Newsletter for May, 2000

· Letter from the Prez…

Wanderers,

This will be my last “Letter from the Prez” and although in a sense it saddens me to step down, as I reflect over the past two years I’m extremely pleased with all that we have accomplished as a club. Too often, the leader of an organization gets most of the credit for the accomplishments, but the credit goes out to all of you who worked hard to make it happen and keep us alive and growing.

Some of our more major accomplishments: co-sponsoring the San Diego Toy Run, sponsoring the Steve Laszko Benefit Ride, annual participation in the Blue Knights Charity Ride as well as several others, our tremendous growth within the past two years, establishment of our own web site, publication of a regular newsletter, obtaining our own Wanderers Patch, obtaining club discounts at several dealer outlets, as well as the numerous and wondrous rides we’ve been on. I could go on, but the point that I’d like to make here is that a lot of you have put in a lot of effort to these successes, and all of you helped in one way or another; either by active participation, submitting ideas, thoughts and suggestions, or just by lending your support. I sincerely believe that we are well on our way to proving the nay-sayers wrong who thought we’d fold up as a club without a parent organization to hold us together.

But enough about the past. At our next meeting on April 18, we will be holding elections for officers, and we have some outstanding candidates: for President, Rod Fleming and Bill Edwards; for Vice-President, Mike Calderone; for Secretary, Rose Fleming; for Treasurer, Gary Steinweg. I personally feel that we have some excellent nominees and that the new executive board will continue to do an outstanding job of guiding us through the next year. I’m sure they will come up with some new ideas and new adventures to keep things lively and

I hope you will join me in giving them your full support.

If you are a newer member, or a member who has not been particularly active, I urge to come out and join us and get involved. We have a very diverse group of people from all walks of life and with all types of motorcycles, but one thing we all have in common is the love of riding and showing off our cruisers. And we have a lot of fun doing it. We have some great rides scheduled or in the planning stages, and with spring upon us it’s a good time to get out and get acquainted with the rest of the club members.

In closing, I just want to thank you all for your help and support for the past two years, but now it’s time for me to sit back for awhile and enjoy the ride!!!! Ron

· Wanderers Governing Officers

President – Ron Growel

Vice-President – Larry Sammarco

Secretary – Bill Edwards

Treasurer – Gary Steinweg

Webmaster – John Q. Lawrence

Newsletter Editor – Don Presten

Honorary Board Member – Rick Moyer

· Wanderers Patches

If you are interested in purchasing a patch, please send a check for $25 per patch made out to Gary Steinweg, and "Wanderers Patch" should be written on the check memo line.

Please mail the check to:

Gary Steinweg

13171 Carolee Ave.,

San Diego, CA 92129

Note that patches will be sold on a first come, first served basis.

· Dues Due!

April is dues renewal month for the Wanderers. About half the members have already renewed for year 2001, the other half should do so before the end of April. If you haven't already renewed this year, please mail a check for $15 made out to:

Gary Steinweg

13171 Carolee Ave.,

San Diego, CA 92129

Write "dues" in the memo line of your check.

· Another Club Discount

Wanderers members get a 10% discount on parts from "San Diego V-Twin" 5097 Santa Fe St, San Diego. 858-273-4199 This is the same discount given to people who purchase bikes there. Members should ask for Shawn, the parts manager.

This store does not typically deal with metric bikes but has a large stock of aftermarket accessories for non metrics as well as clothing designed specifically for cruiser riders and lots of pre owned bikes. Shawn also delights in solving lighting, seating and other accessory challenges brought to him by metric riders that he can solve from the rather large catalog of parts for Harley and other SAE bikes.

· Sunday Ride (March 4)

Recap by Bill Edwards - TGIF? Howsa 'bout TGIDR?

I met up with Ron Growel, Lorna, and Jim (sorry Jim, can't recall your last name) this AM as planned in Escondido, and we cruised on up to Temecula by way of Old 395 and Rainbow Canyon, for a fine breakfast at the Swing Inn. I dint announce it on my ride proposal, but I was planning on meeting my oldest friend (since 4th grade), Fred Lucero and his wife Gale (who also happens to be my ex-sister-in-law!) there. Ya see, I'm trying to influence old Fred to get back into motorcycling again, and Gale into letting him spend the money! :^) Fred was a long time Harley rider, his last bike being a '52 Panhead. Anyways, it's always great seeing them again.

Coincidentally, the SoCal Cruisers were meeting today in Temecula for a ride to Julian, so after breakfast we just had time to meet up with them and join them on their ride, which took us out 79 and through Warner Springs. It was cool and windy, but it wasn't raining, and so I was happy. We rode along at a nice, relaxed pace, and enjoyed the scenery. I was glad for the electrics, though.

We stopped at Dudley's for some coffee, shopping, and gabbing, and then parted ways with the SoCal Cruisers, and headed down towards Ramona. Jim waved goodbye (he was riding nice Harley Classic, BTW, and said he'd also just purchased a K1200LT) as Ron, Lorna and I turned off on the Old Julian Highway. In Ramona, Ron took the lead for a trip down Wildcat Canyon Rd. This was unplanned, but fine with me. As we neared what turned out to be Muth Rd., I was eyeing its steep curves off to our right, and thinking I ought to check it out sometime, when I suddenly noticed Ron's right blinker on. He'd had the same thought! Way to Wander, Ron!

Parted company with Ron and Lorna at the 67, as I found my way out through Santee to Hwy 52, and home. It was a very satisfying ride. Jim, thanks for joining us, and hope you can do so again. And thanks again to the SoCal Cruisers, especially Bob and Ray.

· Thursday Ride (March 15)

Recap by Dick - Ron Growel and I left his place about 8AM and headed north to Ramona for breakfast at the Kountry Kitchen. The place was crowded and they only had one cook on. Took us over an hour to get out of there. We continued north (Ron thought that was your bike at Packard's Gary) and turned left at Dudley's, took a side trip on Mesa Grande and then right on hwy 341 and into Anza for a butt break.

Next stop was Hooter's in Palm Desert where laid before us was a veritable feast (for the eyes). Of course the food was good too.

With full bellies and happy eyes, we continued to Indio and then south to the Sulton Sea where we picked up S22. Back thru the desert, up Banner Grade back thru Ramona and home. Just a hair over 300 miles and yes, my butt is sore this morning.

There is sometimes more to see on Mesa Grande than twisties.

· St. Patty’s Day Ride

Recap by John Q - 145 miles in 7 hours? This must have been a "great" ride!

A rather compact group (of 3) gathered for a 9 am start at Denny's, Kearny Mesa Saturday morning, destination, Rainbow for lunch then Bates Nut Farm for...uh...nuts.

Ride captain Dick Useted took us to the coast then up through every coastal town, passed the power plant with absolutely no redeeming architectural value at all (Carlsbad) until we reached Oceanside.

Several stops were required here. One for a cup of two dollar + coffee (sorry, I still can't understand how we got from a dime a cup to two bucks plus for the very same elixir) and then stops at Oceanside's Kawasaki and Yamaha dealerships in search of the new HJC Symax flip front helmets. No did find but Dick now understands why I'm salivating over the Kawasaki Nomad. He may end up with one before I do!

From Oceanside we headed east on highway 76 and then a twisty and scenic route up to Fallbrook. We cruised through town, thinking about both Ron Growel and Rod Fleming as we passed Baron's Cycle Supply. Ron because had he been with us he would have wanted to stop and bolt something on his Roadstar and Rod because he's spent weeks there building Baron a soundproof room, future home of the company's test dyno.

From Fallbrook we took the decidedly scenic route to Rainbow where a sassy (which does not mean nasty) waitress served up some energy on a bun. The burger and iced tea cost just about what they get for a cup of coffee some places these days. Have I mentioned.....never mind, I also remember nickel candy bars and 35 cent a gallon gas.

The twisty road from Rainbow took us to Bates Nut farm for a few minutes of candy shopping then it was back on the bikes to lose some elevation and a stop in Kearny Mesa where Bill Edwards guaranteed we'd find the new HJC helmet. Indeed, that lid seems to live up to all the praise that's being generated for it. One might have come home with me except for one thing. We couldn't figure out how to mount a radio on it!

Curious since HJC also manufactures the helmet mounted "Chatterbox" radios that Bill, Dick and I all had along on this ride. Early in the day there was plenty of chatter (no pun intended) about this and that but as the hours went by we got a lot quieter with the radios being used primarily as warning and advisory devices as they should be. Ok, wrong turns were also met with some good natured ribbing not possible without RF emissions but what the heck, we're Wanderers and U turns are just a part of our culture.

Those who had other business to attend to this day missed one heck of a nice ride. Temperatures in the 70's, hills and fields of green, oak shaded passages that reminded us of a tour through Sleepy Hollow (sans headless horseman) and a cup of coffee that costs too much.

I have one last observation to make. If Dick ends up with a Nomad before I do I'm gonna be pissed.

· Temecula Ride (March 25)

Recap by Bill - Sunday, March 25th, turned out to be the best day for riding of the past weekend. A friend of mine who rode to Julian said it was warmer there than in Ramona, and there were tons of bikes everywhere. I hope everyone on the list got a chance to go riding yesterday.

The Wanderer's, a MC club with patches, had a very nice ride up old 395 into Temecula for eats and the Bluegrass Festival, led by Ron Growel and his SO Lorn. We had two Road Stars, one Venture, one Valkerie, three Viragos, two BMW's, one Vulcan 1500 Classic.

Anyway, it was a relaxing ride up, with very little freeway dashing, and lots of chatter on our new Chatterboxes. Mine is especially new, and although useful on group rides, I'm not sure I like all the extra stuff to fiddle with when mounting up, and I haven't even hooked up any tunes yet! Well, I'm sure I'll get used to it. It is fun, as for instance, I pointed out all the Starbuck locations as we rode along. :^)

The ride ended officially at Temecula, and everyone departed later on their own schedule. We posed for some great group photos when we arrived, so you can pick out faces when these are posted on our website. Some of us had lunch, some of us just explored the little Old Town area. I'd only visited the Swing Inn and Texas Lil's on previous visits, so it was kinda fun.

A few of us rode home through the DeLuz area later, taking our time and enjoying the wonderful green scenery and the big mansions and houses back there.

So not a lot of miles today, but as usual with these outings, the company was great!

· Minutes of March Members Meeting

March 21, 2001 - The meeting was called to order at 7:04PM by President Ron Growel. Present were Gary Steinweg, Bill Edwards, Larry & Pat Sammarco, Jim Webb, PA Davis, Mike Calderon, Rod Fleming, Dick Usested, John & Fran DelSanto, John Hamm & guest, John Q. Lawrence, and new members Quintin Bradley and Tim Downer.

The Minutes for Feb. were approved as published in the Newsletter.

Gary Steinweg gave a brief summary of his treasury report. Details are to be published in the Newsletter, and will be emailed to all members. Gary also updated us on the current membership, advising we have a total of 47 members, including S.O.'s, and that he has received 14 renewals. He reminded everyone Membership Dues are due by April 30.

Old Business: Ron gave a brief review of the new club patches that are now available for $25.00 each, and an update on the ChatterBox's. A vote was then taken to approve the amended and revised Club Charter and By-laws, since a quorum was present, and the Charter was approved on a vote of 27 to 1. (There were 14 proxies)

New Business: A "get well" greeting card was passed around to all members for their signature, and will be mailed to the CHP officer recently attacked on the Ortega Highway. John Q. gave a brief overview of recent updates to the Club Website and the reasons for it's move to a new host address. The new address will more conducive to search engines.

Nominations for new Club Officers were then made:

For President: Bill Edwards, Rod Fleming

For Vice-President: Mike Calderon

For Secretary: Rose Fleming

For Treasurer: Gary Steinweg (incumbent)

In addition, Ron reminded us that we will need a new Newsletter Editor/publisher. John Q. said he would continue as Webmaster. Elections will be held at the April Meeting.

John DelSanto gave an update on the annual Toy Run, advising that the next Committee Meeting will be April 19 at 7PM at Mountain Mikes Pizza in Clairemont. Ron Growel said he will try to take over some of the duties previously handled by Rick Moyer, who will be unable to do that this year. Rick has worked tirelessly on this annual event the last 4 years, and Ron said he could use some help trying to fill his shoes. John said that the venue will likely be the same again this year (Ramona), and that Radio 103.7 has again committed it's support.

After a brief review of upcoming Club Rides, the meeting adjourned at 8:07PM.

· Note from our Webmaster

We’ve moved! The Wanderer’s Website now has its own domain name and is being hosted by the great people at TFBNET. Don’t forget to bookmark the new location which will certainly be a bit more reliable now, not to mention faster.

Photo’s, we need photos! Changes to the club website this month include a re-work of the “Members” page. Instead of just a list of names, each name is flanked by a photo when we have one. If there’s a blank space next to your name then get snappin! You can attach at jpeg of yourself and your motorcycle to an email to me (johnq@adnc.com) or, during a group ride have a photo taken for posting. We have several new members names and e-mail addresses posted this month including one honorary member. J

This is a biggie. The Website now has a “Ride Suggestion” button. Click on it and you’ll be presented with a simple form to fill out. Your suggestion will be sent to me for posting as a club ride if it doesn’t conflict with anything already on the schedule. For now, impromptu rides should still be posted on the SDMC list. We may open the form for quickie rides in the future depending on what YOU want. Feedback please.

Ride/Surf Safe

John Q. Lawrence

Treasury Report from Gary Steinweg

WANDERERS TREASURER RPT - 03/21/2001

1. 02/21 Last reported balance = $279.42

2. 02/21 Sammarco - 3 patches = $ 75.00

3. 02/21 Del Santo 2001 dues = $ 15.00

4. 02/21 John Lawrence 2001 dues = $ 15.00

5. 02/21 John Lawrence - 1 patch = $ 25.00

6. 02/21 Mike Calderone - 1 patch = $ 25.00

7. 02/21 Rod & Rose Fleming - 2 patches = $ 50.00

8. 02/21 Rod & Rose Fleming 2001 dues = $ 15.00

9. 02/21 P. Davis 2001 dues = $ 15.00

10. 02/21 P. Davis - 1 patch = $ 25.00

11. 02/21 Dick Useted 2001 dues = $ 15.00

12. 02/21 Dick Useted - 1 patch = $ 25.00

13. 02/21 Pete Minor 2001 dues = $

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