Spring 2016 - Romney, West Virginia - April 29 - May 1, 2016
- Thread starter Dirt_Dad
- Start date
Dirt_Dad
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So much to cover. Despite the weather, in many ways this has been the best Camp N Ride of them all. I'm still here at the dealership and will do a wrapup when I get home.
For now I'll just say I am so proud to be associated with the people who attend this event and those who make it happen. It's been a weekend of being around fantastic, generous, thoughtful people, and I really appreciate it.
Thanks everyone, more later.
For now I'll just say I am so proud to be associated with the people who attend this event and those who make it happen. It's been a weekend of being around fantastic, generous, thoughtful people, and I really appreciate it.
Thanks everyone, more later.
patrickg450
Well-Known Member
the big fella in the yellow jacket is Tony. Stinkfinger on ADV, he rode the heck out of that wee-strom.
Dirt_Dad
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Wow, what a fantastic weekend. As everyone knows, the weather forecast was not ideal, but the actual weather for most of the weekend what not too terrible at all. On Friday everyone who rode south for 20 minutes from dealership reported sunny blue skies and warm temps. The weather was cool that evening, but rains held off.
I believe most everyone stayed dry the majority of their ride on Saturday. Later Saturday afternoon the rain did hit, but Kevin and Larry did not hesitate to invite us inside the dealership for the meal they sponsored and the raffle giveaway.
From what I could tell, all 120 hardy souls that attended the 2016 Camp N RIde didn't let the less than perfect weather dampen their attitudes or keep them from having a good time. How often do you get around that many people in the rain and everyone is still smiling? It was great.
Yes, 120 people is less than the 161 we had signed in last year. Considering there were at least three organized adventure/dual sport bike events happening this weekend, I'm am extremely pleased that so many of you decided to return to the Camp N Ride. Next year we will return to our fully in the month of May schedule and eliminate the overlap with those doing an end of April event. All things considered, 120 is a awesome turnout when you're competing with other options and the weather, too.
This weekend was a win/win event. The riders were happy, Romney management was very happy with the weekend, and both Suzuki and Yamaha were extremely happy with the caliber of rider that came to them through our event. Same kind of report we had from the Suzuki demo guys last year.
I had the pleasure of spending some time with the Yamaha Regional Rep. His first question was, "what can we do to make this event better for you?" You have to love it when the factory rep starts a conversation that way. He listened very intently, and seemed to really be taking in the suggestions that were given. I also had a similar conversation with the Kawasaki Regional Rep. He was also very interested in participating in the future Camp N Ride events. Overall the factories supported by Romney are impressed with the Camp N Ride event and plan to be a part of them in the future.
Although our attendance was smaller, the generosity shown by the riders was a whole lot bigger. At one point I was telling Bob (Checkswrecks) that we were very close to raising as much money as we had collected last year. Two riders heard the conversation and immediately reached in their pockets and said "how much do you need?" That was a great example of the type of people at the Camp N Ride. Ultimately we had a late rush of contributions and we easily shot past last year's total. It will take a little while before the know exact total including shirt donations. It will be an amount that will reflect great credit to those who contributed this year. I should mention the contributions from those who could not attend was significant and it would not have been possible without them. Thanks to everyone.
I do want to acknowledge just how much Kawasaki stepped up regarding the prizes for the raffle. They provided 3 riding jackets combined worth over $1,300. It's a long way from our top prize being a (very nice) shirt. Huge thank you to Kawasaki for the support. Congratulations to Flyfish Jeff for winning the grand prize of a Helite inflatable jacket.
I heard there was a little confusion regarding how the raffle tickets worked. We initially asked people to fill out their names on the back of each ticket. As some point we realized we already had everyone's information on the sign-in sheet and the wrist band number would be sufficient. All tickets (name or wrist band number) were in the bag during the drawing. Which is why we sometimes called a number and other times read off a name.
I feel comfortable saying the use of volunteers was a great success. Big thank you to Larry, Steve (Gunner), Alan (twodogs), and Ann (Happygirlluck). Friday was a very busy sign in day and Ann, Larry, and Alan had the desk running as smoothly as it could have been. There was a great team effort happening and I was really happy to have them making everything work so well. Bob and Steve has everything covered nicely on Saturday. We will definitely be using volunteers again in 2017.
Some of our fellow riders also deserve acknowledgement for their roles. When Firedog45 (Steve) is not busy doing underwater testing of his BMW, he was cleaning up route files for everyone to use. Gunner (Steve) was at home screen printing shirts that he offered to increase donations to the charity. Rudderfeet (Scott) worked for months creating the ride sheets, spent money laminating them, created and hosted the website for the routes, sent SD cards with the routes loaded, donated a iPad to the school, and sent a very generous donation. Honestly Scott's contribution to the event was enormous. Thank you to Scott and all those who went above and beyond to make 2016 a great success.
Of course none of this happens without Romney deciding they are going to put their time and money into this event. Kevin (owner) and Larry (GM) were both very pleased with how the event went this year. They have already started discussing how they can make improvements for next year. All I can say is thank you Romney for your continued support and hosting of this event.
As for me...in a weekend full of good stuff, I have to say my favorite moment was when Ed (Whistler on trooper) walked in and said hello. Last time I saw Ed was during the 2014 event as I was watching him being loaded into the helicopter blocking the road ahead of our group ride. To see him back, happy to be there, and thrilled to be on a bike again, it was awesome. Welcome back, Ed. So glad you have you join us again.
On Saturday night someone asked me why I do my part in this event. The truth is, I love it. I love sharing with all of you the Romney experience. They are something special in the motorcycle world and you need to come here to see what that means. I love sharing my community, the adventure riders, with Romney. You guys reflect the best qualities of motorcyclist in both the US and Canada. Respectful, generous, responsible...just plain good humans. Romney started this event to get to know the adventure riders. After 5 years I'm really proud of what they have learned.
Thanks to all of you.
See you May 5/6/7 next year.
I believe most everyone stayed dry the majority of their ride on Saturday. Later Saturday afternoon the rain did hit, but Kevin and Larry did not hesitate to invite us inside the dealership for the meal they sponsored and the raffle giveaway.
From what I could tell, all 120 hardy souls that attended the 2016 Camp N RIde didn't let the less than perfect weather dampen their attitudes or keep them from having a good time. How often do you get around that many people in the rain and everyone is still smiling? It was great.
Yes, 120 people is less than the 161 we had signed in last year. Considering there were at least three organized adventure/dual sport bike events happening this weekend, I'm am extremely pleased that so many of you decided to return to the Camp N Ride. Next year we will return to our fully in the month of May schedule and eliminate the overlap with those doing an end of April event. All things considered, 120 is a awesome turnout when you're competing with other options and the weather, too.
This weekend was a win/win event. The riders were happy, Romney management was very happy with the weekend, and both Suzuki and Yamaha were extremely happy with the caliber of rider that came to them through our event. Same kind of report we had from the Suzuki demo guys last year.
I had the pleasure of spending some time with the Yamaha Regional Rep. His first question was, "what can we do to make this event better for you?" You have to love it when the factory rep starts a conversation that way. He listened very intently, and seemed to really be taking in the suggestions that were given. I also had a similar conversation with the Kawasaki Regional Rep. He was also very interested in participating in the future Camp N Ride events. Overall the factories supported by Romney are impressed with the Camp N Ride event and plan to be a part of them in the future.
Although our attendance was smaller, the generosity shown by the riders was a whole lot bigger. At one point I was telling Bob (Checkswrecks) that we were very close to raising as much money as we had collected last year. Two riders heard the conversation and immediately reached in their pockets and said "how much do you need?" That was a great example of the type of people at the Camp N Ride. Ultimately we had a late rush of contributions and we easily shot past last year's total. It will take a little while before the know exact total including shirt donations. It will be an amount that will reflect great credit to those who contributed this year. I should mention the contributions from those who could not attend was significant and it would not have been possible without them. Thanks to everyone.
I do want to acknowledge just how much Kawasaki stepped up regarding the prizes for the raffle. They provided 3 riding jackets combined worth over $1,300. It's a long way from our top prize being a (very nice) shirt. Huge thank you to Kawasaki for the support. Congratulations to Flyfish Jeff for winning the grand prize of a Helite inflatable jacket.
I heard there was a little confusion regarding how the raffle tickets worked. We initially asked people to fill out their names on the back of each ticket. As some point we realized we already had everyone's information on the sign-in sheet and the wrist band number would be sufficient. All tickets (name or wrist band number) were in the bag during the drawing. Which is why we sometimes called a number and other times read off a name.
I feel comfortable saying the use of volunteers was a great success. Big thank you to Larry, Steve (Gunner), Alan (twodogs), and Ann (Happygirlluck). Friday was a very busy sign in day and Ann, Larry, and Alan had the desk running as smoothly as it could have been. There was a great team effort happening and I was really happy to have them making everything work so well. Bob and Steve has everything covered nicely on Saturday. We will definitely be using volunteers again in 2017.
Some of our fellow riders also deserve acknowledgement for their roles. When Firedog45 (Steve) is not busy doing underwater testing of his BMW, he was cleaning up route files for everyone to use. Gunner (Steve) was at home screen printing shirts that he offered to increase donations to the charity. Rudderfeet (Scott) worked for months creating the ride sheets, spent money laminating them, created and hosted the website for the routes, sent SD cards with the routes loaded, donated a iPad to the school, and sent a very generous donation. Honestly Scott's contribution to the event was enormous. Thank you to Scott and all those who went above and beyond to make 2016 a great success.
Of course none of this happens without Romney deciding they are going to put their time and money into this event. Kevin (owner) and Larry (GM) were both very pleased with how the event went this year. They have already started discussing how they can make improvements for next year. All I can say is thank you Romney for your continued support and hosting of this event.
As for me...in a weekend full of good stuff, I have to say my favorite moment was when Ed (Whistler on trooper) walked in and said hello. Last time I saw Ed was during the 2014 event as I was watching him being loaded into the helicopter blocking the road ahead of our group ride. To see him back, happy to be there, and thrilled to be on a bike again, it was awesome. Welcome back, Ed. So glad you have you join us again.
On Saturday night someone asked me why I do my part in this event. The truth is, I love it. I love sharing with all of you the Romney experience. They are something special in the motorcycle world and you need to come here to see what that means. I love sharing my community, the adventure riders, with Romney. You guys reflect the best qualities of motorcyclist in both the US and Canada. Respectful, generous, responsible...just plain good humans. Romney started this event to get to know the adventure riders. After 5 years I'm really proud of what they have learned.
Thanks to all of you.
See you May 5/6/7 next year.
Defekticon
Active Member
Thank you Dirt Dad and Bob! And to Gunner, for having the wisdom to suggest I put my bike up for Saturday evening and bring my truck back for dinner. With age comes wisdom 
I had an awesome time, but more importantly my wife had an awesome time as well. We've been talking about her taking her MSF course and getting more into riding, and I think this event really sealed it in. We took the Dolly Sods GPX file and ventured out for an absolutely great ride. Thank you Firedog45 for the route.
I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to stop and say Hi to the other Tenere owners at the Wapocoma campground. So if you were the guys in the red Ford and trailer, I was in the Silver F250 with the Blue Tenere in the bed and travel trailer. That was an awesome setup you guys had, would love to know more about your trailer.
She's excited to come back next year as well, and she hopes to be there on her own bike. I also think we're going to be looking into a more motorcycle friendly travel trailer as well.
I had an awesome time, but more importantly my wife had an awesome time as well. We've been talking about her taking her MSF course and getting more into riding, and I think this event really sealed it in. We took the Dolly Sods GPX file and ventured out for an absolutely great ride. Thank you Firedog45 for the route.
I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to stop and say Hi to the other Tenere owners at the Wapocoma campground. So if you were the guys in the red Ford and trailer, I was in the Silver F250 with the Blue Tenere in the bed and travel trailer. That was an awesome setup you guys had, would love to know more about your trailer.
She's excited to come back next year as well, and she hopes to be there on her own bike. I also think we're going to be looking into a more motorcycle friendly travel trailer as well.
Dirt_Dad
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Founding Member
2011 Site Supporter
2013 Site Supporter
2014 Site Supporter
One more I should have mentioned...
Everyone that took the training reported they loved it. All felt it improved their riding skills. I think it's safe to say all would give xplor-int a huge endorsement. Thank you Alain for your participation this year. Your students loved it.
http://www.xplor-int.com/Pages/default.aspx]
[url]http://www.xplor-int.com/Pages/default.aspx[/url]
Everyone that took the training reported they loved it. All felt it improved their riding skills. I think it's safe to say all would give xplor-int a huge endorsement. Thank you Alain for your participation this year. Your students loved it.
http://www.xplor-int.com/Pages/default.aspx]
[url]http://www.xplor-int.com/Pages/default.aspx[/url]
eemsreno
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Steve here.
Had a great time again this year.
I thought we had perfect weather and not enough rain to even remember any.
I need to head to work soon so I will try to come back and identify as many riders as I can tonight, but I wanted to just get up some pictures here.
Ended up with 2,380 miles on from the ride out and back.
Fridays ride.
Right in front of me would be Checkswrecks , then Gunner, Tony99, Limey then in front is a KLR rider I think his name was Steve.[Maybe]
Left to right on bikes, Tony99, Limey, TrueGrip, Nathan, and that KLR Steve.
Saturdays ride.
Left to right
DuckWV, Firedog45, SkidmarkRVA, Slingset, RyanG on the Super Tenere, and Alansz400.
And the two riders that know how to show guys a good time.
This would be Firedog45 on his GSA.
It drank a lot of water but he was a real tropper and took it in stride and went to work draining out water, No harm done.
And camp.
Thanks to all that work so hard to make this happen.
Steve
Had a great time again this year.
I thought we had perfect weather and not enough rain to even remember any.
I need to head to work soon so I will try to come back and identify as many riders as I can tonight, but I wanted to just get up some pictures here.
Ended up with 2,380 miles on from the ride out and back.
Fridays ride.
Right in front of me would be Checkswrecks , then Gunner, Tony99, Limey then in front is a KLR rider I think his name was Steve.[Maybe]
Left to right on bikes, Tony99, Limey, TrueGrip, Nathan, and that KLR Steve.
Saturdays ride.
Left to right
DuckWV, Firedog45, SkidmarkRVA, Slingset, RyanG on the Super Tenere, and Alansz400.
And the two riders that know how to show guys a good time.
This would be Firedog45 on his GSA.
It drank a lot of water but he was a real tropper and took it in stride and went to work draining out water, No harm done.
And camp.
Thanks to all that work so hard to make this happen.
Steve
Dirt_Dad
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A post from the offroad trainer:
Dear Students,
Thank you for completing the Beginner Adventure Motorcycle School at Xplor-Int and that we could be of service to you.
It is my sincere hope that you are completely satisfied with our training which was provided to you at the Romney Cycle, Camp and Ride Event.
We are always interested in suggestions that would allow us to improve upon our already high standards and encourage you to submit your thoughts and PM them to us.
Please follow us on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/Xplor-Int-211129469457/timeline
Please follow us on ADV Rider at: http://advrider.com/index.php?members/dakrider.118436/
and post possible photos you might have of our training event.
I would like to thank every event organizer and Romney Cycle for doing an excellent job at the 2016 Camp and Ride rain or shine.
I'm sorry I couldn't stay and say goodby as I had to departure kinda fast Friday afternoon for an other event training day on Saturday 5.5 hours away.
Please keep in contact with us, as we have the following programs and services available:
http://www.xplor-int.com Introduction to Trail Riding 1 - day course
Adventure motorcycle 2 - day course
Adventure motorcycle camping and training camps
Again, thank you.
Alain Kaldewaay
See you next year?
Dakrider
Ill be back next year if you all want me?
Owner: Alain Kaldewaay
xplor@live.com
www.xplor-int.com
Dear Students,
Thank you for completing the Beginner Adventure Motorcycle School at Xplor-Int and that we could be of service to you.
It is my sincere hope that you are completely satisfied with our training which was provided to you at the Romney Cycle, Camp and Ride Event.
We are always interested in suggestions that would allow us to improve upon our already high standards and encourage you to submit your thoughts and PM them to us.
Please follow us on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/Xplor-Int-211129469457/timeline
Please follow us on ADV Rider at: http://advrider.com/index.php?members/dakrider.118436/
and post possible photos you might have of our training event.
I would like to thank every event organizer and Romney Cycle for doing an excellent job at the 2016 Camp and Ride rain or shine.
I'm sorry I couldn't stay and say goodby as I had to departure kinda fast Friday afternoon for an other event training day on Saturday 5.5 hours away.
Please keep in contact with us, as we have the following programs and services available:
http://www.xplor-int.com Introduction to Trail Riding 1 - day course
Adventure motorcycle 2 - day course
Adventure motorcycle camping and training camps
Again, thank you.
Alain Kaldewaay
See you next year?
Dakrider
Ill be back next year if you all want me?
Owner: Alain Kaldewaay
xplor@live.com
www.xplor-int.com
patrickg450
Well-Known Member
Defekticon said:
Yea that was my rig, TrueGrip and Limey hung around and drank up the coffee.................We saw you leave but never saw you other than that. Guess we were a tad bit blind or just simply failed to look around. Got to have a diesel, nothing compares. 7.3L FX4 is the best. Love my truck, the trailer I would love to claim is totally mine. My buddy built it, I cant take credit for it bought it about 3 months ago. It is 3 years old and built better than most RV's IMO. I will try to post up a few picts. 1655 miles on the ST and just under 2k on the Ford. Not bad for a 10 day trip.
See you all next year.
Defekticon
Active Member
That's awesome. I have the '14 gasser (6.2) and it's been a great motor. The magic in that truck is the built in brake controller/sway control + Transmission. It'll haul all that junk with that motor through the mountains without much issue. I do wish I had a diesel, but I'm very happy with how well the 6.2 does for what it is, and the price range it falls into. I used to tow with a Yukon XL, that was hell.patrickg450 said:
I'm looking for a new trailer that I can put the bikes in (like a Toyhauler) rather than putting them in the bed, but will still sleep 6 people.
Thanks everyone for a great weekend! It was good to see old friends make new ones and ride some good dirt on "the biggest dirt bike in the world". Thanks for supplying the shirts gunner! Thanks Jon and Bob and those who volunteered and of course Romney for their hospitality. The sponsors were awesome lots of good swag! So glad our numbers didn't effect the donations. Hope everyone has a safe ride home and be leery of any used red GS's for sale
Dirt_Dad
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2011 Site Supporter
2013 Site Supporter
2014 Site Supporter
I take fewer and fewer pictures each year. I took a total of 3 this year.
Rudderfeet's Ride Sheets - really helpful.
I took these off the Romney Cycles Facebook page.
Kids from the WV School For The Deaf And Blind on Friday morning.
Also did a some radio interviews on Friday.
TwoDogs (Alan): https://www.dropbox.com/s/kr5us9eyd70frno/Camp%20%2B%20Ride%20Allan-Romney%20cycles.mp3?dl=0
Alan remembered after the interview that it was started by DCStrom (Trevor), not me. Just goes to show, you can't trust everything you hear in the media.
Dirt_Dad (Jon): https://www.dropbox.com/s/gytwqqxopsadrjm/Camp%20%20%20Ride%20John%20Romney%20Cycles.mp3?dl=0
Your turn...I feel like there are more photos to be posted. Let's see them.
Rudderfeet's Ride Sheets - really helpful.
I took these off the Romney Cycles Facebook page.
Kids from the WV School For The Deaf And Blind on Friday morning.
Also did a some radio interviews on Friday.
TwoDogs (Alan): https://www.dropbox.com/s/kr5us9eyd70frno/Camp%20%2B%20Ride%20Allan-Romney%20cycles.mp3?dl=0
Alan remembered after the interview that it was started by DCStrom (Trevor), not me. Just goes to show, you can't trust everything you hear in the media.
Dirt_Dad (Jon): https://www.dropbox.com/s/gytwqqxopsadrjm/Camp%20%20%20Ride%20John%20Romney%20Cycles.mp3?dl=0
Your turn...I feel like there are more photos to be posted. Let's see them.
We thought we'd contributed $3500 to the kids and we LIED.
Just got the invoice for the shirts and InHouse Bob, who made the shirts, kicked in $200. This is after basically making the shirts at cost. Plus, some folks gave extra when they ordered shirts.
Should have a total tomorrow.
As for photos, here's Sector Road that folks seemed to enjoy:
Quiet area on far side of the building:
Waiting for the raffle to begin:
Just got the invoice for the shirts and InHouse Bob, who made the shirts, kicked in $200. This is after basically making the shirts at cost. Plus, some folks gave extra when they ordered shirts.
Should have a total tomorrow.
As for photos, here's Sector Road that folks seemed to enjoy:
Quiet area on far side of the building:
Waiting for the raffle to begin:
Not many pics for me
Good thing she didn't have heels on ;D
Good thing she didn't have heels on ;D
patrickg450
Well-Known Member
good looking couple
Tony99
New Member
You are the man Patrick
patrickg450
Well-Known Member
Tony99 said:
TELL IT!!!!!!!
limey
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True Grip said:Not many pics for me
Good thing she didn't have heels on ;D she's actually 5'4" or was it 4'5"