January  ’08  Newsletter from

Grand Rapids Road Ryders

aka ...... Stitch

A great big HELLO to all -

    Not sure about you, but winter has set in, and I'm already longing to be shooting down the 2-lanes, with the wind in my face - but that will need to wait for a bit yet.

    Just dropping a note, regarding the upcoming Winter Gathering, in Mt Pleasant ... February 9th this year, 4:00 pm is happy hour, with dinner around 5:30 pm. The dinner itself is fantastic, all-you-can-eat banquet. The only problem with this, is that a little later in the evening, many decide to have a pool party. That's all you need to see, a bunch of 'baby boomers', who just ate 3 days worth of food, running around half naked ... PLEASE, quick ... just push a sharp stick in my eye !!

    But in all seriousness, we have a great time. First off - YOU!!  Getting together with friends from all around the state, AND some other states this year - that's pretty cool. Fantastic food (as I've said), lots of pictures from last year's events, calendars about this years upcoming rides and events, raffles & door prizes, various chapter leaders talking about their chapter's particulars, we even have custom 'Michigan Chapter' shirts available - both preorder, or at the event itself.

 Now, onto the GR Road Ryders section.

    First off, do NOT take this wrongly - I am not upset or angry in any way what-so-ever, just a little disappointed. Don't know if everyone is too busy, the timing (days of the week or time of day) of certain events is wrong, not really interested in riding, or maybe my leadership / likeability style is in question, but our chapter just doesn't seem to have very many folks, who WANT to get together and enjoy our rides and events. We have had many Dinner Rides, Color Tour rides, Poker Rides - and a few show up.

   So this year, I am planning to be a very good promoter - of "other" events. Some of the National Rides, the various local BBQ's that other chapters host, St Ignace week-end, Lumberman's Monument, the Covered Bridge Ride, etc, etc. I will promote them, probably go to most. I will post when & where we are meeting, you can join us if you choose to. Dinner Rides will still pop up, most likely we will just probably check the weather on a Tuesday for instance - and shoot out a notice to all, here is kind of an example ... "Dinner Ride THIS Saturday, we'll be leaving Johnson Park at 2 pm - hopefully you can make it".

   I'll have out shortly, a calendar of events and rides that we'll be participating in, and I'll always throw out a notice prior to the event, as a reminder. But it WILL NOT be 5-6 notes, begging for you to join us. If you want to ride, better jot down the place and time.

See you at The Winter Gathering on February 9th - truly do hope that many can make it - always fun !!  Here's the link to the state page, which has all the INFO on it.

http://www.valkyrieriders.com/mi/      Michigan Site