Good weather, good food, good roads, good people, and over the top hospitality from Romney Cycles made this another great Camp N Ride event.
At sunrise on Saturday morning I counted 63 bikes. I was told there were another 12 bikes at the sold out KoolWink. I have not heard an estimated count from the South Branch Inn, but I'm pretty sure there were some riders staying there as well. I know there were a few others expected to join us during the day Saturday. Safe to say we had well over 80 riders for this year. Counting adventure riders is a bit like herding cats It's not an easy task.
A few wrap up comments (okay - you all know me by now...it may be more than a few)
Romney Cycles - How do you say thank you enough to a first class organization that sponsored and executed such a well run event, at zero cost to any of the participants? Where else does that happen?
Of course the entire staff was great, but I do need to call out a couple.
Thanks to Heather for doing a great job with selling the raffle tickets.
Thanks to Larry for all the effort to pull together this event. Even I don't know all that he did behind the scenes to make this event so successful...and he's far to modest to tell me.
Thanks to Kevin, the owner of Romney Cycles. His attitude and way of doing business is the reason this event, and the extraordinary dealership you saw this weekend even exist.
Please think of them when you're considering your next bike.
Charity - This was a big success. Between all of us at the event and a few who also donated via mail or sending me a PayPal, there was over $600 in donations collected. Add to that Kevin volunteering to have Romney Cycles match the contributions means over $1,200 going to the West Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind. Thanks to everyone who participated.
Our shirt winner was RudderFeet from Stromtrooper. He told me this was a trip of many first for him. First time he has ridden so far from home. First time he's ridden for more than half a day, and other new experiences. Somehow it seems right having the shirt pass from our veteran adventure rider buddy, to a new, budding adventure rider. Congrats RudderFeet, and thanks Trevor.
The Shirt - For anyone interested in buying the shirt it is available at:
https://apps.facebook.com/facileme/fapage/detalhes/322077
Ride Leaders - Thanks to all of you. I didn't hear of anyone that was unable to find a good ride situation on Saturday. I really appreciate all of you that stepped up to include people looking for a ride. I hope you'll consider doing it again next year.
Injury - As many of you know there was a rider who had a significant injury as the result of a low side accident on Greenland Gap road. I don't know his screen name, but I do know his name is Ed, and I did have an opportunity to meet his wife Saturday evening. Ed is expected to be released from the hospital on Monday and the prognosis is good. Beyond that I would prefer to leave details for Ed to share if he so chooses.
Ed, if there is anything I can do for you please just send me a PM. I'm sure I am not alone in wishing you a full and speedy recovery.
Event T-Shirts - Romney is not planning to do the free t-shirts this year. I think everyone can understand the expense of doing shirts and mailing for this size a group has reached a cost prohibitive point.
Donated Coffee - thanks to H14 from advrider for donating his coffee for the event. It was very popular. Good luck as your business expands, and congrats on the new certification.
The Ruritan Club - Awesome! Having food on site was wonderful. So glad they agreed to serve again on Sunday. Romney has already signed them up for next year. The Ruritans did make a comment about how many people told them to "keep the change." They are not accustom to that, and really appreciated it.
Cameraman - I'm sure most of you noticed Roadinator from advrider wandering around with professional camera gear. I learned he is a professional videographer with an impressive list of credits to his name. He will be putting together a video from the weekend. I'm really looking forward to seeing what a pro can do.
Dealership snapped photos - Romney will be posting the photos they took on their facebook page. Whatever facebook is??
Please post your photos of the weekend. Let's see the event from your perspective.
Finally, Romney is watching the threads. If you have any suggestions on how to make the event better, post them here. They have already told me they will add wifi next year, and get a bigger propane tank for the showers.
Thanks for coming everyone. Please pencil in the first weekend in May, 2015 for the next event. By the way...we need ride leaders for that one, too. ;D