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I want to thank everyone that attended Chuck's
memorial service Friday night. Sue sincerely appreciated our
presence.
For those that were unable to attend, Chuck's
love of motorcycling was everywhere. The memorial pictures Sue
put together were filled with Chuck and Sue's two-wheeled adventures
to the Honda Hoot, the Sierra Criss Cross, and SRC weekend runs.
Chuck looked great at the service in his leather motorcycle jacket
and black t-shirt; his helmet and sunglasses prominently displayed
on a pedestal at his side.
Sue wanted people to share their memories of Chuck at the service
last night, but there were so many family, friends, and PacBell
co-workers coming all evening that it couldn't happen. Thank
you to Jacques for writing such a great memory of Chuck on the first
Sierra Criss Cross. If anyone else has a memory they'd like to
share, please do so. Sue would appreciate it.
I remember Chuck and Sue's first attendance at
one of our monthly meetings. After that, Chuck was a constant
presence on almost every ride. Chuck never questioned any
decisions I made as Ride Captain. Regardless of what I
decided, he'd go along with a smile. Chuck could communicate
volumes of unspoken words with that smile. If I looked at
Chuck after making a u-turn from a wrong decision, his smile
would lighten the event for me. While passing the line of
bikes following me about to make their own u-turn , I'd see Chuck's
face. Chuck's smile would say, "You screwed up
buddy, but it don't matter. We're still riding!"
Last year, at the 2001 Veterans Run,
intermittent light rain was predicted. On I-80 in Dixon, we
briefly went through a light drizzle, but it quickly stopped.
I believed that would be the pattern of any rain we ran into.
Out of Fairfield, as we left I-80 to cut over to Napa, it started to
drizzle. The smart thing to do would have been to pull over
and put on our rain-gear. But I figured it would quickly stop,
just like it had in Dixon.
Well, it didn't stop. And the closer we
got to Yountville, the sillier it seemed to take the time to pull
over and put on rain gear. So we kept driving in the rain with
me under the false belief that it would stop raining at any minute.
By the time we got to Yountville, we were
soaked. After parking in the line for the parade, we jumped
off our bikes and put on rain-gear over wet leathers and jeans.
That's when Chuck started poking fun at me for not stopping.
He'd take whatever I explained about my decision making process and
throw it back my way with impeccable timing.
"I thought the rain was going to
stop" I explained. At the time the rain was pounding
loudly on our plastic rain-gear, splashing off our tanks, and
puddling on our seats. The skies were getting darker and
darker.
"Yep, it looks like it is going to stop at
any minute" Chuck said. Then he laughed. I liked
that Chuck would laugh at his own funnies. The good-natured
ribbing didn't end there. It continued until we mounted up
after our last stop at a Chevy's in Vacaville to eat.
We'll miss you Chuck. You are forever a
Road Cruiser.
Ray
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