NEWS and a brief history of the STARS

STAR 2003 has come and gone and I hear it was another big success, third highest STAR attendance ever. Attendees included several Louisiana members: Rick and Karen Moore, Ken and Evelyn Treas, Cindy Earle and Tony Crowell. I have not heard from Kent & Evie but everyone else has reported having a great time. Here are a couple of pictures of the banquet sent in by Cindy Earle. Thanks Cindy!

Cindy Earle and friend

Ken and Evelyn Treas

Cindy Earle and Drew Newcomber both have new rides. Cindy sent this picture of her new Honda VFR 800. Click on thee image for a full size view if you have a fast connection or don't mind a little wait. Drew Newcomer has purchased a BMW Sport Touring model, I can't keep the BMW models designations straight and I can't find Drew's message so I won't try to report exactly which model it is. We look forward to seeing both of these bikes on the road soon.

SUNDAY RIDE JULY 13.

Well, me and prospective member Mike Myers had a great ride. The weather was great despite the predicted chance of rain. It did get hot but that was not a problem for yoyrs truly, see my product review below. Bill and Sherri Ellis showed up on their bikes for a cup of coffee but could not make the ride due to other commitments. Tony Crowel was working but also stopped by Starbucks in the Rolling Calaboose for some coffee and conversatiion.

After a wait to see if anyone else would show up, Mike and I headed out. Mike mentioned that he enjoyed the run we had made to Taste of Bavaria a few months back and that just happened to be what I had in mind myself. Acoordingly we made our way to River Road and proceeded to blast downriver to HWY 22. We slowed only for the cyclists, obeying the newly posted "Slow for Cyclists" signs like the courteous road sharing citizens we are. We saw very little other traffic until we turned onto Hwy 22. At St. Amant be scorched the 935/936 figure 8 loop before continuing on 22. 936 is where I scraped my first peg in the early days and I try to never pass up an opportunity to ride this great road. This day it was smooth and clean and we had it to ourselves. At the end Mike pronounced it awesome. 935 is beat up pretty bad, and had more traffic however. We stopped for gas at the corner of 22 and 429 and were joined by a pack of about 8 cruisers. We had some friendly chats with the mostly couples group. One told me they we headed for Taste of Bavaria so we made a point of getting away ahead of them. There was the typical traffic on 22 from French Settlement to Whitehall but we only got stuck for a little while and had a clear shot at most of the 20 mph S-curves.

We arrived at TOB and had an excellent lunch under the trees. After lunch we backtracked to Killian and then turned off of 22 onto 444 which has some nice straights and sweepers and intersects with hwy 16 at French Settlement. W follwed 16 East for a while and then turned off onto 1032. This is another good fun road with lots of broad, wide open sweepers and some real long straights and minimal traffic. This got us to Florida Blvd near the Amite River. Here we split up with Mike heading home to BR and me continuing North on 1032 until it wound back to 16 in Denham Springs. I crossed the Amite at Magnolia Crossing and headed home via Clinton.

Product Review: Joe Rocket Sahara Cooling Vest

Once the weather turns warm I rarely ride without my Joe Rocket armoured Mesh suit. Since I like it so much I decided to try a couple of accessories to enhance it's usefulness. One is a water proof, breathable liner ($29.95 at Arizona Motorsports) to slip on underneath the jacket when you get caught in the rain. In a good rain, the mesh jacket when not keep you dry at all and you will really get chilled at spped. This liner solves that problem plus can be used in the early summer mornings when the mesh is not warm enough. Another item I decided to try is the Sahara Cool Vest, $72. This is a vest designed to be worn under any mesh jacket although it has a zippers specifiaclly to zip into the JR Phoenix. The vest is "quilted" with pockets filled with "polymers to absorb body heat and release it through external vest surface" according tp the Joe Rocket Web Site. Actually you soak it in water and the polymers absorb a lot of water and cools you through evaporation as the air flows through your mesh jacket.

I first used this vest briefly on my ride back from NPR last month, wetting it in the sink at the NPR riders lounge.However, I did not really soak it very well so I do not consider that ride a good test. For the July Sunday ride written about above I soaked the vest in my bathroom sink for three minutes before I left home. The instructions said to soak up to 5 minutes for longest lasting effect but that the weight may be objectionable to some. I stopped at three minutes mainly to make sure it would fit in my ziplock bag. I folded it up, squeezed out a little excess water and slipped it into a large zip log back for storage in my top case. There was no real need for using it before we stopped for lunch. After lunch the temperature was about 95 degrees so I put the vest on before leaving Taste of Bavaria.

The vest was felt damp and heavy but not unfomfortable; next time I will try the five minute soak. As soon as I got up to highway speed the cooling effect was dramatic. I was actually comfortably cool despite the 90 + degree temperature. The VFR's onboard thermometer said 95 I don't know how accurate it is but I think it is pretty close. The cooling effect lasted throughout the 90 minute ride home. At speeds below 50 the cooling is reduced but still noticeable. Conclusion: This vest WORKS and is well worth the money. I expect this vest to be most usefull on trips out West where the humidity is lower but it will defineltly be along from now on for all summertime rides.

UPCOMING RIDES

SATURDAY AUGUST 23

Time and place to be announced via Email and on the web site. If you are not online call for info: (225)281-0799

AMA SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL ROUND
SEPTEMBER 19-21

Several Louisiana members have made plans to attend the races in Birmingham. So far we have at least five rooms reserved at the Baymont Inn.Baymont Inn, 513 Cahaba Park Circle as our motel. It is conveniently located on the Southeast side of Birminham and good prices are available online: www.discounthotels.com for $49.95/night and at www.hotels.com, slightly ($4)higher at Orbitz.com. These prices only available via the internet. If you are interested in making this trip get online and reserve a room. And let me know.chappuis@demco.net

LA HSTA CAJUN CHRISTMAS 2003
TENTATIVE-FIRST WEEKEND OF DECEMBER

Last year we had the smallest attendance ever. We will make some changes this year in an attempt to revive this 13 year tradition. We will not go back to Chico State Park. The cabins at Chico have always been marginal at best. For the last two years members have had to put up with non-working cabin heat. These units are ancient and we cannot expect them to get any better. Additionaly, a location closer to East Texas and South Arkansas will hopefully draw attendees from these active HSTA areas. Next month Stacie and I will be scouting Caney Creek Lake State Park near Chatham, Louisiana. The State has just completed a bunch of brand new cabins at this park and hopefully they will provide a great location for our event. As always your feedback is welcomed.

Well, that's all for now. Keep riding & smiling.

Bob Chappuis, Editor
7060 Barrow Creek Dr.
St. Francisville, LA 70775