The New And Improved Unofficial R65 Forum V2
General Category => General Announcements => Topic started by: suecanada on February 21, 2011, 03:14:57 PM
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Just thinking away about what and where to ride this summer and particularly June as the other months are pretty well planned. Like to ride the Blue Ridge again as I love there area, into NC, Smokies and thereabouts. The "thereabouts" can be anywhere pretty well. I remember I had a great time at the Gathering of the Clans near Ferguson NC back in 2008. Any ideas? Got some 'happenings'?
Seriously considering the Barber Museum Oct. 6-9. They are having a Ducati fest there and be a good way to soak in the Fall colours going down, then reliving summer temperatures again while there. Even musing about leaving the bike down there somewhere for the winter, flying back and then flying down in the Spring to get a jump on things up here. Quasi snowbird idea. Comments?
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I think finding a place to stash a bike sounds like a great idea! If you do, make sure it is insured for fire & theft - but I'm sure I don't need to tell you that.
If I were retired and worry-free, I think Willville would be a common destination.
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Yup, Willville needs to be enroute to see Graham and Aïda too!! And lots of our members who go there! Rob...NC Steve, John J, Bill G. just for starters. Remember Justgus??We could get Monte and Bengt there too d'ya think???
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Mrs. Phorqs and I are planning a ride to Big Bend in early April. I think our summer vacation ride may head off to the Rocky Mountains but we don't have anything planned yet for that one. After returning from spending this past weekend in Charlotte, NC she made the comment at the aerodrome that she would like to ride the length of the BRP. We did go to the Biltmore Estate near Asheville on Sunday and that would be nice to see with all of the summery greenery back.
Where is Willville? Sounds like a Face Book destination. ;D
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Where is Willville?
It's in the middle of nowhere, VA: http://www.willvillebikecamp.com/
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Willville is a fantastic destination! If you ride anywhere NEAR the Blue Ridge Parkway, you MUST make Willville an overnight stay, at the very least!! You won't regret it!! [smiley=thumbsup.gif]
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And if you find yourself down toward the Southern end of the Parkway, you really need to stop in at Blue Ride Motorcycle Camp, another friendly, beautiful place to rest the weary bones.
http://www.blueridgemotorcyclecamp.com/
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Boy, Bengt..Willville=Blue Ridge Parkway!!!! Bring Monte will ya????
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June 10-12 is the date I have just found for the Gathering of the Clans at High Country M/C campground near Ferguson NC. For Airheads. Just off the BRP! Small and laid back.
One idea. I have my own Vintage club rally the next weekend...17-19.
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You could spend the whole summer in/on/around the Blue Ridge Parkway and never get enough of it! Just let us know when your Willville stop will be and we'll be there! There are some fabulous roads just off the Parkway as well both in Virginia and NC. I could just live there... sigh...
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I've been wondering if Will might let me go across the bridge and build a little caretaker's cottage in the woods. You know, help out a little, cover the campground when he wanted to take off someplace, set up for and maintain things over the winters, etc.
Sounds like a great plan - to me, anyways.
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June 10-12 is the date I have just found for the Gathering of the Clans at High Country M/C campground near Ferguson NC.
The ABC and High Country M/C Camp sure do make the dates hard to find.
ABC doesn't even list it, and High Country lists the month & days but not the year. You don't know if you are looking at a recently updated web page, or not.
I've found this to be true every year since I found out about the event.
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Here's the link I hope to the Gathering of the Clans dates:
http://bmwairheads.org/
Maybe we can ignore the usual group stuff of others and make our own at Willville or Blue Ridge campgrounds. Our great R65 forum is big enough now to make our own more formal "Rally around the Flag" get-togethers. Either one of those campgrounds would be a good spot. Of course, we need to declare a western "Flag" weekend too!
Let's be open to any spots that members suggest and our overseas members can make their own 'rally' too! Nice to go to Australia wouldn't it? Need big $$$ though for us!
I am musing about the fact that our flag is a pillowcase.....is there a neat name for our 'rally' get-toethers that we can come up with here, other than Rally around the Flag??? :-/ :)
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Borrowed from the German forum (http://kleineboxer.de/): "Kleine Boxer Rally"?
Meaning "Small Boxer".
Not quite as vague as Type 248... ::)
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If you go to the "thereabouts" around the Smokies, be sure to check out Deals Gap / Tail of the Dragon. Other "therabouts" could include The Grand Old Opre, or Dollywood.
If you are looking for something a little different and are history buff, I once did a tour of the major Civil War battlefields in the Pa, Va, W.Va, Md. areas. It was really cool seeing some of those places.
k_enn
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Thanks K_enn. I am very much a Civil War buff! Good idea!
Went to Gettysburg in 1964....still as emotionally moving when went again in 1998. Read Bruce Catton's trilogy several times.
If you don't roll over and laugh hysterically, I'll admit that I want to go to Walton's Mountain museum near Schuyler, Virginia :-[
I so agree with Aïda that anywhere BRP is wonderful riding.
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Over Memorial Weekend, there is a great little rally around Cass, West VA. Check out their website with info here... http://mountaineerbmw.org/ This is some really beautiful country with some great roads to get there - including Goshen pass. This might be a good "R65 SleepOver" Event that is even closer to Rob. This one used to be one of our favorite rallies because it's small with some of my favorite riding to get there - Hwy 220 through Va!
Nearby you can see the Greenbank Radio Observatory and take a ride on the Cass Railroad. 8-)
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Over Memorial Weekend, there is a great little rally around Cass, West VA. Check out their website with info here... http://mountaineerbmw.org/ This is some really beautiful country with some great roads to get there - including Goshen pass. This might be a good "R65 SleepOver" Event that is even closer to Rob. This one used to be one of our favorite rallies because it's small with some of my favorite riding to get there - Hwy 220 through Va!
I searched Google Maps for 1/2 hour for this location. I couldn't find it. >:(
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Try this, Rob.
Boyer, WV (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Boyer,+WV&aq=&sll=37.926868,-95.712891&sspn=33.680725,79.013672&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Boyer,+Pocahontas,+West+Virginia&ll=38.491992,-79.796491&spn=0.017265,0.038581&t=h&z=15)
If you look just west of the A Marker, that is the campground/hotel area where the rally is held. Cass, WV is south and west of the rally site.
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Try this, Rob.
Boyer, WV (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Boyer,+WV&aq=&sll=37.926868,-95.712891&sspn=33.680725,79.013672&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Boyer,+Pocahontas,+West+Virginia&ll=38.491992,-79.796491&spn=0.017265,0.038581&t=h&z=15)
If you look just west of the A Marker, that is the campground/hotel area where the rally is held. Cass, WV is south and west of the rally site.
Much better. Thanks.
Well, I just looked at the vacation calendar here at work, and my co-worker already has the week before Memorial day reserved.
And when you don't get off work until 3 or 4 am on Saturday morning, it is tough to get in a full day of riding. Don't expect to see me there. :(
I will have to stick to my plan of attending the gawd-awful crowd of the MOA national, if that.
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Back to your original post, Sue, do try for the Ducatisti festival at Barber Motorsports Park.
Just fourteen miles east of Birmingham and close by the pleasant town of Leeds -sounds rather British, doesn't it?- the Barber Park is just that... Beautiful manicured grounds, pine and hickory trees covering rolling hills, ponds with fountains and numerous, large-scale, outdoor metal sculptures dotting the acreage.
And the Barber Museum is absolutely world class.
I plan a return trip within the year.
Monte
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I plan a return trip within the year.
Monte
Well, you should plan it to coincide with Sue's trip! ;) I agree about the Barber Museum and grounds. It's something to see.
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Thanks Aïda and Monte! I'll give the W.VA rally some thought as it sure was great riding down there in '09. I also would hope that maybe Monte, you would decide that Oct. 6-9th was a good time to go to the Barber Museum. I'll be fresh off my step dancing and Cape Breton piano accompaniment courses in St. Ann's Cape Breton's Gaelic College. Attending them from Aug.15-20th. Riding down on the bike, stay with brother Rich and become a "butt kicker"! It's the piano lessons I am going for and the College just wants students to choose a second course...so step dancing it is for me. There go the calf muscles...hope I'll be able to ride home!
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Step dancing - clogging combined with tap dancing!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96nrFtegAkQ
One of my favorite Star Trek: TNG episodes. Start at 1:30:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8P4SdvtNKdU
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Aïda and Graham, Stew (who you met in NC) and I are figuring on going to the Mountaineer Rally in Boyer W.Va on the Memorial weekend and would hope that you two could come. Anyone else too!!!! Please join us. I have a friend to visit over in Madison, Va at a KOA there where he decided to take a summer job just for fun. While being so close to the Appalachian Trail, he plans to get in some hiking as a test run to see if he would like to hike the whole Trail in the future. He's got some good light and small equipment now so that gear will serve for his motorcycling ventures as well.
Barber Museum is in the works too but that is a long time off.
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Good news/bad(ish) news, for me.
The best news is that the new conglomerate that is taking over the water company I work for made me an offer, and it is very nearly my same rate of pay, so it looks like my employment worries are over, for a while at least. :D
Some also good news is that they finally fixed one of the programs that was running so long, and causing me to stay until 4 or 5am every "night". So I will be able to get to bed earlier after Friday evening and possibly even get a good day's riding in on Saturdays (like Labor Day weekend... ;) )
Of course the downside is - no more outrageous overtime checks. Sigh...
I'll just have to be more careful how I spend my money.
So I might see you in WV late in the day on Saturday, May 28. ::)
And I still have my week scheduled off for the National in Penn.
And I have added the United Sidecar Assoc. National Rally to my calendar. It is the weekend after the MOA national, and it is just across the state line at a KOA outside of Dayton, OH. I have some old friends from my sidecaring days that I might see, and a new friend I made recently on Facebook. She is a sidecaring freak with two rigs (both airheads). One is a traditional one and the other is a flatbed, that she uses for really long trips & business trips, which for her is glass jewelry and other things: http://www.rigadoonglass.com/
(https://bmwr65.org/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rigadoonglass.com%2Fimages%2Famy_motorcycle.jpg&hash=dc14e7ce64152684e2a5135c3ec6d10f067abbf1) (https://bmwr65.org/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rigadoonglass.com%2Fimages%2F1978r807cart.jpg&hash=3f86144a35832d5bf1d3c578de28d2f518fb75f9)
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Be great to see ya Rob. Those sidecars look to be a fine idea and serve to keep reminding me that the "RV, pop up tent sidecar" is possible. Carries your gear, sit-in possibilities and houses your tent for those quick stopovers enroute when you are too tired to put up a full tent...just wanna snooze. Thanks for posting those pics and I would like to meet the owner!
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The best news is that the new conglomerate that is taking over the water company I work for made me an offer, and it is very nearly my same rate of pay, so it looks like my employment worries are over, for a while at least.Cheesy
Glad to hear that your employment worries are over.
greetings from a grey and cold but ridable north
trolle
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The best news is that the new conglomerate that is taking over the water company I work for made me an offer, and it is very nearly my same rate of pay, so it looks like my employment worries are over, for a while at least.Cheesy
Glad to hear that your employment worries are over.
trolle
Well, I wouldn't say they are over, trolle. They can always let me go when they don't need me anymore; that is, when they have converted our old billing/customer service system over to their new one. My marketable skill (mainframe computer operation) is a real dinosaur these days. The ice is thin and the weather keeps getting warmer. :-/
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My marketable skill (mainframe computer operation) is a real dinosaur these days
The dinosaurs survived! Now they have wings and a domain of their own.
Best of luck
greetings from a sunny but cold, 40 F, north
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A Moto Guzzi rally? Here's the list http://www.mgnoc.com/rally_calendar.html
I've been to several and all brands are always welcome, with many folks owning several differing Eurobikes.
The VA Rally is always a good one, late June, and up near mile marker 20 of the Parkway.
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Any chance you'd be able to come to the W.Va cass/Boyer Station Mountaineering BMW rally on Memorial weekend, Steve??
Trolle made such a good comment to Rob about his mainframe computer expertise being a dinosaur. Things don't disappear they just change..like energy! In a way it makes it easier to get a handle on dying....nothing stays the same and, in time, we as humans configured in the way we are now won't exist, so we wouldn't fit in anyway if we did live 'forever'! Sorta like it's easier to leave a party when we aren't having a good time. :-?
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Come to the South Sue and we will meet you!!!!! If'n you need a place to stay, Atlantawise, let me know.
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Aïda and Graham, Stew (who you met in NC) and I are figuring on going to the Mountaineer Rally in Boyer W.Va on the Memorial weekend and would hope that you two could come. Anyone else too!!!! Please join us. I have a friend to visit over in Madison, Va at a KOA there where he decided to take a summer job just for fun. While being so close to the Appalachian Trail, he plans to get in some hiking as a test run to see if he would like to hike the whole Trail in the future. He's got some good light and small equipment now so that gear will serve for his motorcycling ventures as well.
Barber Museum is in the works too but that is a long time off.
Yea, I'm a little (lot) slow these days. I have to admit that ~Facebook~ has captured me... When I read this forum now, I keep wanting to hit 'Like' on posts....I think I need to get a life...
Anywho...Graham and I need to schedule some trips this year. I'll put the bug in his ear and see what we can work out for Memorial weekend. We haven't been to this rally in years, but every year we talk about heading back that way.
Looks like I may not be making the National after all. :( MotoMark1 (http://www.motomark1.com/) ended up with a scheduling conflict, so I won't need to be there to run the booth. We're not really excited about the big crowds, so I'm not sure we'll head there on our own.
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Sure be nice if you decide to come to the Cass Mountaineering rally. The National can be a bit stifling in the crowds but I figure there are ways to retreat when you're talked and walked-out! Quiet time reading by the tent and catching a few extra ZZZZZ's if the tent isn't too hot. I generally like it all.. vendors, beer tent, seminars, demos and getting to visit with old friends and making new ones. It exhausts me!
I even like my oil change volunteer venue.
I wonder if Not-So-Fast Ed, NC Steve, John J, Altritter, Semper, R65 Neal and a few others I am sure I've met but missing could consider this Cass Rally too. Trouble is is it is held on a family big weekend holiday!
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Hey Sue, we met in 08 at the Gathering. In Sept. of 08 my brother and I had a great ride in and around the Smokeys. I posted a ride report "09/25/08 General Category / Ride Report and Event Reviews / The Smokey Mountains. If you have half as much fun as we did you will have had as much fun as I had.
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Sue -
Cass is in our plans! We'll probably head up to Willville (http://www.willvillebikecamp.com/), spend the night, then on to Cass for the weekend. We'll hit Willville (http://www.willvillebikecamp.com/) on the way back as well. ;D
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Now I'll go and see ya there! Willville is a possibility before I turn home but plan to ride around the area after hooking up with my MI. friend who works at the Madison KOA, Va. I doubt he can be at Cass on the long weekend given it'll be busy on memorial day holiday but after Cass I'll meet him at the KOA or else make plans to meet him at Willville! Two birds with one stone!! Let's hope the weather calms down!!!! Yikes!!!