Good Bye Old Club House

With  plans all drawn up for the brand new ILBC club house, the old place had to come down to make way for the new. Good bye "little house on the prairie"! It was a great old building, with many charms, but it was only built on skids, back in 1936, on land donated by the Cross Family. The original building may have been an old army barracks, like the Ramsay Community Hall, with 5 separate sections added on over the years and jimmy-rigged to fit together.
As the volunteer maintenance man, I've crawled underneath the building more than a few times, to fix broken pipes and various other things, since the building was not heated and sometimes suffered through the winters, with shifting, sagging, and eroding. Who knows what sort of critters lived and died under there and it certainly made for a creepy experience, laying on one's back to fix something and turning your head to come face to face with a mummified squirrel head! haha.
We've been raising funds for the past 6 or 7 years and finally have enough cash in the kitty to proceed with construction of the new club house. Watch for further posts on the new building and what she will look like when done.
We saved some of the historical features of the building to use in our "heritage wall" and then had a fair bit of salvage done on the building by Reclaimed Trading Company, with the final demolition done with the machinery pictured below. Once the foundation and footings are in and the yard re-graded, work will begin on the framing.
Everyone is pretty excited and we hope to have full use of the new digs by the start of the 2014 season, more or less. Can't wait!

Too Cool Motorcycle School and Blue Circle

Blue Circle, repped by Gerry, Sanjay and myself, had a great breakfast meeting with Trevor Dech, who runs Too Cool Motorcycle School. We are happy to be forming a working partnership with this great crew of motorcycle enthusiasts and help keep building a fantastic riding community. We chowed down at a big breakfast served up with a smile by the good people at Red's In Ramsay. Low and behold, our friendly waitress, Georgia, is an alumni of the Too Cool riding school and was happy to see head instructor Trevor again! What a small world!
After trading some stories, we got down to business and talked about how Blue Circle and Too Cool both desire the same thing, a safe and responsible group of riders out there on the streets and roads, making good decisions and protecting themselves and those around them from harm. We also share in the spirit of how that should be achieved and we are very pleased to be "all in the same family". Blue Circle was also very happy to show a bit of financial support for the effort, with some gift certificates to a couple of motorcycle shops presented by Gerry to Trevor. With so many riders of all shapes and sizes going through the school, and with the usual wear and tear associated with riding, new gear is essential and Blue Circle was glad to provide another form of protection to cover those new riders!

The brand new Red's in Ramsay

The kitchen gets hopping

Or great waitress, Georgia, is also a too Cool alumni

Trevor, Sanjay, Gerry and myself

Lou Reed R.I.P.

Sad news today, as Lou Reed died at age 71. An American music icon, his career spanned many decades and had a huge influence on a lot of other artists. Brian Eno once said that "The Velvet Underground only sold 30,000 of their debut record but every one of those 30,00 people went out and started a band".  Lou is now taking a "Walk On The Wild Side".

Random Photo

Random Photo

Typha explosion

Winter Bike Storage and Blue Circle Client Discount

Wondering what to do with your bike for the Winter? Did you know that our pals at Ride Stop n Go have a secure, heated storage facility and are more than happy to help you get it all sorted out before you put the cover on it, as well as help you get her cleaned up and ready to roll in the Spring. And if you're a Blue Circle client, you get a free month when you buy 3, so a bonus for being part of the family. Check out their website Ride Stop n Go storage http://www.ridestopngostorage.com/

The Last Burger Ride of 2013

Sunday was the Burger Ride, with Troy and Ange form Ride Stop n Go joining up with Blue Circle to organize a ride down to Longview, one of the most well reviewed burgers from our 2013 Burger Ride Map. One thing, when Troy and Ange put out the call to go for a ride, people listen and jump right in! What we thought might be 20 riders turned into a solid 65+ and though we were a bit surprised, it was all good. The more the merrier, as Troy likes to say.
With a few bikes running blocks to get us all out of the muster point and onto the road, we set off, ending up in two separate packs of riders. We hit the back roads and had a great tour through some rolling hills and winding roads. I was looking the wrong way and didn't see the two moose hanging out in the swamp on one stretch, but there was plenty to see and enjoy, including those majestic Rocky Mountains! What an awesome province in which we get to live and ride!
We hit Longview after a couple of hours and pretty much swamped Heather and the poor folks working at the Twin Cities Saloon. Despite the madness, they managed to get us all served and we enjoyed kickin' back and relaxing before heading back to Calgary.
What a great day and thanks to everyone who came out and shared the camaraderie of riding and enjoying some great countryside, as well as some good food and good times.

Mustering

Troy talks about the ride

Lots of black leather and iron

Takin' the back roads

A beautiful day to cruise, even though it's chilly

We overwhelmed poor Heather at the Twin Cities Saloon but we all got fed and watered none the less. Good job!

The Longview burger, with the Burger Ride Map!

We had riders from Ride For Dad, URSA, The Red Knights, and The Blue Knights.

Our Burger Ride Map plaque has a nice spot in the middle of the saloon.

Kathey and Dorothy have a visit

Setting up for the show.

Ange interviews Blue Circle Insurance prez, Gerry Baert, for the Ride Stop n Go show on Shaw.

"Somebody" burned out a happy face on the road!! :)

It should be!

Ride Stop n Go and Blue Circle..a damn good team

Almost the last ones to leave.

The Rockies are already covered in snow

Kathey's all bundled up