Author Topic: 2017 TriStar Event  (Read 26765 times)

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Offline Patmo

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Re: 2017 TriStar Event
« Reply #30 on: May 13, 2017, 06:16:36 AM »
That weekend is the weekend of the annual "Run to the Wall", where thousands of motorcycle riders from all over descend upon the Vietnam's Verterns Memorial in Washington.  (Never forget!) Seems to me that I remember almost every year that this has been going on, sometime on Saturday evening there is a few riders showing up at the Hotel in Sparta looking for a room, and it's always full.  I wouldn't count on those extra rooms being available past Friday evening, and you can always cancel the rooms at the last minute if you have to.  I suggest that if you are even thinking about going, you reserve your room now!
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Offline brider

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Re: 2017 TriStar Event
« Reply #31 on: May 14, 2017, 08:13:05 AM »
I just cancelled my room to bunk with Jim Randall and free up a double. 
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Offline brider

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Re: 2017 TriStar Event
« Reply #32 on: May 30, 2017, 10:49:22 PM »
Well let me be the first to say thanks to Geoffery for hosting and baaaddd move for those that cancelled due to weather.  You know who you are and you messed up.  1135 miles for me and not one drop of rain.  Ever Norm missed the weather this times and as I recall said
"I can live with this outcome!"   :trink39:   Yes we can. 

Now the rest of you quit just using facebook and put some traffic on the MSTA website.   
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Offline RIDEMYST

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Re: 2017 TriStar Event
« Reply #33 on: May 31, 2017, 03:22:03 AM »
Yep, great weekend and the only rain came when it was time for bed!
Thanks Geoffery for putting this together. -JEP-



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Offline Patmo

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Re: 2017 TriStar Event
« Reply #34 on: May 31, 2017, 06:50:00 AM »
Also want to express my thanks to G for all of the effort and time he put into making this year's TRISTAR such a great event.  Has to have been one of the best I've ever attended.  Have to admit that we cut out a day early because we thought we were gonna be stuck in the hotel all day Sunday on account of the rain.  But it appears that was a miscalculation on our part.  Anyways had a fantastic ride back north on Sunday and other than a few sprinkles late in the afternoon we never saw any precipitation at all.  The clouds actually kept the heat down and made the ride even more enjoyable. The crowd at the event, as always, was a fun group to be around.  Very happy to see some people there I haven't seen since last year, and sorry that a few of the regulars didn't make it this year.  Maybe see them at STAR?  Hope so!


 Only thing I am sorry about.....I forgot to book my room for NEXT year before leaving!   :)
« Last Edit: May 31, 2017, 06:51:47 AM by Patmo »
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Offline normkern

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Re: 2017 TriStar Event
« Reply #35 on: May 31, 2017, 09:33:57 AM »
An observation:

If you're a weather weenie, you're going to miss TriSTAR just about every year. That is a shame, because every year turns out well regardless of the forecast.

We left Dayton on Thursday at 7am, riding through intermittent light mist and drizzle to Jackson OH, where it dried out. Temps 60-70. Blue sky and puffy white clouds from about Beckley on.

Friday, perfect sunny weather all day, temps 65-75, low humidity.

Saturday, same story until late afternoon when it clouded up. Rained hard in the evening, but so what?

Sunday ride home- Beautiful partly sunny until we hit about 30 mi of light rain around Beckley WV. We kept moving and it never got bad enough to stop and put rain gear on. After that, it cleared up nicely and temps were 65-80 for the day.

This is the best time of year to ride your motorcycle. If the weather's not good enough for you, you might as well sell it! 

Norm Kern

Offline HawkGTRider

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Re: 2017 TriStar Event
« Reply #36 on: May 31, 2017, 01:14:29 PM »
My thanks to everyone that came to Sparta...we really did have a good time.  Reservations are already being taken for next year, so go ahead and get it done. If you've been getting a room up in the conference building and you were there this year, you know all of the mattresses got replaced recently. John, the Inn manager said they might have to go up a little on the rooms up there.

I got there Thursday afternoon after traveling across US58 from Damascus to Volney in the rain. But in a portent of things to come, once I dropped down into North Carolina, the rain went away and it was pretty fine. We had a few other riders arrive Thursday as well, and several of us went down to the "Main Street Pizzeria and Taphouse" for dinner. This is a new place with a good complement of pizza, Italian dishes, the usual burgers and such, and a big selection of Craft Beer with 36 varieties on tap including some local NC microbrewery favs.

Friday morning I got up and did a little more socializing (and isn't socializing with friends that share a common bond a big part of what our events are about?), had breakfast at JB's across the parking lot from the Inn, and got ready to do some set up. John was putting up the five 10 x 20 tents later in the day, but we got our MSTA banners hung and streamers were stretched from one corner of the Inn's 2nd floor railing to the other (it's U-shaped). John normally puts the tents up with one of his staff guys, but being a bit windy, I jumped in to help hold the tents down until they could be weighted down. Vicki Gill volunteered (thank you!) to go grocery shopping with me to fill out our larder for the cookout that night, and things moved right along. Vicki knows our group and made some excellent suggestions for the things we'd need, and also took care of the onions. I think her sinuses rebelled at that as she was practically voiceless for the rest of the weekend.

A bit before 6:00 p.m., Syd Mayes, Jim Park, and Woovis (thanks guys!) were kind enough to get things going on the hamburger and hotdog cooking. Yeah, I think I miscounted the number of hotdogs in each package, so we ran out of dogs. But as best as I can tell, no one went hungry as we had plenty of burgers and fixins.

6:00 p.m. Saturday and we had a very good bbq dinner catered Saturday night by the Baywood Boys. They had a restaurant in downtown Sparta last year, but have since closed the location even as they continue doing catered gigs. I'd asked them to bring enough food for 75 hungry folks, so we had plenty! Pork bbq, baked beans, cole slaw, and banana pudding made it a fine feast. We got a bit of "Camelot" rain (only after sundown) on Saturday, but heck, the natural fireworks were a great cap to the show of beautiful weather we had seen all day. And before the rain, we got the traditional visit from the Harley rider who cruises through the parking lot with a big American flag as his pillion.
We had a good representation of folks that have stepped up on the national and state level to help the association, and I was pleased to recognize as many of them as I could remember. Naturally, I failed to remember them all, so I'll just say now that I appreciate everyone who has ever volunteered to help even as we need more volunteers to step up to replace people taking a break.
As part of our Saturday night extravaganza, we took donations for the Ride For Kids with the prize of a night's stay at the Alleghany Inn being graciously donated by John, the manager. With his donation, we'll be able to donate the $405 collected ALL to the RFK.

JB's is closed on Sunday, so almost everyone went down to the Homeplace (formerly The Pines) for breakfast before heading out for another day of good riding or heading for the house. The weather Sunday looked a little spotty (sending a bunch of our attendees heading for home), and while Don Moe and I were out riding, we saw some dark clouds. Don put on his rain jacket after a snack-stop at Meadows of Dan just off the BRP, and that was apparently all we needed to insure we didn't get wet. I guess we saw some damp pavement (not what I'd call wet and not for long) coming down the BRP towards Sparta. Whatever you call it, the moisture was just enough to keep the temps cool, and it was quite nice.

With a down-sized group remaining (15-18 from the full crowd of 65 registered), Sunday night's dinner has became a tradition at the Mis Arados Mexican restaurant on the east end of town. I've made the walk several times with the crowd, but since Ken and Vicki Gill were already planning to drive, it seemed like a good call for the rest of the crowd to pile into my van...so we did. It was the usual good grub there, and we didn't have to walk up hill both ways in the snow with no shoes (as my Dad always talked about his treks to school as he was growing up). We also had a few of our remaining riders pile into the back of Gary Weade's pickup for a visit down to the Kanpai Japanese Restaurant.

As the evening went on, folks disappeared into their rooms to start packing and prepping for the ride out on Monday. But I was pleased to see several groups of people hanging around the parking lot doing what we do...kicking tires and telling lies.

After getting myself and event gear packed up Monday morning, I headed west with plans to see my sister who lives in Johnson City, Tennessee. I got there just in time to meet her at the Memorial Day service at the Johnson City Veteran's Administration campus where my brother-in-law was playing with the Johnson City Community Band. We had a good lunch afterwards, and then I headed on down the big road to the house.

We're already on the calendar at the Inn for next year, so give them a shout and get your room reserved. And don't punt 3 days before just because the weather looks a little iffy.
« Last Edit: June 01, 2017, 01:19:25 PM by HawkGTRider »
Geoffrey Greene
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Offline EZX

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Re: 2017 TriStar Event
« Reply #37 on: May 31, 2017, 03:16:30 PM »
Thank you Mr. Greene, and grill master Mayes.

Offline HawkGTRider

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Re: 2017 TriStar Event
« Reply #38 on: May 31, 2017, 11:59:13 PM »
Thank you Mr. Greene, and grill master Mayes.
Thanks Claude...maybe we should tape a washer on the bottom of each cup so they wouldn't blow around leading to impromptu rolls.
Geoffrey Greene
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Offline stevegrab

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Re: 2017 TriStar Event
« Reply #39 on: June 01, 2017, 01:57:12 PM »
Sounds like a good time as usual. Regarding the weather and skipping an event or ride I've done that a few times and have tried to get better about not cancelling. But we're all different, some are willing to take the risks of bad weather and get to the event "come hell or high water" while others are more cautious and don't want to spend days of vacation riding in the rain or sitting in a hotel. Try to understand that and not be too hard on people who cancelled or left early. I still have a couple guys from Cleveland area who will never go to Fall Color after the year we had snow at snowshoe mtn.
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Offline HawkGTRider

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Re: 2017 TriStar Event
« Reply #40 on: June 01, 2017, 06:07:14 PM »
Sounds like a good time as usual. Regarding the weather and skipping an event or ride I've done that a few times and have tried to get better about not cancelling. But we're all different, some are willing to take the risks of bad weather and get to the event "come hell or high water" while others are more cautious and don't want to spend days of vacation riding in the rain or sitting in a hotel. Try to understand that and not be too hard on people who cancelled or left early. I still have a couple guys from Cleveland area who will never go to Fall Color after the year we had snow at snowshoe mtn.

I left FCR one year on Saturday morning due to a prediction of snow. I got down off the mountain, the temperature rose about 10-15 degrees, and the sky cleared. I stopped, turned around, and sat there on the side of the road while debating with myself as to what to do. I finally proceeded homeward and heard later that the snow came to the mountain leaving things in a mess. I do understand. I just felt a little sorry for the folks that canceled their whole weekend due to a prediction of rain that basically never happened. They missed a good one.
Geoffrey Greene
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Offline brider

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Re: 2017 TriStar Event
« Reply #41 on: June 01, 2017, 07:06:16 PM »
If we wait for all the lights to be green we would never go anywhere...   ::)
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Offline HawkGTRider

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Re: 2017 TriStar Event
« Reply #42 on: June 01, 2017, 10:09:31 PM »
If we wait for all the lights to be green we would never go anywhere...   ::)

Can I have an A-Men?
Geoffrey Greene
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Offline DirtFlier

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Re: 2017 TriStar Event
« Reply #43 on: June 02, 2017, 04:44:32 AM »
[..I still have a couple guys from Cleveland area who will never go to Fall Color after the year we had snow at snowshoe mtn...]

The new location at Lewisburg is at a lower altitude and also further south and so far it's been "snow free."  Also the eateries within walking distance of the hotel is 5x better than at Snowshow.  Thanks Syd!
« Last Edit: June 02, 2017, 05:05:59 PM by DirtFlier »

Offline normkern

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Re: 2017 TriStar Event
« Reply #44 on: June 02, 2017, 09:01:50 AM »
[..I still have a couple guys from Cleveland area who will never go to Fall Color after the year we had snow at snowshoe mtn...]

The new location at Lewisburg is at a lower altitude and also further south and so far it's been "snow free."  Also the eateries within walking distance of the hotel is 5x better than at Snowshow.  Thanks Syd!

Yep, with FC now at Lewisburg, WV, the chance of snow at the end of September is pretty remote, but let's be clear about something else. The best riding is in the Appalachian mountains. If you want to ride there you have to deal with mountain weather. The mountain terrain churns the air that moves over it, creating weather conditions that are often very local in nature and that can change quickly. This makes forecasts very inaccurate, unlike back home where the terrain is likely much flatter and weather more predictable.

In the mountains, the forecast often calls for rain or thunderstorms, but the reality is they are not everywhere and not for long periods of time. At many events, I've had great riding and nice weather on "rainy" days where all I had to do was look at the radar on my phone and choose an advantageous direction to go. People who stay home because they are looking at general forecasts never seem to catch on.

For travel days, the get-there-dry web page/IOS app/Facebook app (you can use on your android phone) offers an easy interface to put in your day's route and view the weather conditions along the route. A slider for the start time allows you to instantly see the best time to leave to minimize the chance of rain for the next 48 hours. Check it out and learn to use it! Or you can stay home.

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