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.