2012 Mid Atlantic Meet feedback

[g9r]

As for the rides/sign up sheets, I agree with Len and Tbud. I sit quietly and wait until most leave before my group leaves. I always have the 4 people I always ride with. I leave it at that and if someone asks to join, I will tell them yes, but keep it quiet. WAY too many times I have had people who are clueless about pack riding ride with us. Many people are coming to the meet who have never experienced mountain roads with curves and are from straight road areas. Those are people I prefer to not have with me. I love to hang out and meet everyone who comes to the meet. However, riding with people who i am not familiar with is hard because nobody is worth our health because they couldn't ride good. The guy with the road star warrior that was romping through the parking lot like a maniac is a PERFECT example of that. Just watching him come and go, I would never allow him to ride with my group. He seems like a real nice guy, but too much testosterone for me.

This leads to another suggestion. Perhaps part of the 2013 thread should include a "pack riding" guide of some sort for all to review (I don't recall seeing anything like that in the 2012 MAM Meet threads). This would be a good educational tool. The dinner ride on Friday night, for example, while fun had some of the ingredients for a pack riding disaster with bikes riding side by side as opposed to staggering them. Also everyone throttling like a bat out of hell at every take off to be followed up almost immediately with heavy braking etc. IMO it may be a good idea to have someone with a lot of experience in pack riding etc be a "safety coordinator" of sorts for the meet. Again, this is just an observation from a new M109r guy and is my opinion. Also, I certainly understand the value in riding with those that you know and are comfortable with but to a new guy like me, it came across as the MAM being full of "cliques", I was rather surprised by it.

http://www.msgroup.org/forums/mtt/to...p?TOPIC_ID=334

[devilr1]

[QUOTE=Super_Stock;1658219]My only suggestion would be to have the meet a Maggie Valley! The pre-meet was AWESOME!![/QUOTE

I second that!
But there is a good chance, there would be more crashes.
The roads are way more technical there, can't even mention the two locations on the same day.
And no gravel!
Thanx Chad for leading us!
I would like to thank Ryan and his lovely wife for all their efforts organizing this big event!
We had a blast and we'll be back for sure.

[ducks517]

As for Ducks covers, I had seen his most requested designs posted on the internet, so assumed he may have several made in advance of those in particular.

For clarification purposes, I never suggested nor tried to obligate anyone at the meet to help or provide free labor, by my suggestion of parts vendors. I thought some of our members might want to take this opportunity to make a business opportunity out of this as well. Lighting, Ducks Covers, etc. seemed to me something that would have sold quite well in that environment, but could be totally out of the scope of the meet's purpose.

No ones saying your ideas are bad or anything like that. I understand where Tbud is coming from with the T-shirts. The sizes vary a lot with the 9 crowd. I have sold my shirts form L up to 4X. Just not cost effective to print them up and hope to sell so many of a certain size in a crowd of 100-150. Now on my end I just can't waste 4-6 hours per set of covers to hope they sell at the MAM. I would love them to all sell. But in the last 4 yrs of doing them the one thing I have learned is that most of the guys want their set to be unique. I think that is the big draw to my covers is that I try to make an idea or pic come to life on your covers.

So please tell Ryan any ideas you have. I just wanted to give my thoughts on the ideas since I was listed in your post. We want more and more new members to come to these events and have a blast. Please don't think that Me and Tbud were pointing fingers or trashing your ideas at all. That is not what we meant.

I have also been shocked for the last 4 yrs that vendors or shops close to our location have not come down and set up a tent.

[draggin61]

I think that food vendors would be tough to get when you have a festival in town like they had in Blacksburg last weekend. If we were the exclusive event that week/ weekend they would likely beg to be allowed in.

[jefflb1961]

No ones saying your ideas are bad or anything like that. I understand where Tbud is coming from with the T-shirts. The sizes vary a lot with the 9 crowd. I have sold my shirts form L up to 4X. Just not cost effective to print them up and hope to sell so many of a certain size in a crowd of 100-150. Now on my end I just can't waste 4-6 hours per set of covers to hope they sell at the MAM. I would love them to all sell. But in the last 4 yrs of doing them the one thing I have learned is that most of the guys want their set to be unique. I think that is the big draw to my covers is that I try to make an idea or pic come to life on your covers.

So please tell Ryan any ideas you have. I just wanted to give my thoughts on the ideas since I was listed in your post. We want more and more new members to come to these events and have a blast. Please don't think that Me and Tbud were pointing fingers or trashing your ideas at all. That is not what we meant.

I have also been shocked for the last 4 yrs that vendors or shops close to our location have not come down and set up a tent.

I totally understand and wasn't offended by anyones responses and hope I didn't come across as if I was. As I said originally, I thoroughly enjoyed the meet and think Ryan and his wife done one heck of a job pulling this off and am willing to try to help in next years if needed. I sincerely was just trying to throw out some suggestions in hopes to help Ryan in his desire to improve it next year. :)


As a side note, I truly admire your work on those covers and when you get better (and I pray a speedy recovery) I definately am planning to purchase some from you. Good luck in your quest to replace your bike as well. :)

[mrmagic123]

This was my first meet and was truly impressed. Want to say thanks to Ryan, his wife the sponsors and anyone else that was involved to put the event together.
I had brought down 2 friends who thoroughly enjoyed themselves aswell. I dont have much to add other than a bbq vendor would have been great one day/night (maybe the Sat. because people where winding down). Regardless of any changes i will def. be attending next years meet and look forward to riding with all of you again. It was great meeting alot of the members here.


p.s. thanks Ryan for waiting for me at the exit that i couldn't make on the one ride we were on
thanks Sandman for the derbycover and kickstand truly app. it


Mike

[rizzy71]

I had a blast meeting everyone so I don't have any complaints for next year. I live here so I will be better prepared for the next meet now that I know how things work. Terri the Mgr felt bad for the food deal as he should but they did a great job making us feel welcome as a group and I personally had a wonderful time and enjoyed the way we rolled in. I personally don't dwell on the things that didn't go right it takes away from the things that did. I would have a video of us coming in but my darling wife forgot to save the video I think she was mad I was having so much fun! As for a food vendor at the parking lot that will be no problem the logistics are kind of simple it comes down to money and how we coordinate what we want as a group we have a whole year to figure these things out. With a large gathering as this not everyone is going to be happy but we all should be happy we have the baddest bikes on the street and have an opportunity to hang out with each other!

[08-109LE]

The roads are way more technical there, can't even mention the two locations on the same day.

Well, if you didn't ride like a Nancy...!!! Or like a sissy from Saint Louie...!!!

You crazy Hungarian!!!



Heh Heh

[Zoom]

I think that food vendors would be tough to get when you have a festival in town like they had in Blacksburg last weekend. If we were the exclusive event that week/ weekend they would likely beg to be allowed in.

According to the police officer that escorted us on the parade route, all they eat is granola. To quote him "make all the noise you want, they are a bunch of granola eating hippies".

Cool cops in that area for sure.

Maybe it's just familiarity with the area, but I actually preferred Staunton. Hotel had lots of amenities nearby, rooms were a little nicer, the rides were easier to get to and the roads are really nice. And there's both technical and leisure roads in abundance. I just never got used to how to get around Blacksburg without traveling 20 miles to get to a decent riding road.

[BigpapaM109]

This leads to another suggestion. Perhaps part of the 2013 thread should include a "pack riding" guide of some sort for all to review (I don't recall seeing anything like that in the 2012 MAM Meet threads). This would be a good educational tool. The dinner ride on Friday night, for example, while fun had some of the ingredients for a pack riding disaster with bikes riding side by side as opposed to staggering them. Also everyone throttling like a bat out of hell at every take off to be followed up almost immediately with heavy braking etc. IMO it may be a good idea to have someone with a lot of experience in pack riding etc be a "safety coordinator" of sorts for the meet. Again, this is just an observation from a new M109r guy and is my opinion. Also, I certainly understand the value in riding with those that you know and are comfortable with but to a new guy like me, it came across as the MAM being full of "cliques", I was rather surprised by it.

http://www.msgroup.org/forums/mtt/to...p?TOPIC_ID=334

Last year I did the website for the meet. It had a guide on how to pack ride. Ryan and I had our own private motto and that was "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink". No matter what we try or tried, people just don't take the time to read the information out there and it makes it VERY frustrating. Many people are natural born leaders. Others just like to go with the flow. The latter tend to not read any info, and just go with the flow when they get there. On top of that, many people bring friends that are not part of the site and they don't have the info. I will be doing the website for next year and the info will be there. I think it will take everyone collectively to get the info across. One suggestion that I will have is that each morning, each group had a meeting to discuss how things will go. I will make a sheet on the site of tips to discuss to get everyone on the same page.

[rynosback]

I think we should realize that the ride sign up sheets are specifically a suggestion. I think that people who are not familiar with the area are looking for a direction to take. It can be a little intimidating for many to just go find a road that leads somewhere and then by chance find a place to eat and hopefully find gas when needed. I personally enjoy the journey and the sights. As far as pack riding, we don't often do it right. The slower riders should not push themselves to catch up, as that will usually result in a bad trip at best. The faster riders also should not push them to keep up. I almost always ride the back for a couple of reasons. One, I watch the riders ahead of me to see if someone is having any issues, 2, I don't always like to tear it up, sometimes my heart isn't in it. I get tired and pace myself accordingly. 3 If I am slower than anyone else, I hope the riders will realize that they don't have to worry about being lost. I will be behind you and will pick up the pieces if necessary. Every group needs a boat anchor, eh Ben? lol
The nice part of having the meet at the same place for a couple of years is that you will become more comfortable with the area and the roads and will explore more. I am willing to bet that many have gone to Google earth or Google maps to retrace their routes and make notes for next year. I think the groups should be no more than 10 bikes, unless you are all familiar with riding with each other. I also think that the group rides, even when escorted were not as safe as they could have been. I saw cagers getting cut off and vice versa on 460 heading to bike night. It wasn't the best situation.

I agree , that is why I have the sign up sheets with only 10 spots. I'm not sure of what other options there are besides the sign in sheets. As the new guys want to ride in small packs to.

[stepink104]

According to the police officer that escorted us on the parade route, all they eat is granola. To quote him "make all the noise you want, they are a bunch of granola eating hippies".

Cool cops in that area for sure.

Maybe it's just familiarity with the area, but I actually preferred Staunton. Hotel had lots of amenities nearby, rooms were a little nicer, the rides were easier to get to and the roads are really nice. And there's both technical and leisure roads in abundance. I just never got used to how to get around Blacksburg without traveling 20 miles to get to a decent riding road.

[rynosback]

Last year I did the website for the meet. It had a guide on how to pack ride. Ryan and I had our own private motto and that was "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink". No matter what we try or tried, people just don't take the time to read the information out there and it makes it VERY frustrating. Many people are natural born leaders. Others just like to go with the flow. The latter tend to not read any info, and just go with the flow when they get there. On top of that, many people bring friends that are not part of the site and they don't have the info. I will be doing the website for next year and the info will be there. I think it will take everyone collectively to get the info across. One suggestion that I will have is that each morning, each group had a meeting to discuss how things will go. I will make a sheet on the site of tips to discuss to get everyone on the same page.

That was always the thought. Was to have the signed up pack get together the night before and find out who was leading to sweeping. Comfort of speeds and to make sure that they all knew basic pack rules. The sign up sheets are really the only thing that I can think of. Some of the issue is that no one wants to lead. I'm pretty much willing to try anything and have tried different things in past meets.

[rynosback]

According to the police officer that escorted us on the parade route, all they eat is granola. To quote him "make all the noise you want, they are a bunch of granola eating hippies".

Cool cops in that area for sure.

Maybe it's just familiarity with the area, but I actually preferred Staunton. Hotel had lots of amenities nearby, rooms were a little nicer, the rides were easier to get to and the roads are really nice. And there's both technical and leisure roads in abundance. I just never got used to how to get around Blacksburg without traveling 20 miles to get to a decent riding road.

We will be back there one year Mike.

[draggin61]

According to the police officer that escorted us on the parade route, all they eat is granola. To quote him "make all the noise you want, they are a bunch of granola eating hippies".

Cool cops in that area for sure.

Maybe it's just familiarity with the area, but I actually preferred Staunton. Hotel had lots of amenities nearby, rooms were a little nicer, the rides were easier to get to and the roads are really nice. And there's both technical and leisure roads in abundance. I just never got used to how to get around Blacksburg without traveling 20 miles to get to a decent riding road.

Maybe so with the granola, and yep, I heard it too. lol But it appeared that there were many vendors in the area when we went to dinner at Backstreets, which was pretty good, BTW.
I agree with the info about Staunton. There were some nice routes getting there, but some not so much.

[grandpatractor]

The pack riding is a hard thing to really plan out well. Some times our group doesn't know where were going until we see where the rain is. It seems that we tend to gravitate towards the ones that we have ridden with before or that we know have similar riding styles as our own. I don't mind others joining in our group as long as they understand how we tend to ride.(Usually a brisk pace). I usually try to talk to them before the ride so they know what they are getting into.

I know that there were good roads that we missed riding at Blacksburg this year. As we become more familiar with the area, the good routes become known and get hit more.

[ChiWaWa]

The pack riding is a hard thing to really plan out well. Some times our group doesn't know where were going until we see where the rain is. It seems that we tend to gravitate towards the ones that we have ridden with before or that we know have similar riding styles as our own. I don't mind others joining in our group as long as they understand how we tend to ride.(Usually a brisk pace). I usually try to talk to them before the ride so they know what they are getting into.

I know that there were good roads that we missed riding at Blacksburg this year. As we become more familiar with the area, the good routes become known and get hit more.

I agree

I send this link http://www.rollingthunderbarrie.ca/p...Tips_and_Info/ to all my members when they sign up for my riding club at home. I know they don't read it because they have no idea what the hand signals are we are doing.

I rode with many different people with different skills and had people approach me @ MaM and say "hey where are you riding tomorrow....can we tag along"

Ryan does enough work to get this together he doesn't have to assign groups too. This was my first year and you just have to be social and talk to people ... if you get put in a group where you aren't at the level of skill your going to be at risk and put the group at risk trying to keep up or if the group has to drop pace they aren't going to have fun either.

We used the point to point riding method with myself leading the rides from the back and Chris DirkSnorkel at the Front. This way the front guys can ride as fast as they want till the next major intersection or town and then wait for me. You say go about 50 miles and then stop at Hwy 42, I catch up and say go to 100 and 61. This allowed a group of 8 bikes to all ride at a safe pace and have fun and kept regular checks to make sure all bikes were there. I didn't like flying by some of the lookouts I wanted to stop and look at but that's the thing when your in a group.

The sign up sheets are an option ... I don't think we ever pulled out by 9am .... The idea of Scenic / Cruise / Brisk / Law Breakers for levels are great but sometimes you want a hybrid blend of those. Just my 3 Cents! Its not easy to please everyone but Ryan is doing a damn fine job trying. The more people step up and help with the little things.... many hands make light work.... the more fun the entire group can have.

[lamont@48]

I wanted to ask everyone what they thought was good and bad about the meet. I'm always trying to tweek it and improve it.
Please be honest and specific.

Thanks, Ryan

I would just like to say that all was very nicely put together,Ryan you and Linda are surely top notch and you must really love this group for all that you do.This was my first meet and i am putting away for next year all ready,words can't describe how much fun i had and how everyone made feel like i was a veteran.I noticed on the different rides i was on that people would ask what group we were a part of and all the guys would say,not a group but a "family".I would like to personal thank a few people,Bearcat i am forever in debt to you for all you did for me,and by the way don't be jealous because you didn't get to see bambi on any of your rides(smile),i would like to say thanks for the great fellowship with Mark & Elie (sorry if it's mispelled) make sure you work on that pool game so you don't get rolled up into a small package(smile),Matt if i had half of your knowledge on the "9" i'd be home free,Steve & Mrs.Weems thanks for your hospitality and spirtiual insight,Mr.&Mrs.Apple pie you guys are off the hook in your generrosity and concern for others and the apple pie speaks for itself(smile),Tbud you and Jason are truely one of a kind,Rick & Tena it was just cool to listen to you talk with that accent,last but not least ,Cope you are so cool and collected at all times it's a win win to be around you ecspecially when you are in "bear country,"friends for life and truely a nice ride you have there i may be stealing some of your ideas.(smile) Sorry it's so long but i was taken aback at how nice all the people at the meet were and never have seen me before in our lives,what a" family".

[biscuitpimp]

I agree , that is why I have the sign up sheets with only 10 spots. I'm not sure of what other options there are besides the sign in sheets. As the new guys want to ride in small packs to.

Ryan, I think the sign up sheets might do better if they were in the parking lot somewhere. I, for one, never even went to the front desk except when we first got there.

[BigpapaM109]

Ryan, I think the sign up sheets might do better if they were in the parking lot somewhere. I, for one, never even went to the front desk except when we first got there.

Good point. Maybe a "ride table" with them on it under a tent. More like a information spot so those who have no idea what is going on can go get info and see where they may ride.

[draggin61]

Good point. Maybe a "ride table" with them on it under a tent. More like a information spot so those who have no idea what is going on can go get info and see where they may ride.

You could add a sheet for those who are looking for someone to ride with as well.

[jefflb1961]

-

-In previous years, there were sightseeing, slow medium and fast rides. I think there would be some interest in this from newbies, or those without a gps.

I overlooked this suggestion, but I just wanted to second it. I am a very experienced rider, and living in South East Ky., I am very used to riding in the mountains and curvy roads. My riding buddies are all very aggressive riders, so staying up with anyone in the curves is no concern of mine at all. Living in an area where this type of riding is plentiful, can be somewhat boring to me, when that is what the ride mainly consists of. In addition, having my wife on the back of my bike certainly made me want to ride at a much calmer setting. Mixing it up with points of interests in some of the destinations would definately be up my ally and I think others as well, newbies or not. Having a variety of rides like that would definately be cool in my book. Burn it up one day, with the option to sight see the other. Again, excellent suggestion!

[BigpapaM109]

You could add a sheet for those who are looking for someone to ride with as well.

Ryan and I chatted the other day about having people help set things up. I will most likely be doing the website. you guys will be doing the routes and Ryan will coordinate everything, including possible vendors. I think there is great feeback in this thread, including your comment here. I think the information area, outside, will allow people to meet and discuss things as they sign up. It will encourage people to get together. I will chat with Ryan probably tonight but if we get the site up on the earlier side, I think we can keep steering people to it and really get the point across. In years past we waited until a month or two before the meet. I think this time we should do it right away and build on it right up to the meet.

[rynosback]

Sorry for the absence. I have been out of power for 3 days and a tree came through my house. I have a ton to do around the house, so keep the ideas coming.

[CanadianM109R]

Sorry for the absence. I have been out of power for 3 days and a tree came through my house. I have a ton to do around the house, so keep the ideas coming.

Holy Cow! Hope you guys are ok. What do you have to do to fix up?

[BigpapaM109]

Sorry for the absence. I have been out of power for 3 days and a tree came through my house. I have a ton to do around the house, so keep the ideas coming.

When you start putting your personal well being in front of the MAM, well it clearly is a let down pal

[chesshine5000]

Woah man! Hope all is well!

[ChiWaWa]

Holy Cow! Hope you guys are ok. What do you have to do to fix up?

Chris he posted pics on FB a few holes right through the roof but lucky Ryan wasnt in the tub. They have Tarps on it now and glad no one was hurt at his place.

[HyperPete]

Ryan, I think the sign up sheets might do better if they were in the parking lot somewhere. I, for one, never even went to the front desk except when we first got there.

- I think we did better at Staunton when they were out on the Picnic Table. That became a central gathering place. The Front Desk was also more centrally located there.
Unfortunately with the huge influx of tents the event became cliquier than in years past when people were less apt to hang out in their own small group.

I think that if there is a central area with tables and chairs outside it will go a long way toward reducing this (hopefully) and improving the signup percentage. I was disappointed at the cliquishness this year.

[MainEvent]

Thanks for the Pics ChiWaWa. Happy to hear Ryan and Linda are OK.

This was also my first meet like a few others on this thread, and all I can say is I HAD A BLAST!!! My only regret was coming on Thurs instead of Wed! I do agree that the group rides could have been a little more safer, but I'm guilty as charged, lol. I was one who cranked the throttle when everyone else took off, lol. I must admit it was a little out of my comfort zone for I normally ride my beast very carefully. I do agree about the escorted group rides, cops did a wonderful job but improvements could be made especially blocking off that 460 off ramp. Also I think it would be informative to give riders the group routes before hand in case part of the group gets separated.

Aside from the above comments, I really enjoyed my time at MAM this year. It was fun meeting and matching faces with forum names and in the process meeting new friends. You could feel and see camaraderie between individuals, and that I think is the most special thing about this event which is unique and will keep us coming back year after year! Thanks again Ryan and Linda for your hard work and dedication in putting this event together. If you guys need any assistance this weekend with anything around the house, let me know.