Northeast Area Director (AD) Election for the 2010-2011 term process began two months ago when the nomination period opened and NE Area members had the opportunity to submit candidate nominations. When the October 1 nomination deadline passed, I was informed by club officials that an election would not be necessary as only one candidate had been nominated for the position and it was me. I am honored to serve another term as your Area Director. I have some new event ideas in mind, and with the support of the Northeast staff and members, I hope we will be able to bring them forward and make the NE Area the envy of all others:-)

Club Happenings - COG Executive Director Ken Ford recently announced two national COG officer appointments. Jim Culp was appointed to fill the vacant Safety Officer position, and Al Norcross was appointed to the newly created Marketing Director position. Look for details on both appointments in a future Concourier issue or on the web at www.cog-online.org.

The club’s membership director, Darrell Anderson, strongly encourages all members to create an online member account on our web site. This will provide members a method to manage their member profile and contact info, while allowing COG to operate more efficiently and effectively. Membership renewal reminders will be emailed automatically so there is less chance to miss a renewal date, and the online membership process is simpler, less costly, and “greener” than mailing out notices and having members mail them back. If you already have your online account set up, THANKS!!! Another important thing to note is to please keep your member profile information up to date, including mailing address, phone, email, emergency contact info, and member directory preferences. You can modify your member profile by going to the COG web site www.cog-online.org, logging into your online, and click on “My Info” from the Member Area menu.

Northeast Officer Appointed - I am delighted to announce that Ken Fader (#8534) has graciously taken on the role as COG Northeast Assistant Area Director (NE AAD) for Eastern Ontario. Ken resides in Brockville, ON, which is very close to the New York border, so he may be able to provide some member support in upstate NY as well. One of Ken’s goals is to increase the member activity in his region, so look for more opportunities to get together with other COG members in this region. Please welcome Ken and I hope all eastern Ontario members provide their full support.

This is a continued plea for help! If you want to get more involved with COG here is the opportunity. COG Northeast needs member support to fill other vacant AAD positions, create new positions, or just organize activities. The Maryland and eastern Pennsylvania region has been without an AAD for nearly a year. This may be part of the reason several long time social activities disappeared from the activity schedule. This used to be one of the more active regions and it would be a shame to see this change. After serving as AAD for several years, Kurt & Sue Nordstrom have decided to step down at the end of 2010. This will leave another significant void for Virginia and West Virginia. These two states could be split up or one person could manage them both. Interested members can step into a shared AAD position now and ease into it while “learning the ropes” from Kurt & Sue. There may be other regions that could use an AAD and they can cover a region, state, city, etc., and you decide how much time and effort to put in. The only requirement is to host one activity per year. If you are interested, please contact me so we can chat about your ideas to improve member activity in your region. I am also looking to fill the Northeast Web Editor position to do web page design and update of existing pages on our cog-online.org Northeast Area web pages. The work is not so much hard, as it is time consuming. Knowledge of website page layout and HTML would be most helpful, but not absolutely necessary.

Activities - There were a number of rides and event in the NE Area the past few months, and some of them are mentioned in the AAD reports in this issue. Our major seasonal event was the NE Area regional Fall Rally that was held September 24–27 at the Penn Wells Lodge in Wellsboro, PA. Over 80 members and friends joined together to make this a success. Circumstances prevented Jason or I from attending and we roped Guy Young into covering for us, but he too had to cancel at the last minute. We were scrambling for someone who could handle check-in, AMA paperwork, and emcee the Saturday evening banquet. A huge THANK YOU goes to Russell Fleming and Terry Faherty for stepping in at the 11th hour and taking over as the rally hosts, and to Jerry Gowen and other for helping out at check-in. I also want to thank COG merchandise coordinator Sue Cerutti for arranging the to get the cash for door prizes and bringing some COG merchandise for sale. Special mention to Jim Miller and Whitehorse Press for donations of door prizes of Millerized pegs and books respectively, and the winners of these were Karl Schenkel, Stell Hayes, and Bob Petit. The eleven cash door prizes we gave away ranged from $10 to $50, with top winners being Wayne Tenney and John Micca. Wellsboro is a favorite COG NE rally location and I anticipate we will be going back there again… just not in 2010.☺

Looking Ahead - Now is the time to consider, plan and promote rides and other activities for next year. The Northeast Area has always had 60 or more activities on our events calendar and I would really like to see this tradition continue. Posting activities to the calendar early provides members adequate time to plan to attend. To do this we need member support. You do not have to be an AAD to host activities. Day rides and social meets are a piece of cake. If you have an idea for any type of activity, it is easy to begin the process by contacting me or your local AAD and we can help get you started.

2010 “Spring Fling” Rally - the event will be hosted May 20-23 by Jason Kaplitz in Somerset, PA. There are many great places to ride and attractions to visit… the event listing in the online Calendar of Events lists many tourist attractions. There will be a special early registration prize drawing. All registrations (from COG members only) received within the early registration period January 1 through April 15 are eligible for the drawing. The winner will be surprised at check-in with a free 3 nights lodging in a suite at the motel for the rally. In the mean time, you may begin to book your rooms by contacting the motel directly... Quality Inn of Somerset, 814-443-4646 (www.qualityinnsomersetpa.com) $78.48 per room per night, including tax. A limited block of rooms will be held until 05/13/10, so book early. Be sure to mention you are part of the Concours Owners Group event to get special; pricing for rooms in our block.

2010 “Summer Bash” Rally - Kevin Martin is in the final planning stages for a summer event located on the renowned Route 100 in southern Vermont. Come romp in the Green Mountains of Vermont, experience Mount Greylock or the Mohawk Trail of northern Massachusetts, or visit upstate New York. We are excited about this location and think you will be too once you get there. We are arranging several different lodging options and special pricing on room rates... there may also be an onsite camping/RV option. We are unable to provide complete details until the event is locked in. Complete details will be provided in the nest newsletter and posted to the online northeast event calendar as soon as we know more.

Remember… the deadline for the next Northeast Area News is November 30. Until next time, ride safe.

Cognitions: Random thoughts from the Northeast Area Director by Steven Smith #3184

Issue 5, 2009

Page 2 NORTHEAST AREA NEWS

NE Area STAFF

Area Director Steven Smith, #3184 203-720-7575 nead @ cog-online.org

Newsletter Editor Neil Baldwin, #5762 905-875-8607 hikerboy @ sympatico.ca

Web Editor Help needed—please inquire!!

Assistant Area Directors: Massachusetts (VT, NH, ME) Kevin Martin, #145 Dracut, MA 978-459-6275 cog145 @ verizon.net

Connecticut (RI) Norm & Lorie Walton, #7011 Cromwell, CT 860-836-5162 ctaad @ live.com

Metro NY/NJ Terry Faherty, #792 Staten Island, NY 718-227-2099 tmcefah @ aol.com

NY Hudson Valley Mike Flynn, #4493 Bedford Hills, NY 914-239-3721 Keltwolf @ optonline.net

Western NY J.R. Healy, #6591 Hamburg, NY 716-648-6729 Dafonman52 @ yahoo.com

Pittsburgh (Western PA) Joe Cyprych, #4665 McDonald, PA 724-796-1401 cyprych @ windstream.net

DelMarVa & Philly burbs (PA/NJ) Bob Chappell, #1283 Claymont, DE 302-791-0582 cog1283 @ comcast.net

Maryland/Southern PA Help needed—please inquire!! Virginia/West Virginia Kurt & Sue Nordstrom, #6049/A Spotsylvania, VA 540-582-9414 ironhorsefun @ mindspring.com

Greater Toronto, Canada Dave Clancy, #5452 Hamilton, Ontario 905-389-7681 davecla2 @ sympatico.ca

Eastern Ontario, Canada Ken Fader, #8534 Brockville, Ontario 613-865-7995 kensc14@g.mail.com

What’s up in Metro NY/NJ by Terry Faherty #792

Hello again folks from NYC and environs! Well the season is winding down now, and everyone is out there enjoying the last good weather before the freeze arrives. Had a hell of a time in Wellsboro and looking forward to my day ride in October. Hope to see some fellow hardy folks join in. The info should be on the website, thanks to Steve our intrepid AD. We leave the IHOP lot off I-80 at 9am sharp! Looking down the calendar, I'll also be putting together another Javitz Show get together so stay tuned! Until next time keep the shiny side up!

Greetings New England Coggers! by Kevin Martin #145

Wow, I can’t believe it’s already October and my yearly rides are almost over. This is one of those years that I really feel like we didn’t have a summer given all of the rain and cool temperatures. Up here in Massachusetts, I only recall one week out of the entire summer that required me to turn on the house air conditioner. Very strange weather this year, but luckily it didn’t impact my ride schedule as much as it could have given the increased number of rides planned. Most of the scheduled weekend days were dry with only a few event changes due to bad weather.

We had a number of enjoyable rides this year, and I’ve also noticed that attendance continues to gradually increase, and we still occasionally get new members joining in… that’s a good thing! Two years ago, I aver-aged 4 ~ 6 riders per scheduled ride. Last year it increased to 6 ~ 8 riders, and this year we have been aver-aging 10 to 12 riders per ride and sometimes more. A group size of 12 bikes really doesn’t concern me that much because I’m fairly experienced with leading large groups, but the rides that I planned out for this sea-son were not really designed for large groups, which has caused some difficulty.

Generally, if I expect to lead larger groups, I try to lay out routes that confine the group to State or Inter-state roads with the least amount of turn offs, intersections, and stop lights to prevent the group from get-ting broken up. Most of my routes this year were laid out to include numerous secondary roads with multi-ple turns, intersections, and quick stops, on narrow windy streets through rural areas to get away from local traffic. With larger groups this can create a problem cause in a group of 10 or 12 bikes, the line can extend up to a ½ mile, resulting in missed turns or some people getting separated due to merging traffic.

I’ve tried to offset this as much as possible by using FMS/GMRS radios with sweep riders which in general has worked well, but we’ve still had problems keeping the group together on some rides. Basically the larger the group the more difficult it is to keep everyone together on secondary roads without passing lanes. The same is true to some extent on state roads, but people can generally catch up knowing that the group will be traveling the same route for several miles, especially when there are long passing lanes.

There will always be intersecting stops, stop lights, and traffic interfering with a group rides; that’s part of motorcycling. I’m not in any way complaining about large member participation on my rides, just the oppo-site, I appreciate the local support and the attendance on my local rides and I look forward to having similar participation next year. I just need to factor this in over the winter as I set up next year’s ride schedule and plan out the events so that I can adjust my rides to accommodate larger groups. This includes details that the average attendee wouldn’t think about, like lunch and break stops that can handle larger groups.

Since I’m on the topic of group rides, I’d like to share a few personal observations (see article , page 4).

Eastern Ontario Report By Ken Fader, #8534

I am looking forward to being the AAD for this area, and hope that I can come up with some events to bring you to this area and see it’s beauty. Now a little bit about myself, I live just outside of Brockville Ontario, Have been driving motorcycles for 30+ years, and enjoy driving the bike when ever possible, my first Concours was a 2002 loved the bike and drove it till last fall when I made the mistake of taking a C-14 for a test drive. I guess I should have known better, but after a test drive we all know what happens. So I had to sit all winter dreaming of how great the next riding season was going to be, and winters can be long in eastern Ontario. Then at last spring came and the fun of riding the C-14 became real. I did my first long trip this summer 10000 kms crossing Canada and returning in the USA, it was all that I dreamed it would be and more, if anyone has ever wanted to do a big trip go for it, you get to meet many different people along the way, and there are memories that you will have forever. The one thing about traveling on a bike is that no matter where you go, people always stop to talk to you, and I believe that travel any other way would not give the same results. I look forward to meeting more members over the upcoming years, and wish everyone well. Till next time ride safe.

Northeast Area eNews Newsletter Option and Online Archive In an effort to “go green” and to help control costs members may choose to receive this newsletter by email notification & download from web option instead of the mailed hardcopy. Please send an email to nead @ cog-online.org to request eNews delivery. Also, there is an archive of old newsletters in the member library. Log in to www.cog-online.org and click on Library from the Member Area menu, then look in the NE Newsletter section.

ISSUE 5 , 2009 Page 3

What’s Online now at www.cog-online.org

More photos from Dog Days Weekend

Photos from Fall rally in Wellsboro, PA

Discussion Forums with over 300 active discussions on tech, accessories, riding gear, safety, and much more.

The Esteemed Connie Dropper s Anonymous (CDA) forum.

Event Calendar Vendors

COG Online Store PLUS renew your

membership online!

Northeast Area NEWS is a bi-monthly publication for Northeast Area members of the Concours Owners Group. Submissions are welcomed and members are encouraged to share their COG experiences. Please send submissions to: Neil Baldwin RR3, 821717 Sideroad 1 Chatsworth ON N0H 1G0 Canada hikerboy @ sympatico.ca

Submissions by email are ideal to cut down on retyping but frankly we’ll take it any way we can get it. If you snailmail something (e.g, picture) please clearly state if you want it returned. Submissions may be edited to fit space.

Many of the opinions stated in this publication may make no sense to those sound of mind and may just be conveniently ignored. If you use any of the information in this rag to incur damage to yourself, your motor or any innocent or not so innocent bystanders it is you own fault...you were warned!

©2009 Concours Owners Group

Hudson Valley News By Mike Flynn, #4493

Hello Hudson Valley Cogsters. We’ve had a pretty rainy summer, although the heat was-n’t as bad as some past summers. I’m making a little headway on my basket case, and hopefully will be up and running for next season.

I did get the chance to get out in the dirt this past weekend, thanks to a friend in south Jersey. We rode through sand, mud holes, ponds, I think the Atlantic at one point, and everything in between. While dirt is loads of fun, I think I prefer the street though.

I have a few ideas for rides for next year, so keep an eye on the schedule. I’ve been gathering a list of food troughs to hit while riding. If anyone has any suggestions on places, feel free to let me know about them.

Well, that’s about all for this issue. Hope everyone enjoyed the riding this year so far. The fall colors will be coming in real soon, along with the much cooler temps that make the ride that much more enjoyable.

Pittsburgh (Western PA) Greetings by Joe Cyprych #4665 Hello fellow coggers! Well it looks like for most of us in the northeast area the riding season is coming to a end and pretty soon the dreaded white stuff will be falling but October and hopefully November will be kind to us so we can still get our riding in!

We will still do our Sunday meet greet and rides both months, weather permitting, and there’s still a couple weekenders mixed in. On the Sunday rides note that if your’e planning to come to one contact me before-hand to make sure that I am not away on a weekend ride… or just show up maybe someone else will be there. What’s the worst thing that can happen if nobody’s there—you still got out for a ride right?! On an-other note this is the time to start thinking about next year’s rides and we’re planning on doing the Cook Forest weekender again and the Wellsboro camp-out ( it wasn’t held this year because of the fall rally). With that, we are a volunteer group so feel free to put a ride, event, get together (etc. etc.) together and contact myself or Steve and we will help you make it happen. Take care.

Connecticut Report By Norm & Lorie Walton, #7011

The weather started out cloudy and cool this early August 9 morning (sadly just like most of the summer), but a brave few turned out for the ride. Moe and Bobby Lavoie met us for breakfast and Jerry Gillespie and Craig Rabin came for the ride. Thankfully, the rain held off for almost the entire ride. Craig saved the day with a route change when we had a GPS glitch. Bub’s BBQ was awesome as usual.

Don't forget about the “End of the Season Bash” to be catered and held in Cromwell at the Fox Meadows Clubhouse on November 7th beginning at 6:00 pm. Tickets are $20 per person and includes starters, salad, dinner, dessert, soft drinks and coffee. BYOB. Tickets may be ordered and purchased from Norm and Lorie Walton (860) 635-0803 and will need to be purchased no later than October 3rd. We would love to see every-one attend. RSVP as soon as you can and hope to see you there! It will be a great way to end the riding sea-son!

Greater Toronto Area (GTA) Coggers by Dave Clancy #5452

Our group continues to meet regularly the second Tuesday evening of each month at the Mo-hawk Inn, on Guelph Line just north of the 401. The Inn sets aside a room for our use. We draw in riders from near and far… some come for dinner some come a little later but it’s al-ways a great opportunity to show, share and chat about all things motorcycling. Some are Connie riders not <yet> in COG. Some are Coggers who now ride other bikes. Everyone is welcome! The get-togethers will continue over the winter. At the November and December meetings we’ll discuss staffing a COG booth again this year at the motorcycle show in January. Here’s a pic of the group from one of our summer meetings:

Page 4 NORTHEAST AREA NEWS

Group Ride Observations by Kevin Martin #145

From my experience with group rides that I’ve made this season, here are some reflections that will hopefully make riders more aware of the do’s and don’ts. Basic motorcycling safety is a top priority on all of my rides and should be a top priority for all Coggers. As such, I expect all attendees to ride in a manner that is safe for both the individual and others in the group. Fortunately none of these observations resulted in any road incidents, but the opportunity surely was there and people need to be aware and reminded of the potential for disaster.

When a large group shows up for a ride, I try to enlist someone with radio communications to ride sweep to let me know if the group gets separated or if there is an incident. On some rides being lead by volun-teers, I’ll always ride sweep to monitor and help the leader keep the group together. Having a sweep bike with radio communications is very helpful, but I’ve fallen short several times by not ensuring that the sweep bike is either familiar with the ride route or has a copy of my GPS file. Because of this oversight, I’ve actually lost riders in the group in-cluding the sweeper who is there to keep the stragglers together.

I’ve also noticed that some riders appeared distracted and have diffi-culty maintaining either a staggered position in line or have trouble focusing on the proper line entry into a curve. I often see heads bobbing all around checking to see where or how far back the other riders in the group are. What seems to be happening is that multiple riders are tak-ing on the role as either ride leader or mid-group sweeper, when they really should be focusing on the ride and not people behind them. Again, my mistake because I’ve agreed to have multiple people with radios help manage the group when in fact the best method is to only have two coordinators, a leader and a sweeper.

I’ve seen riders straddling the double yellow line just before and during left hand sweepers most likely because they are distracted and more focused on other riders in the group rather than on their position in the road. Think about your position in the road: if your tires are skirting the yellow line just before a left hand sweeper, where do you think your head is as you lean into the apex of the turn, and which side of the op-posite lane do you think a speeding oncoming car will drift to?

On one ride, a rider in front of me was over the yellow line in a left hand blind sweeper because he wasn’t paying attention to his entrance and exit. Seeing that forced me out of my entrance line in the event he needed to make an emergency manoeuvre. Poor road position and im-proper set up prior to a turn is unsafe for the rider and a distraction to others as well. When riding in a group, don’t worry about the guy be-hind you, focus on the road ahead.

I’ve also seen people in the middle of the group pull over on narrow intersecting roads, like a forked intersection, for the purpose of alerting riders behind them where they need to make the turn. This is a nice gesture, but dangerous. Remember, for every action there is a reaction. Stopping your bike on a narrow curve not only forces the other riders behind you to swing wide when they catch up, it also forces 4-wheelers that broke into the line into oncoming traffic as they pull around you because they haven’t got a clue what you’re doing on the roadside. Those actions put everyone at greater risk. This happened on one ride that I was conducting sweep on, which almost caused the rider in front of me to get pushed off the road when he got stuffed in between the rider who stopped on the curve and a car who coming through the inter-section, forcing the trailing rider and car into the opposite lane. Fortu-nately it was a near miss with no further consequences, but it could have been a much more severe.

(Continued on page 6)

Dog Days Camp & Ride at Boyer WV

Fall Rally at Wellsboro, PA

ISSUE 5 , 2009 Page 5

Weekend Toronto/Ottawa Ride (aka the ‘Rider’ Calabogie) Oct 3 – 4 2009 By Dave Clancy #5462

The motivation was an article published in ‘Rider Magazine’ about a trip in the Calabogie area. I tried to construct the route to get there and back incorporating some of the ‘Rider’ loops where I could. The notice in the cog-online calendar was only 2 weeks because it needed to be before Cana-dian thanksgiving, any later and snow is possible in the Barry’s Bay area. Sorry for the short notice, thanks to John DeVos, Don Mitton, Pete Bokkers, Ken Edick for joining me. We had hoped to meet up with Ken Fader that area’s AAD, maybe next time with some Ottawa area coggers.

We met at the Harvey’s, which was closed - go figure, on Hwy 35/115. The route took us along minor roads roughly between the 401 and Hwy 7 to Carleton Place, near Ottawa. The pace was leisurely, the scenery scenic and the comradeship terrific. We even had the offer of a garage, thank-fully, not needed, from Tony Thompson a GTA member who moved near Ottawa. The forecast called for rain along the entire route, however the weather was fantastic, cool but not cold and not a drop until after check in at the overnight motel.

The Sunday return along minor roads North of Hwy 7 was in similarly fine fall weather. The fall leaf colour show had started. The roads were made for motorcycles. Particularly memorable were 511 into Calabogie, 508/65/71 from Calabogie to Hwy 41, CR 10 (aka Peterson road and Elephant Lake road) from Maynooth to Wilburforce, although I don’t think we hit a bad road the entire trip.

Pete took us to a log chute overlook on the Old Barry’s Bay road and to Barry’s Bay for lunch. This is another recommended motorcycle road. The other detour was due to my reading the wrong route in my GPS. The motel had been largely booked up by a wedding so it was lucky we had reserva-tions, a slight glitch in duplicate room numbers was quickly resolved. We all agreed that another similar ride next year would be worthwhile.

Ironically, it was a COG event; however the bikes were a C10, Wing, KLR, ST1300, and FJR1300. Proof “join for the bike, stay for the people” is true!

In Westport, after a patio lunch. Connie at the log chute.

Along Hwy 41. Ken: a rare quiet moment.

Don shows off fall colours at the log chute on Old Barry’s Bay Rd.

Page 6 NORTHEAST AREA NEWS

Howe Caverns Ride by Bob Barbanti, #7134

The Howe Caverns ride actually started the day before for same of us. Some of the riders came in from out of town on Friday night. My ride co-leader Steve and Sue Cerutti hosted Lorie and Norm Walton at their home. I met and had dinner with the guests that were staying overnight in the hotel. Dave Brown, Brian and Andrea Felice, my wife Cindy and I went to Chili's. We had a great time there. Brian needed to unwind because he was stressed about the possibility of his KIPASS stranding him on the way. But once here, he felt a much needed relief with a glass of White Zinfandel.

Howe Caverns turned out to be a beautiful day. Of course it was 91 degrees on the way back (which is hot since it's been a very cool summer). I arrived early at the meeting spot which was the Pilot Travel Center in Newburgh, NY. I'm glad I did, because a lot of the people also showed up early. We were close to departure time when we picked up rider number 13. This was a sur-prise because it was a last minute decision for him to come. As of the night before (Paul Lind-man) wasn't coming because he hadn't made lodging plans. He was close and made it on time. But he just rode a few hours to make it here. So we left a few minutes later than scheduled. It's easy to blame it on Paul, but it's easier to blame it on myself and others who have big mouths. Time flies when you’re talking!

We had 13 riders in total for this event. Andrea and Brian Felice rode in from Rhode Island. Lorie and Norm Walton rode in from Connecticut. Dave Brown, Paul Lindman and Marc Hering each rode in from New Jersey. Abbe and Ben Otunu, Fred Whitaker, Sue and Steve Cerutti, and I were all from the Hudson Valley area (NY). We had a calm paced ride both up and back from the caverns. We rode a 100 mile (2.5 hour) ride route to Howe Caverns that was pretty much all back roads consisting of hills, turns, wooded roads and some rolling hills and farms. It was basically a diversified rural ride with some towns in between.

When we arrived at Howe Caverns, the temperature was already in the 80's with full sun. Howe Caverns was busy so there was no shaded parking for the bikes, although Fred and I tried. But we were in the sun before we left. It was an exercise in futility. We bought our tickets as a group to tour the caverns. Then we had lunch in the Caverns cafe'. When we were done eating Sue collected our tickets and we were on the next tour down into the Caverns. The Caverns are about 150 feet under ground to start with. It's about 52 degrees year round so some of us wore jackets. We toured the caverns for about an hour and a half, which consisted of walking about a mile, up and down hill. We even got a boat ride. It was nice and cool, as well as interesting to see and hear about. When we came up to the surface again the nice and cool naturally air con-ditioned (from the caverns) lobby seemed much warmer now and outside seemed brutal. It was about 90 degrees outside. I have 2 thermometers on my bike (why, I don't know). The LCD ther-mometer was black from the heat of the sun. The Formotion thermometer was pegged all the way around at 130. We departed between 3:30 and 4 o'clock. Once we got under way Fred no-ticed that his tire pressures went down from sitting in the hot sun.

At this point Lorie and Norm Walton and Andrea and Brian Felice headed straight home to-wards Connecticut and Rhode Island respectively. It was the smart thing for them to do and I would have done the same if I were in their position. The rest of us started back on route num-ber 2 which was similar to the route there except I change the route after the first 50 miles so we can experience other good roads. We stopped in Saugerties which is the half way mark. It's also where the ride begins to be different from the ride there. We fueled up and took a break. It was getting late so Dave and Marc decided to jump on the Thruway (I-87) and slab it back to New Jersey. Paul was too tired to ride back to New Jersey, so he stayed with us. I want to thank Sue and Steve for taking Paul into their home for the night, so he could sleep before heading home Sunday. We continued on back towards home. Everyone basically peeled off down to-wards Newburgh to head toward their respective homes.

I would like to take this time to thank everyone for coming and hope you had a good time. I would especially like to thank my co leader Steve Cerutti and his wife Sue for all their help. As well as Connecticut AAD Norm and Lorie Walton for their input. Now we have to start planning another be-fore the years out.

P.S. I forgot to add that I had bought a get well card for Dave (Wes) Hays, from Ohio. Wes had a bad crash on his C14 and is in the hos-pital in pretty bad shape. I brought it on the ride to afford all the ride participants a chance to sign the card. I put it out in the mail Sunday, for Mon-day pick up. Get well soon Wes!

On a more comical note, here’s one that hap-pens more often than most people think. Dur-ing the return trip after lunch, one rider had planned to break off into a different direction to go home. No problem, except that the group of riders behind him didn’t know that, and they followed him on a different route when he turned off and quickly left the following riders in the dust. So, unless you want other riders to follow you home for dinner, if you know you’re not going to ride the same route back that the leader is taking, please stay at the back of the line.

Other observations include; intentional inter-action with cars in an attempt to keep the group intact. The first rule is always assume that people in cars have no clue what’s hap-pening around them, and it’s a rare event that a car will hold up traffic to allow a large mo-torcycle group to stay intact and in formation, hell most drivers don’t even see motorcyclists. That said, It’s not safe to jump out in the mid-dle of the road to stop and block on-coming traffic so riders can stay pull out of an inter-section or a parking lot in group formation. The only other time I’ve seen this is on large HOG group rides, and it really pisses off the cagers. It’s not good practice, it’s not safe for the blocker or other riders, and its not legal.

Safety is always top priority. Every ride I host or have someone else host, always includes a specific destination, usually a lunch stop, and often includes a pre-determined break stop or gas stop. Every ride also includes a GPS file for those riders with GPS capability. It’s the atten-dees’ responsibility to ride at their own pace, safely and responsibly, even if that means that they can’t keep up with the rest of the group because of traffic conditions beyond their control. Leaders are responsible to ensure that if its necessary to pull over to allow riders to catch up, it needs to be done only when it is safe to do so, like on wide pull offs or parking areas, and when resuming the ride, the leader needs to allow enough distance for the group to merge back into traffic. Riders are not to jump out in the road to slow down traffic to let the group enter the road. That’s a good way to end up a hood ornament.

Finally, if any rider has an issue with the pace of a ride, please notify the ride leader so that he can adjust the pace accordingly. In the event you get separated from the group, don’t panic and try to catch up by riding outside your comfort zone, simply meet us at the next planned stop. To that end, I’ll be inserting more planned stops on next year’s rides to accommodate larger groups of riders and to enhance group rider safety.

With only a few exceptions over the years, we’ve been very fortunate to be mostly inci-dent free on our New England group rides, primarily to the credit of the experienced rid-ers who routinely attend and help set the tone and pace for the group, and I’d like to keep it that way. But every now and then even a cham-pionship team can get sloppy and needs to be reminded of the basics. That’s what I’ve tried to do in this Newsletter. Thanks for attending my rides this year, but please don’t loose fo-cus on basic rider principles and road safety. At the end of the day, you’ll have had much more fun. Ride safe and ride smart, so that we can do it all again next year.

(Group Ride Observatiions from page 4)

ISSUE 5 , 2009 Page 7

Northeast Activity Schedule - View the most up to date info on the online Event Calendar at: www.cog-online.org

Recurring Events

(ON) S. Central Ontario Dinner Get-Together Join us for dinner and socializing. All Welcome. Meet at 6:30pm on the 2nd Tuesday of each month at the Mohawk Inn, located on the northwest corner of Hwy. 401 at Guelph Line, Exit 312, next to the Mohawk Raceway & Slots Entertainment Facility. 9230 Guelph Line, Campbellville, Ontario. 905.854.2277 (www.mohawkinn.com) Contact: Dave Clancy, davecla2@sympatico.ca or 905.389.7681.

(PA) Meet Greet and Ride Sundays Meet Sundays at 10:00 am at Kings Restaurant located in Imperial, PA, located right off the Imperial exit of routes 22 & 30. Rides will begin the 1st week in April until the 1st week in Nov. We’ll decide a ride or destination with whoever attends, or I will have a route ready if we need it. If you have a ride idea, or need additional info or directions contact Joe Cyprych 724.796.1401 or cyprych@windstream.net Hope to see you there.

Calendar of Events

(WV) Fall Foliage Ride 10/16/09-10/18/09 – This year join us in wild and wonderful WV, as we will be based out of KOA in Harpers Ferry, WV (www.koa.com/where/wv/48107) . For those that do not want to do the camping/cabin thing; there are hotels and motels close by, as well as a huge amount of eating establishments within a 10 minute drive. Saturday breakfast will be at Mountain View Diner in Charles Town (www.mountainviewdiner.com). After breakfast we'll have approximately 225-250 mile ride on some roads in the area, covering 4 states and every possible type of road, except dirt, although those will be available at extra charge. From river bottom roads to the tallest peaks in the east, a good time will be had by all. For those that don't want to ride the route, there are enough historic spots to keep you busy for the entire week, let alone a weekend. From John Brown's last stand to some of the bloodiest battlefields of the Civil War are within a few minutes drive. Saturday evening chow at a place TBD since none of my past places are still open. On Saturday, Charles Town Races and Slots offers a all you can eat Seafood and Prime Rib Buffet (www.ctownraces.com). At $21.99 it is a great deal (but expensive) and open for debate. We'll decide at that time. Questions, comments or suggestions, give Jimmy Miller a yell at millerized@comcast.net or Contact: Kurt & Sue Nordstrom: ironhorsefun@mindspring.com or 540.582.9414

(MA) COG Fall Pizza Social 10/24/09 - My Fall Social will be at a different venue and at an earlier time so that weather permitting, members can ride to this event. It will be a lunch time event at Romano’s Pizza, 1794 Bridge Street (Rte 38, Bridgewood Plaza), Dracut MA 01826, www.mypizzamenu.com.

They have great food and a large seating area where we can hang out and enjoy the afternoon. There is plenty of parking within view of the dining area. This will be an “All Weather” event, so come on 2 wheels or four. Arrive at Romano’s at 12:30 pm and relax. COG New England will be contributing to the appetizers to celebrate another great year of riding with friends. If out of towners need direction, contact me. From 495 North or South, take Exit 38 which is also Rte 38 and follow through Lowell and stay on 38 North. At intersection of Rte 38 & 113 (Wendy’s on right), go straight through lights, Romano’s is 1 mile up on the Left in Bridgewood Plaza. From 93 North or South, take Exit 46 to the Methuen Rotary and bear right onto Rte 113 toward Dracut. Follow Rte 113 West for 6 miles to the Rte 38 intersection (Wendy’s on Left). Take Right onto 38 North and go 1 mile, Romano’s on Left in Bridgewood Plaza. Contact: Kevin Martin cog145@verizon.net or 978.459.6275

(MA) Big Chill Ride 11/07/09 - Join me for my last scheduled ride of the season. This will be a late seaon Fall ride around the Merrimack Valley area starting in Acton MA and riding through Clinton, Ayer, Groton, Pepperell, and stopping for lunch at Joey’s Diner in Hollis NH, returning back in Acton at MotoMarket before they close. Meet at the Acton Bickfords, Nagog Park, Rt 2A/119. Ride leaves at 9:00 am. Contact: Kevin Martin cog145@verizon.net or 978.459.6275

(VA) Brrrr Ride 11/13/09-11/15/09 - Started by Guy Young several years ago, this one has become a perennial favorite. We’ll gather at the Natural Bridge KOA just off I-81 and RT 11 to camp on Friday and Saturday nights. For those not wanting to camp the KOA has cabins available with heaters (sort of) that will keep the chill off. To make reservations with the KOA please call 540.291.2770. There are hotels and motels in the area for those that require hard top shelter Budget Inn: 540.291.2896, Relax Inn: 540.291.2143. Saturday morning we’ll meet for breakfast at 8:00 AM at the Pink Cadillac Restaurant (RT 11), just a mile north of the entrance of the KOA. The route will take us over some awesome roads with lunch, then back to the camp for dinner and COG camaraderie. Hopefully there will not be a fire ban and will have a nice campfire this year. Contact Kurt or Sue Nordstrom: ironhorsefun@mindspring.com or 540.582.9414.

Please check the www.cog-online.org Event Calendar for the most complete and up to date activities listing.

“Spring Fling” Rally May 20-23, 2010 - Somerset, PA Registration opens January 1. Book rooms now.

“Summer Bash” Rally (tentative) August 5-8, 2010 - W. Dover, VT Registration & room info in next newsletter.

Look for preliminary information one page 1.

Fall Rally Follies by Terry Faherty #792

It's the Monday after Wellsboro as I write this, and I must say that even with all the hub-bub, we pulled it off again! Special thanks to Rus-sell Fleming and the Cerutti's for really com-ing through big time. I was just the mouth-piece… they made it work. I learned of my promotion to Rally co-host the Sunday before and basically rolled with the flow. And anyone who knows me, knows talking isn't a problem, so banquet emcee is a piece of cake!

I arrived about 5pm Thursday to find a decent turn out of bikes already present. I touched base with Russell and found out that the ‘ole USPS was slacking and our sign in paperwork hadn't arrived yet, so registrations would have to wait. That night was spent milling about and catching up with friends, while making a few new ones to boot. I must say that there were more than a few first timers present which was great to see.

Although it was a bit chilly, Friday was the best day weather-wise and we truly took ad-vantage of it! I tangled with the Best Loop and the title was no lie. Sweet twisties with little traffic made for some entertaining riding. I finally got to get a peg down on my FZ-1… SWEET! When we returned around 3pm, I dis-covered that the package had finally arrived, which was a welcome relief. Russell and I got registration rolling and after being relieved by Jerry Gowen (thanks Jer!)

After a quick dip and stew in the hot tub I tidied up and took a break to get ready to do my schtick at the banquet. The rain wasn't letting up any, so we took advantage of the hotel balcony and overhang to take the group picture, then started to head down to the Penn Wells Hotel where the banquet was being held. They did an excellent job and everyone was well fed thanks to their tasty all you could eat buffet. Finally it was time to earn my keep and hold the drawing for the door prizes. Thanks to Steve and Sue, we actually had some! This time out it was mainly cash, with two books courtesy of Whitehorse Press, and a set of C-10 highway pegs courtesy of Jim Miller. After some spirited discussion in the parking lot, it was time to turn in and prepare for departure. It was still nasty come morning, and I decided to just get it over with and get rolling. It was a wet but uneventful ride home for me, with a stopover at my brother's place in Stroudsburg to dry off and recaffeinate. As I crossed into Staten Island I was greeted by blue skies and a sushower! Mother nature can be cruel some-times. All in all another fine rally was in the books.

Manchester NH - Steve McDonnell #8847 Washington DC - Trevor Angel #8848 Brandon VT - Daniel Celik #8850 Toronto ON - Lee Vittetow #8851 Norfolk CT - Greg & Lisa Mitchell #8852/8852a Coventry CT - Scot Herman #8853 Baltimore MD - Eric Nicholson Rockport MA - Norm DuLong #8863 York PA - David Kotz #8865 Buffalo NY - Ronald Robbins #8866 Fresh Meadows NY - Roger Mercer #8867 (assoc member) Sand Fork WV - James Bleigh #8870

Bristol RI - Ed & Karen King #8872/8872a Wellsville NY - Scott Lindahl #8874 Richmond VA - Michael Krause #8880 Richmond VA - Justin White #8885 York PE - Rob Mayhew #8886 Budd Lake NJ - Garfield Black #8889 Mechanicsburg PA - John Marino #8896 North Kingstown RI - Greg Berger #8900 Waynesboro VA - Tim Steele #8904 Coventry CT - Richard Paton, #8917 Mechanicsburg PA - Richard Close, JR #8920 Shapleigh ME - Raul Micheliche, Jr. #8921

Welcome to Our Newest Northeast Area Members! (since the last newsletter)

Page 8 NORTHEAST AREA NEWS

You are Invited… Greetings COG Members! We are planning a “End of the Season Bash” to be catered and held in Cromwell at the Fox Meadows Clubhouse on November 7th beginning at 6:00 pm. Tickets are $20 per person and includes Starters, Din-ner, Dessert and Coffee.

Dinner will include the following:

Vegetable and Cheese assortment for starters

Manicotti

Stuffed Breast of Chicken with Orange and Honey Glaze

Caesar Salad

Grilled Vegetable Medley

Red Potatoes and Carrots Roasted with Olive Oil and Garlic

Assorted Desserts

Water, Soda and Coffee provided

BYOB, alcoholic beverages

Tickets may be ordered and purchased from Norm and Lorie Walton (860) 635-0803 and will need to be purchased no later than October 3rd. We would love to see everyone attend, unfortunately if there is not sufficient interest in the event, we will have to cancel.

Hope to see you! It will be a great way to end the riding season! Thanks!