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Four Seasons Breeze, October 2013

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Motorcycle Club This was to be a motorcycling adventure of a lifetime for Dan Lanphere and Howard Lyon. A year of planning and anticipation. For a 5,000-mile loop which would take us to Deming, N.M., for the start of a four-day, 2,200-mile, adventure up to Winnipeg, Canada. Day 1: We arrived in Tucson at 2 pm. It was a pleasant day cruising along I-10, Hwy 86, 111 and I-8. We hit the pool and the Jacuzzi, had a nice dinner and got a good night's rest. Day 2: A 228-mile hop over to Deming where we met up with the 220 riders entered in the "Three Flags Classic" motorcycle event and enjoyed the pre-ride camaraderie. Day 3: We left the hotel in Deming about 5:30 am. We got to Silver City where I stopped to enter data into my GPS. While stopped I fell over on my bike and injured my arm. At that same time Dan said that he was having trouble breathing, the same symptom as his previous heart attack!. A local resident named Gabriel stopped to assist us upright my bike and summoned the paramedics for Dan. Dan was taken to the local hospital and 42 door ACTIVITIES Gabriel and I followed. By the time I arrived Dan had received several tests and it did not appear to be a heart attack! My arm was not feeling well so I asked that it be examined. That meant that both of us were admitted to the E.R. After my exam and four x-rays the doctor said that my shoulder was neither dislocated nor broken. Because I was riding a motorcycle he wouldn't prescribe anything stronger than ibuprofen. What ever happened to "better living through chemistry?" I was discharged and went to see Dan in the next room. He was feeling better and was waiting on additional test results. It turned out that Dan bronchitis which had been exacerbated by the hotel putting him into a "smoking" room and the fact that we were currently above 6,000 feet. Thinking that we would both be released soon we started discussing options about continuing the ride. With my injured arm and Dan's breathing problems we weren't 100 percent and today's route was to take us over passes that exceeded 11,000 feet! Not good for Dan's breathing. Just about this time, a terrible commotion took place outside Dan's room. A family was screaming for help and bringing in two gunshot victims. Things deteriorated quickly. This is a small hospital with limited staff. There was only one doctor on duty. Soon a staff person entered Dan's room, raised the rails on his bed, attached a button that could be pushed in case of emergency and announced that all staff, including all people capable of discharging patients would be tied up for the foreseeable future and that it was not advisable for us to venture into the hallway. Which was packed with armed police, paramedics and hysterical friends and family of the gunshot victims. It turns out that the shootings were probably gang related so the police placed the hospital in "lock-down." No one in or out without police permission. We sat there watching time tick away and every minute making our destination objective more unlikely. With both of us definitely not operating at 100 percent and time now making it all but impossible for us to make our objective we decided that "the fates" were definitely telling us that this adventure was not to be… After release from the hospital we headed down to Lordsburg, N.M., for the night to start our return home. Day 4: After breakfast we headed west. It turned out to be a beautiful ride with very little traffic so we rode the 604 miles home in one day. After arriving home Dan uncapped a couple bottles of cold beer and we toasted our "adventure cut short." We are back home safe and sound, disappointed but undeterred. ~Howard Lyon FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | OCTOBER 2013 | SPORTS & Out-

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