July, 2000 Volume 1, Issue 6 Published by the CFR

Central Freedom Riders Motorcycle Club

Upcoming Events: July 16, TMRA Area B meeting, Big Bang Run July 29, Ride to Tyler July 30, Ride to Longhorn Ballroom for Swap Meet August 3, Club Meeting August 12, Ride to the Mesquite Rodeo August 18 – 20, Viet Nam Vets Rally, Glen Rose. August 27, Lunch ride to Grand Pappy’s Point Sept. 8 – 10, Beavers Bend See the back page for details. We welcome these members who have recently joined us: Andrew Butler Brett Morrison Manuel Triana Chris Culp Daniel Hernandez Walter Paynter Dave Bixler Rex Adams Brad and Janet Dunham Gary Ducote Meetings are on the first Thursday of each month, 7 PM, at Central Yamaha, 7000 Ave. K, Plano, Texas. SAFETY ON THE ROAD It’s a mean world out there, people. On the roads it’s every man for himself. Courtesy and cooperation are in short supply. It’s even more so for those of us who choose to ride in the wind. At least when we ride as a group, we have more safety because we are visible. Let’s use this advantage. One way is to watch out for each other. Be aware of the rider behind you. Remember they can’t see through you. When you see a hand signal in front of you, repeat it so the guy behind you can get the message. When you see a hazard in the road, point it out, either with your hand, or a foot off the peg. When you noticed the guy behind you gets caught at a light, wait for him at the next corner. The best part of a club is that we look out for each other. Let’s do it!

CLUB PICNIC A HUGE SUCCESS by John Munson  There are two events put on by the club that are not directly related to riding. One is the Christmas Party, and the other is the Picnic at Lake Lavon. This year’s event was a good one. We met at the Braum’s as is our custom on Sunday morning. We like to be spontaneous about our ride destinations. In other words, we don’t bother to plan too much in advance. We looked over the map and decided on a little jaunt up to Blue Ridge. This is a small community with the smallest town square of any I’ve seen. We stopped at the convenience store to get a quick refreshment, talk bikes, and generally terrorize the town-folk. Not really; they just look at us funny! Then we headed back the South, across the northern edge of Lake Lavon, on to Collin Park. This was the fifth annual picnic at Collin Park, and the weather was great. With all the rain we had in June, the grass was nice and green and the lake was up. Our good friends Dave Walters and sons arrived with the Personal Water Craft for our enjoyment. Ed Walters brought his own sort of riding suit. It consisted of a really floppy hat, some baggy shorts, and the funniest goggles in the shape of little fish! He is a funny guy! Ed then proceeded to give a ride to Aaron, who loved every splash, then turned it over to the adults for a turn. Hoover had fun running it around, and the Paxton family did as well. It was a bit costly for Bill, though. I hear they rent SCUBA equipment pretty cheap! We also had a lot to eat, which of course is the favorite pastime of our club. The Kaleta’s have a friend who caters BBQ, and man did she do a great job! There was enough food for the forty who said they were coming, but there were only twenty or so there to eat! We’ll have to think of a better way to get an accurate count for next time. The food did not go to waste, though, as we ate more of it at Hoover’s on the Fourth of July. More on that later. After the picnic, a few of us took a side trip to look at a possible purchase. PART TWO: TALE OF A TRAILER Rob K., among others have long looked for a good trailer for use by the club and as individuals. We had to rent a U-Haul trailer for the ROT Rally, and this made the need even more apparent. A colleague of Rob’s mentioned he was getting a boat and wanted to sell his bikes and a trailer. Rob was right on top of that deal! After a little dealing, the asking price was found to be quite reasonable. As a group of club members found out, this was one hell of a deal! The trailer is a Pace, the leader in manufacturing of these units, and is feature packed. It’s covered, and tall enough inside for a few of our Vertically Challenged members to stand upright inside! It has the counter balanced drop down rear gate, side access door, electric brakes, roof vent, and is the right color; black! With a little care, this thing is going to look great, and we get the colors on the side, it will be a great looking addition to the club. Four of us, Rob, Roger, Hoover, and me, pooled our money to buy the unit, but we want it to belong to the club for use by all. At the meeting, a few ideas were tossed around on how the club members might pay us back. We decided to open a fund for any to contribute money to pay us back. We all agreed we weren’t in a hurry for the money, but if it belongs to the club, then it will benefit the club.

UPCOMING RIDE DETAILS July 16, the group will leave Braum’s, 15th just East of Central, Plano, at 9:30 and head to Ft. Worth. The FW Cycle Club will host the run and meeting. July 29, we’ll leave the shop at 9:30 AM for a trip to Tyler to visit Hoover’s Haunts. August 12, we’ll meet at Braum’s and ride out to the Mesquite Rodeo. August 18 – 20, the Viet Nam Vets MC is putting on its Texas State Rally. All bikes and bikers are welcome. A group of us will camp out, and there is a pool and a river to help us keep cool. A group will leave the shop at 1:00 on Friday the 18th for the trip to Glen Rose. August 27, we’ll leave Braum’s at 9:30 for a ride out to Tyler. Hoover knows the points of interest, and will lead us around the town. September 18 – 20 is the second annual trip to Beavers Bend in Arkansas. The pre-reserved cabins are spoken for, but there are other cabins in the area. Check out their web site http://www.beaversbend.com Or call at 800-435-5514. RIDE REPORT FOURTH OF JULY The Fourth of July is always a special day for those of us who value our freedom. We like to celebrate the day in a number of ways, and this one was no different. A good sized group of bikes met at Braum’s at 4:30 PM to ride up to hear a great band. Our own Rob K. and his compadres put on some music for a poolside party at Dan’s house. The music was rockin’! Then we saddled up and headed over to Hoover’s Hacienda (aka, the Clubhouse) for part two. The pool was cool, the food was hot, and the grog was… largely untouched! We did have a fine time, and we thank the Hoovers for hosting this event. WE NEED RIDE IDEAS Do you have a place in mind for a ride? Let us know! There is a lot to see in the great state of Texas. Look in the paper, your Texas Highways, on your maps and suggest some places to see. We are always open to suggestions.

UPCOMING EVENTS The ISF Bikers and Balloons Festival is coming up on Sept 22 – 24. This is the former Plano Balloon Festival, now benefiting the International Student Foundation. This event will be held at Collin County Community college campus on Spring Creek. There will a special entrance and parking for bikes, special access and a bike show. The web site mentions that clubs can reserve a table, chairs, special parking, and get their T shirts lined up all at the same time! Sounds like a fun time to me. There is more information at http://www.bikers-balloons.com/ DON’T HAVE EMAIL? WE CAN HELP! We like to communicate via Email whenever we can. It allows us to announce special activities, send out reminders for special events, and put together unscheduled rides. Please make sure we have your current address. If you don’t have Email, we can help you get it. There are a number of ways. We can help you get a decent PC for easy payments. You’ve heard of those deals where you can get a PC for free when you sign up for three years of Internet and email access. You don’t have to buy a car to get this deal! We can show you how. For those who don’t want a PC, there are Email terminals available from SW Bell that are easy to set up. If you just don’t want anything to do with the concept, that’s OK, too. We can pair you up with someone who does have email who will call you whenever some important news is sent out. We’ll work with you because we want you riding with us! Let’s ride!!   The "CFR Colors Pins" are available for sale from Rob, our KotG*. They are very good looking, so get two or three! Patches, too! (*Keeper of the Goods.)