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Main Forums => General Discussion => Topic started by: Patmo on June 30, 2020, 09:47:21 AM

Title: STAR 2021!
Post by: Patmo on June 30, 2020, 09:47:21 AM
STAR 2021 will be held at the CANAAN VALLEY RESORT and CONFERENCE CENTER, just south of Davis, West Virginia over the DATES of June 13-17, 2021.


www.canaanresort.com (http://www.canaanresort.com)




The resort has 160 rooms in the main lodge, 23 two-three-four bedroom cabins, and 34 campsites.  Outside of the park are hundreds of chalets, cabins, and houses for rent, and several small local hotels.  The resort has 4 different dinning options, indoor and outdoor pools, golf course, putt putt, horseback riding, hiking, and more! 


And what can we say about the ROADS?!   West Virginia offers some of the best riding that can be found anywhere.  Thousands of miles of smooth twisty pavement and almost unlimited dual sport riding too. A true riders paradise!

https://youtu.be/RxzlCJCyQdU (https://youtu.be/RxzlCJCyQdU)

Please plan to join us there in June 2021!
Title: Re: STAR 2021!
Post by: STLTHMSTA on June 30, 2020, 10:00:12 AM
Good job Patmo and EC. I think it will be an excellent location though we were there FIFTEEN years ago. Most members may have never been so it'll all be new to many.
Looking forward to it.   TM


Edit:  My bad!  It's 24 years ago.
Title: Re: STAR 2021!
Post by: Patmo on June 30, 2020, 02:37:29 PM
Good job Patmo and EC. I think it will be an excellent location though we were there FIFTEEN years ago. most members may have never been so it'll all be new to many.
Looking forward to it.   TM

Longer than that...it was 1996. 
Title: Re: STAR 2021!
Post by: stevegrab on June 30, 2020, 03:20:47 PM
Good job Patmo and EC. I think it will be an excellent location though we were there FIFTEEN years ago. most members may have never been so it'll all be new to many.
Looking forward to it.   TM

Longer than that...it was 1996. 
Yes I was going to say, I've been a member since 98 or 99, and know it came before that. I recall hearing some talk about it, and I've ridden in that area quite a bit. I believe sometime in the past decade this location was considered but didn't work out for some reason. Good to hear they have 4 dining options as I think it may have been related to that, you're at a resort and whatever is on premises is what you have, short of getting on your bike and riding at 5-10 miles to a town.

Seneca Rocks is close by and a pretty cool place. US33 has some very entertaining passes thru the hills in that area. I recall one year we rode WV72 from WV32 to Parsons, and it was not much better than a goat trail, that was probably 15 years ago or more. You know the road, locals look at you like you're lost. There were also some wind farms in that area, as you headed up towards the Maryland border area, some were erected right next to the road, appearing to be far away until you were right there.

Wow you got me excited for this one, sure hope nothing gets in the way of going.
Title: Re: STAR 2021!
Post by: Patmo on June 30, 2020, 03:31:32 PM
I’ve found some videos of riding in the area, including 72.  Your description of that part of it is pretty accurate, although the upper section looks much better.  We looked at this location before choosing Bristol a few years ago, but kept this as a possibility for the future.  The future is now. 

Title: Re: STAR 2021!
Post by: STLTHMSTA on June 30, 2020, 08:48:53 PM
Good job Patmo and EC. I think it will be an excellent location though we were there FIFTEEN years ago. most members may have never been so it'll all be new to many.
Looking forward to it.   TM

Longer than that...it was 1996. 
  I even have the T-shirt to prove it.   :) TM
Title: Re: STAR 2021!
Post by: RIDEMYST on July 01, 2020, 11:16:24 AM
STAR 1996 Graphic - A deer running in front of a motorcycle...hmmmm? -JEP-
Title: Re: STAR 2021!
Post by: HawkGTRider on July 01, 2020, 06:16:14 PM
I remember seeing that....yikes! Well, the t-shirt anyway.
Title: Re: STAR 2021!
Post by: Ride4MS on July 01, 2020, 07:59:20 PM
Nobody likes to see any deer while riding.  But, make sure you purchase some good safety gear, just in case that happens. 


If you were registered for STAR 2020, now that it is canceled, contact Treasurer Tim Macy to have your registration money put in to the Dan Clark Safety Fund.  Then go out and buy some new safety gear and you will be able to apply for some of the money.


Denise and I donated our registration fees, T-shirt and Lunch Ride money to the Dan Clark Safety Program.


As Denise says, we already spent the money, so let's put it to good use and have Tim put it in the Fund. 


Thank you to everyone that will decide to follow us with these donations to the Dan Clark Safety Program.



Title: Re: STAR 2021!
Post by: dpippin on July 02, 2020, 09:42:11 AM
STAR 1996 Graphic - A deer running in front of a motorcycle...hmmmm? -JEP-

There were a lot of deer in the Canaan resort area during when we had Star there in 1996
Don't remember if anyone had contact with one but seeing all those deer especially in the evening was not good.
Title: Re: STAR 2021!
Post by: PYG RYDR on July 02, 2020, 11:01:33 AM
STAR 1996 Graphic - A deer running in front of a motorcycle...hmmmm? -JEP-

There were a lot of deer in the Canaan resort area during when we had Star there in 1996
Don't remember if anyone had contact with one but seeing all those deer especially in the evening was not good.

Yes, lots of deer in WV, especially in the Canaan Valley Resort!

And be ready to dodge the black bears too!
Title: Re: STAR 2021!
Post by: STLTHMSTA on July 02, 2020, 11:57:28 AM
Well, THAT'LL put your hand and eye coordination to the test !  :^)
Title: Re: STAR 2021!
Post by: stevegrab on July 02, 2020, 03:21:56 PM
STAR 1996 Graphic - A deer running in front of a motorcycle...hmmmm? -JEP-

There were a lot of deer in the Canaan resort area during when we had Star there in 1996
Don't remember if anyone had contact with one but seeing all those deer especially in the evening was not good.

Yes, lots of deer in WV, especially in the Canaan Valley Resort!

And be ready to dodge the black bears too!

Saw a bear cub scamper across the road at FCR last year, think it was around Warm Springs VA, lots of wilderness in those mountains, part of what makes them great for riding.
Title: Re: STAR 2021!
Post by: Denman46 on October 05, 2020, 01:57:56 PM
I’ve found some videos of riding in the area, including 72.  Your description of that part of it is pretty accurate, although the upper section looks much better.  We looked at this location before choosing Bristol a few years ago, but kept this as a possibility for the future.  The future is now.

Was just up there on 72 and some other roads last week. 72 is very good, with narrow but good surfaces. If you like the squigglies, you’ll like that road. River Road is also nice, but the warning “Subject to Flooding” makes you think twice. Very nice lodge but expensive if you don’t have a special rate. Looking forward to next summer.
Title: Re: STAR 2021!
Post by: HawkGTRider on October 06, 2020, 07:21:47 AM
My wife's whole clan went to New Hampshire at Christmas that year which took all of my vacation, so I didn't get to go to Canaan Valley. I've been hoping for the opportunity to go. Yes, my fingers are crossed that we get the pandemic well enough under control to, as Captain Picard said so often, Make It Happen!
Title: Re: STAR 2021!
Post by: doug mcpeek on October 06, 2020, 06:20:37 PM
... as Captain Picard said so often, Make It Happen!

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZt6eU5REN8
Title: Re: STAR 2021!
Post by: HawkGTRider on October 06, 2020, 08:05:54 PM
... as Captain Picard said so often, Make It Happen!

...Make it so.   :D  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.
Title: Re: STAR 2021!
Post by: Ride4MS on October 06, 2020, 10:39:41 PM
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.
Title: Re: STAR 2021!
Post by: stevegrab on October 15, 2020, 02:18:41 PM
... as Captain Picard said so often, Make It Happen!

...Make it so.   :D  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.
Title: Re: STAR 2021!
Post by: HawkGTRider on June 12, 2021, 09:18:39 PM
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.
Title: Re: STAR 2021!
Post by: HawkGTRider on June 17, 2021, 05:55:03 AM
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."
Title: Re: STAR 2021!
Post by: Steve on June 17, 2021, 09:58:44 AM
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!
Title: Re: STAR 2021!
Post by: STLTHMSTA on June 19, 2021, 07:11:09 AM
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
Title: Re: STAR 2021!
Post by: Patmo on June 19, 2021, 07:22:49 AM
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. 
Title: Re: STAR 2021!
Post by: Ride4MS on June 19, 2021, 02:51:30 PM
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.
Title: Re: STAR 2021!
Post by: stevegrab on June 21, 2021, 03:33:42 PM
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.
Title: Re: STAR 2021!
Post by: HawkGTRider on June 21, 2021, 05:56:32 PM
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.
Title: Re: STAR 2021!
Post by: Larry Fine on June 21, 2021, 07:51:06 PM
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.
Title: Re: STAR 2021!
Post by: stevegrab on June 22, 2021, 09:52:36 AM
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.
Title: Re: STAR 2021!
Post by: Ride4MS on June 22, 2021, 12:17:55 PM
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.
Title: Re: STAR 2021!
Post by: stevegrab on June 22, 2021, 01:07:56 PM
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.
Yes Carl I heard that ice cream was good, but its while I'm out riding in the heat and need a break that ice cream is the best treat. We stopped for some at Big Walker Mtn Lookout that was pretty good. Then on the final day home I had 3 possible stops on the same highway in the last 1.5 hours, one of the best just 30min from home is called Just Ice Cream.

At LaCrosse we found a neat place on highway 35 in Stoddard called Hood Scoops Ice Cream Shop. We passed it on our ride into town for STAR, then went by another day and had to stop. One of our NE Ohio riders can sniff them out, I usually need the GPS to help or an obvious spot on the main road. I'd love to go to my GPS, and have it show just places with ice cream, instead I search for ALL FOOD then scroll thru looking for names that indicate ice cream.
Title: Re: STAR 2021!
Post by: Larry Fine on June 22, 2021, 06:27:03 PM
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.
The road I'm talking about is perfectly paved, about 1-1/2 standard lanes wide, had no painted lines on it when I was last there, I've never seen any other traffic on it, and smooth and flat.

I think it's Jerico Rd.
Title: Re: STAR 2021!
Post by: stevegrab on June 23, 2021, 03:14:23 PM
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.
The road I'm talking about is perfectly paved, about 1-1/2 standard lanes wide, had no painted lines on it when I was last there, I've never seen any other traffic on it, and smooth and flat.

I think it's Jerico Rd.
Thanks for the details, I believe that was the road name when I looked at the map.

Sorry if it sounded like I was complaining, I just don't enjoy the narrow roads with no lines, there may be very little traffic, but when there is they're usually in the middle of the road, going quite fast and don't always yield any portion of the road to me. I was following my brother on some of those and that made it easier, and I could hear him beeping his horn going around some of the more blind corners. We traveled Smoke Hole road without much traffic, then near the end there was quite a bit more and a few times they were quite close to me.

Even at home I'll ride mostly state highways, and some county roads that I know are well maintained and have good lane markings.
Title: Re: STAR 2021!
Post by: Ride4MS on July 07, 2021, 01:00:42 PM
I just read an article about the Blackwater 100, that was held at Davis, WV in 1975 to 1993.  See attached article.  And I thought riding some of the narrow roads was bad.  Nothing like this event.
Title: Re: STAR 2021!
Post by: stevegrab on July 07, 2021, 01:17:35 PM
I saw that Canaan Valley hosted something called Windfest (kite flying event) and also hosted the world record longest slip-n-slide both in the few weeks since we were there.

https://www.wdtv.com/2021/07/04/canaan-valley-resort-hosts-windfest-weekend/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/amberlovebond/2021/07/05/natty-light-brings-worlds-longest-slip-n-slide-record-back-to-america/
Title: Re: STAR 2021!
Post by: Ride4MS on July 07, 2021, 02:41:56 PM
I saw the slip-n-slide on the news about the new record.  I looked close to see if Steve was in the photos, but did not see you.  Guess they missed taking a photo of you.  Maybe next time.
Title: Re: STAR 2021!
Post by: HawkGTRider on July 07, 2021, 02:42:35 PM
I just read an article about the Blackwater 100, that was held at Davis, WV in 1975 to 1993.  See attached article.  And I thought riding some of the narrow roads was bad.  Nothing like this event.

I've heard of the Blackwater 100 but didn't know the history. Thanks for posting that info.
Title: Re: STAR 2021!
Post by: fz1grl on July 07, 2021, 07:26:45 PM
I just read an article about the Blackwater 100, that was held at Davis, WV in 1975 to 1993.  See attached article.  And I thought riding some of the narrow roads was bad.  Nothing like this event.
Tom was telling me about doing that back in the day - no way :( I think he said he managed 1 of the 3 required laps or something it was crazy.