This year has seen several new changes and growth in the Rider Education program. The com­pletely rewritten Rider Education Program Handbook was released in March. The new Sidecar Rider course was field tested at Wing Ding. We contin­ue to see a growth in our Medic First Aid Program throughout the organization, and we may now see this migrated north into our Canadian Rider Education operations. We added the "Co-Road Captain" recognition to our Road Captain's Course and we've seen a large growth in our recognition program for the GWRRA Rider Course, CPR/First Aid and Seminar Instructor programs.

As we close out the year, we continue to work to complete the rewrite of the GWRRA Team Riding Manual and finalize our Motorcycle Mishap Management Program. And, as was announced at Wing Ding, we have begun work on the GWRRA Rider Course "Instructor" Training Program, which will allow us to begin to train our own rider instructors for all of our rider courses without reliance on outside certification and training pro­grams.

Within the next couple of months (this is being written in early October), we will be completing and releasing the updates for the new REP Handbook and we continue to receive feedback and improvements for that document.

As you can see, we are not standing still or just letting the program stagnate. We continue to look for more and better material and avenues to bring enhanced Rider Education to our Members. It is our hope and intent to be able to provide the most comprehensive and inclusive training programs available anywhere through a motorcycle enthusi­ast organization.

Rider Education is not simply a one-time, one-weekend adventure. It is an ongoing and continu­ous process. As we learn more, we realize how much more there is to develop and provide. We hear and respond to input from our Educator corps and Members so that we can provide rele­vant and pertinent training.

We have seen unprecedented growth in the REP program especially in the ranks of the Master Tour Riders/Co-Riders (Level IV). The number of Members who have become involved over the years has doubled since 1999 and now the current Master number exceeds 5300. We anticipate con­tinued growth in that area and foresee an ongoing and continued demand for our training programs to support these Members.

We recognized the first Life Grand Masters this year—those who have been actively participating for 15 years in the Masters program. This is a tremendous indicator of the dedication and com­mitment on the part of our Members in sustaining Rider Education as a necessity, and emphasizing the benefits of continuing education and training.

We look forward now to a great and active 2005. We remain committed to the organization and the membership, and we look forward to your comments and requests.

For those of you who have some down time coming over the winter, think about indoor, in-house training to keep yourselves on top of the game. For those of you who are privileged to ride throughout the year, keep the shiny side up and seek out ways to make yourselves better riders while enjoying the road.

Ride Safe and Be Well!