Spring 2013 - Romney, West Virginia - May 3-5

[MikeBear]

Do they have good spot to hang a hammock?
This event and TT Open House would be enough to check my gear before Colorado Rally.

 

[Checkswrecks]

Do they have good spot to hang a hammock?
This event and TT Open House would be enough to check my gear before Colorado Rally.

There are woods behind the dealer and while I'm not sure about tree thickness or spacing, there ought to be somewhere. I'd also expect to find LOTS of poison ivy and such.

 

[MikeBear]

There are woods behind the dealer and while I'm not sure about tree thickness or spacing, there ought to be somewhere. I'd also expect to find LOTS of poison ivy and such.

I found out a couple of years ago, that I'm one of the not many people immune to poison ivy. I didn't roll in it, but didn't get skin irritation, when handled it with bare hands ( dumbass me. Didn't pay attention )

 

[Checkswrecks]

Sooooo -

Whatcher sayin' is you are NOT the person to shake hands with when I'm heading to take a leak?

 

[Ishirock]

Sorry for the last minute notice, but I'm not going to make it due to this darn thing called "work". I'm bummin' as it looks like you are going to have great weather and a good turn out.
However.............

********Warning*********
The"Fabulous Baker Brothers" will be coming in my honor. Yep, I did such a good job convincing my bros they should go that they are going without me. Watch out for these guys as they have been known to be a bit ornery at times.

If you see a V-Strom, Honda NC700, Kawi Concourse and a Bergman that is them. Group consists of my 2 brothers, nephew, and neighbor. ::020::

You have been warned ;D

Darn, I wish I didn't have to travel to Phoenix this weekend. ::010::

Be safe and have fun!

 

[Ishirock]

Forgot to mention the "Fabulous Baker Brothers" mentioned above will be camping if you decide to let them in.


hint: they also could be a good source for a cold one.

Tell them to buy me a T-shirt or something

 

[Siseneg]

I have to bow out as well. Had a pretty big shake up in the office (I work for the outfit that got hit, then reshuffled, then un-hit, then reshuffled with the furlough/sequestration thing. Without trying to get on a soapbox, I just have to mention that when a certain group get excluded from agency wide furloughs, some other have to take that brunt. Hence, on Wednesday I got informed that 25% of our contract support staff will be released (terminated) today. Very unpleasant happenings and it's gonna mess up my weekend. I'm losing some good people and good friends because of 'budgetary constraints'. Dang, it's gonna be a rough time till fiscal '14.

At any rate, I need to be in town this weekend. There is a lot of stuff to do to get the handoffs made. Sorry, I truly wanted to go (even if only for the day).

Better luck next time, I guess.

 

[thfraser]

We were lucky where I'm at, in regards to Sequestration. I do hope it pans out ok for you and your group. We will see you around!

P.S. Thanks again for helping with the CO adjustment and throttle adjust!

 

[Dirt_Dad]

I'm losing some good people and good friends because of 'budgetary constraints'. Dang, it's gonna be a rough time till fiscal '14.

Sorry to hear about the office shakeup, and sorry you won't be able to make it. I'm sure there will be a next year, and will probably catch up with you sooner at some restaurant visit that's bound to happen.

 

[Checkswrecks]

After dealing with broken airplanes all day, it's 8:30 and I just finished helping my son dealing with a sewage flooded basement in his apartment. Other people's toilet sewage.
I guess we've all been there, but . . .
:
Despite two scouting trips and looking forward to starting out with a group first thing, it's not going to happen. Discretion being the better part of old age, I'm beat and not going to contend with deer so that I can set up a tent at midnight.


I ought to arrive around 9-10 am and hope to have lunch with whoever is hanging around.


Bob
Checkswrecks

 

[mbabc]

Wow, what a fantastic event! Had a great group ride today lead by Tom who had to ad-lib parts of the route. Fantastic job, especially Smith Mountain Rd. Great dinner put on by our hosts at Romney Cycles.

Anthony (keeponriding) and I are moteling it tonight. We're old, weak and the rheumatism has set in. Thought we'd get a good night's sleep and side stands up early as we head home to the Bluegrass.

Nice to meet everyone and I'll post a picture flood in a few days.

We'll back next year with a few more Kentucky hillbilly's.

 

[Dirt_Dad]

Great event everyone. We had excellent weather, and a good turnout. Because of the different arrival times it's hard to know the exact number, the best guess is we had 28 riders. Whatever it was, it was a good group and made for a fun time around the fire each evening.

Have to say a huge thank you to Romney Cycles. They put in a lot of effort to getting the site ready for us and I think it really paid off. Hot showers, coffee, ice, water, dinner and more. Plus the last minute bike service several people told me about, it was a good example of why so many of us have realized Romney is different from other dealers. It seemed like every time I stopped in over the last few months Keven (the owner) and I would eventually talk about showers for the event. He really put some thought into it. So it was amusing to arrive on Friday and see Kevin. He was so excited to show off his showers. Both he and Larry were very proud of the solution they constructed.
Kevin/Larry: The showers were a huge hit. Very appreciated, thanks for the showers and everything else you did to make this a great weekend for everyone.

To anyone that wants to say anything to the guys at Romney just post it here and I'll make sure they see it. I know they would appreciate hearing any feedback from this event and any suggestions to make the event better next year.

Thanks to thfraser for leading the ride on Saturday, and to Checkswrecks for having a ride ready to go. I do hope your son's plumbing issues workout quickly.

Due an overflowing septic system in Pennsylvania on Friday evening, I ended up leading a pavement ride on Saturday morning. It's the one route I didn't have loaded in my GPS, but fortunately I'm pretty familiar with the roads in that part of West Virginia. Fortunately there so many fantastic options nearby it wasn't too hard assemble a good ride. We set off with the "Fabulous Baker Brothers" and newhoco (stromtrooper) from Toronto.

We hit Rt 72


Mount Storm


Blackwater Falls




And even found the other group during the ride.


Everyone seemed to enjoy the pavement ride. It was the first time I've ever lead a ride that included a scooter (Bergman). I have to say I was impressed with both the scooter and the rider. He did a great job riding it pretty aggressively. At lunch we were joined by Sail2xxs. After lunch the morning group headed north, and Sail2xxs and I set off for some rough dirt road.

We ripped it up pretty good for a while. We took a break by a river and were deep in the woods when a 21 year old Russian girl came walking up to us with a beer in hand. We talked for a while, then she told us she was a terrible driver, loves speed, and is getting her motorcycle license. Then she asked if we had any advice. We did what we could.

No photos of the Sail2xxs ride, but I do have some video of the technical road that I need to go through over the next few days. Chris is a hell of a rider. With almost 3 Tenere miles to every one of my Tenere miles, he puts me to shame. Chris, did you really need to catch me so quickly after I passed that car heading down Mt Storm leaving you stuck behind and out of sight? Actually I love riding with people who are better than me. It keeps me humble and lets me know I've still got a lot of room for improvement. Thanks for kicking my ass, even while following me.

I need to go through the helmet video I shot, and steal some of the photos you guys shot and I'll put together an event video. I'll post it here when I'm done.

Thanks everyone. it was a great weekend.

 

[hANNAbONE]

sounds like y'all had fun.!

thanks for the pix and reports.

excellent weekend.!!

 

[BadKarmaPa]

Big thank you to Romney cycles and the organizers for putting together a great meet. Being my first I wasn't sure what I was getting into, and after a confidence shaking fender bender just 5 miles from the shop, on my way in I was maybe a little skidish. The group ride Saturday brought my confidence back. Beautiful scenery, great roads and I learned to herd cattle and that the Tenere can indeed slide down a hiking trail with the ABS on, LOL.
Romney

 

[thfraser]

I had a great time. Thanks to Dirt_Dad and Romney for organizing this!

 

[Checkswrecks]

Thanks again to Jon (Dirt_Dad) for making this go and again my apologies for not being there Friday night. Regardless, it was a GREAT turn-out, Romney Cycles did a GREAT job, and everybody was smiling at the end.


Looking forward to next year!


Thank you!

 

[sail2xxs]

Huge THANK YOU to Jon (Dirt_Dad), Kevin and Larry for putting this past weekend together! I've heard that the smoother an event goes, the more effort was put into making it happen. Without a doubt, a TON of effort went into this past weekend. I can't imagine anyone wanting more out of a weekend like this, having a better venue, or better organization. ::012:: ::012:: ::012::

I had a great time meeting everyone, seeing all the different farkles, and especially putting faces to avatars. The campfire chats were fun too!

Jon - I totally enjoyed the ride we took, and definitely learned a thing or two about the S10's capabilities off pavement from watching you on the dirt roads! Since I rarely ride with anyone else, having the opportunity to go with a more experienced rider was awesome. Looking forward to getting back out there and exploring more as soon as I can.

Chris

 

[xr400guy]

Yes ...A big thanks to Larry and Romney Cycles! I think I forgot to pay someone the fee for the ride, camping site and food!
Kerry enjoyed the party too!

My favorite part of the ride was Smith Mountain Rd..at about 40mph. Damn that bike sticks to the ground.
It was really nice to meet y'all..and now I can put faces on some of these crazy names.
Chris (#2)

 

[Ishirock]

From the report I'm getting from the "Infamous Baker Bros" I missed one helluva good time. Bro Ray wanted me to post these pics he sent me. Hope I did it right from the iPad.

I'm still stuck in Phoenix, wish I had my S-10 with me :'(

 

[Dirt_Dad]

From the report I'm getting from the "Infamous Baker Bros" I missed one helluva good time. Bro Ray wanted me to post these pics he sent me. Hope I did it right from the iPad.

I'm still stuck in Phoenix, wish I had my S-10 with me :'(

Thanks for the photos. You have a PM.