Author Topic: Tri-Star 2016  (Read 8043 times)

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Offline DirtFlier

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Tri-Star 2016
« on: May 30, 2016, 10:03:12 AM »
Many thanks to Geoffrey for putting on this great event...and as a last minute substitute coordinator!   ;)

ps.  Deb & I got home Sunday and encountered very little rain along the way.  It was 425 miles for me.

Offline Patmo

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Re: Tri-Star 2016
« Reply #1 on: May 30, 2016, 03:32:36 PM »
Same here...Geoffrey did an outstanding job, as expected.  Much thanks to him and all of the volunteers for putting on a 1st class event.
not all that wander are lost

Offline EZX

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Re: Tri-Star 2016
« Reply #2 on: May 30, 2016, 03:48:21 PM »
Congratulation and thank you Mr. Greene.

Offline HawkGTRider

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Re: Tri-Star 2016
« Reply #3 on: May 30, 2016, 04:03:07 PM »
Friday...
After arriving late Thursday afternoon, on Friday I hung around the Alleghany Inn helping to get things set up and prepping for the cookout. It was a drop-dead beautiful day, and most of the folks that arrived Thursday night took full advantage of the whole day to ride. Our Friday night cookout was a rip roaring success with tasty burgers and tube steaks (hot dogs). A variety of chips and all of the burger accoutrements rounded out the menu with a choice of carbonated liquid sustenance and a ton of water. Vicki Gill and Genie Vess volunteered to slice the onions, but I think next year we'll do that outside instead of in my room. Whew! At least Vicki rounded up a can of Glade spray (Clean Linen aroma...very appropriate for a room at the Inn), and the onion odor seemed to be short lived.

Saturday...
I had the treat of riding with Ann Redner on one of the routes. Frankly, I don't even know which one it was as I was just following along, and neither of us had our bikes GPS equipped. We "sort of" intentionally strayed from the prescribed route and ended up on a very cool little gravel road running along next to the Dan River. The cool river water was really inviting, but we finally decided we'd proceed onward and maybe find some lunch (though she handled it with great aplomb, perhaps she was ready to leave the gravel roads while riding her VFR1200...not the usual dual sport bike). Stopping in Meadows of Dan, we squeezed in by sharing a table with a guy that was sitting by himself. Although we tried to include him in the conversation, between Ann and me, we sort of monopolized the discussion. Realizing it was getting late in the afternoon, we took a shortcut back to Sparta via the Blue Ridge Parkway (if only ALL short cuts were such as this one). That evening we had a fine BBQ spread from the Baywood Boys BBQ restaurant including coleslaw that I liked (not always the case), baked beans (only problem was that we almost , but not quite, ran out), and topped the whole thing off with banana pudding. Baywood Boys BBQ is located in downtown Sparta, and some of our guys  tried their wares on Thursday night. Everyone seemed to be happy, and that made me happy.
It won't surprise too many people, but we took donations for the Ride For Kids with the prize being a 1-night stay at the Alleghany Inn. Pat Mogavero was the winner, and we'll be making a $555 donation to the RFK in the club's name thanks to everyone's generosity. My hat is off to everyone that participated.

Sunday...
Don Moe, Ken Gill, and I took a short ride over to Damascus via US58 and back mid-day Sunday (I had ice cream for lunch in Damascus!). We saw a few miles of damp pavement and a few isolated rain drops on face shields as we got closer to Sparta. After our return, it cleared up, and we had an absolutely superior evening (a little overcast, but no rain, and pleasantly cool).
Our last 10 holdouts made the traditional trek down to the Mexican restaurant at the other end of town for dinner Sunday evening, and I think everyone left more than stuffed.

Monday...
And guess what today looked like...another beautiful day with sunny skies. It really made we wish I'd had a way to ride up there and back rather than having to be on 4 wheels due to having to carry so much stuff.
When I got back to Knoxville (~205 miles from Sparta), the temps were about what they've gotten to the last week...10-15 degrees hotter than Sparta. Yechh! I've been in Sparta when it was pretty toasty, but it sure was nice being there this year with temps that much cooler than most of the surrounding areas.

Thanks to the 70 hardy souls that made the trek to Sparta. I enjoyed the heck out of the weekend, and I say we ought to do it again next year. I wish I could reserve the weather for a repeat, but at least we'll have a repeat of the fine riding in the area and fine lodging at the Alleghany Inn (the staff bent over backwards to take care of us). A bunch of people went ahead and made reservations for Memorial Day weekend 2017. If you think you might go, it wouldn't hurt a thing to go ahead and make your reservations now. Make your reservations at 888-372-2501. All king beds have been replaced and they are in the planning stages of replacing the double beds with queen sized mattresses.
While you may not care what room you are in, if you've been there before and have had a specific room that you've enjoyed in the past, ask if it's possible to get that room again. They'll try to accommodate your request as best as they can.

If you didn't make it, you should be disappointed. Put it on your calendar now for next year.
Geoffrey Greene
MSTA Ride For Kids Coordinator, MSTA Secretary (retired), TN-STAR and Tri-STAR Coordinator (retired)
Difficult roads can lead to beautiful destinations.

Offline normkern

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Re: Tri-Star 2016
« Reply #4 on: May 30, 2016, 11:47:19 PM »
TriSTAR was lots of fun. Thanks for a great job, Geoffrey! Enjoyed seeing everyone.

Norm Kern

Offline stevegrab

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Re: Tri-Star 2016
« Reply #5 on: June 01, 2016, 04:38:22 PM »
Got back yesterday around 5:30PM after 6 great days of riding and some great southern hospitality by Geoffrey, his helpers and the staff at the AI. We only had a one quick downpour on our first day ride down on Thursday, and then some threat of rain Sunday had us doing a short 100 mile day over to Damascus on 58 and around some of Whitetop Mtn.

The one short day had my mileage down below normal, only about 1450 for the trip, with most days around the 200-250 and a couple 300 mile days to/from the event. There are too many good roads to rush it, so 2 days is always better covering 500-600 miles of twisties instead of slabbing or taking more major highways. On the way back we had some fun taking the old road US52 as it crosses the mountains in northern VA into WV. Need to stop at Big Walker Mountain lookout someday, looks cool. It was much warmer on the ride home, especially yesterday as I saw temps in the mid to upper 80s all day. In Buckhannon WV we spent the night and the cicadas were making their noise. At a stop along a lake in Ohio we could here them even louder, and saw many empty skins all over the place.

Many thanks again to Geoffrey for stepping in, and to those that helped to make it a great time. Was good to see many of you at the event, even if most of y'all did bug out and head home Sunday morning ;)
Steve Grabowski
2014 Interceptor, 98 VFR, 99 Triumph Sprint ST, 06 Ninja 650

Offline HawkGTRider

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Re: Tri-Star 2016
« Reply #6 on: June 02, 2016, 09:41:42 PM »
I'd like to give a big shout-out to our 21 friends from OHIO who attended TriSTAR! Virginia kicked everyone else's behinds with 18 friends in attendance. North Carolina had a good showing with 11.

As the only 3 members from Tennessee, I had a really nice weekend getting to know Ken & Vicki Gill from the middle Tennessee area. If we'd met before, I'd forgotten, but I don't think I'll forget again.

Saturday night I recognized/introduced as many of the event and club volunteers as I could remember, but there were a lot of folks that haven't stepped up to fill some vacancies yet. If you want to learn more about the club and get to know folks, or at least have them know you, volunteer for something. It's far more rewarding than you would think. We need volunteers at STAR, at the regional events, and for club stuff in general. If you don't know what positions are available, please contact Ann Redner. As the club VP, she coordinates the volunteer needs of the club.
« Last Edit: June 02, 2016, 09:44:33 PM by HawkGTRider »
Geoffrey Greene
MSTA Ride For Kids Coordinator, MSTA Secretary (retired), TN-STAR and Tri-STAR Coordinator (retired)
Difficult roads can lead to beautiful destinations.

Offline boatanchor

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Re: Tri-Star 2016
« Reply #7 on: June 03, 2016, 10:21:50 AM »
Wish I could have made it Geoffrey, perhaps next year....
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Offline HawkGTRider

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Re: Tri-Star 2016
« Reply #8 on: June 03, 2016, 11:34:48 AM »
Wish I could have made it Geoffrey, perhaps next year....
Put it on your calendar...it'll be Memorial Day weekend.
Geoffrey Greene
MSTA Ride For Kids Coordinator, MSTA Secretary (retired), TN-STAR and Tri-STAR Coordinator (retired)
Difficult roads can lead to beautiful destinations.

Offline DirtFlier

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Re: Tri-Star 2016
« Reply #9 on: June 05, 2016, 08:10:12 AM »
If I may add, you can become a "volunteer" without calling anyone on the EC.  When you show up for the event, just offer your services for x-hours on a certain day and you'll make the event coordinator very happy.  Typically they're trying to do 4 things at the same time and just a tiny bit of help can go a long way!  :-)
 
« Last Edit: June 05, 2016, 01:42:09 PM by DirtFlier »