STC-II -- Riding w/ Gallop'n Galpin

Susan Galpin
577 Huskey Mountain Rd.
Lacey's Spring, AL 35754
256-498-3772

• Former Road Racer
• Former MSF Instructor
• Former High Milage Competiter and winner.
• Presently: "Queen of Quick"
• Instructor @ Ralleys or individually in GA mountains during summer months.

• Remember ==> riding a motorcycle is a Controlled FALL and that fall is managed with proper Gear Selection & Throttle Controll!!!
• ON throttle the bike STANDS
• OFF throttle the bike FALLS
  

For me (and I believe several others) the highlight of STC-II was Susan Galpin's presence, and the opportunity to talk with her, learn from her, ride with her. What a great person!

To her credit the worst of riders (ce n'est pas moi, n'est-ce pas?) as well as the best all learned a lot and became (I'll speak for myself: much) better riders. If you want to ride better, get in touch with Susan.

On Thursday morning Susan took a few of us (those w/ tread on their tires) out to Deal's Gap and the Tail of the Dragon in the rain (at times torrential). I had been riding somewhat stiff in the mountains this week, and even though I wasn't fast, I was leaned over more in the rain than I had been in the dry. It's about the control that horsepower at your rear wheel gives, pushing rain out of the way. I did the entire road in 1st gear (which on the K1200LT - Susan quipped "LT" stood for "Light Truck" - will get you past 60MPH). The trick was smooth transitions from deceleration to acceleration in first gear.

Just a little rain... until we started up the Tail...

Lunch: Comraderie and story time after the ride.

Britton was (to my knowledge) one of the few that managed to keep up with Susan.

Ok, remember this:

Gear Selection versus Speed (Throttle Control)

1. Too Low Gear + Too Low Speed ==> FALLS
2. Too Low Gear + Too High Speed ==> BRAKES
3. Too High Gear + Too Low Speed ==> WOBBLE (my badness early in the week)
4. Too High Gear + Too High Speed ==> DRIFTS OUT
   

Moral: 1 & 2 can transition to good spot, 3 is not in control, but 4 will get you into this kind of trouble:





Fortunately, Bill didn't seem hurt (put an ice pack on his left knee). Susan gave him a ride back to camp so he could get his truck & trailer. We stayed behind with the bike, and helped load it (it wouldn't roll, as you can see!). I think Susan might have showed Bill how it was supposed to be done on the way back to camp, but I can't be sure - when I asked how the ride back was , Bill just dropped his jaw *grin*.


Dinner after all the excitement.

My cousin, Larrysa, complains of gardening with her 55 year old knees.

Susan was on the road race circuit (the only woman motorcycle racer when she started, I think she said) until age 47, and now at 60... well, if I could keep up with her I'd date her *grin*.

You can find some of Susan's routes at MileageSlaves.com

STC-II -- Field Trip to Wheels Through Time (Dale Walksler's Museum)

Wheels Through Time Museum
P.O. Box 790, Maggie Valley, NC 28751
828-926-6266
http://www.wheelsthroughtime.com

Larry, Buzz, Britton and I headed out to Wheels Through Time Museum. Larry said this was a museum that used to be in Mt. Vernon, Illinois.

Well, it was about 70 miles, and a great ride out. The museum had running motorcycles, and some cars. How's this for a throttle linkage:

A most elegant looking Indian:

And some more Indian engineering feats - a power tobogan:

and an outboard:

I walked by and said "I know this trike; I think I know the guy that built it too...." although the memory was a bit fuzzy. Then, "Hey - aren't you Dale?"

I'd known Dale back in Glen Ellyn. I worked at Glen Ellyn Auto Parts w/ Tom Nelligan and Al Nichols, Skeeter Anderson, the Cicero brothers...; Dale was really into bikes, and trying hard to get Harley to give him a dealership. They wouldn't in the Chicago area, but finally did in Mt. Vernon, Illinois. I remember going down with a group of guys when Dale moved down there - he had a really nice Victorian, with a wrap around porch. I didn't know him that well, and hadn't seen him since. Apparently he started Wheels Through Time in Mt. Vernon, and moved it to North Carolina.

In the 70's, when we used to go out to 'party' Dale would go to his garage, building one bike or another until midnight. It's still his passion. It was good to see him again, and still enjoying what he does. Dale keeps everything running, and rides most things too. Dale has completed some record-breaking tasks that the bikes were built for, but through a fluke of fate not able to complete - until they get into Dale's hands.

Check out the museum (online or in person). It's a not-for profit organization. Great guy, great experience.

STC-II -- Pictures, more pictures

Britton

Larry & Buzz

Charlene

Don

John; John & Charlene are proprieters of Iron Horse.

I liked the Chicane tank bag several people had (including a hydration bag). A nice idea for the hydration nozzle using a tank bag: use a retractable badge holder velcro'd in front of the bag.

Just make sure your cooler doesn't block your license plate!




Susan Galpin - after this event I quipped that she's the perfect woman (well, ok - certainly one of my lifetime favorites - skilled, confident, straight talking, no bull, and nice as all getout). Those of us who had the opportunity to ride with her (or, as in my case, try to keep up with her) had a life altering (and very enjoyable) experience. And - man - what a great story teller!



Lots of nice people at STC-II (if only my head held all those names better :-).

But I remember "just Joe"... lesse, that's him on the left... no... wait... I mean the right... *grin* (the right).




These nice folks offered up their grill, so Britton & I didn't need to pan fry burgers that night (we offered up some beer - it's a dry county there!). Actually, one of the worst things about Charlene's cooking is that we didn't get as much opportunity / motivation to cook out as we'd expected! (Charlene - the Salmon, though, was overcooked, girrrl :-).

Sights from the top of the Dragon

At the tail of the dragon...

Staging - getting ready to take on the dragon

Don says, "Kinda big dog for a first bike, isn't it?"

Some people really liked Mick-O-Pegs (foot rests to stretch your legs out on). They are spring loaded, and drop down. I even saw one bike that had Mick-O-Pegs, J-Pegs, and Mike's rests (BMW Highway Ottoman's -- pads to rest your calfs on, above the tipover wings). Some people complained that Mick-O-Pegs limited their cornering ability (they are the lowest mounted). Mike's pads seemed the most popular among the "extreme" cornering riders. Imagine, a couple of people even claimed to have worn HOLES into their side-cases from cornering (I didn't believe it, but Britton confirmed it with first hand eye-witnesses!).

I'll spot some of Mike's Highway Ottomans for you somewhere here.