STAR 2020

[Bermuda Ron]

Don't know if I can make it, but I've ridden the roads there before, and the area is beautiful and should provide excellent riding.

 
Please, tell us more about the riding!

[Patmo]

Ron

I had a conversation with some of the members in that area and they said that everyone will love the roads.  Not quite as technical as the roads in the Smokies can be, but a little more open with fewer switchbacks.  I’m guessing that they will be more like the roads around Lexington, Ky and around Marietta, Ohio/West Virginia.

[doug mcpeek]

The roads in the Mark Twain National Forest area are nothing like those in the Appalachian region.  It is unlike any other area I've found except parts of eastern Arkansas.  Long series of fast sweepers for miles go through rolling hills with very little traffic.  Those roads are why Friends of Freddies was such a popular event, IMHO.  It will be fun.  Just watch out for that right turn at the top of the hill on route K SW of Annapolis.  :-)

[Ride4MS]

I suggest for those that would like to see a different location to work on finding a location of their liking.  If a few people come up with a location and are willing to be the Coordinator of the event, it could possibly happen.  The latest issue of SR on-line in the Member Profile column, Frank said he attended STAR 2008 in the Texas Hill Country.  It was held that year in April due to the possible hot weather in TX.


Now for that type of big change of location and date, it would have to be in the planning of about two years to give everyone enough time to plan vacations, being it is not the traditional dates.


As the Coordinator for La Crosse last year, there is a lot to do to make it happen, and I think a much different date would take more than 1 year.


It would be nice to see groups competing to have STAR held in their area.


So, my suggestion is; check out the area you would like to have STAR, have a group willing to volunteer to help with it, find a good hotel/convention center and send details to the EC.  Make sure you have number of rooms and some prices.  If you are interested in making this happen, contact the EC for more details and suggestions.  I can also give some assistance on the planning and what is required.


Please contact me or the EC by email, not on the forum so that we can keep the possible location confidential, until it is confirmed and announced at STAR.

[stevegrab]

Great suggestion Carl.

[bcd]

I made a point of riding some of the old Friends of Freddies roads on the way to STAR in Springdale, AR. There is a lot of fun riding to be had in that region. I am looking forward to going back!

As Doug said, less tight and technical overall than Appalachia. More sweepers and generally better sight lines, though there's always the occasional surprise somewhere.

[Steve]

I have been through that part of the country a number of times, also. Another plus is the lack of traffic. Depending on where you are the towns are small and the population is not too dense.
Steve

[africord]

The roads in the Mark Twain National Forest area are nothing like those in the Appalachian region.  It is unlike any other area I've found except parts of eastern Arkansas.  Long series of fast sweepers for miles go through rolling hills with very little traffic.  Those roads are why Friends of Freddies was such a popular event, IMHO.  It will be fun.  Just watch out for that right turn at the top of the hill on route K SW of Annapolis.  :-)

I can agree with this assessment.

[busavan]

Here's the rub for me...


Often, attendance numbers are bantered around as one of the justifications for where a STAR is considered to be located.  We had just 312 attendees in Bristol.  We had just shy of 300 in Colorado Springs, if memory serves... 


So where were the almighty SE members this year...  A few years back, we had nearly 500 in Johnson City.  Hence the notion that it matter where we had STARs.  I think we had nearly 300 attendees in LaCross.

Locating our "west" event truly east of our "central" location in 2018 can't be a positive selling point for developing our membership base from Denver to San Francisco.  You want to talk about the "difficulty" of attending a STAR because you had to cover 1000 miles or less to Bristol...  It's almost 2000 miles from Reno to Cape Girardeau! 


Full disclosure--I rode my Hayabusa 981+/- miles from Boynton Beach, FL to Bristol.  Two overnights; one at a friends house that took me a bit east (Pittsboro, NC) from a truly direct route.  And back the same way.  I've also ridden that bike to Avon and back...   

I believe in that old "Field of Dreams" one-liner...  "if you build it, they will come..."  Considering we are 3 years away from another "west" location (2020 MO; 2021 midwest; 2022 eastern; 2023 western) the EC HAS to make an event come together.  Take the border between Utah and Colorado and focus west of that latitude.  Meanwhile, creating a real Regional Event(or two) west of Arkansas or Texas would get things moving.  If you expect any leadership to be ignited "out west", ya gotta start the fire first.


just my two cents worth  Van

[DirtFlier]

At least to me, wanting to belong to the MSTA starts with regular lunch rides, small events and perhaps one day it will morph to a regional event.  They don't suddenly sprout because of a STAR in that location. 

Regional events are created by people in that locale and not directed by the EC so perhaps you can start a JFF event?  I coordinate a monthly breakfast gathering that often leads to various rides after the food/yakking is done and both members and non-members are welcome.  It's not difficult but you have to start somewhere.   
 
   

[Patmo]

interesting discussion, but perhaps the discussion about the value of STAR and where it should be held in the future should have its own thread?

[Brick]

The roads in the Mark Twain National Forest area are nothing like those in the Appalachian region.  It is unlike any other area I've found except parts of eastern Arkansas.  Long series of fast sweepers for miles go through rolling hills with very little traffic.  Those roads are why Friends of Freddies was such a popular event, IMHO.  It will be fun.  Just watch out for that right turn at the top of the hill on route K SW of Annapolis.  :-)

LOL... yes that right turn caught a bunch of HSTA riders back in the day!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bcd]

Just watch out for that right turn at the top of the hill on route K SW of Annapolis.  :-)

https://www.google.com/maps/@37.3504256,-90.714611,3a,75y,194.11h,93.97t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sWvME0WyQ4rb_S6b_3tL2NQ!2e0!7i3328!8i1664
Just click to move forward along the road.

[normkern]

Someone said we had 500 attendees at Johnson City STAR. True but that was 2011 when the average age of members was lower and membership was about 50% higher.
In about 2003 STAR was in Mammoth Lake CA. I did not make that one- it was too far from Ohio- but the attendance was less than 225 as I recall.
When you think in terms of the distribution of MSTA members around the USA, Cape Girardeau is clearly a "West" location.
My personal preference is to have a STAR in Colorado, NM, SD etc about once every four years and find the balance of the past few years to be about right.
Norm Kern

[stevegrab]

Someone said we had 500 attendees at Johnson City STAR. True but that was 2011 when the average age of members was lower and membership was about 50% higher.
In about 2003 STAR was in Mammoth Lake CA. I did not make that one- it was too far from Ohio- but the attendance was less than 225 as I recall.
When you think in terms of the distribution of MSTA members around the USA, Cape Girardeau is clearly a "West" location.
My personal preference is to have a STAR in Colorado, NM, SD etc about once every four years and find the balance of the past few years to be about right.
Norm Kern

Yes I was going to point out Johnson City was almost 10 years ago now, and the club has changed a lot over that time including aging members who may not attend as many rallies. When the club was closer to 2000 members having 500 at star was 25%, now we're down around 1200 so 300 attending is still 25%.

Also agree with what Tosh said, local events are what create interest and get things rolling in an area. Not having STAR or even a regional even there. When I joined my local group already was meeting (with a larger group of motorcyclist, many but not all HSTA members at the time) every Saturday, having at least a monthly ride, going to Mid-Ohio for the races, and attending the popular Mail Pouch Fly By in southern OH.

Of course Pat is correct, the discussion is better suited to its own thread.