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21 February ERC at Lackland Photos by Skip Surre & Randy MacBay, Write-up by Gary Skorman On Saturday February 21st, thanks to Randy McBay and Kevin Fecteau, an ERC (Experienced Rider Course) was held at Lackland A.F.B. for Chapter U. Eleven of our finest decided to hone their riding skills that day. Most of us met for breakfast at a nice little Mexican restaurant right outside the main gate before entering the base. Those with Military I.D. went ahead while the rest of us had to go through the visitor center processing experience. It was slow, and time-consuming, but we were finally allowed to enter.
Most of us met at the restaurant! Bikes at the course Our group included, Brad Severe, Skip Surre, John McClinton, Sal Pesta, Mike & Cindy Edmonds (Cindy was our only female rider), Luis Flores, Jim Brown, Cooper Smyth, Archie Haley, and Gary Skorman. The base has a parking lot stripped especially for M.S.F. courses. Although the paving has some rough spots, Randy and Kevin did a terrific job of preparing it our day-long class. After a safety and information briefing, we began the exercises by executing figure eights in a box. The idea was to stay within the lines. However, on our first attempts, most of us had a difficult time complying with that directive.
Always paperwork! Randy McBay going over the event.
There was some bookwork! Gary Skorman As the morning and exercises went on, the group became aware of the dark clouds that were heading our way. The temperature dropped and the skies got more foreboding. We thought that rain was imminent. Not surprisingly the trainers assured us that the class would continue regardless of weather. Luckily, the rain passed and the weather was perfect.
John McClinton Cooper Smyth
Brad Severe Sal Pesta The day progressed and the exercises continued. With each additional exercise, our confidence and abilities improved. Randy and Kevin interspersed practical application exercises with book learning and group discussion. By the end of the day everyone said they were better riders for having taken the course (and the figure eights in the box became much easier to execute).
Archie Haley Skip Surre
Mike Edmonds Luis Flores
Jim Brown Cindy Edmonds As a final note, everyone passed with flying colors. Kudos to Luis for having the best score only losing 3 points off of the 100 point scoring total. The rest of us lost anywhere between 5 & 11 points. All in all, as usual, Chapter U did very well.
Gary Skorman Ride Coordinator
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