What a really fun meeting and ride after!
It was scheduled for a short meeting to get us on the road by a quarter pass 9am. Our good buddy Victor Tibbs President of STAR 186 and his Chapter VP Larry Thompson joined us for our meeting and ride to the SNELL Foundation facility. We always appreciate the company of fun folks and we certainly had that with Victor and Larry. Heck... I even put Victor to work as a tail gunner for the 2nd group. Afterall, he is a certified "GWRRA Road Captain". He even led the group on the ride through the delta.
Don & Beth brought along a couple of friends in Lee Spencer who rides a Valkyrie and John Totten who rides a yellow Wing. They're now in the 2Q fold as brand new members. YAY!! Lee had actually reached out to me about a year ago when he was actively looking at Goldwings. He didn't make it to a meeting then but I'm glad to see him now.
Thanks to Jacque's efforts we were able to secure a tour of the Snell Foundation testing facility in Sacramento. We were met there by six members of CAC led by Rodney & Anita Brooks. We also had a couple of 2N members too in Bill & Karen. It was very interesting as our host Hong Zhang gave us a summary explanation of the Foundation's history and later a tour of the test laboratory. They also had on hand Executive Director Ed Becker and Lab Supervisor Randy McCarty assisting with the actual tour of the lab. In my hindsight and warped perspective; the lab is really a torture chamber for defenseless helmets.
After the tour we had a late lunch at a Brookefield restaurant nearby. Shirley and I can say we both had one of the better burgers we've tasted in a long time. They don't just serve burgers but if the burgers were a sign of the food quality; then I can say I wouldn't hesitate going back.
What could've been a boring ride home on the freeway was broken up with a cut through the delta and then a stop for ice cream. It was just Shirley and I along with Victor and Larry who stayed for the sugar break. Thanks Victor! The next one is my treat. - Alan
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Larry Thompson of local "STAR 186" |
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Steve brought in his motorcyce tools? |
Customizing Carrows to suit CA2Q |
Voila! |
Don & Beth |
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New member Lee Spencer by his Valkyrie. |
New Member John Totten by his Bumblebee Wing. |
Larry Thompson's ride |
Victor Tibbs' ride |
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Fantastic artwork on Victor's ride. |
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And this month's winner.... |
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Motorcycle "gangsters" from CAC :-) |
Motorcycle "associates & friends" from CA2Q |
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Our host @ SNELL Hong Zhang & Exec Dir Ed Becker |
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Lab Supervisor Randy McCarty |
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Victor Tibbs taking in Randy's words. |
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One of many "torture" machines used against defenseless helmets! |
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Helmet visor test. |
About a .22 cal pellet is used for the test. |
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This one didn't pass... |
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Exec Dir Ed Becker trying to help out with the demos but may have inadvertantly disabled the test machine. I don't think Randy was happy. |
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Lunch at Brookefields was one of the better burgers I've had in awhile. |
A happy group! |
Jacque & Steve top off their meal with... |
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