It has been a while, time for an update.
I made it out to Romney last weekend and they were pretty much locking down their final plans, and looking forward to the event kicking off. Here's what I know at this point.
On-Site Food: I don't have the details, but I know the Ruritans were having a difficult time committing to have volunteers available to support the event. So this year Romney has contracted with Gretta's Kitchen to support the Camp N Ride. My understanding right now is since there will be people expected all day due to the ongoing factory test rides, the food will be available all day.
Planned hours are:
Friday 11:30am to 6:00pm.
Saturday: 7:00am - 4:00pm.
Saturday evening (Romney sponsored dinner). 6:00pm
Sunday - For the last two years the Romney Lion's Cub has held a pancake breakfast. I've heard great reviews on it from our riders. If the Lions Club is not doing their pancake breakfast, then Gretta's Kitchen is expected to return to the dealership. So far there is no confirmation on the breakfast situation for Sunday.
Shuttle: The dealership will provide rides on the hour between the motels and the dealership on Saturday evening until 11:00pm. It will be done on request only. Last year they did not have any takers for this shuttle offer. There were enough people that had cars that everyone seemed to get between the venues with no difficulty.
Facilities Port-a-potties and wash stations will arrive Wednesday afternoon. Due to the need for the dealership to use their loading dock on Friday the showers will be setup sometime Friday afternoon. When the dealership is open people are welcome to use the bathrooms inside.
Volunteers If you are onsite and willing to spend the day helping make the event run smoothly, please see Checkwrecks or me (we're the guys in the red shirts). Anticipated volunteer jobs will include sign-in desk, greeting arriving riders and pointing them in the right direction, and a general floating answer guy. As I've mentioned before this is our first time utilizing volunteers. Please be patient as we work out the details on this new aspect of the event.
Yamaha maintenance talks Yamaha is going to be offering quick 5 to 10 minute talks about maintenance owners can do on their bikes. Actual schedule and topics will be posted at the event.
Tires It is unusual for Romney to have big bike knobbies, but they do find themselves a supply of Kenda K784 and Continental TKC80 at the moment. If you want some knobbies at a Romney price I suggest giving them a call before they go back to their status of not having big bike knobbies in regular stock.
Speaking of Romney....let's face it, these guys sponsor this event, but they really don't do a lot of shouting about it. I want to acknowledge them for all they do.
As you may have guessed, my role in getting the word out about this event provides me with the opportunity to really get to know Kevin (owner) and Larry (GM). I've come to greatly appreciate the difference in personality between the two, and how well those differences mesh to create what we all know as Romney Cycles. An example of this was when I asked Larry if they had been named #1 Suzuki Dealer in the USA again. He said, yes they were named the #1 again for 2015. More units sold than any other dealer in the country. I asked if they ever advertise this fact? Larry told me he would put it on the web site and paint it on all their vehicles. Kevin is uninterested in any of that. That would feel like bragging to him, and bragging is not something he's interested in doing. They are proud of it, they know they did it, and that's good enough. How many businesses do you know that work that way? I know they are sensitive enough to the situation that I asked them before I said anything here.
If you appreciate all work and expense they put into to making this happen, please do take a moment to let Kevin, Larry and Heather know you appreciate it. Of course, if you have an opportunity to throw them your business they will greatly appreciate it. Look around when you are there, their prices make it an easy place to support. There's a reason they are number 1.
