Page 28 - Sep 2022
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Al l Manner of Mot or s Wit h an int er nat ional Fl ar e
Meet New NBCC Member s Debby & War r en Gar dner
mine in high school, a complete moto enthusiast.
When I was probably 16 or 17, I came damn near to
crashing his moto on my first short ride around my
neighborhood. Permanently etched in my memory
is the exact spot on the 12th Street hill where I just
managed to save myself from an embarrassing
low-speed tumble. Nonetheless, that brief interval
left a sufficient impression that led me to eventually,
many decades later, buying a brand new Ducati
sport bike, a 2000 996 S Mono, that I still proudly
own today.
Fast forward to my first motorcycle which I bought
as an undergrad in college-- an orange Yamaha
After a three year California courtship, which DT-250 Enduro. I rode that around campus a bit,
played out with a Porsche club playing the part of and offroad a bit, before selling it as I was leaving
Cupid, Debby Clary married Warren Gardner on college to go into the military. The Army eventually
Valentine's Day 2021. Debby, a court reporter, sent me to the world renowned island of Okinawa
once owned her own 911, while Warren, a retired where the local topography and roads were perfect
State Department careerist, owned multiple for enduro bikes, so I bought myself a silver Yamaha
machines made by Stuttgart. RT-360 Enduro. [This is where I add that while I have
never owned a British bike I've always admired the
While it was a Porsche Cayenne GTS SUV, with a
BSA 441 Victor.]
license plate that shows that the couple has a dry
and therefore British sense of humor, [PORSIGN, I currently own two BMW R1200 bikes, one a black
a play on porcine meaning pig like] that carried regular GS kept by a close friend in his Parisian
them away from their nuptials, Debby had the last garage; the other is a lava red GSA Adventure
laugh before they relocated to Tennessee in 2022. version. These bikes are too heavy for me to use
She sold her Porsche and hung on to her Range offroad so I have an orange/black KTM 690 Enduro R
Rover. This is how the Gardners came to be for dirt/trail use. And, then, there are the Porsches.
members of the NBCC and how Warren came to
I started driving on race tracks back in the mid ?80s
be wearing his Rugby shirt to the Queen's Jubilee
with the Porsche Driver?s Education program put on
Lunch on June 5th.
by the Potomac Region of the PCA . My track
While Debby enjoys the social aspects of car weapon was a brand new custom ordered
culture, Warren has a robust appreciation for ?platinum? Porsche 944; my first of many track days
foreign machinery and for speed, as evidenced by was at Summit Point, WV. Later I got to drive the
his personal choices, with the notable and very 944 at Watkins Glen, NY, a wonderfully challenging
wise exception of his choice of Debby as his track to experience.
spouse.
When I was posted to Taipei, Taiwan, I took the 944
Here's Warren's story in his own words with a hint:
with me and eventually sold it there. My next
motorcycles, too, are involved.
Porsche was a used black 1985 911 Turbo-Look that
"The first motorcycle I ever rode was a small was purchased in Virginia but immediately shipped
single-cylinder Ducati owned by a close friend of to France for my next assignment to Paris. As soon
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