Hello all,
Well it’s another one for the books! This ride tends to be our “Usual Suspects” line-up, but we broke tradition with a different set of riders today. The original ride was canceled (August 2nd) due to inclement weather (just like last year), however that is the only thing similar to this ride from last year. Greetings and thanks are extended to everyone in attendance, which includes a new friend: (Walter) that met us at our recent MCC Sport Bike Day Event, Martin G, Andy R, Sandy K, Daniel G, Mike M (and his friend Luke), Allan C, Dylan P, Larry (The XIII) S, Carl (KPilot) M, Ron (Panda) W & myself. After a great breakfast, we all gathered, I shared the “Rules of the Road” and identified the “Safety Tip” for the day was “gravel and cinders” (which later becomes key). With that, we all huddled up, I gave a prayer for protection and thanks for a beautiful day and we split up into 2 groups and we were off. We tried to wait around for one remaining friend (Mike H), but the time was slipping by and the day’s heat was on our backs so we lagged a pace on RT 78 in hopes he would see us and catch up with us – I’m sorry to report we missed him, which I was saddened about – but the show must go on, so he’ll catch us next time I’m sure. We hit our first hairpin and the ride was officially underway.
As I mentioned previously, the weather couldn't have been better; it was absolutely perfect. The road conditions were better than expected so I took the pace up a bit on the lead group. With folks settling in, I figured we were all good – but we had a few burps in the rear I wasn’t aware of. I later found out there was a little jockeying in the line-up to get comfortable with the pace. The tell-tale was on “Mountain Road” in a technical very tight left hand hairpin up hill sweeper. We nearly lost our second rider (Dylan) and unfortunately we had one of our experienced riders (Martin) low side due to cinders on that tricky turn. The sweep / tail rider did their job and I quickly found out we had a problem. The good news was the rider was ok, but his bike was in need of a quick Macgyver road-side repair. Due to some quick thinking from Ron (Panda), he was able to run up and grab a spare part from a local shop to save the day. With zip-ties and a little patience, our downed rider was able to affect repairs and get back in action so he could limp his bike home. The chase group left while we waited on Ron to return and we counted our blessings that the fall wasn’t worst. Mike and Luke had to peel off, so we also lost them. Once Martin’s bike was ready for action, (under protest as he wanted to continue) he left with Ron and Dylan to head back home and get permanent repairs underway, while Larry (The XIII) and myself pressed on to try and catch the departed Chase Group.
With close to 1-hr lead on us, we didn’t expect to catch the Chase Group, but conditions were good so the Pilot and Co-Pilot pushed hard to make up time. We did a little rock-climbing as the day route we had took us through a moon crater field, but after a huge well deserved co-pilot protest (duly noted), we continued on and caught up with the Chase Group at the lunch spot by only a lapse of 20 minutes. We got to order our food and enjoy fellowship/lunch with everyone without missing a beat. Not a bad end to a rough morning’s start.
In honor of Mark (who was busy doing our recon for our upcoming September Ride) I shared the word over lunch as he normally would. I did it after we all enjoyed a great meal, but still seated in the nice cool environment of the restaurant. The passage was borrowed from my last track day event titled, “The Poison of Pride”. After lunch we condensed our group since Allan C and Sandy K were not continuing. The final four (Larry S, Andy R, Carl M & myself) pressed on to take on Rt 125. We had a tight group and we punched up some nice twisties to say the least. All had fun as we finished together, which was a total blessing. Andy and Carl spilt off at the end, and Larry and I continued on heating up the path until we finally ended our ride at Sheetz in Bethlehem. We loitered there a while, until a few new friends showed up to keep us company. To our amazement, Martin rolled up with his bike fully reistored. His motto is K.I.M (keep it moving) and so he did – he got that bike back together, representing his positive “can do” spirit. Awesome! We had a few additional other riders show up, so Larry broke out the camera and started taking pictures. We handed out CSBA Track Day and Ride cards, spreading the word. There was even an older couple on a C-14 Concours that might come out and join us for our next track day! We didn’t leave Sheetz until nearly 9p, so we kept engaged in meeting new riders and enjoying great conversations with friends. It truly was a long day, but well worth it to spend time with our friends and our passion for riding.
Thanks again for everyone's support in our ride/event and our efforts to make our **Rain Date** Shamokin Screamer Ride a success. Come out and enjoy our next track and riding events, which will be our CSBA “Day @ the Races (Track Day) | Saturday August 30th, 2014 at NJMP ThumberBolt and our scheduled street ride "Rattlesnake Run” on September 6th, 2014. Hopefully we'll see you there!
Check our Facebook Forum soon for pictures from Larry (The XIII). If anyone also has pictures from this event, please post them there as well. I'll post up more pictures as I receive them as well on our Facebook Forum Page (https://www.facebook.com/groups/ChristianSportbike/) and on this event's Facebook Event Page (https://www.facebook.com/events/746837142042375/) Thanks again for a great event - See you out there on our next one - Lets Ride!
Scripture Readings for August 2014 The Poison of Pride
“The Lord detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished.” (Proverbs 16:5 NIV)
The pride that God loathes is not a healthy self-respect or a legitimate sense of personal dignity. It is the haughty, undue self-esteem out of all proportion to our actual worth that he detests. It is the repugnant egotism that is repulsive to both man and God. It is that revolting conceit that swaggers before men and struts in the presence of the Almighty; and God hates it.
Pride may take various forms. Spiritual pride trusts in one’s own virtue rather than in the grace of God. Intellectual pride gives its possessor self-confidence rather than God-confidence. Pride in material things enthrones self and displaces God; secondary things are exalted to the place of the first importance. Social pride manifests itself in arrogance and status. All forms of pride emanate from the haughty human heart, and pride is the sin that God hates most.
What can you do about it? Confess your pride; humble yourself in the sight of God (and your fellow man). Look then at Christ, who “humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross” (Philippians’ 2:8 NIV)
In closing, as I’ve mentioned in previous tracks and accounts; no matter how fast you run your race, or how great your skills are (on and off the track), we are all created for God's purpose and should humble ourselves in our gifts and not over shadow those with lesser talent in our excellence areas. Be kind to your neighbor; be of good fruit and a helping hand; at the same time remember to shed the bad rotten fruit and negativity.
Blessings to all!
