Romney Camp N Ride - Retired

Dirt_Dad

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After a lot of discussion and thought, the Romney Cycles Camp N Ride event is retired. As you've been able to tell from this thread, all of us organizers have been looking at what the event has become and where we think it should go. The answer is simply that we as a group think it's run it's course.

Since you all know me as the guy who writes long posts in the Romney Camp N Ride threads...I will stay true to form.

Bob, Kevin, Larry, the team at the dealership and I all first want to thank everyone who joined us over the years. We had some truly great gatherings. I'm grateful to have met so many wonderful people through the Camp N Ride. For me, the true joy of this event was not the amazing riding available in the area, the free camping, free food, or the demo rides. It was the opportunity to meet and become friends with so many fantastic fellow riders. The Camp N Ride was my opportunity for 2 or 3 days a year to get together with many of my favorite friends. I thank all of you for that.

I can say you also left a big impression on the folks at Romney Cycles. One of the reason we were welcomed back for so many years even after the business case may have been difficult to justify, was the way all of you conducted yourselves at the Camp N Ride. Without disrespecting other groups of riders, I'll just say the staff at Romney recognized you were different..really different. They never once had to clean up after an event, because everyone left the place spotless. Our riders showed gratitude for their efforts, and respected everyone at all levels of the dealership. I'm sure most of you are thinking right now, "of course, doesn't everyone do that?" The answer is no, not everyone does that. They noticed, and it was appreciated.

Let's not forget, you all raise $13,304.04, plus time, and merchandise for charity between 2014 and 2018. I am immensely proud to have been associated with so many generous people. We made a difference during our time, and I hope you all take some satisfaction in that knowledge. WE improved the lives of the kids both at the WV School for the Deaf and Blind and of the kids at The Potomac Center.

Second, I want to say how fortunate I was to have Bob as a planning partner. You guys will never know just how much of the nuts and bolts that made the event work smoothly was a direct result of Bob being willing to become a leader in the Camp N Ride. I won't go on because I don't think he likes it when I do, but ... thanks, Bob. I appreciate it.

Bob and I want to add that we as a group owe a lot of thanks to the good people at Romney Cycles. The Camp N Ride was their idea, and their event. I'm aware the motorcycle industry has changed a lot over the seven years of the event. Those changes have increased the challenges to putting on an event like the Camp N Ride. Regardless of whatever challenges existed, Romney still always went above and beyond to make us feel welcomed and taken care of. I'm truly grateful for the efforts Romney put into hosting us, and I will always remain a loyal supporter of them in everything they do. I did take the opportunity to send Kevin (owner) a note this evening thanking him for all his and Larry's support over the years. I'm sure if any of you feel so inclined you can figure out from their website how you could do the same.

As Bob and I've discussed between ourselves, West Virginia will always be riding nirvana. With no set plans so far, we are going to enjoy going to some of the other events this coming year and hope to see some of you at them.

Jon
Dirt_Dad
 
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steve68steve

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Wow, this feels like the end of a life chapter to me.

I missed the first one by 2 weeks, the second one I skipped due to illness, then I attended several in a row. It never felt like Spring until camped in the wet at Romney.
My wife drug me from Pennsylvania to Florida in 2015, and the Romney rally was such a highlight for me that I hauled up for two more years - 30 hours of driving for 48 hours at Romney, and an annual pilgrimage up Dolly Sodds.

Thanks for all you guys have done over the years. Best. Rally. Ever.

http://steve68steve.blogspot.com/2015/05/romney-2015.html
http://steve68steve.blogspot.com/2016/05/2017-romney-cycles-camp-and-ride.html
http://steve68steve.blogspot.com/2017/06/2017-romney-cycles-camp-and-ride-may-5-7.html
 

Checkswrecks

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Steve and Dirt_Dad said it well.

Jon/Dirt_Dad and I met after the first year of this event and I'm proud to now have him as a friend. And it is going to be bittersweet to see the sentiments from everybody else weighing in.

We talked a lot about whether to continue CnR and some of you can understand at how it went back and forth. In the end, we all just realized that it was just time for life to go on. We really are looking forward to seeing everybody in the future.

As for the kids at Potomac Center, I've already started to collect stuff to donate regardless of whether not the event keeps on going. If you have anything to drop there as a donation, please do think of them if you are headed to Laurel Fork or anywhere else in the area.

Thank you all for improving our lives!
 

twodogs

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I guess it is true: All good things do come to and end. Some quicker than others.

Thanks to the folks at Romney Cycle, Jon and Bob for the work you did to make the past CnR's great events.
 

Sierra1

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Story of my life, "a day late, and a dollar short." Wasn't able to make it there, but it sounded fun.
 

bigbob

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The last 3 years the first thing I add to the vacation calendar at work when it opens. Just realized I have no MC trips at all planned and it’s mid-January!
 

Porcupine224

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Well that sucks...

but as it has been stated, sometimes Good things do come to an end, so don't postpone anything.

Thanks to the folks that made this a unique event:

Romney Cycles, they are great hosts and I will be supporting them whenever I can.
Potomac Center, they brought the kids by for a visit and we were eager to support them.
Dirt_Dad, Checkwrecks and the rest of the organizers, Thanks, we hope and think you had as much fun as we did.
You Riders, a very interesting collection of misfits, scalawags, rouges and wanderers. You guys are what makes these things happen.
Oh yeah, and all those guys from New Jersey.

Thanks to all and we'll see you on the road the next time we see you on road.
Ed
 

Checkswrecks

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Copying form something I posted at ADV:

The outpouring of support is really touching but all four us us organizers agreed that Camp-N-Ride has ended. This included the dealership owner and his general manager. People would be surprised at how much time and money the dealership put into this and they couldn't just keep writing this off. Building the fire pit, the showers, paying (yes) for the factory trucks, and paying for your "free" meals came straight out of the owner's pocket which shows how much he really enjoyed having us there long after he realized how much it was costing him. Dirt_Dad and I could have found another venue but we each have other interests this coming year which limit our time for organizing another CnR. The two of us really agonized in weighing the good we did for the kids and the chance to see a lot of you, versus these down sides. It hurts to see it come to an end.

As for other events, below is a list of others in the general area. We're not yet sure which, but Jon and I do plan to hit some of these others. The list is on this thread and there have been some updates on the below thread to check for:
https://advrider.com/f/threads/2019-romney-camp-n-ride-poll.1350744/page-2

"...below is the list of competing events for all of our time that was mentioned above. We pulled together the ADVRider threads and other known events of 2018 and those already announced for 2019. The events ending with a period are announced 2019 dates and those ending with question marks were 2018 dates, so we don't know their 2019 dates. If any of you have corrections to this list, just post them with your vote and I'll update this post.

MARCH
28/29 March Moto Madness

APRIL
6/7 Eurobike NC
13/14
20/21
27/28 Stolen Pig KY 25-28. HUBB VA. Laurel Fork (4/27-5/5)

MAY (5/1 = Labor Day)
4/5 (Traditional Romney) Georgia Mountain Rally, Green Ridge Dual Sport? Classic M/C Day
11/12 (Mothers Day weekend)
18/19 Ricks Eastern Rendesvous 15-19. British & Classic MD. Smokin Hole NC? Strom NC? Dirty Goose NC?
25/26 (27 = Memorial) New Cumberland WV,

JUNE (VA & MD schools out on 6/7 and 6/13 respectively)
1/2 Durty Dabbers?
8/9 Rider Campout Somerset PA? Dirty Daze NY?
15/16 BMWMOA

JULY
6/7 (Holiday weekend)
13/14 BYOB (2019 not yet decided). GSGiant WV? PA Grand Canyon?
20/21 NEADV Rally? BMW RA?
27/28

AUG
3/4
10/11
17/18 Four Winds PA? Soggy Bottom PA
24/25

SEP
31/1 (2 = Memorial Day)
7/8 Blue Ridge ADV NC? BWDR?
14/15 Snappin Turtle NY? Meadows of Dan? Blue Ridge Rally?
21/22 Allegheny ? HUBB NC. ADV Moto WV?
28/29 NotaRally. Renfro KY?

OCT (Weather can change really fast, and there can be snow the last two weekends)
"


As for camping, most people at our event were actually sleeping on the property of The Potomac Center, which TPC originally was allowing as a business courtesy to the dealership. As most of us who met the kids are aware, some have been taken from parents who have subjected them to nightmares. Some of those parents have defied court orders to get access. I would strongly suggest not even asking TPC for permission to camp on their property and would expect to wake to a WV Trooper if you do. (They are in the next building over!)
 

Checkswrecks

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The last 3 years the first thing I add to the vacation calendar at work when it opens. Just realized I have no MC trips at all planned and it’s mid-January!
Thought you were going to retire also.
 

Dirt_Dad

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Yesterday Checkswrecks and I took a ride to Romney on our traditional Camp N Ride weekend. We both noticed the empty Koolwink hotel, and felt an odd, almost hollow feeling as we made our way from town to the dealership. It's just not the same without all of you being there.

Larry (GM) and Kevin (owner) also had their usual Saturday breakfast where they discussed how strange the last week has been with no craziness getting everything set for all of us to show up. It's just not the same without all of you being there.

The weather forecast was the same as we've see for the last 4 years. I now have to accept that our first 4 years had been the anomaly, and the first weekend in May really is a very wet weekend.

It just worked out that Checkswrecks wore his Camp N Ride shirt from our very last event, and I wore the shirt from the very first event. So we put Larry (the guy who orchestrated the dealership support year after year) between us and took a picture.



Thanks to all of you who attended over the years. It was a great event, I definitely missed it this year. It's just not the same without all of you being there.

Dirt_Dad
 

Checkswrecks

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+1 to everything he wrote. It was odd.

At the same time, it did rain Friday night, while we were coming back on Saturday, heavy last night (Saturday) and kept raining steady through Sunday morning.

It was really strange to go through all the getting ready and not being able to see everybody. The town looked empty.
 

bigbob

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Just sorry I was only able to make two. Totally enjoyed both.

Thanks Bob/Wrecker Checker for my first Romney picture.
 

Dirt_Dad

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I visited Romney Cycles last weekend. Thought you all might be interested in seeing what it looks like today.



They were slammed with business earlier this year and the manufactures have not been able to keep up due to that damn virus thing. For anyone that was ever in the back and saw the inventory they had in reserve...it's all gone two. Owner tell me even in July they were outselling last July number. He looks around and doesn't know how, but that's the way it's been.
 

KYwoodsrider

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It's the same here in KY.
Every bike shop in my area sold almost every bike they had.
Also goes for boats, bicycles, garden tractors, swimming pools, and trampolines.
 
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