NOBODYS MEET AT PERKINS

Left Side (front - back):Soleman, Thunder Brother Loud, Thunder Brother Louder, Pretzel, Melicious Mama The Right Side (front - back): Sugar, Smelty and Dirty Deeds (blocked by Sugar)

Yesterday we were scheduled to do our Monthly Muffin Run, but the weather was not cooperating. So the Nobodys got together at Perkins for breakfast. The agenda included initiating a new member Diane "Dirty Deeds" and to celebrate Mel's "Melicious Mama" purchase of a Yahama V Star 650. We had a motorcycle shower and lavished her new baby girl with wonderful gifts.

Melicious Mama was very excited by her handle grip tassels. She is going to be looking so fine on her bike with those tassels.

Despite having a great breakfast the Nobodys were in a nasty mood. While Diane was fulfilling here initiation requirements, the Nobody naming brainstorm process produce a very nasty name for a sweet lady. Diane accepted her biker name of Dirty Deeds without flinching. This is one tough lady. Last year after breaking her foot due to a freak cycle accident in Two Harbors, she road back home 35 miles and waited another two hours before going to urgent care to be checked out. She is a living example of: "cycle and roads will break my bones, but names will never hurt me." I told her that she could go by the nick name D.D. whenever she wanted. Hey, she's my wife and I want to continue to be happily married!

LET'S BE NICE By Tiny Gentilinie

Since it is still a little chilly, and I don't want to get salt on my scoot, I thought this would be a good time to remind my other club members about cycle etiquette.

When riding with others it is very important to keep several cycle behaviors and habits in mind. We support the staggered formation and ask our riders to keep a 6 second spacing rather than a 4 second spacing. We call this motorcycle nice. It gives our less experienced riders a little more room and gives us all more reaction time. One challenge is to prevent the accordion effect, where spacing increases and decreases due to riders speeding up and slowing down. If you want to be thoughtful and considerate toward our biker brothers and sisters, learn to be a calm, consistent, and steady rider. No need for jack rabbit starts or surges of speed, just because you want to air it out a bit. Take it from Tiny and follow this group ride rule: Think of others and don't be a bother.

Give and accept feedback on a ride. Our goal is to not only have safe rides, but also to educate each other so we all grow and improve as bikers. We focus on behavior; use I statements and look for the appropriate time and place to give feedback. It is best to actually use I feel statements and also to begin with a positive statement about the other rider. We never let them have it or look for ways to put down others, because we want to be a good biker neighbor.

I could continue with more on etiquette, but I will save that for some other time. I find often that this following statement and the image it produces can revolutionize your group riding abilities. Imagine that prior to any ride that you have a conversation with Mr. Rogers about what behaviors are important to practice during the ride. Will you be my biking neighbor?

STURGEON BIKE WEEK RIDE

Smelty, Trash Talk'n Soul Man, Pretzel, and Impress from foreground to background (photo by: Kickstand)

In mid September 2007, the Nobodys took their inaugural Sturgeon Bike Week Ride. It was a partly sunny day with the temperature holding in the low 50's. Since we will probably never go to Sturgis SD., we figured we needed to create a ride that sounded very similar. Perhaps people may misunderstand and get the impression that we actually participate in the Sturgis Bike Week ( http://www.sturgismotorcyclerally.com/). Conveniently for us, there is a town south of Duluth called Sturgeon Lake. We made the ride into a 110 mile loop by taking State Highway 23 down to Askov then cut across on a couple of county roads and headed north on State Highway 61 to Sturgeon Lake. The picture above was taken in Askov. We stopped at Lena's Coffee and Gift Shop. It is a unique shop run by a very interesting lady. Going down 23 to Lena's is one of my favorite rides, as it is very scenic with low traffic. It is 50 miles from my house to Lena's so it is an afternoon ride that I especially enjoy in the fall, when all the maple trees and popular trees are in color.

Smelty, Trash Talk'n Soul Man, Impress and Pretzel are getting ready to enter Doc's Sports Bar and Grill. Like any good motorcycle gang, we called a week in advance to notify them of our arrival and to caution them that we would be taking over their establishment.

Before getting back on the road, we posed at the Sturgeon Lake city limits. I was finally able to get in a picture. On the way back north, Highway 61 goes through the following cities: Moose Lake, Barnum, Mahtowa, Carlton, Scalon and Esko. It is also a low traffic State Highway, but lacks the scenery, curves and rolling hills of Highway 23.

The car you see in the background is part of our entourage. The driver is the Trash Talk'n Soul Man's wife. She has come on a couple of our rides. This particular ride she chose to drive a car rather than ride with her husband, because of a head cold. She (The One Who Is Yet To Be Named) has yet to go through our Nobody initiation, so consequently does not have her club name. No we don't need a support car with hot chocolate, cookies and handy wipes!

MONTHLY MUFFIN RIDE

Dress To Impress's Honda VTX 1800 is a sweet bike

Machine, Dress to Impress, Snowman and Pretzel

Brighten Beach along the Northshore of Lake Superior. Yes, that is ice on the lake in April and the wind was coming off the Lake!

Snowman, Machine, Kickstand and Pretzel

The above picture was taken in the parking lot of the Vanilla Bean Bakery and Cafe in Two Harbors. All Monthly Muffin Rides require a stop at the Vanilla Bean. We have our special table where we always sit. If anyone else is seated at our table we demand they go to another table. We have yet to beat anyone senseless to get "our table".

RIDE CALENDAR FINALIZED

The Nobody Motorcycle Club has finalized it's Spring and Summer ride calendar for 2008, after getting feedback from its membership.

SPRING AND SUMMER RIDE CALENDAR
2008

MARCH
29 Monthly Muffin Ride (This will also be a new bike baby shower for Melicious Mama's
Yahama 650 V Star, so bring a cheap little gift for the bike!)
APRIL

1 Fools 50 Mile Ride
14 Sneak Out Ride
17 Out To Lunch Ride
26 Monthly Muffin Ride

MAY

1 Sneak Out Ride
10 Two Bit City Ride
17 Nobody's Perfect Ride
25 Blessing Of The Bikes Day (Vineyard Church Lakeside)

JUNE

1 National Elvis Ride
5 Sneak Out Ride
7 Interstate Loop Ride
14 Side Car Rally Ride (National Rally of the United Side Car Association @ Buffalo House www.sidecar.com/rally.asp )
21 Mini Honda Hoot Rally Ride (National Honda Hoot Rally in Knoxville TN. www.hondahoot.com)
28 Monthly Muffin Ride

JULY
1 -5 BWCAW Ride And Canoe Trip
10 Slashers Suprise Ride
13 Bad Biker Ride
16 National Ride To Work Day
18 - 20 Sturgeon Bike Week
26 Monthly Muffin Ride

AUGUST

1-4 Nobody's Trip
7 Out To Lunch Ride
9 Biker Buddy Ride
16 Monthly Muffin Ride
21 - 24 Very Boring Bike Rally ( an Aerostich organized 25th anniversary @ Spirit Mt.Duluth go to http://www.aerostich.com/)
24 To Camp Olson Ride (Northwood Children's Services Runs a summer camp for their students
several of us plan to ride our cycles to the camp)
29 From Camp Olson Ride


All rides start at Northwood West 4000 West 9th Street
All rides are subject to change without notice. Call Kickstand or Pretzel to confirm a ride.

Cold Weather and Healing Back

Because of cold weather in Duluth and a healing back, I am not riding my cycle at the present time. My friend and I started a motorcycle club two years ago. We now have about 10 members. We are the Nobody Motorcycle Club. We do not discriminate regarding cc's, obey all traffic laws, listen to accordian music and are born to be mild. We have 4 - 6 rides each month. Our monthly muffin ride from Duluth to Two Harbors on Hwy 61 along the Northshore of Lake Superior is a club favorite. Let me know if you are interested in more information. Our age range is from 26 - 58 at present. Remember you can't be somebody until you are first a nobody.