Rich Christie Memorial Plaque & Ride, NY *8/19/06 DEFINITE Date*

[spotswood_suzuki]

Hi everyone,

Got home around 9:45.......long wet ride home, but well worth it   Total milage was 532 miles....I think that may be getting close to my limit for one day.  It was great seeing everyone and meeting Rich's family and loved ones.  It was a very special day that I am sure will not be forgotten.  Ginoe....glad you enjoyed the pace.....I can only imagine what time we would have gotten home if we had ridden any slower. 

Wayne

[Onlypastrana199]

I got back a little after nine....so it was 124 miles from where I stopped to get gas and eat lunch..in all it was 200 miles...I was soaked to the bone too, but it wasn't bad, I was wringing out my gloves at each stop  It was worth it though, like I was telling Kim I still feel like I'm waiting for his screenname to sign on and IM me with something ridiculous like he always did. It was a wonderful tribute, thanks Rob and Julie for doing such an awesome job. I'm sorry I didnt get to go to the diner and say goodbye to everyone, I had to get home before it got too dark, the way home was all back roads  and full of deer. Ive got pictures too, I'll post tomorrow when I'm not exhausted. Kim please thanks I love YOU and dad again for letting me and AJ stay with you and for the meals. I really appreciated it! It was good to meet everyone!

[pantablo]

Looks like a wonderful tribute and a great ride.

[pdg108]

Just wanted to report in and say I made it.  Not to bad for me in the cage, glad to see everybody made it back safe and sound.  I also want to thank Julie and Rob for putting this togther.  Despite the rain it was a good day. 

[LadyJules31]

Paul, Onlypastrana & Wayne, glad to hear you all made it home safe too.

Kim, great pictures! Thx for everything!

Just and F.Y.I for everyone...

Chris and I will be setting up a NE ride sometime soon. We were talking on the way home and since we (and Paul and some others) didn't get to ride our bikes yesterday, we thought it would be a great idea to organize a ride soon so we can all meet up and ride on some good roads. If it rains that day, we will set up a rain date.

Any  dates stand out as being good dates to plan this? We don't have details on when or where yet, but I'll start a new thread about it. Just wanted to give everyone a heads up. 

Here's the new link to the NE GS ride.  http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=29579.0

[rhenter]

WOW
   I arrived home around 9:30 PM with a lake in my boots.  Luckly it stopped raining on Wayne and me about 20 minutes after we split with Ginoe on the ride back to NJ.  It was quite a day.  It was nice to meet some new and GStwiners and Rich's family and friends.

  After seeing the site where Rich was taken from us, it is easy to see that even if you ride in control and live life carefully, sometimes it is just your time. So ride, even in the rain, because when its your time at least you will have ridden.

Randy

[annguyen1981]

Here is a link for the pictures I took today:

http://community.webshots.com/user/Kimby028

Thank you for posting the pics Kim.  Even tho I didn't get to go, I'm so glad that there were so many people there to show support to you and Rich's family.

LadyJules...  That is a great plaque.  My eyes started to tear when I read that.

[Onlypastrana199]

Here's some pics from yesterday


We followed Kim to Walmart and waited for everyone else to get there:


AJ:


The GS'es (and Ginoe) Arrive:






















Then we all rode to the site:


We hiked from the parking area to the site over a bridge:




At the site:




Rob read a beautiful poem:

[TazZ]

I think i have wrote each one a email as least I hope i did get each and every one of you but if not Thank you All  it has taken me all day to try to write some thing as today is Rich's brithday  and when the paper come out I will send you all a copy if you Like  TazZ

[pandy]

Thank you all for sharing the ride with the rest of us. It looks as though it was a fabulous tribute, and that the weather didn't get anyone down. The plaque, cross, and flowers are all simply gorgeous.

[Onlypastrana199]

Newspaper article on the ride!!!

[LadyJules31]

I will be posting my pics soon... sorry it's taking so long, but I have about 50 or so of them. I had to resize them all first ... and upload them all via dial up/56k.    (I only have a 1-way cable modem.) Pics soon to follow though ...

[Onlypastrana199]

The full article

Bike run remembers Richard Christie
By: Jessica Lewis, Sun Staff Writer



Published on: Tuesday, August 22, 2006



SHERBURNE – Saturday afternoon, bikers from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Indiana and California gathered to pay tribute to Richard Christie, a motorcycle enthusiast who was killed on July 1. Two motorcycle runs took place simultaneously to honor Christie; one in Sherburne at the site of the fatal crash, and one in Los Angeles.

Christie left his home for a morning ride on July 1 and never returned. He was hit by another cyclist who broke across the center line on Route 80. Christie, who lived with his mother on Rexford Street in Norwich, had been riding for two years. According to his fiancee, Kimberly Cox, he was always interested in anything with a motor, but Christie did not rush into things. He did a lot of research before buying his motorcycle.

During that time he became involved with the online biking community through the GS Twin website. Christie set up a frequently asked questions page, and quickly became friends with a number of people from the website – many of whom attended the memorial ride for Christie.

Some of the people Christie had met, but several only knew him from the message boards.


"He was the type of person who would treat you like his best friend, even if you only met him once," one rider said.

Christie's brother Robert Buck helped set up the ride in his brother's honor. He described his brother as funny and adventurous. He had enjoyed a lot of things, like skydiving and hot air balloon rides.

"He had such a great personality, that people would just gravitate to him, but to me he was just my little brother," Buck said. "It was the little things that made him the way he was."

Buck read a poem that he wrote, after a large wooden cross and plaque were placed at the site of the accident. Sunday would have marked Christie's 26th birthday.

The death of Christie affected many people, including his fiancee. Cox had known Christie for eight years. She thought he was intelligent, kind, and always willing to help people. She explained how much they meant to each other.

"He was my best friend, and my fiancee. He meant everything to me," Cox said.

According to her, it was Christie's sense of humor that drew people to him.

"He was always ragging on people, but it was just a big joke, and everybody thought he was funny," she said.

Although this has been a difficult for everyone who knew Christie, the presence of so many people who cared about him has made it easier. The members of the GS Twin site have sent flowers to Christie's mother, and made generous donations to Toys for Tots in his name.

"The people from the GS Twin website have gone above and beyond," Buck said.

If there is one thing that Buck hopes people will take from this tragedy, he hopes it is caution.

"I wish more people would take their time and pay attention," he said.

Christie is survived by his mother, Virginia Saladin, his father Howard Christie, brothers Robert and Randy Buck, sister Roxanne Ludlow, and his fiancee Kimberly Cox.

[TazZ]

Hello Well I think the write is nice but to me it for got a few people one mainly one person I will see if i can fix that and to make sure all are thank the way is should have been Done  Tazz

[LadyJules31]

Here are my pics:  (Sorry, they're in reverse order of the day... they go from the end of the day to the beginning. I'll have to fix that later. Some pics of our meeting spot at Kmart are missing... I'll have to upload them later.)

[TazZ]

wow Great pics Julie  will add them to folder to work on the dvd

[LadyJules31]

Here are the rest of my pics... when we met at the Kmart to ride up to NY:











Thanks again to Chris (Chris2P) for being my photographer in the car that day! Great pics you took on the way up! 

[Kimby]

Great pictures everyone!

I can really see why Rich liked going on rides ... its more then just riding. I just wish I would have gotten into it while he was alive. Thank you all again, I cant say it enough!

~Kim

[krateguy]

Very nice job to all! Sorry I couldn't be there.

[scratch]

Great pictures!  ...making me sad thinking about him again...