easy part. The class we took is modeled after the class Team Oregon uses to teach the Portland Police. That said, I will not try convincing you that we are as good as the officer in the video, BUT, after that weekend, I believe we are good enough to do their course & not come in last place.
As far as the class goes, there were 4 of us & 4 of them meaning 4 people associated with BRMC & 4 people who were not associated with BRMC. While only one of us set our bike down, all 4 of them did. Luckily, little to no damage occurred to any of the bikes. Team Oregon provided pool noodles that we could use to wrap up our bikes with just in case, & the speeds were below 45 MPH with most challenges being below 10 MPH.
When it was all said & done, it was difficult to let the weekend come to an end. It was so much fun, here was so much camaraderie, & we all improved so much, we just did not want the weekend to end. Buck & I text late into the evening Sunday night sharing videos & discussing each challenge in depth. “I really like the weave, but I could not get over 22 MPH.” “Yea, I got up to 24 MPH but that was all I could do.” “I think next year I will try it with a stiffer setting for my suspension. I think the soft suspension was delaying my entry.” “What did you think of the Snowman?” Augh, it pissed me off in the beginning but once I got it, damn it was fun.” “Me too, I just kept going faster & faster & pushing myself more & more. I loved it.” On, & on the evening went. If you’d take the class with us, you’d understand. Even if you do not want to compete with the police, The PMC series is still an incredibly fun class to take.
Please know, that even if you don’t want to take this slow speed cornering class (PMC 1&2), I hope to see you all on the much easier refresher classes being offered first. Those classes are tentatively scheduled for the weekend of July 2nd & 3rd. From there you can decide if the highspeed cornering or low speed cornering is where you want to go. Those 1st classes we will be taking will help us shake off the cobwebs from not riding all winter. After that, there will be a class that teaches us how to do fast cornering & a class that will teach us how to do slow cornering. But first, you should start with the refresher classes happening early in our riding season, tentatively happening on July 2nd & 3rd to be exact.
I personally hope that one day, BRMC will be able to challenge the Portland Motorcycle Police & the Seattle Motorcycle Police to a challenge of some type. Maybe we can make it part of a gay pride event / fund raiser thing. If you think you are interested in said challenge, reach out to Stan C at Treasurer@BorderRiders.com to learn how you can get involved.
Be warned, all class sizes are limited. I do expect the first round of classes to fill up quick so be watching for registration details in the January newsletter.
Day Rides
BC’s Day Ride -No upcoming plans for day rides. Watch the newsletter and Facebook for updates.
Seattle’s Day Ride -The October Seattle area day ride was a 3-pass blast - Snoqualmie, Blewett, Stevens passes and 5 joined for the ride. We got off the main highways a few times for a little more adventure – one in particular was challenging. What used to be a nice little 5-mile gravel road through the woods is now craters of the moon, so 5 miles of picking your path to miss as many holes as possible and sometimes misjudging and having to bounce through one of the potholes. Lunch in Leavenworth took a while as Octoberfest was in full swing. Between the gravel road and the stop and slow traffic on our return on 405 with I5 closed there was a lot of riding time with the clutch in the friction zone. It was a fun ride even though a long day,
Looking at the long-range forecast for the first Saturday in November looks like a ride might be possible, but a lot can change between now and then. If we do a ride it will be a fairly short ride given the lower temperatures and shorter days. Watch for an email a couple of days before the weekend for details.
Portland’s Day Ride - Portland had a very fun October day ride attended by members Stan C, Dave J, & guest Ryan C.. We meet near the Portland Airport and took highway 14 to Lyle, WA before heading up the lively Klickitat Canyon to Glenwood. We had a lunch at the Glenwood Station and rode to BZ Corner were we said our goodbyes before heading our separate ways. A couple photos of the ride can be found on FB.
The November Day Ride will be decided at the November M&G so be sure to attend. Watch our FB page for last minute details.
Gear Store
Is your BRMC gear looking tired? Do you need a new hat or club shirt? The gear store is fully stocked and available for purchase. Items requested before November 15th will be brought to the November meeting. E-mail Alan H at VicePresident@BorderRiders.com if you are interested in any BRMC gear.
Motorcycle training 2021 comes to a close, but I am already working on the 2022 schedule.
The 2022 Class Schedule has been submitted and Team Oregon is currently working on it. The classes requested are the Rider Review Training “RRT”, the Advanced Braking Clinic “ABC”, the Cornering Clinic “CC”, the Advanced Rider Training “ART”, the Precision Maneuvering Clinic 1 “PMC-1”, and the “PMC-1”
I expect registration to open in January so be watchful in the January newsletter.
From the Handlebars of the President
As others have stated elsewhere in the newsletter, the October meeting was a fun evening hosted by Stan and Alan. Also, it was a good example that the fall and winter meetings don’t have to be hosted in a member’s home. There are other, often pretty economical options available.
Tim and I drove down on Saturday afternoon and of course had to make a stop at Cistus Nursery on Sauvie Island. I had totally forgot that it was the weekend before Halloween and that what seemed to be all of Portland were headed out to the great pumpkin patches on Sauvie Island for their perfect orange orb to decorate for Halloween. Traffic was backed up and moving at a snails pace from the bridge clear to Linnton. Once on the island traffic wasn’t too bad nor was traffic getting off the island.
We spent the night in the hotel in Oregon City. We thought it would be a quiet and peaceful night as our room was located all by itself next to a couple meeting rooms. However, it was next to the stairwell and overlooked the bar…..so was on the noisy side. And another interesting thing about the room is that the bed was a Murphy Bed. Apparently the room could easily be converted to a meeting room.
Sunday we went to the designated breakfast location only to discover that no one else from the club decided to meet there for breakfast. After eating we stopped off at Waldorf Kennels and Garden in Richfield and purchased a metal gazebo that Tim had been wanting for the yard.
Tom thanks for bringing the wonderful homemade Sour Cream Apple pie for dessert.
…… keep the shiny side up!
Vice President Chatter
Hello,
With regards to Vice President duties, I haven’t much to report. Things are operating smoothly & quietly.
Be well and I hope you are finding the time to get out on two wheels!
Road Captain Rumblings
Our camping season rides are done until next May, but we will continue to have day rides when the weather is cooperative on the first Saturdays of each month. Watch for emails or check on Facebook as we approach those Saturdays..
I’m still working on the schedule of runs for next year, should have the schedule out soon.
Treasurer’s Ramblings
All amounts owed to us have been collected. All the bills I am aware of have been paid. All our account balances are where I expect them to be. Briefly stated, “Piggy Bank Be Balanced”.
Additionally, you will find a Q3:21 Review Report posted in the members only section of our web-site.
Please feel encouraged to reach out to me if you have any questions. Otherwise, stay safe, stay healthy and I look forward to seeing everyone soon.
Secretary Thoughts
The November meeting was hosted by Stan C, and Alan H. in West Linn, Oregon. It was held in the repurposed Robinwood Fire Station. The venue worked well for the needs of the club. There was plenty of room for seating the twenty attendees, fifteen members and five guests. It was the first time in several months that we had a quorum for the meeting. It looks like the BRMC is beginning to recover from the effects of covid 19.
The meeting itself was relatively short. The main items of business were the nominations for new members, and officers. So far two candidates for membership have been nominated. Several people were proposed for the offices of President, Treasurer, and Road Captain, but most of them were undecided about whether they would run or not. There didn’t seem to be much interest in the Secretary’s job, but nominations will remain open until the General Membership meeting (AGM) in January.
I want to send a special thanks to Alan H. who prepared our meal of spaghetti, meatballs and salad followed with several choices of pie for dessert. And, my thanks to both Alan H. and Stan C. for organizing and hosting the meeting.
2021 Calendar of Events
January 16th - Annual General Meeting - Virtual
February 20th - Anniversary Banquet - Virtual
March 20th - Club Meeting - Virtual
April 17th - Club Meeting - Virtual
May 14th thru 16th - Camp-out Bruceport County Park near Raymond WA
June 25th thru 27th - Lewis and Clark Trail State Park near Dayton WA
July 16th thru 18th - Emigrant Springs State Heritage Area, Meacham, OR
August 20th thru 22nd - Charlie Horse Ranch in Molalla, OR.
September 17th thru 19th - Brooks Memorial State Park, Goldendale, WA
October 16th - Club Meeting - West Linn, OR
November 20th - Club Meeting - Burien, WA
December 11th - Club Holiday Party - Bow, WA
Meet & Greets
(M&G’s resumed in August)
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
If you know of an upcoming motorcycle event or something of interest that we might want to attend, please send the information to News@BorderRiders.com and we will be sure to get it added to the newsletter.
Contributions of Photos & Stories
If you have photos and stories to share, please send to news@borderriders.com
