Tom Van Allen:
CLASS OF 1976
Cypress High SchoolClass of 1976
Cypress, CA
Tom's Story
Hmm... 33 years in a nutshell???
After taggin' the phone pole in front of the school on Grad Day with my '65 LeMans...
I spent our Bicentennial Summer in boot camp and MP school with the US Army... learned A LOT!
Re-connected with the girl I left behind.
I married Debbie Hackett ('75 CHS Grad) in Jan '77 and lived in Cypress while working various jobs. We divorced about 3 years later. No kids. (1st MC, '78 Honda CB200; 1st Sports Car, '68 Triumph GT6)
Rick Holland and I rented a house in Stanton for a while. We bought a '62 Impala 409 (drove hard and parted out). After the break-ins and tree-burnings... we moved into a split-level 2bdrm apartment, poolside, in a large complex with lots of fun neighbors [bought and sold my 1st HD - a '72 Sportster]. After the car break-ins and not enough parking... we lucked-into a house in Buena Park. 3bd/2ba, deep lot, long driveway, & a garden of earthly delights. Rick has the green thumb... We had many great parties at this place. and in '82 I bought my 1st HD Big Twin - an '80 FXWG (I gave it to my son in '08).
You say "hmm, a son?".
After about 2 years "dating", I married Belinda on New Year's Eve 1987 in Las Vegas. My new step-son was going on 10 years old and is my greatest aquisition... my son, Gabriel... has blessed me with a beautiful daughter-in-law, Angie, and 2 perfect grandchildren, Mason and Gianna, & a 3rd one coming summer '09.
Since my music education was getting me nowhere but across the radio dial... I used the automotive knowledge my older brother and my Auto Shop teachers (Broadhurst and Wayne) had imparted upon me. I worked as a fleet mechanic for 2 years... 'til I got tired of bending over fenders and bustin' knuckles. Then I got into the Auto Parts and Machine Shop business for 15 years... & got out when it was time to find myself a career I could live with.
I was living the biker lifestyle to the extreme... just not in any club. Let's ride!!! all night... then, do it again !!!
During the later years of my auto parts gig I met Kim. We worked together for a while before we went on a weekend ride... 16 years ago. There hasn't been another woman on my back-seat since. We settled down into a nice, respectable, comfy lifestyle with options for adventure.
I've done my part to be green... I haven't owned a 4 wheeled vehicle since '93.
I've been at a company that supplies GM Restoration Parts and aftermarket replacement/performance parts in the mail-order/retail industry as a Research/Technical Editor & Supervisor for catalog pr...Expand for more
oduction for the last 13 years.
We've been fortunate in being able to travel as we please. Taking our regular vacations to destinations in the US West... but, also being able to make 3 trips to Europe in the last 5 years.
In 1995 we did 16 states (of the WEST) in 15 days in our new Chevy truck (still have it), and many other trips throughout CA, AZ, NV and OR.
In 2004 we did a Eurail trip starting in London that took us by train to Brussels, Amsterdam (yes, we did), Rhine River Valley through Germany (to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein's Castle) We continued on to Switzerland and did the Jungfrau, Eiger Sanction and the Deep Purple tour of Montreax and Geneva. The French TGV from Geneva to Paris is unparralleled in the world for long-distance high-speed rail.
We like trains (large & HO, steam preferred) and have had several US rail adventures as side-trips or destinations. Yreka, Virginia City, Ely... Caught a "Promo Charter" for an LA to Vegas run. The Coast Starlight to San Jose... & flew to Seattle to take the Great Northern to Glacier Park Lodge, MT for lunch. Flew to Oakland & got on a charter trip with restored vintage cars up the Feather River Canyon to Reno & back.
Spring '07 I rented an Electra Glide Classic and we rode up to Ely, NV to ride a steam train. I had the itch again... ridin' a rollin' Lazyboy is the way to go!
August '07 I bought an '07 HD Electra Glide Ultra Classic for our stateside adventures. In October that year we made a 2000mi loop up through central CA and over to the coast, up & across southern OR to Reno and south down the 395.
After a chance meeting in Bishop, CA at Rusty's Saloon in fall '07... We became friends with Benny and Tanja and just-like-that, they invited us to visit them in late June/early July '08, we went back to Germany for 2 weeks!
We stayed with Benny and Tanja while we explored northcentral Germany. I rented 2 Harleys for 4 days and we rode from Hamburg to Berlin (stayed a few days) and back. See the story on blacktopmagazine, my 2nd & fav job... writing travel stories for a webmag.
Our planning outlook widens from here... Benny and Tanja got married last fall, '08, & moved to Sweden for their honeymoon. We're takin' another Summer Sojourn... '09!
Early July '09 we take a 7 day, 1000 mile ride through southern Sweden, Denmark & northern Germany.
I ride every day, rain or shine, and am ready for weekend rides, near or far. If anyone wants to get together for a ride, or just to visit, send me a message. We travel all of SoCal regularly.
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