STAR 2021!

[doug mcpeek]

... as Captain Picard said so often, Make It Happen!

...Make it so.     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaLyasJPyUU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZt6eU5REN8

[HawkGTRider]

... as Captain Picard said so often, Make It Happen!

...Make it so.     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaLyasJPyUU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZt6eU5REN8

I knew he used the phrase a LOT. But dang...did he use it 3-4 times per episode?

Alas, the parting shot is a killer...Wishing for something does NOT make it so. Here's hoping we're not just wishing for the pandemic to be over. Take a positive step and always wear a mask in public, wash, wash, and wash.

[Ride4MS]

From a Minnesota person.....I think he said..."Make it Snow!!!"

But hopefully not for a few months.  We had 79F today.   And Friday is to be 77F but the rest of the week and beyond is in the 60's.  Better than last week with a high a few days in 50's.

So it could "make it snow"  soon.

[stevegrab]

... as Captain Picard said so often, Make It Happen!

...Make it so.     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaLyasJPyUU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZt6eU5REN8

Good catch Doug, he also said "engage" quite often, I believe with some wave of the hand.

[HawkGTRider]

A good crowd of folks showed up for STAR today. Here's hoping everyone safe travels as they head this way with tomorrow (or later) as their arrival time. It looks like a good time to be had.

[HawkGTRider]

It's always a bit sad when an event ends, but STAR 2021 was a dandy one. For this return to WV (STAR was last held at Canaan Valley in 1996), it was the first time for many including myself. I had joined the "HSTA" a very few years prior to STAR here in '96, but all of my vacation time was committed to a family trip later in that year.
After a couple of days in registration, I had a very good ride Monday, a great ride Tuesday, and a very good ride Wednesday.
At the banquet Wednesday night, I bustled around to each table with the help of a couple of most excellent fellow RFK devotees, and we added more to the pot for the RFK 50/50. Janis Edwards held the winning ticket who chose to donate her half back to the RFK. That will make a difference! The Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation did their best to continue funding their research projects, but the pandemic hit their budget hard like it did for many...I know they made cuts to their ride managers and staff. The generosity of our STAR 2021 folks was amazing and I feel like the luckiest guy around to have the opportunity to collect the many donations for this cause.
Others will have to announce the winner of the bike. I was sitting way back in the back of the banquet hall and couldn't quite make out his name when announced. He wasn't in attendance, but it was a fellow from New Jersey.
I'll be heading back down US33 (one last delightful blast down an anfractuous (characterized by windings and turnings) stretch of road) one more time this morning. It's time to get home and see the young lady. And instead of taking 2 days to travel more than 600 miles as I did to get here, today will be "get on the nearest big road, stay straight for 450 miles, and get home."

[Steve]

Very good on all accounts..especally US33! I hope you got a chace to ride Rt. 72, it has been 15 years since I"ve ridden it. That type of road is a real spirit to the sport!

[STLTHMSTA]

Another Great STAR!! Lots of good riding, eating, sleeping, repeating.  I'm just glad I wasn't riding home on Friday. Lots of BIG rain here in SW OH-IO.   Thanks to all who had a hand in the execution of this event.
Thanks You, Thank You, Thank You!!!!  Sure was a purdy area to be.  TM

[Patmo]

The winner of the Bike Raffle was Peter Spock, from New Jersey.  He wasn’t in attendance, but has promised to ride the raffle bike to Cape Girardeau for STAR 2022.  He is a fairly new members, having just joined the club last August.  Geoffrey Greene won the Aerostitch super door prize….a new Roadcrafter of Darrien suit!

STAR 2022 will be held in Cape Girardeau, Missouri starting on the official date of June 19, Father’s Day. The host hotel is the Drury Inn.  They gave us the same deal as we had before, so the room rates will be right at 115.00 per night and that will include a full breakfast and evening happy hour spread everyday. 

STAR 2023 will be a true WESTERN STAR…..locations and dates TBD. 

[Ride4MS]

We rode Rt. 72 on Monday and the first section from the south was a bit challenging.  NO, wait, it was more than that with the one lane road and drop off shoulders when you meet someone.  We almost ate a mirror from a pick up truck that met us and was going way too fast that corner and hogging it.  Denise was on the back with me and was glad when it went to a true two lane road.
The best part of that whole ride was the stop and tour at McKee's Sky Ranch cycle museum.  That is after riding in about 1/4 mile of field and grass and a little mud thrown in, to get to the building.  Not a street bike type path.
The people at the museum were very friendly and gave a nice tour of the bikes.  They even had lunch available, but we had already eaten in town.  Tom had not heard of MSTA before they approached him about the tour.  Now for someone to go invite him to join, along with his friends that were all there.
Back to the rest of STAR, we had a good time and wore more rubber off the sides of the tires than the center with all the twists and turns.  That is a positive.
We drove back to Indy for the night on Thursday, seeing several MSTA people along the way as well as at a stop for gas about 3 hours away.  Once we left Indy on Friday morning, we almost fell asleep on the road going west as it was so straight and flat.  We did see 98F for a temp on the way how in Illinois and Iowa.  Glad it was not that hot in Davis area.

Thank you to everyone that donated money towards the Dan Clark Safety Program.
As a reminder, send your receipts to us when you purchase the safety gear.

[stevegrab]

Got in yesterday around 6PM from our post STAR trip.

STAR itself was excellent, the hotel, the rides, the routes, the friends new and old. The weather was mostly good, we got stuck in one nasty downpour, which dissipated while we had a snack and put on rain gear. Some of the highlights included the mountain passes on US250 & US33, Smokehole Road, US48 near Mt. Storm (the massive wind farm) and more roads than I can remember.

After STAR my brother and I had a great 4 day adventure riding to Sparta NC, two nights at the Alleghany Inn where John and his group were great hosts. My brother was drooling over the route we ran from Sparta, including US58, road to Shady Valley with Backbone Rock, US421 (Snake) and TN91. We ate lunch at a small cafe I had visited before in Hampton (Laurel Fork). The run up Roan Mtn was pretty nice to, a much more clear day than when we went to Spruce Knob. Of course the traffic in Boone sucked, though we avoided some of it taking NC105 instead of US321 all the way. Found a great ice cream stop in Jefferson called Southern Scoops.

The ride home was great, following VA16 and WV16 most of the way to Ohio. We stopped for lunch across the river from Marietta and ran into Ron Vess and his wife Genie who stopped in to check the place out after it reopened. The ride thru Ohio was on very familiar roads, and had us running into some nasty monsoon like conditions about 30min from home. It had let up a bit by the time we got rain gear on but still hit a bit more.

Richard left for home around noon after waiting out more rain, and should be home in the next hour or so.

Thanks again to all those that worked hard on this event.

PS  I did not ride WV72 near the hotel, did it some years ago and it was very tight, twisty, narrow etc. Not my favorite kind of road, and the routes had plenty of similar 1.5 lane wide paved roads, which are fine until you have unyielding traffic.

[HawkGTRider]

It certainly sounds like you hit a LOT of the STAR highpoints as far as roads go.

I'm glad you were able to stop by the Alleghany Inn in Sparta. John has been a good friend to the HSTA/MSTA for many years. We've not exactly hurt him and the Inn either, but it's always nice to feel appreciated.
US421 and then north past Backbone Rock to US58 is the way I almost always go when I'm heading to Sparta. It's way fun!

A friend I sometimes work with, grew up in WV (learned to ski at Snowshoe and Canaan Valley). I made sure to tell him about having spent a week near his home and he was pleased as punch. He commented that the governor (previous or current...not sure) had promised to pave all roads in the state. That's why there are so many roads with a single lane (maybe 1 1/2 lanes) paved rather than 2 full lanes. He didn't promise 2 lanes...just that roads would be paved. I'm not embarrassed or disappointed...I approve.

[Larry Fine]

A friend I sometimes work with, grew up in WV (learned to ski at Snowshoe and Canaan Valley). I made sure to tell him about having spent a week near his home and he was pleased as punch. He commented that the governor (previous or current...not sure) had promised to pave all roads in the state. That's why there are so many roads with a single lane (maybe 1 1/2 lanes) paved rather than 2 full lanes. He didn't promise 2 lanes...just that roads would be paved. I'm not embarrassed or disappointed...I approve.

There's one of those perfect bike roads leading to Mim's Kitchen.

[stevegrab]

A friend I sometimes work with, grew up in WV (learned to ski at Snowshoe and Canaan Valley). I made sure to tell him about having spent a week near his home and he was pleased as punch. He commented that the governor (previous or current...not sure) had promised to pave all roads in the state. That's why there are so many roads with a single lane (maybe 1 1/2 lanes) paved rather than 2 full lanes. He didn't promise 2 lanes...just that roads would be paved. I'm not embarrassed or disappointed...I approve.

There's one of those perfect bike roads leading to Mim's Kitchen.

Another hidden gem I'd never find, unless it was in my GPS. I know some love those tiny roads, but my short height makes any narrow/gravel road a major tip-over risk so I doubt I'd even venture up that kind of road unless I knew there was something I needed there. Looks like a good spot, but limited hours/days make it unlikely for a lunch stop when in the Marlinton area, Sunday would be the only good fit. Believe last time thru there at mealtime we stopped at S&D Diner (on 2nd Ave).

Everytime I hear about some neat place to eat in some small town I think it would be cool to have a database of them and import into the GPS. Ice cream stops would be another good list. Thought I found a good one during STAR, but the Brandywine (WV) General Store advertised ICE CREAM in big black letters on their white building, but only had ice cream bar treats in a cooler case, no better than your average gas station.

[Ride4MS]

Steve,  The best Ice Cream shop was at the resort in the snack shop.  BlackBerry was awesome.  And so were the other flavors that we had while there.  Yep, we got addicted to that ice cream, almost every day.