Who's Who

Chapter Directors:
Andy & Mary Tarbell
Assistant Chapter Director:
Please Volunteer
Past Chapter Directors:
Dave & Sue Perrin
Gary & Sandy Williams
Treasurer:
Sandy Williams
Members:
Ron Swiggard
Newsletter Editor:
Please Volunteer
Chapter Photographer:
Please Volunteer
Members:
Joanne Swiggard
Ride Coordinator:
Please Volunteer
Executive Director:
Melissa Eason
National Operations Director:
Jim Hodge
Region B Directors:
Lorraine Knight
District Directors:
Dick & Pat Thibaudeau

Links Section

	GWRRA HOME PAGE
	GWRRA REGION B
	GWRRA NH DISTRICT PAGE
	GWRRA CHAPTER NH-E
	GWRRA CHAPTER NH-F
	GWRRA CHAPTER NH-G
	GWRRA CHAPTER NH-K
	NEW ENGLAND RALLY PAGE
	MOTORCYCLE ROADS

Meeting Information            

Meeting Date: Third Sunday each month except August & December.
Meeting Place: Moose Club
170 N. State St.
Concord NH
Regular Meeting Time:
Breakfast 8:30AM Menu Prices
Meeting starts at 9:00 AM With Ride following (weather permitting)

The Tentative NH-A Calendar is available for download on the Ride Schedule page. Please note this is NOT the final schedule.

Check out the "Flyers 'N Registration Forms" for info on upcoming events throughout Region B.

FROM THE CHAPTER DIRECTOR: 

IT IS OFFICIAL, Spring is here!!! How do we know that??? Not the robins or disappearing snow banks BUT the return to the northern latitudes of the Perrins and Hartleys from the sunny south where the natives don’t ride when the temp hits 60. Welcome home folks. I understand from Bruce that the mighty Valkrie dug in its wheels and decided to retire in Florida. The good news is he adopted a new 1800 that liked the idea of cool er summers, twisty roads and hills. I understand that part of the adoption agreement was a short vacation to a spa in ME for a makeover to shed its saddlebags and have a third wheel surgically implanted. I anticipate that we will be meeting the newest member of the ever growing Chapter A trike fleet in May along with Mary’s trike going on it’s first NH-A ride. With the two new trikes in the family, we will have to be helpful and keep an eye on them and remind them to keep their feet on the pegs at intersections so they don’t run over their heels. Remember folks, we need to be understanding with Bruce if he seems a bit testy while he adjusts to his ever faithful reverse gear settling into having only one job now, telling Bruce where to go and how to get there.

Enough with the gossip. We got our first Chapter ride on the season under our tires after the April Get Together. (See the Riders Seat for more)

We had a great turnout for the RI Kickoff Breakfast. Mary & I rode down the day before for the Rally Meeting, which was Mary first distance trip on the new trike. We had a great time Saturday night with the folks from RI. I want to thank NH-G for letting NH-A take the trip to the RI-B Kickoff Breakfast with them on April 26. Also thank you to NH-E for a great ride home from RI. It was great to see how GWRRA can bring riders together from different Chapters and have them run together as if they had been traveling together for years. All the years of Rider Education showed up that day, especially the information covered in the March Team Riding Seminar presented by Duncan & Ron.Most of the folks on that trip attended and it sure showed that day. (Please see the Riders’ Seat)

The point I want to make clear is the trip back from RI really proved that the Chapter Educator Get Together talks and GWRRA Seminars DO pay off. We had two Chapters, that ride together on very rare occasions, travel across several states and respond to an on road situation with no discussion, confusion, or unsafe actions. A tip of the helmet to everyone involved. And to those of you that have not taken the GWRRA seminars, they are worth it, all of us had learned from the same book, rode and responded as a team because of it. We have several Seminar Presenters in our Chapter as well as others in the District that will be more than happy to put together presentations if you ask. I understand that Dave & Sue are working on their instructors certifications, which is why we missed them in RI. Another resource here in NH-A.

While I’m boosting Rider Ed you might want to check the expiration dates on your CPR, First Aid, and ERC/ARC. Also update your Level 1 miles with Ron, our new Chapter Educator, (he needs to learn how to do the paperwork) Some of you may be even be eligible for your Master’s Number.

Andy Tarbell
NH A Chapter Director

Also: If there are links or pages you would like to see here...let us know

KETCHUP
(on what you might have missed)
April 19 Get Together

• 21 Members Present
• Guest members: NH District Directors Pat & Dick Thibaudeau NH-E CDs Ted & Karen Zitnay, RI District Educator & Trainer Bob Corriveau, & NH-E Roxanne Provencher
• Chapter Patch proof was reviewed and minor changes approved should have stich-out for April meeting.
• Discussion of Date & location of Christmas Party no final decision.
• Pat Thibaudeau spoke about the District square for the Region Quilt NH-A will design an entry
• Joint NH-A NH-E ride to either Manchester or Bellows Falls VT on Fathers Day was discussed. More info to come.
• NH–E Hobo Stew will be September 13

KETCHUP (cont)

• Bob Corriveau caught the “Rider Ed Ball” and cautioned about Spring road conditions and beinfg extra cautious as car drivers are not being used to bikes being back on the road yet.
• Changes to newsletter & Web Page were presented.
• Next Ride Planning Pot Luck will be 3/28 @ Hicks Italian theme with best costume award!!
• REMINDER!!– Download & print out your own Ride Schedule from the Chapter Web Page if you want a copy to work from.
• Ron Swiggard & Duncan Saunders presented “Team Riding” seminar and received their Rider Ed presenters certifications.
• 50/50 $18.00 went home with Gary Williams
• Next Get Together 5/17 Ride to follow Weather Permitting

Education Corner

Visual Conflict of Interest.
Especially when Accelerating.

By: James R. Davis.

There are times when your eyes show you what you expect to see and other times when they show you something else entirely. This tip attempts to demonstrate why you need your mind to be 'in the present', and why you need to actively interpret what you see instead of believing what your eyes are telling you.

For most of your riding history you have trained yourself to respond to visual input with almost 'reaction' speeds, to not delay responding in any way because at highway speeds you cover a lot of ground in very short order. Delays (internal debates about what you should do) can result in unthinkably harsh consequences. .

Take as a real world example of this the fact that many of us, certainly myself included, cover our front brake lever whenever we are riding at faster than parking lot speeds. We know that it takes, on average, about one full second to recognize an unexpected threat and to decide to react to it, and then it takes additional time to begin doing something - like reaching for and squeezing that brake lever. We cover the front brake lever because that will shave off at least 1/10th of a second of reaction time and, as a consequence, it effectively provides us additional stopping distance between our motorcycle and that threat. Indeed, 1/10th of a second at 60 MPH provides us a life saving extra NINE FEET of stopping distance. .

We train ourselves to REACT as quickly as possible to that visual input. We also use the time from the moment we start to squeeze that brake lever to decide how hard to squeeze it. That little decision is made AFTER we begin doing something about the threat, not before. Humans are damned smart after all. .

So what could possibly be wrong with that scenario? Not a thing when you are travelling at highway speeds - it is a life saving learned behavior. .

So then what is the purpose of this article? Well, you are not always traveling at highway speeds when you notice a threat and at very slow speeds, particularly if you are accelerating, your visual input can lie to you. .

Consider ... you are stopped behind a vehicle which is also stopped at a signalled intersection with a red light. The light turns green and both you and the vehicle ahead of you begin to move. That is, you are both accelerating. .

What your eyes show you is that the car ahead of you is pulling away from you - the gap between you and it is widening. But what your mind is telling you is that you have rolled on your throttle and your body is telling you that you are accelerating. So far, so good. But going back to your mind for a moment, your experience is such that you EXPECT the gap between you and the vehicle ahead of you to be getting smaller OR YOU ARE LOSING THE RACE! That, in turn, causes you to roll on the throttle even farther. .

The two second rule remains just as valid at 5 MPH as it is at 60 MPH. When you were stopped at the light you were very close (relatively) to the back of the vehicle ahead of you. As both vehicles begin accelerating the gap between them MUST WIDEN in order to provide that two seconds worth of space. But your mind, if it is not 'in the present', if you are simply going through the motions without active thoughts controlling your behavior, expects the gap to get smaller. You are not a 'loser' of races, after all. .

The Riders Seat

We have had our first Chapter Ride of the year. The Annual Ice Out Ride into the Lakes Region following the April Get Together. 11 bikes made the 146 miles without a hitch. It appears that the State saved some money this year… They did not put the frost heaves out !!!! It would be OK if they keep economizing this way.

The ride home from the RI Kickoff Breakfast proved that here in NH we all read the same book. We joined NH-E for the scenic route back home. We had 13 bikes broken into two groups that rode in a picture perfect formation, (see the photo page) communication between and within the groups showed that nobody was napping during the Team Riding Seminar in March that Duncan & Ron presented. Our uniform Rider Ed Training really shined when we were in CT. Mary was riding drag for the second group when her trike died going through a blind curve. She was able to alert us that something was wrong and coasted off the road. Immediately Ted Zitnay radioed that he would lead the group to a safe parking location about a mile down the road. I went back to Mary’s tike to sort things out, it was just a fried alternator. I let the forward group know what the problem was and that I had cables to get some power back into the battery, I got Mary running in a few minutes and sent her down to meet the group while I picked up the various cables and panels. By the time I caught up with the rest of the group, they had the trike in the shade, tools and a spare alternator out. After a few minutes of scorching my knuckles on hot parts we were back up and running, heading for food and cool drinks.

We Will be having a Pot Luck at Gary & Sandy’s on May 16 to finalize the Ride Schedule. There will be a ride following the May 17Get Together it will not be the Mohawk Trail ride which is being rescheduled to later in the season.

Education Corner (continued)