Safety Report

by Gary Klinker

If you can believe a rodent who sleeps all winter, we may be riding by the time you read this. Phil and his hairy buddy Jimmy the Groundhog have been known to lie before. The weather has been hard to keep up with. A foot of snow one Monday followed by bare ground and rain the next Monday.

                This month I have a kind of catch-all list of things to fill you in about. First I want to thank Alpo for his generous donation to the 7D Chili Cook-off, scheduled for March 2. I was saddened to learn of the passing of Karol Patzer recently. Karol was a MSF instructor at Waukesha when I got certified back in 1988. Some of you from that area may remember her. She had since moved to Minnesota, but I would see here at Minnesota 1000 rides. She also finished in four Iron Butt rallies. Her son Tony owns Cycle Nutz in Waukesha, selling great riding accessories. Our condolences go out to her family.

                On another sad note, especially in our area, is notice that Al Muth H-D is closing at the end of March. You may remember their son died in a motorcycle racing crash last August. We wish Mark and Lisa good luck in any future endeavors and are keeping them in our prayers.

                I did find one good way to spend time in the winter. Recently the Mecum motorcycle auction from Las Vegas was broadcast. It was like a history lesson on motorcycles from around the world. If you get a chance to see a re-run don’t miss it.

                We do have a couple of schedule changes to our BRC and BRC2 schedules you can make a note of. The August 23-25 BRC has been cancelled by the State Patrol for their training. For the July 26-28 BRC Diana has been replaced by Les as one of the coaches. Diana will be doing the July 13-14 BRC2. We also have some more Rider Coach bios for this month.

                If you do get out to ride this month be careful of the sand on the road and remember that your skills are rusty. Start easy and practice the basics for a while. Above all be careful out there.

Ride Safe,

Gary