wood it be on the same weekend - the sept long weekend??
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wood it be on the same weekend - the sept long weekend??
If it were in Colorado, I'd definitely make it. Heck, I'd go to Yellowstone too, but hey. There are some roads I've always wanted to get onto in Colorado that I've not done yet, would be a very good chance to change that.
Toss my vote in for Colorado as well. I don't have much knowledge of the area though, so planning is up to others. Then again, SLC was mentioned and I've always wanted to get up there too.
Some of us have attended these rallies for years, .... In April , June, Labor Day Weekends, late September (Arkansas with low turnout) and even smaller gatherings in DAYTONA.
The reason why Labor Day weekend has been the best is because of the 3 days that most have off from work.
It allows some distant riders to mysteriously develop THROTLEITUS on their right hand on either the Friday before or the Tuesday after the weekend. This allows enough time to ride in and ride out without missing 2 days from work. Some (like myself) even develop THROTLEITUS on Thursday morning around 1:00am and hit the road to see the rally doctor :shhh: and arrive around 2-4pm at the rally site.
Generally, in past years the best scenario has been the following ....
Early arrivals on Thursday afternoon (1-5pm) we then go to a local restaurant or order pizza for dinner (largest early arrival group was around 30 people)
Friday is normally registration day and a quick ride for those that arrived on Thursday, kickstand up at 8:30am returning by 2-3pm.
Saturday, nice large group ride to multiple planned destinations, a lunch restaurant and the main Dinner under the tent. Sunday is early departure day for those that have a distance to travel and want to be home by mid-monday before the week starts. Sunday is also a small ride day for those that will not be departing until Monday morning.
Labor Day Monday is when everyone is on their way home or have arrived home.
My apologies for not being able to orchestrate this. Steve has done a fine job.
FINDING a HOTEL with prices in the $60-$75 per night on a holiday weekend near great riding roads with adequate restaurants is not easy.
In years past our west coast rallies have ALWAYS had small turnouts, largest I recall for our HONDA Rune rally had 14-15 bikes. We tried a centralized location last year and the turnout was small.
The KEY here is a 3 day weekend and Labor Day is at the end of summer. Most families spend Memorial Day and July 4th together where most of us can't take off. It is NOT perfect but has worked best. I plan on being back next year, I need to get away and the T-Rex has been yearning for the mountains.:cheers:
Being from the center of the country, It doesn't matter to me. I've been to Franklin, and Russleville for the Rallys. Just seems there was many post on this thread, from people in or around Colorado, that offered some interesting ideas. Might be nice to ride with some of our western F6, that have schedules that prohibit them from coming east. I'm retired and single, with no pets, so I can go where ever looks fun, but I realize, most have jobs etc. Just sayin.
count me in for Colorado sounds great
i just want to meet all these great people that love their F6Bees. i will do my dardest to get there. but Colorado does sound good to me. . . . . . hope everyone is having a great time in PG.
Bunny
Take a look at the link below. The town of Montrose is located in the center of this map. There are several day rides highlighted all within a days ride of Montrose, including Durango to the south. Montrose is a small city with a Honda dealer and several motels. I believe motels there would be more reasonable. Also a good koa camp ground .
https://www.codot.gov/safety/motorcy...rings-SWCO.pdf
Durango Colorado gets my vote!:clap2:
Montrose - Grand Junction, Auray, Colorado better to best.
Anywhere northern Wyoming better to best(My favorite).
Oregon better to best.
Washington State good to better.
Montana better to best (Beartooth pass - Sunlight Basin, Redlodge, Glacier - Road to the Sun).
All have an endless selection of legendary roads, great rides, beautiful scenery and friendly hosts.
I'd post pictures if...☹
Plus, I have relatives across the Rockies that would help make a rally successful.
Im in if it's in the Missouri headwaters or anywhere west of there.
Two separate gigs?
You know whats funny, I remember reading an article a few years back about a lady that owns a house at that spot. And she often gets harassing mail, phone calls, and lawsuits from complete strangers. The reason being is when people do a web IP search, or an search for an address for a hacker or malicious web site, sometimes the info isn't entered into a database, the the tracking software defaults to the middle of america, which happens to be her front yard.
From that link above, "In an unusual technical glitch, a farmstead northeast of Potwin, Kansas became the default site of 600 million IP addresses (due to their lack of fine granularity) when the Massachusetts-based digital mapping company MaxMind changed the putative geographic center of the contiguous United States from 39.8333333,-98.585522 to 38.0000,-97.0000.[2]"
Also, Id like to suggest an idea that might help. Im a member of a few different vehicle websites, and they all have geographical specific sub forms. Places like New England, Mid Atlantic, Pacific North West, ect. Maybe the site admin might consider adding a few location specific sub forums. I know Ive used them for more than just rides. Sometimes its very helpful to have someone close that knows how to wrench on your vehicle and can offer a 6 pack and bbq for their help.
I know that some people may feel left but nothing says you cant put out a call for a Midwest gathering and invite any and all who want to attend.
Unfortunately, many of us are not retired.
Someone has to dedicate 100's of hours to make these events happen.
Finding financial assistance and door prizes requires even more time.
So are you volunteering your time to run a West Coast event?
I think a West Coast Rally would be nice, however we need a couple of individuals from the West Coast to step up to the plate to Orchestrate this event :icon_wink::yes:
Being in Florida, logistically this is an event that I would not be able to orchestrate nor attend. :shrug:
I would be willing to help coordinate the 2018 rally in Durango if that is where it is decided to have it.
I have never done this kind of thing, so I don't think I could take on the whole rally myself.
Jasper Arkansas is a nice place, I do not know if Gordons Hotel can handle the crowd.
Nice place and motorcycle friendly.
Has anyone looked into the membership to determine where geographically the majority of members reside?
East Coast, West Coast, North East, etc?
You could hold the 2018 Rally in Lebanon, Kansas, which is the geographic center of the 48 contiguous states, then there would be no complaints about location, but I doubt there are many twisties or switchbacks in the middle of the corn fields?
Members,
We need some "final answers" so I can put up a voting thread.
A quick bit on logistics:
- The forum 'resources' will be dedicated to one rally place per year.
- With the decrease in the past 2 years in vendor/corporate fiscal support due to the uncertainty of the F6B's production future, Rallies like the previous 2 where there is no "elegant catered meal" or "plaques for prizes" are becoming the norm, whereas the "Phantom Full Monty" from 2014 & 2015 is all but financially impossible.
- Y'all seemed to have a great time at both 2016 & 2017 rallies where we rode during the day, and had camaraderie time under the tent in the evening without any 'regimented structure.'
This group of people is fantastic & unassuming and I'm proud to support and provide for them.
Back to business:
From reviewing the bidding thus far, I can see some support for:
- xxxx, Kentucky
- Durango/Montrose, Colorado
Where else has the infrastructure to support our gathering?
Somethings to consider:
- not doing it during WingDing
- not in a tourist trap city
- in conjunction with a holiday weekend to provide people some time to recover (is this important to the group???)
- As Phantom so eloquently pointed out, many of us are not retired, however, I am, and I am willing to ride to wherever to check stuff out.
Please make any further responses a City, State or "seconding" someone's previous suggestion.
Thanks much!
Steve
I understand the desire for a more western location by those in the west. As I mentioned talking to you at the Rally, as much as I'd love to go to Colorado, just not sure it would be doable for me. For reasons you eluded to etc...
Kentucky , other than be convenient for me, is a biker friendly location with tons of very good riding destinations and twisty roads. My initial location idea would be Bardstown,KY . I have a great hotel location in mind,would have to check on deal with dates. Besides the Red River Gorge, there are many other great destinations with really awesome roads to get to them. All of them a day ride to and back. Of course there is the Bourbon Trail with many great roads connecting these distilleries. I'd be more than happy to do the leg work. However, I'd understand if the Rally were to move west.
Zanesville, Ohio
lol. Not sure what you mean. Bardstown, KY It has many many fine eating establishments.
http://www.visitbardstown.com/
Not far from Louisville, Frankfort or Lexington if that's what your looking for
Brother, that is what I am proposing. From personal experience, I have a couple of " Venues" in mind. Part of the reason Bardstown comes to mind. I'll get you some info and pictures. We used one of these places as our host hotel for my chapter's CVMA annual Ride this year.
Being roughly 3600 miles across makes finding and equal distant place hard for everyone. Same arguments for both sides. If I remember the map right most B riders here are based east of the Mississippi same as the general population. Us left coasters are fewer and farther between with huge states to cross to get anywhere.
I purpose Durango Colorado.
I also would like to see the rally in southern Colorado. Others have mentioned all the great rides possible from this area and there are a lot. Durango and Cortez are the best souther Colorado cities to base out of. If you want a recommendation for a rally location the Best Western Turquoise Inn in Cortez would work. It is large enough, clean and reasonably priced. It is in the traditional U shape so there is a large common area in the center of the property and they have meeting rooms. There is a Super 8 that adjoins the Best Western if we need more rooms and there is several good restaurants nearby. There also great hotels in Durango but because Durango is more of a destination city everything there is more expensive,
The San Juans, the Million Dollar Highway, Moab, Monument Valley, Canyon de Chelly, Pagosa Springs, Mesa Verde N.P. and Royal Gorge are all easy rides from either Durango or Cortez.
To my PDX group, isolated from the rest of America by the Rockies and California.....
Would y'all make an honest effort to attend a Rally in Colorado????
Let me know by voicing your opinions in this thread please!
Steve
Yes, I would Steve.
I have family in Grand Junction as a second reason to be there.
I might even be able to talk family into helping out.
Thanks for considerating a mid continent solution..
Jim
I'm in Wisconsin. I would definitely attend a rally in Colorado.
Barring work obligations yes. Colorado is much more achievable, there is to much to see and do between here and the East Coast for one trip. One day I'll get there on my bike...I definitely want to attend one of those R.T.E.'s I keep reading about :icon_razz:
From Toronto Ontario cannot do Colorado,
1400 miles one way ok. not more than that.
I'll just look forward to our 2019 Rally.
Thanks Steve, yes like wise for sure. It was great seeing everyone again. As long as we can get enough
people to attend, it only seems fair to move this rally further west for a change. Again, if the numbers support it.
Is it at all possible to set up something on the site that will remind members to vote when they log in. Say
for a period of three weeks or whatever. Once somethings been fairly voted on, there should be no complaints.
Of course, the last U.S. election being the exception. (not intended to ruffle feathers, just couldn't resist)
My vote is for Colorado.
I went to a Valkyrie rally there a couple of years ago - a long haul from Toronto, but well worth it. I fell in love with the Rockies.
We stayed in Hot Sulphur Springs for a few days, and moved to Cortez for a few more.
Cortez is getting into the southern flattest and hottest part of Colorado, so I'd prefer to be
a bit farther east and/or north.
We spent nearly 2 weeks there, and didn't get to half of the places/roads we wanted to see.
My 2 cents.