- CSBA Shamokin Screamer Rain Date Promo -

We give thanks to God for His wisdom and His Blessings….

And what a blessed day it was; one for the record books since the weather was absolutely perfect. Rain date rides are usually not very popular – but that was not the case today. Big ups go out to all that sacrificed their Sunday to spend it with us. You came to ride, and ride we did! With 29 in attendance, there was plenty to do and organize. Today’s fellowship extended to family teams again with a full family coming out to enjoy breakfast with us; father/son riding pair, brother riding pair, and lots of new faces that haven’t ridden with us before. We also had veteran CSBA members that reported this was their first ride this year, along with 1 that hadn’t ridden with us for at least a few years; so today folks really came out to enjoy the roads with us. We broke bread in normal fashion, and then took that time to forge new connections and friends of old.

After breakfast, we did our standard ride meeting and then organized into 3 groups. Since we had some newer riders join the ride, we wanted to make sure we gave them the attention they deserve – so Russ (AKA Rusty Bucket) took ownership of that group, with Kat and Carl there to sweep the rear. J-Mac (riding 2-up) handled the chase group with Chris R. riding his sweep. Up in the front was myself with Joe C. watching my back. We waited a little longer than normal for a few riders we thought were coming, but as we approached 10a and no shows, it was time to exit stage left especially since we had tight reservations for our lunch stop. With it being a Sunday, we knew we had to hit it and keep the pace moving if we were to beat the churchgoers to the lunch spot.

I later found out that one of our good friends that wanted to come today stayed up way too late, enjoying a well deserved Saturday evening with friends and family (no names mentioned) – was way too tired to make the ride. Just know your presence was missed! As we took our places and lined up according to groups, I’m very happy to report that getting started went extremely smooth. We jumped up on the highway and rode in formation together all the way down to our ride launch point – approximately 3 miles. Once exiting the highway, the F1 group clicked-in and we didn’t see the chase group again until the morning gas stop. We were finished fueling, when they pulled in to the gas stop – this was at 11:17a (I looked at my watch as I knew we had to high-tail it over to the lunch spot to claim our reservations. So we left them to gas up and we jumped over to secure the lunch reservations. The lunch spot was busy, but our friends at Mays were awesome and had our seats waiting for us (even though they had people waiting to be seated). I claimed all our seats and then grabbed the team to go sit – just as I was coming out, the chase group arrived, so we had 2/3’s of our group ready to enjoy lunch. Once seated, I started to wonder where Rusty/Kat were – within 5 minutes, I got that dreaded call – “One of our riders went down hard!” – Oh no! First responders were on the scene, with Police, Fire and a host of others. Reports (while sketchy) indicate our rider most likely target fixed and failed to make a left turn. He was thrown from his bike and we believe he also hit a pole, which added to the seriousness of his injuries. Luckily for him he was wearing his gear, which I’m sure helped to minimize the total injuries. As we finished up and settled up our bill, the final group arrived. I’m very thankful to everyone’s patience in waiting for our last group to enjoy their meal before we pushed out for part2 of our day. It was warm (in the 80s) and everyone was awesome to just relax and wait for them outside so others could sit and use the restaurant.

I sat (for lunch) with the last group and gathered up the details of their morning ride – I also took that time to share today’s message (letting go the past and the hate – see below) with them to help save time. My thought – share the message with them and then head outside to do the same with the others, this way when they came out we could leave. After delivering the message, we also bowed our heads in prayer for our fallen rider and asked for additional protection for our, what would be an aggressive afternoon – Part2. For those that didn’t make it today, you missed a great day to be on RT125 – and that’s all I’ll say about that. This roller coaster of quick-banked turns, long sweepers, and elevation changes with full on twisties really helped to elevate the mood after lunch. The last time we ran this route (last year this time), one of our very good riding buddies met up with us at the base of RT125, just to run it with us – that’s the kind of guy he was, anything for people he loved. Sending up a special shout out to Luis V – you’re presence continues to shine among the biking community and you are missed partner!

We finished in normal fashion – everyone arrived within 10-15 minutes of each other at the final gas stop; what a great day of riding! I know I got rid of any remaining chicken tenders I may have had remaining from our last jaunt. The weather was ideal, and while our CSBA rides are never boring with adventures to overcome, I think we managed to give everyone something to enjoy and another great experience to file. As always, we exchanged information with new friends and talked about our next adventure. We said our goodbyes – paired up and headed home.

On our way home (test pilots / operators) exercised their rights to the new law concerning lane splitting. Soon there after, a few more joined in – and I’ll just drop that there and leave it. Needless to say, all had fun.

I wanted to take this moment to thank everyone for your continued participation, involvement and giving attitudes on our rides and events. These rides are designed for you, our riders, to enjoy the roads and have fellowship with us. We’re promoting a fellowship and an environment in which we want you to come and enjoy your love with others that share your passion of riding.

We look forward to enjoying your company at our next track day event, tentatively scheduled for the end of September. Visit our CSBA Day @ the Races Event page (www.facebook.com/CSBA.Day.at.the.Races) for additional information or our next street event “Bux-Mont Rattlesnake” Ride/Run. [www.facebook.com/events/1146770195341180/] . All our rides are great – so try to arrange to make it if you can. For more great pictures of today’s event, visit the face book event page for our “Shamokin Screamer” Ride here: [www.facebook.com/events/1651164911812698/] or visit us on our website at www.pacsba.org.

On behalf of the CSBA and our chapter, we give thanks to you for coming and enjoying the day with us. See you again soon and don’t hesitate to reach out to me (or any CSBA member) with any and all questions you may have about our rides or the CSBA Organization. Blessings to you all!

- The morning – organizing the groups – 29 riders in attendance -


- Groups I and II checked in for Lunch - The morning –

LETTING GO OF THE PAST AND THE HATE

“Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice”
EPHESIANS 4:31 NIV

Have you ever noticed that if you continue to hate someone, regardless of what that person did, you also continue to hurt? Our anger, rage and hate seem to continually fuel themselves. This cycle's only purpose is to keep re-opening the emotional wounds of the original event or hurt, thus keeping our emotions stoked with negative energy. A perfect example of these principles at work would be the overwhelming brutal images we've all be bombarded with in the past few weeks of injustices (to put it nicely) towards our fellow man. Just the knowledge alone of recent activity brews feelings of anger and hatred within us. It's a terrible outrage and then some... how do we cope with these feelings?

As difficult as it may seem, for this reason (among many) is why we need to let go of these emotional chains of bondage and (with gods help) release our anger and hatred; replacing it with his love. If we don't, our very souls will be poisoned the rest of our lives by bitterness and resentment; instead of reflecting the love and mercy of Christ. Remember, Jesus' command, "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" (Matthew 5:44 NIV).

I know, admittedly - this surely is not easy to do! That is why I urge you to turn to Christ and seek his forgiveness for all the ways we have hurt God. You may ask - "Why us?" When we realize how much we have hurt God, the hurts we have received from others will begin to fade. If you are carrying hurt, pain or anger and need to talk with someone, please know your Brothers and Sisters are here with you and for you - seek them out, as we’re always stronger together than apart. Don't let something eat at you and become a poison. Of course, my door is also always open to you - Blessings!