2016 Rally After Action comments

[53driver]

Riders,
Please use this thread to let me know what you liked, didn't like, and any/all suggestions or improvements.

Examples:
I really liked the close proximity of the hotel to the riding roads - let's make sure that happens for the next rally.
I think having a bike rally in a "dry" county was silly, but I also realized that I woke up every day ready to ride, so that wasn't actually too bad.

Thanks in advance.
Steve

[Jimmytee]

I really can't think of much. The dry county thing wasn't a big deal since the wife brought the SUV to fetch the beer on the first day. We were close to the good roads ,as you mentioned. We had decent rooms. Nice having the immeditate access to the outside too, as opposed to having to walk through internal hallways to get to your room.

I was surprised by the amount of good roads to explore. Didn't really know what to expect as I had never been to AR. Great time was had by all I think. About the only thing that would have made it nicer was 10 - 15 degrees cooler or more. We can't control that however. At least it was sunny and dry.

I know this may come in a latter thread, but I am voting on either Franklin again or maybe even KY next year. There are a lot of options here and some nice roads to explore. Not just saying because it's close, but if KY, thinking of Bardstown. Just throwing it out there. If anyone here has done the Bourban Trail, there are some excellent roads getting to and from.

[53driver]

I want to get this year sorted, lessons learned, etc so we can apply them to next year's location!

[Jimmytee]

I want to get this year sorted, lessons learned, etc so we can apply them to next year's location!

Not really much to complain about then.

[Battoo]

First Thanks for the open arms Welcome , as this was my first
Second I like the Location , saw no issues with it it would be nice If all the rooms had been together in one area or one side
Third hell i do not see a third lets do it again and Kentucky sound good to me

[stroguy]

Well it's hard to complain about anything for this event. The next location should just mirror this one.

You had easy access to event HQ if you were staying at hotel. You had instant access to the Interstate system. You had instant access to 3 filling stations. You had instant access to several food places. The host hotel had a very decent food service for breakfast that opened at 5. The dry county issue was easily overcome.

My comment will be about making sure we leave as small a trash and occupation footprint for the locals to complain about. I kinda felt right at home with the half full (optimist) water bottles left for dead. Someone came behind you to place them in the refuse can. Same with the aluminum can products. You know, some would consider it abuse. Lastly, a half empty (pessimist) high quality H2O bottle will hold many a cigarette butt. Just be aware that somebody is probably going to come behind you and clean up. That's my soapbox for the day. We did a great job of leaving that small footprint behind, but there's always room for improvement.

[beppok]

Being an introvert and avoiding rally's for 40+ years I was pleasantly surprised.

Pluses - A person could go to all the events or none. There was no pressure to do or not do anything.
There were plenty of roads to choose from. Never followed the same route on any day we were there.
It was nice having members from the area helping with rides and knowing the lay of the land.
And all the stuff others have said about access, restaurants, and amenities.
Russellville Honda was a great asset.
The moderators who took the lead of the event were all great.

Negatives - Would have liked to see the agenda with times posted the first day. It did get me to talk to Steve and ask about the next morning's timing so maybe not all bad.

A plus and Minus - The Fayetteville rally. It was nice to go to but all the Harley's kinda ruined the riding on the last day.

Sad that Steve had to stay behind the first day to greet others as they came and then have his bike in for maintenance and the air filter R&R demo. Then to top it off with getting a bum loaner that last day. Next year if I can make it I would be happy to stay behind and greet the later arrivals. No one should have to give up that much time when they should be riding. There are plenty of us to lend a hand. We'll see what happens for next year.

[53driver]

Thanks and keep it coming.

Posting the schedule - yes, I should have had that out on the first day - my bad.
I like the whiteboard idea...we'll see if that can play. I actually have some...

Again, we'll get to a 2017 location thread in the near future, but I want to capture all the "Good, Bad, & Ugly" from this event so we can properly choose for next year.

And Steve's not riding as much as he shoulda/coulda/woulda? Don't worry - I got that covered; I also made new best friends who have invited me back to tour the Ozarks.

There were over 58 registrants - so I'm hoping for at least 50 posts from everyone.
I know you guys - you all have an opinion.
Cheers,
Steve

[Ixol Phaane]

Well now...

First, I gotta say "Thanks!" again to Steve for accepting the mission to execute this rally. A fine job he did. And "Thanks!" also to Calvin, and Brian (Bryan?) and Stroguy for all the assistance they provided. Y'all make a great team.

I thought the motel was more than adequate. Their operation did encounter a couple minor hiccups (billing, card key access) but nothing deal breaking. I thought it was clean and easily accessible to our ride routes, gas and eats. No complaints from me.

The routes to ride were AWESOME! Here I gotta thank Monk and DonnieOnTheRoad for that fantastic pre-rally scouting ride out to Oark on Tuesday. Thank you, sirs, for letting me tag along! And Donnie... thanks for your technical assistance and suggestion for tracking apps. I'm really diggin' the Spotwalla/SWconnect apps combination. Also "Thanks!" to Mike and Ken, Tom, JimmyT and BigCat for letting me tag along on your Thursday ride in lieu of going to Fayetteville. I think that was a great ride. I hope I didn't slow you down too much. Loved those yellow roads. And David, it was great to follow you on your trike... you were riding it like a boss!

The weather was beautiful, so no complaints about that.

As for all the "water buffalo" on the roads, that was never an issue on the routes I rode on all four days. Probably just lucky, so no complaint from me on that either.

I know you asked for suggestions, but I thoroughly enjoyed every day of the rally. I really could not have wished for a better week!

Oh, but wait! Okay, maybe a couple more group photo opportunities at some of the beautiful scenic stops and overlooks along the various routes. That would have been nice. And a group photo of the riders who attended would have been nice to have, also. So maybe next year we can try to pull that off.

Aside from that... great rally!!

[Pumper]

Opinions are like you know what we all have one and use it...

For me being my first F6B rally, I did not know what to expect. That said, I would say this group did a great job of putting this all together. Dry county, sucked, but I was not there to drink. Roads were awsum and in great proximity to our hotel.

Cagers on road were courteous also, that makes life much more fun when you are running the twisties. Not all places are this way, something to consider for future rallies. Further the road surfaces were in great shape and allowed for worry free travels (no sand/gravel).

Refreshments served were a nice benefit, every morning we had our choice of water and Gatorade type, saved time from stopping when riding...cause there was so many good roads to ride!

Monk gave me some insights on the locals road, unfortunately the day he was to lead he had kidney rocks...I hope you are healing now Monk. We rode 400 miles that day, and could have done more.

Hats off to those whom were responsible for a successful gathering!

Cheers,

Pumper