In The Wind
BMW Motorcycle Club of Colorado
October 2015
Monthly Meeting
Wednesday, October 14th
MOA #66
AMA #2772
RA #327
Saturday Morning
Breakfast Rides
Red Rocks Grill &
TNT Country Kitchen
Downtown Morrison
Every Saturday at 8:00
a.m. (rain, shine, or snow),
members meet for breakfast
at Red Rocks Grill in
Morrison. If weather permits,
we ride afterwards. Most
rides are spontaneous, with
destinations determined that
morning. Come with ride
suggestions!
Speaker
Red & Jerry’s
1840 W Oxford Avenue
Sheridan, CO 80110.
General Manager, Bill McConnell
Come join us for dinner,
socializing and to hear our
monthly speakers.
BMW of Denver Motorcycles
5:00 Dinner & Socializing
6:30 Meeting
7:00 Speaker
Photo From Helmet Dawg
Visit: http://helmetdawg.com/
IN THIS ISSUE
President’s Letter...............................2
Donation & Birthday Wishes...........3
September Rides & Events...............4
Oktoberfest Weekend.......................5
Albany, WY Weekend.......................6
WY Weekend Continued.................7
Goodland, KS Weekend...................8
Sept. Social Dinner...........................9
New Members | Spot Light.............10
Look Again.....................................11
Board Nominations........................12
2015 Officers and Board.................13
BMWMCC.org
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President’s Letter
Saving the Day
When it comes to adventure, riding motorcycles has more than its fair share. My most
recent adventure could have easily ruined my entire ride, but thanks to some good friends,
it all worked out. My riding companions were Carl Thomte, Jeff de Wispelaere, Jeff Clark
and John Murakami. About a mile short of Johnson Village, Carl suggested that we
take a 5-mile long dead-end ride up an abandoned dirt road, to see what remained of an
abandoned railroad trestle. Good luck #1 – this could have happened way back up the
dirt road but we had ridden up and back and were just pulling back onto 285 when my
motor died. I went to bump start but surprise, my chain was gone!
So now we are all safely on the side of the road. Jeff de Wispelaere recovered my broken chain. The side plate on
the master link had snapped in half! Good luck #2 – the chain came off clean! No endo for me!
Our smartphones told us there was a motorcycle repair place nearby so Carl rode over and returned with a new
chain. Good luck #3 – I was riding with good friends. Carl and Jeff Clark spent an hour on the ground getting
the chain back on and adjusted, but now the adventure deepened. Remember I mentioned that the motor had
stalled. It would turn over but not one hint of firing. We needed a tow. Good luck #4 – Carl decided to start by
asking the motorcycle mechanic where we might rent a truck. “Why not just take my van and bike trailer,” he
says. Back comes Carl and in no time we have the KLR to the repair shop.
That takes us to good luck #5 and the real reason I’m re-telling this story. Write this down because if you ever
have a problem anywhere in the Buena Vista area, SEAN IS THE MAN! The shop owner is Sean Barr and his
shop is called Mountain Tech Motorsports. It’s a really nice place with a showroom, bikes, snowmobiles, ATV’s,
the works. Sean dropped everything to work on my KLR. Turns out, when the chain flew off, it hit just enough
of a wiring bundle to cut two of the ignition wires. We had looked and looked on the side of the road, including
at this wire bundle, but failed to see it. Fixing it was a delicate job but Sean does it correctly, shrink-wrap and all.
It took about an hour and a half, but it’s fixed!
How much did he charge me? $91.00. Really? He dropped everything, loaned us the van and trailer, diagnosed
the problem and then did the repair. A tow truck alone would have taken hours and cost me much more than
that. He could have charged me much more, but he didn’t. Really nice. No kidding, he’s one of the good guys so
write this down and keep it handy:
Sean Barr
Mountain Tech Motorsports
Buena Vista, CO
719-395-0438
BMWMCC.org
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On Saturday,
September
5th,
BMWMCC
hand delivered
a $500 check
to Wilderness
on Wheels, a
not-for-profit
corporation
whose mission
is access
for disabled
persons
to natural
outdoor
environments.
At our September monthy meeting we all
wished Dennis O’Neal a happy 80th birthday!
BMWMCC.org
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Oct o b e r R i d e s & E v e n ts
October 21, 2015
Graveyard Run
October, 2015
2016 Officer Elections
9:30 AM Red Rocks Grill, Morrison
Terry Mason & Greg Cocks
303-828-7576 | [email protected]
October, 2015
Member Appreciation Day
Date to be announced by email.
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Fu n a t O k t o b e r f e st
Pictured: Siggi, Nancy, Laura, Pete,
David, Chris, and Brandi
Dancing.
Drinking.
Socializing.
That’s what
Oktoberfest is all
about!
BMWMCC.org
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A l b a n y, WY Weekend
The Albany Wyoming over night trip was a huge
success. Late last fall I had a brainstorm for a ride that
I shared with John Coker. Low and behold it ended
up in the ride book for 2015. As the date grew closer, I
became more nervous about how I was going to pull it
off. It became very apparent that my original route was
WAY to long and could only be pulled off if 3 really fast
off-road riders led it—challenge on! So now I had to
modify the route and make it happen. I discovered that
the route options increased, the closer we got to Albany
and I could tweak as we progressed. Fast forward to
the ride.
After the ride meeting at Red Rocks Grill in Morrison,
we headed to our first stop in Winter Park. This was
where the two groups split up.
The name of the ride was Albany, WY the dual sport
way, but it was actually a dual route ride (paved and
dual sport). At this point Brandi Newman led the paved
ride on through North Park to Riverside, WY for lunch.
Then they continued over the Snowy Range to Albany.
Because of the ride name, she had only 2 other riders
with her, but that didn’t stop her GS from turning
50,000 miles just shy of Lake Marie.
The dirt crew now was comprised of 12 riders, along
with Chris & Jan Hughes driving Jan’s cage (Honda
CRV?). Continued on Page 7
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W Y R i de Continue d
We hit dirt in Fraser and bagged Simpson Pass and regrouped on Hwy 40 below Byers Canyon. The next stop was atop
Cabin Creek Divide for a sack lunch. We then continued on dirt to Hwy 125 where we discovered Mike Szabo keeps
his reading glasses on his belt (just ask Mike next time you
see him). Now it was on over Willow Pass headed to North
Park where we hit the 2 track and met for fuel and a break in
Walden. Everyone agreed to continue and we headed north
for WY and into the Snowy Range for 30 more miles of dirt
arriving in Albany.
Accommodations varied at the Albany Lodge
www.albanylodge.com. Some in motel rooms, suites and 8
people in the Brown House with Brandi and myself. Dinner
was great, with a prime rib special, but service was slow (oh
well, it’s not like we had somewhere to go). After dinner a
friend of ours showed up and offered us a tour of her log
cabin/rental property, along with an evening bonfire. Thanks
Paula! www.aspencreekcabin.com
Sunday was a great day with breakfast at the lodge and a dirt
ride over Dead Man Hill Divide to Glen Echo for lunch, and
to meet up with Brandi and the road group. Brandi arrived
about 20 minutes later after riding to Laramie and back southwest on WY 230 over Pinkham Pass to Walden for gas.
They then came over Cameron Pass
into the Poudre Canyon to meet us.
After lunch we took secondary 2 lane
roads back to Denver and riders pealed
off as they needed to get home.
A fellow member on the road ride, Pete
A., riding a R1200RT was shocked
there was so little if any participation
on the paved side of things. All I can say
is members missed an awesome ride
for both styles of riding. So the ride will
happen again in 2016 on the weekend
of September 17-18.
Thanks to all that participated.
Chris Wilder & Brandi Newman
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G o o d l a n d, KS Weekend
80 foot tall Van Gogh
painting on world’s
largest easel, or at
least along U.S.
Interstate
Siggi, Mike
& Pete,
winners of
the BMW
Class
Pete Pleban’s Decorated Bike
Newest &
smallest
rider,
Beemer.
Club members entered their bikes into the
judged motorcycle competition.
BMWMCC.org
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September Social Dinner
This month’s dinner social was at the Saltgrass
Steakhouse in Westminster. If you’ve never been before,
the dining area was adorned with large murals and one
such painting really resembled the likeness of member,
Val Beetham.
Val Beetham
Chris, Tom & Sonja
Gretchen & Jeff
Pete & Laura Pleban and Keren Kilgore
David Kosak & Daughter, Cecilia
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Welcome New Members!
Scott Phillips
Brian Friend
Linda Coneeny
The BMWMCC would like to welcome our
new members to the Club and wish them
safe and happy riding while discovering
new places with new friends.
Membership Questions?
Contact Cyndi Szabo
[email protected]
Dave Pike Elected
Realtor of the Year
Member Dave Pike was elected
Realtor of the Year 2015 this
past month by the members of
the Denver Metro
Association of Realtors.
Dave said the real honor was
that the members vote on the
award and it shows that they
respect him and his work ethic.
Be sure to congratulate him
next time you see him.
BMWMCC.org
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Look A g a i n . . .
52 motorcyclists killed on Colorado roads in 2015
The Colorado Department of Transportation has launched a new campaign urging drivers to look twice
for motorcycles on the road in an effort to decrease fatalities, which are at 52.
The number of motorcyclist deaths statewide is about normal, said CDOT communications manager
Sam Cole. But there have been 12 motorcycle fatalities since June, causing some concern. However,
motorcycle fatalities increase as the weather warms.
Last year, 92 motorcyclists were killed on Colorado roads. Of these deaths, 97 percent were male,
according to CDOT.
Motorcyclists might not be able to prevent some crashes but they can reduce the risk of dying from the
crash.
More than 64 percent of all motorcycle crashes are
at fault of the motorcyclists, according to CDOT,
with the most common causes being driving under
the influence or reckless driving. In 2012, nearly 40
percent of the 75 who died driving a motorcycle in
Colorado had a blood-alcohol level of .08 or higher.
CDOT also released a campaign Ride Wise earlier
this year to target carelessly riding motorcyclists. The
campaign, an effort to promote motorcycle operator
safety training courses across the state, targets older
male riders who may have thousands of miles of
experience, yet little to zero hours of formal training
on safe riding.
the 52 killed this year weren’t wearing one.
Of the 92 motorcyclists killed in Colorado last year, 58
percent of them weren’t wearing a helmet and 16 of
Head injury is the leading cause of death in motorcycle crashes. Nationally, 715 lives could be saved
each year if helmets were worn by all motorcyclists. Colorado does not require motorcyclists to wear
helmets.
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Electio n U p d a t e
All 3 candidates were voted in with no opposition.
Vice President, Mike Szabo | Treasurer, Frank Ricci | Secretary, Jeff Kelley
PLEASE NOTE! There are no candidates for President as of this mailing! Please consider running for
office to fill this position. All requests can be sent to Election Coordinator Siggi Pflumm at siggip@msn.
com. Thank you for considering to volunteer!
BMWMCC has four (4) elected officer positions which are filled annually by election from the membership. Siggi Pflumm
is our Election Officer and he is tasked with accepting nominations, validating that the individuals are qualified to run,
announcing the qualified candidates and overseeing whatever voting takes place. BMWMCC annual Officer elections will be
conducted in the month of October. This is your opportunity to get involved and make a positive contribution to your club.
RUN FOR OFFICE or join us as a volunteer!
You may nominate yourself or have any other member nominate you. You must be a member in good standing for at
least six months and declare your willingness to run. Candidates for the office of President must own and operate a BMW
motorcycle. For other positions, there is no specific brand requirement.
Please submit your nominations to Siggi Pflumm by email at [email protected] or by regular mail to Siggi Pflumm, Election
Officer, P.O. Box 742, Morrison, CO 80465.
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2 0 1 5 Officers & Board Memb e r s
President: Jeff Burns - [email protected]
Vice President: Mike Szabo - [email protected]
Treasurer: Frank Ricci - [email protected]
Board Meeting
Wednesday, October 7th
6:30 P.M.
Secretary: Jeff Kelley - [email protected]
Membership: Cyndi Szabo - [email protected]
Webmaster: Keren Kilgore - [email protected]
Club Constitution
& ByLaws
ITW Editor: Cathy Catrell - [email protected]
Ride Book Editor: Keren Kilgore - [email protected]
Club Store: [email protected]
Ride Coordinator: John Coker - [email protected]
Volunteer Coordinator: Jeffrey de Wispelaere - [email protected]
Advertising: [email protected]
TOR Rally Chair: Jeff Burns - [email protected]
TOR Rally Co-Chair: Carl Thomte- [email protected]
100K Foot Ride Chair: Carl Thomte - [email protected]
CO Classic 1000 Chair: Eric Levy - [email protected]
Social Director: Brandi Newman - [email protected]
Join the BMWMCC
Facebook page.
All are welcome to become
“friends” and post news,
photos or other items of
interest to fellow riders.
Board Trustee: Siggi Pflumm
Board Trustee: Carl Thomte
Board Trustee: Michael Kilgore
BMWMCC.org
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