Aug 25th ... Metro Poker Cruise ... Grand Rapids area

More INFO on this will be coming, but I truly do want you folks to consider placing this on your calendar and coming to this NEW ADVENTURE ! This will probably be the Grand Rapids Road Ryders "Signature Ride".

We are teaming up our efforts with "The Ride" that the March of Dimes hosts, so our extra proceeds will be going to them.

The date is August 25th (Saturday), but most will want to stay the night, since the activities will be going into the later evening hours.

Some highlights - first off, click open the link below - it is to the 28th Street METRO CRUISE - which by itself, will be just a HUGE reason to be here.

Lodging ??? .... There are listed there (on the site) MANY hotels available, but I would encourage you to book early, since a few hundred thousand folks will be coming to town for it. We also have a spot (about 1 mile away form the MECCA of this event) for throwing down a tent if you choose, we can hold about 30-35 tents, and all our bikes.

Then "OUR" activities will include a 'very different type' of POKER RIDE - this will be fun! Money to be won - for sure, but also to raise money for the March of Dimes.
We will be having 50/50 drawings for cash, raffle some prizes, a "Team Effort" horseshoe contest - we have a fully official horseshoe pit at our disposal. $10 per team (of 2), can enter as often as you like (but always must be with a different partner). Cash prizes here as well, plus some going back to our charity. Plus some "other" unique horseshoe contests.
Plan to have a great BBQ meal, couple of grills fired up to char up some burgers and brats, along with all the other goodies, drinks provided - but BYOB - and please be smart about this.
Open fire pit will be burning into the evening, so come and go as you please. Like I said, we are about 1 mile away from all the METRO CRUISE activities, so swing out into the crowd for awhile - look and watch some of the finest vehicles ever produced - thousands & thousands of them. Then come on back, sit by the fire, shoot the bull, eat some more bull,
About 8:30 pm (as dusk starts setting in), we would like to pull together as many as possible, to do our own little bike 'parade of lights'. We'll form at our site (5 bikes or 50 bikes) and roll down to 28th Street, slide into the convoy of muscle cars & trucks, then roll down the street together as one large "Valkyrie Nation". Probably will only be about 15 mph, so this will be cool, with a couple hundred thousand folks standing along both sides of 28th Street - this WILL BE COOOOLLL !!

******* There will be more INFO on this, on a regular basis, but I need to have you folks start to plan on this. All these ideas, all the activities, all the prizes, all the cash to be won, all the proceeds to the March of Dimes, all the fun and camaraderie - it's ALL BASED on you folks coming to this.
*** and as always, we need to KNOW as many as possible who are coming for sure, so we know how to plan many of these activities - primarily the food which is needed.

*** I will be sending out very shortly, another 'reservation type' notice, for you folks to reply to - this will give us our heads up that we need to know. As I've said before, the cost for all this will be $25 per person (includes the poker hand, and the BBQ meal, and the tenting if you should so choose, and many of the activities we have planned.
I will pass along my address to send checks to, or can use PayPal ($26 for this though - to cover the handling). This way it truly confirms your presence, and gives us the funds we need to put this together.

I really believe that this is going to be ONE OUTSTANDING DAY of EVENTS - sure to be remembered for a long time, write this date down -- NOW !!


.. August 25th There will be a lot more INFORMATION on this in the near future, but please start to make plans for this day. We are planning on the GR Road Ryders “METRO POKER CRUISE”. This is going to be so very cool, use the link below to the 28th Metro Cruise site. This is their 3rd annual, last year they drew over 8,000 vintage and classic cars, 175,000 people – just waaaayyy outta sight.

http://www.28thstreetmetrocruise.com/v4/go.gnf?s=metrocruise just copy & paste into your browser

We are planning our POKER RIDE, to coincide with this Metro Cruise, will be an all day event. Will be starting at 11:00 a.m., will run our poker route, with lots of fun and NEW ideas here – CA$H to be won. We’ll be ending up with a big ‘burger & brat BBQ’ in the afternoon. This will be about 2 blocks from 28th Street and all the wild and outstanding action of the Metro Cruise. Hotel INFO will be available on the site, we have a spot for you to ‘pitch a tent and camp overnight’ if you choose. But you’ll want to stay the night, because hot rods & classic vehicles & trucks & big engines burnin’ tires – all will be going on thru the evening, and YOU WILL WANT TO BE THERE.

More Info will be coming, but mark your calendars
L8r ... my friends, STITCH _____________________________________Grand Rapids Road Rydersin association with the VRCC (Valkyrie Riders Cruiser Club)Gary House #2260 (aka ValkGary aka VG)Grand Rapids, MichiganALL bikes are welcome, your camaraderie is what's important here !website www.motorscoots.blogspot.com

Next BIG DINNER ride

Howdy all ----
Want to post here ... a reminder to you all. July 22nd, at 4 p.m., be sure to place this date on your calendar. This will be our next 'Grand Rapids Road Ryders' Dinner Ride.
We are planning to meet up at Johnson Park, just slightly west of Grandville, in their north parking lot on Butterworth drive. We'll have on kickstands up at 4 p.m., so be sure to get there a few minutes early ... just to say "HI", and walk around some, meet some friends. Be sure to have your 'tank full' and you 'bladder empty'.


Picture shows a stop we had on a previous Dinner Ride, but I don't think that we'll be traveling quite this far on July 22nd - HA! We'll be riding for about 1 1/2 hours or so, probably put s short stop in the middle, then pull in for a fantastic time of dining, laughing, story telling, etc. Maybe even do a little report on all the other activities we have happening !!

Hopefully many of you can make it, these are always lots of fun, a nice time to get away for a bit. If it's POURING RAIN - you may be on your own.

Would appreciate a note from you, if you're planning to come along --- that would help me in planning our dinner stop - thanks !

**** and don't forget about DOTS Rally, the link to it is on the right-hand column, check it out.

later all,
Gary

Just a few PICS of some of the things we'll be seeing along the way. Great scenery, lots of good food, fantastic music on TWO nights, fabulous friends (both new & old), rally events to remember, raffles & money to be won.

You really do need to join us, be part of the FIRST ANNUAL D.O.T.S. Rally (Dragons Over The Smokies). This is a new rally by the VRCC, most likely to go on into the future, because "we do like to party and have fun with our friends".

Notes & Pix for Upcoming DOTS Rally

Dragons Over The Smokies !! What the heck is this anyway ?? Brand new, 1st annual VRCC sponsored event - high in the Smokies .... Johnson City, Tennessee to be exact. Couple pictures above just give you a taste of what's in store. Gorgeous scenery, switchback corners, temps that average 75-80 up in the hills, what more could you want ?

Twistie Roads ? whooooo - eeeeeee ! We will have several maps & directions for 'self-guided rides', for you folks to gather 2,3,6 or however many - and take off for 3-4 hours, have a great ride ... stop for lunch ... take some PIX of your own ... just be sure to be back for the evening events, we have 'something' planned every night --- check out the events page.

Central Tennessee has 'The Dragon - Deal's Gap', and we have maps to get you there & back. This place is well known, and has some great hairpin turns. But it's 125 miles from ground ZERO (one way), and very busy.

****** Please Note Here ****** I found a secret, East Tennessee's answer ... it's called 'The Snake'. This Highway 421 has 480 some curves, many switchbacks, over 20 miles long. I rode them both over a couple

days, both are outstanding, but the Snake is only 25 miles away, great roads leading up to it, a ton way LESS traffic. They are competing with Deal's Gap, they have a couple stores & gas smack dap in the middle of it all, at a place called Shady Valley, quaint little intersection.

Deal's Gap - great ride, as we all know. But it's VERY busy, and about 125 miles away (one way) - this makes for one very long day. Yes, we will have maps on how to get there, BUT ... read below ...

** Please Note Here ** I found a secret, East Tennessee's answer ... it's called 'The Snake'. This Highway 421 has 480 some curves, many switchbacks, over 20 miles long. I rode them both over a couple
days, both are outstanding, but the Snake is only 25 miles away, great roads leading up to it, a ton way LESS traffic. They are competing with Deal's Gap, they have a couple stores & gas smack dab in the middle of it all, at a place called Shady Valley, quaint little intersection.

----------------------

POKER RIDE on Saturday, planning to have about $500 first place, all depends on how many participate. The ride will take us about 2 1/2 hours to complete, winding thru (AGAIN) some gorgeous scenery. We will end our ride at the Crumley House, which is a rehilbilatation center for brain damaged individuals - a very worthy cause. They are our recipients this year, as our charity. They will be hosting us there with a very good lunch, T-Shirts (which are being made by some of their patients), and many smiles and talkative folks - I met several, they are so glad to see visitors. Open your heart to them, and they will love you for it.

--------------------------------

Bristol Motor Speedway ... Tim (RedValk) is working with them to see what we CAN do there. We did have plans for some laps on the track, but the very next week-end is a huge Nascar race, and homeland security is closing this down a week early, we can't get onto the track. But there are some other possibilities happening, we'll see.

Bristol Motor Speedway ... Tim (RedValk) is working with them to see what we CAN do there. We did have plans for some laps on the track, but the very next week-end is a huge Nascar race, and homeland security is closing this down a week early, we can't get onto the track. But there are some other possibilities happening, we'll see.

Members - and upcoming rides

Just posting here, a couple members of the Grand Rapids chapter. Ron & Pam, out of the Jenison area, both happen to work at Meijer (Meijer is secretly a dating service, just don't tell anyone). They own and ride an Valk Interstate, they've been on several rides with us, just a great couple - I'm sure that you will see more of them this summer.

April 30th, we have the Lakeshore "Blessing of the Bikes" in the Holland area - we've sent out notes regarding this, if you want more INFO, please contact me.

Also - May 21st is the big Baldwin "Blessing"

May 27th - will be the Grand Rapids (1st of the season) Dinner Rides - at 4 pm. More details and notes will be coming, via email, as the time gets nearer, but place this on your calendars now.

If you are NOT on my email list, but would LIKE TO BE, drop me a note. My email address is GR-VRCC@comcast.net catch you all later.

Gary (aka VG aka ValkGary)

2006 Winter Party in Mt Pleasant

Good morning all !!

Hey, last night was a great time by all, for those of you who happened to come (which were quite a few - we were happy to see you all) to our Winter Gathering. We couldn't / haven't been able to ride for awhile now, so this party and dinner was great. A FANTASTIC 'smorg-as-borg' (? however that is spelled?) of Prime Rib, shrimp, chicken, fish and all the other goodies that go along with it.
We had a photo show playing in the background with cool music and PICS of most everyone, somewhere along the line of riding last year. That was really cool. We had a 50/50 drawing, which Joe T. from Lansing won ($100), not too shabby. As unbelievable as THIS is, Joe T. also won a service contract from Birch Run Honda, which was pretty dog-gone valuable too. Hats off to Birch Run also, for THAT gift, but also for participating so heavily in our rides thru-out the year, awesome group there. Also, thanks to Shawmut Hills Sales in Grand Rapids, we had 5 or 6 items from them also, for our raffle drawings.
Then we had a chance to go over the summer riding schedule, whooo weeeee - it's gonna be a great year of riding , but only if YOU FOLKS join us on some of this stuff. We are going, we are planning on lots, we'll be seeing so much and doing so much (great scenery to be sure, lots of food of course, fun activities planned, cool places to go) -- so why don't YOU FOLKS plan to come on along to some of these events, outings, dinners, rallies, what-have-you, and enjoy some time with us. Don't be stingy, of YOU, with US. Shoot, even my wife Lori was there at the dinner Saturday, struck up conversations with a couple gals about sewing and quilting, they had a great time. So you see, folks from all over can have a ball.
You can look at some of your previous posts, or the state page for the current calendar, but there are LOTS of things planned for the year, I'll be dropping notes to all of you as each event gets nearer, but you should be posting some of this stuff on YOUR calendars right now. A few of the biggies to watch for: Lumberman's BBQ, Dinner Rides by the Grand Rapids Road Ryders, Midnight Ride with Tri-Cities U.P. ride in August. The CBR Ride in Indiana in September. One of the NEW EVENTS for this year (& probably every year from now on) is the DOTS (Dragons Over The Smokies) Rally in Johnson City, TN - this is going to be GREAT ! We are currently working on a custom designed denim jacket for this ride/event - which is way cool!
So you can see, lots to enjoy, by simply coming along now & then - we truly do want to see YOU at some of these.


PS - was I lost??? I guess, but at least here is what happened. For those of you who were there, I was "kinda" a little late getting there, I had the wrong address. When I was looking at Bill's email with the info on it, there was a spot which said "Holiday Inn of Mt Pleasant", so I clicked on their website (so I thought) for their address, and possibly a map. So there it was '114 East Broadway', well, let me tell you - I DO KNOW where the Mt Pleasant Chamber of Commerce building is now.

Oh well,
later my friends,
Gary VG

NEXT SUMMER !! Whooo-eeeeeee !!

Now I like lights, I have a bunch on MY VALK, but you 'can' go over-board, wouldn't you say. This picture was sent to me from an 'invisible member' of our chapter, by the name of Don Lane - he rides a wing, no wonder this photo was sooooo intriguing to him. 'Invisible' - I mean he not once rode with us this summer, NOT ONCE - man, I took a shower and everything!




**** Keep your eyes and ears open folks, for NEXT SUMMER! You will not BELIEVE what all we will be having going on. The plans are in the works for several, AND I DO MEAN SEVERAL, outstanding rides/events. These are all going to be 4-5-6 day type rides, to absolutely gorgeous spots. Some close by, and some - a distance. BUt these are going to be fantastic!

That's all I'm saying right now - anything more, I would be shot ! So plan your summer accordingly, catch a couple weeks with us - spread throughout the months - this WILL BE GOOD !

More Members in Grand Rapids - & beyond

Now here are TWO extremes, in our riders.

First off, my ol' pal Charlie. This is Mr Charles Lane, lives on Crockery Lake, close to Revenna, MI, I've know him for over 30 years now, one of my best 'pal-sie'. Here he's talkin' to another one of our group, Joe T - looks like he's telling him to 'take a hike', but I may just be puttin' words in his mouth. Anyway, after riding many years together, various times and bikes, last year Charlie bought a Honda 750 - and rode with us for a year, not a problem at all with that. But evidently, he had a problem?? This summer, we rode over to the Chicago area, where Charlie bought himself his own Valkyrie I/S - wise choice my friend!! The only problem he has, he happened to buy that 'slow-poke' BLACK model, Oh Well !


Then we have Jack here. I know "I don't know Jack!" But I do now - I just met him about an hour before THIS picture was taken. He lives in the Muskegon, MI area - and rides a Valkyrie I/S Trike, really a cool bike - I should post a picture of that, but I don't have a good close-up, I know - I know, what good am I?? My wife asks me that all the time. Sure hope to see a lot more of you this next summer.





Well that's all for now, but more is coming.
VG (that's short for ValkGary)

2 MEMBERS - of the Grand Rapids Road Ryders

Here we have Bo Roop, out of the grand little town of Jenison (MY own town, BTW). Bo just picked up his Blue/Silver I/S just about 4-5 weeks prior to this ride. So far, he's extremely happy with it - how can you not!

Just had the privilege to meet Bo the morning of this ride, he saw our posting and just showed up. Very glad that he did, hope we can get in many more rides together my friend.

Now this sorry lookin' old fart is Joe T, resides in Mason, just outside of Lansing. Joe and I do a lot of kidding back and forth, he's a fun guy to talk with. Met him on an earlier ride this summer, then got to talking about InZane V in Paducah, and lo & behold, he rode along - actually we shared a room together for a week. Man, are his feet cold, but we won't go there !!


We'll have MORE members posted soon.

See yaaaaaaaa !!

2005 Season is just about OVER !

Just reminicing about some rides. Right below here, we have Timberwolf & Chili Pepper, looking out over Lake Superior, from last August's 'Bridge Ride'. This was truly a cool week-end, we had I think 29 bikes from all over the state.




These other 4 pictures are from Michigan, around the Manistee area. We had 10 bikes on our color tour, October 8th. Kinda a cool day, but still had sunshine - as you can see.
Met (4) new riders that day, which was waaaaay nice ! You'll be reading about them in future posts.


Hey! I lost a couple pics, but we'll find them somewhere along the way.