BMW Riders Association International
PO Box 510309
Melbourne Beach, FL 32951-0309
Phone/FAX 407.984.7800
Web Page Site http://www.bmwra.org
Ohio RA Spring 2000 Update
Bob Wood, State Director
4257 West 130th Street
Cleveland, OH 44135-4869
Phone: 216.252.7933 FAX 216.251.5329
April 21, 2000
Dear Ohio RA Rider,
Are you ready to ride? With such a mild winter, a good number of you never laid your bikes up. Now the weather has broken and our attention is being drawn to our favorite passion -- riding.
Our Ohio District events calendar has been finalized through December and
I have chalked off the last regular Sunday brunch. However, there
will still be several RAlly 2000 organizational meetings before the big event
in September. The eating meetings broke all previous attendance records
this year and have brought some fine folks out of the woodwork. As a
result I feel we have helped strengthen our friendships and encouraged additional
local clubs to participate with the Ohio RA. My hope is we will be seeing
each other more often from now on.
This coming weekend will start off our riding season in the true tradition
of the Ohio RA. April 28-30 is the Mount Vernon Spring Camp Out.
This year we have invited the local riders of the International Brotherhood
of Motorcycle Campers (IBMC) to join us. Some of these folks don’t
ride Beemers, but as RA's, do we care? They do ride motorcycles and
campout. That's a start. I'll be giving away a one-year membership
to the BMW RA on Saturday night while we toast by the fire. If you
don't want to camp out, why not stop by on a day ride to shake down your
machine?
Mark your calendars for 11:00 AM on Sunday, May 21, 2000 for the next RAlly
2000 meeting that will be held at the Black Swamp Rally in the Maumee State
Park near Toledo. (See the calendar in this issue.) The BMW Riders
of Toledo have offered to host this meeting during their annual spring camp
out event. If you would like more information regarding their spring
camp out call Merle or Nancy Cunningham at 419.472.4271.
Changes have been made to the RA Ohio Summer Camp Out this year that also
follows the traditions of our founding fathers. You talked and I listened,
and it was decided to select a less commercialized location and keep the event
a rider's camp out. As you may recall -- last year Randy Phipps and
Kris Foster invited us all to a BMW Camp Out near Peebles, Ohio. More
than a couple of dozen riders attended and had a great time riding, socializing,
eating, and being merry. I was unable to attend, but got a tremendous
amount of positive feedback from those who did go. Well, an offer came
up this winter to move the (possibly troublesome and almost stale) Summer
Camp Out away from Mohican to this new location. Over the winter I
had been corresponding with the owner of Mohican, and was not feeling good
about continuing at their facility. I had been looking into other campgrounds
in the area as an alternative. In retrospect -- I have watched a dramatic
growth in the Mohican Area not only campers, but also local traffic, as well.
It's much easier (and safer) to ride without all that congestion. The
majority of you were clearly telling me "change is good". Hey!
Brace up for Fathers Day Weekend 2000, and an Ohio RA Appalachian Foothills
Adventure. You will find a full description in the calendar (this issue)
and a map on the Ohio RA web page. I am making an effort to scale the
camp out back slightly for the new location. We are grateful to Randy
and Kris for donating their place for our event this year.
A second summer camp out has again been planned around the Mid-Ohio Vintage
Days in July. I have heard comments for years that there is too much
noise and nonsense at the track at night, and it would be nice to have an
alternative to camping there. So, this year make plans to camp out with
fellow Ohio RA's at the Mount Gilead KOA. The site is located just 15
minutes from the track with all the amenities you could want including hot
showers, laundry facility, swimming, fishing, and more. Details will
be forthcoming in the Summer Update. Your comments have prompted me
to commit RA Ohio resources to host this alternate camp out where the spirit
of the RA will prevail. This one's a done deal with thanks going to
Mark and Cindy Hoskey.
August is the only month we will be idle here in Ohio. NOT!
Last minute preparations will be the order of the month as we brace up for
the influx of BMW RA Riders from all over the world that will be visiting
our state in September. See RAlly 2000 Update below for more.
The Halloween Camp Out
is still scheduled for the last weekend of October (see the web calendar)
near Cadiz and this year will include a ride to the Motorcyclists Memorial
in Hopedale, Ohio to pay homage to our fallen brothers. With the RA
National happening at the end of September, we will be setting aside any plans
for resurrecting the fall camp out this year, but will plan on it for 2001.
Due to the recent decision to purchase memorial bricks for our fallen members,
we will be bringing back the 50/50 drawings this year to help replenish
the Ohio RA Treasury. The Ohio RA Treasury currently has $188.30 in
it with expected future expenditures of $40 dollars.
RALLY 2000 UPDATE
I can feel the enthusiasm building here in Ohio with the RA National event
scheduled for our home state and the season upon us. If you haven't
made it to any of the off-season meetings, it's still not too late to get
involved with the "RA at the Hocking Hills" RAlly in September. There
are still a couple of RAlly committees that need chairpersons and almost
all of them could use additional volunteers to help out. Remember;
many hands make the job easier. Your help is important to make this
a top notch Ohio RA effort. Feel free to volunteer to do as much or
as little as you want to, but don't miss this opportunity to help host.
If you are interested in volunteering any amount of your time at the RAlly
please contact Eric Nyrop in any of the following ways: by phone at 614.444.9409
(home) or 614.899.2477 (work), by email at M_Cruse-Nyrop@MSN.com, or by
snail mail to 404 Forest Street, Columbus, OH 43206. Now is the time
to get on the bandwagon. This is your opportunity to be a host and
share some of Ohio with your RAllying friends from other states and countries.
WINTER BRUNCHES --
SUMMARY
At all five meetings we had strong interest in the 2000 RAlly. I'm
sure many of the new faces I saw were curious about hosting the event.
It was good to see you there and it is my hope you got a taste of what the
Ohio RA is all about and will continue attending these off season get-togethers
next season. I'm sure you found it is not all-serious stuff, but it
is more about motorcycling with good friends and how not to lose the BMW RA
connection.
From those of you who have been participating and giving me your comments,
I would say we had a very successful season of eating meetings with above
average attendance and enthusiasm. We covered a lot of issues, and
got feedback from all four corners of the state doing it. I personally
had a great time and met many new riders in the process. My take on
the past five months has given me the distinct impression; we Ohio BMW RA's
are becoming a well organized, fun loving, bunch of riding folks, who are
welcoming many new faces into our activities. Through the good times
and the bad we have endured, stuck together helping one another, while working
together through it all. We have lost several friends over the past
year, but through our association, have found the strength to carry on. With
this strong bond, we are able to add yet another event to our Ohio RA Calendar
as well as host the RA International RAlly here in September. It is
you, the members of the BMW RA here in Ohio who are making these good things
happen.
LAST RIDE NEWS -
At the November meeting we got word of the tragic riding death of Sam Hill.
You asked for a way to memorialize our fallen RA Ohio riders and we have
come up with a plan. At the March meeting it was decided the purchase
of a brick at the Motorcyclist Memorial in Hopedale, Ohio for our RA Ohio
members who are killed on their bikes would be an appropriate gesture.
By your request, a special memorial fund has been set up for Sam Hill through
the Firstar Bank. I am trying to keep track of contributors so it
would be best to send your donations directly to me. Checks should
be made out to the "Samuel A. Hill Memorial Fund". On the back of the
check in the endorsement box write: "For Deposit to Account # 578290170".
I will log your name and deposit your gift to the fund. However, if
you wish to contribute anonymously to the fund, you can go to any Firstar
Bank with your check (made out as described above) or cash and deposit it
directly using a deposit slip with the account # 578290170 filled in.
When the fund reaches the $150 level I will contact the Motorcyclists Foundation
and order a plaque in Sam's memory. The account will remain open until
the end of this year and any remaining funds will go to the family to help
with Sam's expenses.
At the March meeting it was brought to my attention that the Ohio RA's lost
another fellow rider in the Cincinnati Area. Riding an R1200C, Gary
L. Paine was struck by a car on Route 52 east of Cinci and died shortly after
the mishap on March 9, 2000. Gary was an RA member and was planning
to help with RAlly 2000. The membership present at the March meeting
discussed and voted to sponsor (from our treasury) a brick at the Motorcyclists
Memorial for him. I am hoping to have it in place before the Halloween
Camp Out Memorial Ride.
I have one more piece of sad news regarding our Ohio RA members. Our
old friend and long time BMW rider Dana Merrill Adams from Utica, Ohio passed
away suddenly on March 25, 2000 from a massive heart attack. Merrill
had recovered from heart and stroke problems and had been in the best condition
wintering at his Texas retreat. He was cremated in the Valley and a
memorial service was held here in Ohio. Those of you who knew Merrill
will share our grief and our heartfelt condolences go out to his widow, Ruth.
INTERNET NEWS
Our good friends, the Mountaineer Riders in West Virginia have assembled
a very nice web page that has details of their Cass Rally. It is definitely
worth a look at http://members.citynet.net/mbmwr/ where you will find details
of their club and rally.
Most of the mail I have
been receiving has been about the upcoming RAlly 2000, but one correspondence
caught me and is worth sharing with you all. It was sent to John Stombaugh,
VP of Events of the Buckeye Beemers and forwarded to me. It was from
the President of the Nashville BMW Club and read:
John, my name is Robert Cates and I am the President of the Nashville BMW
club. We had a planning meeting for our rally in Burksville, KY where
we got the news about the death of our friend Sam Hill. I met Sam
last year at our first rally in KY where Sam was the first to arrive and
the last one to leave. I was able to meet him at least six times during
the year at different rally sights where we became fast friends...I plan
to dedicate this years rally to Sam. The town of Burksville fell in
love with old Sam and he had a great time with the locals. We invite
all who can come to join us in KY for a remembrance of Sam.
Thanks, Robert Cates
When I read this I couldn't help but think of the many far reaching corners
of the US where I too crossed paths with Sam, as I am sure many of you did
as well.
Our web calendar has
been updated with some new events that have recently been sent to me.
To keep on top of this ever-changing cyber-world I recommend you surf to
the Ohio RA pages at least once a month at http://www.concentric.net/~bmw01bob/ra-ohio.htm.
These web pages are your guide to local, state, and national BMWRA activities
for RA members here in Ohio. If your local club is RA Chartered, please
send your events to me to post to the calendar.
My last Internet posting
"To All Ohio RA's" was on 18 APR 00 reminding you of the Ohio RA Spring
Camp Out. If you did not receive it or you wish to be added to the
RA Ohio Posting List, please email me at bmw01bob@concentric.net to be added
to the postings.
LOOKING AHEAD
The stage is set, the cast is rehearsing their lines, and the ticket sales
have begun. Will you be part of the play or in the audience?
From an RA perspective, it doesn't matter. But we sure would like to
see you somewhere down the trail. Don't be the one who says, "I wish
I could go back and do it again." This is your club whether you participate,
watch, or sit on your thumbs on the couch. We have a full plate again
this year and I invite you all to enjoy the feast in your own way.
Ride with the RA,
Bob Wood
Bob Wood
BMW RA International
Ohio State Director
Next Ohio RA Update - Early June