March Chapter Ride - Anza Borrego

You all are aware by now that I had my second knee replacement done last week, so obviously I wasn’t riding today’s chapter ride on my bike.  But – I really wanted to… so I decided to follow the group in my truck on the ride, so I didn’t miss anything.  

We could not have asked for a better day, sunshine and a cool breeze.  I arrived early before most anyone else had arrived and was amazed how quickly the Starbuck’s parking lot filled up with riders ready for Anza Borrego.  By the time the meeting had started we had almost 35 bikes and by the end of the meeting the number had risen to 50.  Great turn out for the meeting.

We started the meeting with some business and then welcomed a new rider, Sheila Rae Johnson.  Sheila has been riding for most of her life and after meeting her I am sure she will be a great addition to our group.  We continued with our short meeting announcing upcoming rides and events and some new business.

A great raffle and 50/50 with Patty Giambitti, Barb Sanecki, Luiz Vasquez, Larry Yang, and Doc Thomas winning some really nice raffle gifts. Brian Hefter won $84.00 in the 50/50. Congrats!

After a head count of 47 riders on 39 bikes we decided to break into four groups with Scott Hamilton, Terry Bishop, Dan Dobler, and Richard “Taz” Green as ride captains.  We started out the 57 to the 91 and the 15 south to our first gas stop in Temecula.  From Temecula the group rode down the 15 then out the 79 through Anza Borrego, with one quick gas stop then on to Santa Ysabel for lunch.  

This is the second time we have stopped at the Santa Ysabel Casino for lunch and I can’t say enough about how well we were taken care of there.  They again seated us out on the patio. Great view of Lake Henshaw and Mount Palomar.  The food and service were great too!  To think they seated and served almost 50 of us and we were out of there in an hour.  

From Santa Ysabel the group rode out through Julian and Ramona on the 78.  Then all the way down the 78 to the 5 with a gas stop in Carlsbad.  (I will admit that as I was in the car I did bypass the last gas stop and opted to arrive early at El Torito so I could take pictures of all the groups arriving.) After the gas stop the groups shot right up the 5 to the 57 then back to El Torito.  It was when we got to El Torito that we noticed group 1 was missing a few members.  It appears the Paul McInnerny had a clutch problem and Mike Fry accompanied him to the Harley dealership where he was able to get his bike fixed.  Mike made sure Paul made it to the dealership and was able to fix the bike before he headed up to meet us – great job Mike!  Paul was able to fix his bike with a minor part and all is now good. 

The remaining groups all arrived safely and we started our short post ride meeting.  We again thanked Sheila for joining us and hoped that she will join us again.  We voted in several new members, Joe Magdelano, Frank Alvarez, Jim and Diane Holland, Peter Casey, Fred Lara, and Larry Yang.  Welcome to the chapter guys!

After a brief overview of the upcoming events, the ride was called!  Next – StarBQ!