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Wowzers! Been a heck of a winter so far in our usually sunny SoCal. We’re used to making other states jealous on New Year’s Day with our sunshine and sunny riding weather—not so much this year. Been a lot of dang chilly riding so far, but I know it will improve shortly. Maybe just in time for the Polar Bear Ride on February 24. Sign-in is at Big Jim’s Family Restaurant at 8950 Laurel Canyon in Sun Valley from 8:00–10:00 a.m. For more info, you can get ahold of Sporty at 818.361.8800 or Peter Daniels at 800.866.6601. This is always a great ride and I want to say thanks to Steve Broughton for reminding me about it. It has only once ever been rained on, so hopefully their record will continue. Hope I see lots of you there… Nice running into Joe Cutshall from Willy Shiny at a recent event. He’s always got some cool stuff at his booth, although he mostly handles his stuff through UPS. Between his cool wheels, wheel spacers and very cool brake rotors, we always find a few minutes to chat about biz. If you’re in the market, give him a call at 909.815.4139… I talked with Luis Megia about hand-rolled cigars for a few minutes when I ran into him at an event not long ago. He was a vendor, and if you need a nice cigar vendor at an upcoming event, give him a call at 818.941.8103. Sorry, I didn’t smoke one, so I’m not here to report it was the best cigar I’ve ever had… But, while I’m on the subject, thanks Jim Ferrand for that Joya De Monterey at the party—now that was a dang good cigar! It wasn’t my favorite Monte Cristo, but it came dang close! Would you smoke one if I brought it to you at the upcoming CREW year-end party?… And on the subject of cigars (since I’m on a roll here), I ran into Scott Beaudreau from Fairwaycigars.com. He’ll come out to your events, too. You can call him at 951.837.1199 to line him up for one of your parties, golf tournaments or rides… February’s got some birthdays in it, so get ready. If you’re out in the desert and your name is Peter Ramirez, Shannon Phillips or Mary Ewing, hope your day is great! Jake Cormier (who is freezing his butt off in D.C.), hope your birthday dawns warmer temperatures. Judy Johnson, you have a great day, too. Greg Kammerman, one of the start-up members of ABATE #19, hope your birthday is fun, maybe you’ll be thawed out enough to get in a birthday ride up there in Big Bear… Long time PV H.O.G. member Barb Knight also enjoys a February birthday. I know you, honey—it’ll be a good one. If you decide to spend it in SoCal, please give me a call—I’d love to catch up. Also, happy birthdays to Ron Horn, Mark Wingo and Kathy Salerno. Kathy plans more cool rides, and if anyone deserves a sweet birthday it’s her! Out of all the birthday reminders I get, this is one of my favorites so far. Elwin Haddix of Ben Lomond sent me an e-mail with lots of cool stuff, but the best is that he’s been riding for 56 years. Right now he owns a 1942 WLA, a 1953 165, a 2003 100th Anniversary Dyna Wide Glide and a 1997 Heritage Springer, and bought his first Harley when he was 14. Elwin turns 70 on February 2. He’s afraid with his “advancing” age he might have to give up his kickstart bikes. Nah, I don’t think so, Elwin… And Ginni I know you’ll be in Okinawa with your Marine husband—my nephew, Aaron Weigand. Hope you see this somehow, and have a great birthday!… Brian Ratliff and Susie Mason, I still don’t have that bowling ball drilled yet, but I’ll get it done soon—thanks again, you guys!… As always thanks to Halle Fetty for the Low Desert happenings: This month we’ve got the Greek Festival on February 23-24. Also, check out the Date Festival on February 15–24. It’s always a good time and usually a pretty fun ride, since the Palm Springs/Indio area is always a lot warmer in the winter… And Halle, sorry I didn’t get to run into your Disney Princess daughter Lexie on my recent visit to that super-busy place in Anaheim on New Year’s day, but I had a great time thinking I might have seen her… Thanks for the personal invite Marcel Schiro, VP of sales and marketing at 7eye by Panoptx; great hearing from you! Their webpage is at www.7eye.com and they make some very cool sunglasses with great designs for guys and gals—and with wind protection cushioning, too. Check out the website; I think you guys and gals will like ’em a bunch! You can also call at 866.484.0292… Thanks for the photo, Dennis the Menace Driussi. It was great meeting you and catching up with Buck and Lois Fries; I enjoyed getting your e-mail with the shot… Nice to hear from Diane Davis, VP at ABATE Local 19. Thanks for all the info, girl!… And thanks for the digital Christmas card, Jerry “Wooster” Schuster from the Nuggets! Same to you, too, Mike Reich!… Met Jim Hayes, while he was in buying used parts—thanks for the club advice, my friend!… Christine and Ron Vanyo, hope your first anniversary was wonderful!… Howdy to Laura Williams and her ’08 Dyna… Vincent White, hope your broken leg continues to heal and you’re back up and riding soon… Condolences to my San Francisco wrecking yard friend, Jeff “Rev Leroy” on the passing of his mother… Also, condolences to Carol Tucholski on the passing of your husband, Larry (and one of the earliest PV H.O.G. members). Larry was a great, funny guy and he will be missed… Hope your Groundhog Day on the 2nd and Valentine’s Day on the 14th is as special as it should be. OK, just kidding—Groundhog Day? That’s it for this month; hope everyone gets some riding in between the rains. Keep up the good work sending me your e–mails; you always know what I want—birthdays, anniversaries, biker-friendly shops, restaurants, bars and anything else you think needs a bit of free advertising. See you all next month—enjoy your ride!

 

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