MSTA Forums
Events => Regional Rallies => Topic started by: boatanchor on July 12, 2015, 08:48:47 am
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Wouldn’t it be great if you could combine some of the great riding areas from two different STAR events and be able to enjoy them at a weekend Just for Fun Event? Well this October you can do just that! There will be a new Just for Fun Event in Middlesboro, Kentucky on the weekend of October 9th – 11th. The host hotel will be the Holiday Inn Express in Middlesboro, Kentucky (Phone Number 606 248-6860). There are 15 double bed rooms that are available for the price of $93.00 plus taxes. These rooms will be held until September 9th at which time they will be released back to the public. If those rooms fill up with MSTA members before that time, there are also 15 more rooms with King bed rooms that are available on a first come first serve basis, but are not being held at this time. The hotel has a complimentary breakfast available and there are restaurants with walking distance if you so desire.
So now to the important thing, what about the riding in the area? Middlesboro sits at the corners where Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee come together in an area known as the Cumberland Gap. Well, if any of you remember STAR 2011 in Johnson City TN and did any of the rides up to the Northwest, you probably rode some of the good local roads that are near Middlesboro. For STAR 2013 in Lexington KY, if you rode to the Southeast you probably were on some more of the roads that are near the Middlesboro area.
For places to visit and an all-day ride, you can head to Breaks Interstate Park that was the lunch ride destination for STAR 2011. The Cumberland Gap Park is located right next to Middlesboro and is interesting to tour. The small town of Rugby is a good lunch ride destination and the Area of Big South Fork is worth a ride thru. State route’s 31, 66 and 70 in Tennessee will provide you with plenty of curves. For those that would like to leave paved surfaces occasionally there is Daniel Boone National Forest fairly close by and some coal mining roads that will help wet your appetite for a little Adventure. The normal weather that time of year is mid-forties in the morning with highs around 70 or so and the leaf colors should be near their prime that time of year.
What more could you ask for with a Just for Fun Event—well one thing….after ride adult beverages. If you desire anything like that after a day of riding you are out of luck J. Middlesboro is in the middle of a totally dry county, so leave a little room in your saddle bag for a after ride adult beverage, or sneak across the county line like a ‘moonshining bootlegger’ and pick up your beverage for after the ride.
I hope to see as many MSTA riders as possible there. If you have any questions please feel free to contact myself or Pat Mogavero.
I will post more information on articles that appeared in various motorcycle magazines regarding the riding in the area in the future.
Thanks,
Rick Giddish
MSTA East Tennessee State Director
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Any one looking for a roommate? I am a male, occasional light sorer, according to my wife, and non-smoker. I have already made reservations for October 9. I may be reached at 336-945-6945 or via this site.
Rick B
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I stopped by the Kentucky Travel Center yesterday and picked up two dozen official Kentucky State Road Maps to pass out. Please see me and take one, they have a lot of information.
We are not allowed to pass out official "routes" at a Just for Fun event. However, I don't think that keeps me from "sharing" what I consider to be the best roads in that part of Kentucky. So I will be bringing my computer and a Delorme Gazetter, along with the maps, and will share all the information I have on the area. You will have to set up your own "routes". I plan to be there early Friday afternoon to check out a few of the roads for conditions, as there was some construction going on when last I visited. After that I will be available at the hotel to answer any questions and give any suggestions I can. Please don't hesitate to look me up. Looking forward to a great event!
Pat Mogavero
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We are packed and ready to head south to Florida. Just want to thank Rick & Pat for a great JFF event. Mother Nature could have been nicer but you guys picked some fantastic roads and really nice accommodations. Looking forward to next year! -JEP-
Sent by using these little bitty keys on my iPhone using Tapatalk
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My thanks to Rick Giddish and Pat Mogavero too.
I didn't get to hang out with the crowd on Friday because of work conflicts (I am the technical director for the Knoxville Opera Company this year...see the review of our current production here... http://www.knoxnews.com/news/local-news/review-mefistofele-delivers-devil-of-a-good-show_35930922 (http://www.knoxnews.com/news/local-news/review-mefistofele-delivers-devil-of-a-good-show_35930922) ), but since Middlesboro is only an hour north of my home, I got up early on Saturday to join the fun. I've been looking forward to this since I saw Rick's announcement. This southeast corner of Kentucky near where it joins with Virginia and Tennessee is a real gem...and undiscovered or unknown by many. I started out riding through this area because it was on the way to other places, but I discovered that it was absolutely worthy of being a destination of its own. A few others have figured it out as well, and the BMW MOA recently had a regional event based at Kentucky's Pine Mountain State Park just a few miles north of Middlesboro.
Arriving at the Holiday Inn Express around 7:30, I was in the breakfast area before most of our crowd of 20-25 people filtered in from their rooms. Overcast skies, a bit of misting, cooler temperatures (high 40s to low 50s), and the sun not rising until around 7:30 allowed me to get to the HIE before everyone headed out. I had the pleasure of joining Bryan Dunlap, Doug McPeek, Betty Lise Anderson, and Bill Thalgott for the day, and with Bryan taking the point, off we went. While routes were not officially distributed, some of our routing gurus (guri? gurae?) had thrown some things together. We had a route! While less than 200 miles long, by not leaving the HIE until almost 9:00, taking appropriate breaks, a good lunch break, and very curvy, unfamiliar, and challenging roads, the distance was just fine, thank you. While the roads were not exactly dry, they were dry in places. Being October, I guess you could say it it's autumn, so there were wet leaves on the road in places. It's Kentucky, so there while there are some roads that have coal trucks on them, there aren't many on weekends. There are some roads that have coal dust on them that are a bit slick even when dry. But none of that conspired to keep us from having a rip-roaring good time.
Back at the hotel, it was decided that we should order several large pizzas, and stay at the hotel rather than trying to find a decent eating establishment. There are eateries in the area, but none that serve any kind of adult beverages. Apparently a law has been passed allowing restaurants to serve those beverages, but it will be 5 more days before it goes into effect. With many of our attendees having picked up their own supply of beverages, the pizza party in the motel's breakfast area was on! After everyone seemed to have eaten all they wanted, we had half of one pizza left over, so our estimate on how many to order was pretty close.
I'm pleased to report that we passed the hat for a donation to the Ride For Kids, and $75 was collected. Very cool. The kids thank you, and I thank you on their behalf.
After we had watched the Tennessee football team slip past the favored Georgia Bulldogs on the breakfast nook's big screen tv, it was time to head back down the road to home.
So, my day was 1) uneventful early morning ride, 2) meeting friends, 3) riding with friends on curvy roads, 4) pizza and good fellowship with friends, 5) good football outcome for Tennessee fans, and finally 6) uneventful late evening ride back home. I call that an outstanding way to spend an early October autumn day. Now it's back to opera on Sunday, load everything out of the theatre Sunday night, and start working on the set for the next opera in February.
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Geoffrey,
I thought Tennesseans only listened to the "Grand Ole Opry"! And most like both kinds of music - country and western.
Glad you had a good day. I was planning on attending but ended up going to Barber for the Vintage Festival.
Regards,
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[We are packed and ready to head south to Florida...JEP]
Are you and "the boss" finally heading home after months and months of events?
Tosh :-)
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Many thanks to Rick and Pat for putting on the event. BL and I had a great time. We can't wait to go again! Nice hotel, great roads how could you go wrong?
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Geoffrey......
You have been holding out on us! :)
Dave Kutney, Rick Barger, and I stayed around this morning and went for a ride before heading back home. We rode down 25 and then went east on 63 to Sneedville, and then 66 to Rogersville, followed by 70 up to Jonesville. I'd been on 70 several times before, but not the others. HOLY COW!!! Those roads were fantastic. I had thought that nothing down there would top 70, but I'm not so sure anymore. Those will definitely be on my "to do" list for next year!
I'd like to thank EVERYONE for coming and making this one of the highlights of the year. The Pizza, Beer, Football viewing party we had Saturday evening should be a part of every rally we have there in the future.....great time with great company! We may of had cloudy and gloomy sky's during the day, but the smiles on the faces of so many people that evening more than made up for anything we had during the day. Those that missed it this year should put it on there schedule for next year for sure. For all of you that were there this year.....y'all come back now, hear?
:)
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Pat and Rick, thanks for doing the work, so we could come play! I look forward to doing it again!
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I want everyone to understand that I really had very little to do with this....it was really RICK that came up with the idea, found the hotel, did all the things needed to arrange for the rooms, get the date worked out, and did the publicity. Really the only thing I did was tell him it was a great idea, and agree to check out some of the roads in the area.....and y'all know that I don't have any problem exploring new roads when given the chance, :)
So, this was really Rick's baby and he deserves all the credit for making it happen. Thank you, RICK!
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I want everyone to understand that I really had very little to do with this....it was really RICK that came up with the idea, found the hotel, did all the things needed to arrange for the rooms, get the date worked out, and did the publicity. Really the only thing I did was tell him it was a great idea, and agree to check out some of the roads in the area.....and y'all know that I don't have any problem exploring new roads when given the chance, :)
So, this was really Rick's baby and he deserves all the credit for making it happen. Thank you, RICK!
Three cheers for Rick...Hip Hip Hooray, Hip Hip Hooray, Hip Hip Hooray!
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I met up with Bill & Betty Lise on Friday morning south of Columbus. Doug had planned to join us initially, but realized the night before he needed a new tire so told us to go without him and he'd see get to Middlesboro that night. Bill led us a nice route down OH 138, OH 41, US 52, cross the river at Maysville, then KY 11 and KY 66 to US 25E. We only had a short time of light rain late on the way down. We walked across the road to dinner at the Chinese buffet, which was tasty and had a good variety. Then there was some time to catch up with friends from all over for a while before bed.
Jim Park was kind enough to take a route idea from Pat Mogavero and build it in BaseCamp for me, so I led Doug, Geoffrey, Bill and Betty Lise on some fun roads. I'd only passed through the area once before and hadn't touched what it had to offer before this. We had fog and light rain pretty much all day, but not enough to make my gloves damp, just enough to have to wipe my faceshield now and then. It cut down on the scenery, and the damp roads with occasional wet leaves and pine needles certainly encouraged a reduced pace, but I certainly still had a ton of fun, and everyone else seemed to share my enjoyment. Geoffrey split off from us, but we other four stopped for lunch at a Mexican place in Harlan that turned out to be excellent. Then a short 60-mile jaunt the rest of the way back to the hotel, and more socializing in the lobby. Pizza and a beer for dinner with friends made for a great evening.
Doug and I took the directish but non-slab route back to central Ohio Sunday, with fog lasting for a couple hours or so after out 9:00 departure. But then the sky turned a funny color (let's call it "blue") and a great fiery orb appeared, and things warmed up to be very comfortable. We ate lunch at a 50s-style diner in Ripley called Rockin' Robin, recommended by Rick and Dave from West Chester and Pat, and then proceeded home.
I had a great time! Thanks to Rick Giddish for being the mastermind, Pat Mogavero for great road suggestions, Jim Park for being my BaseCamp pro and everyone else for being fun friends. I definitely look forward to next year!
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BD, am I seeing from your signature line that the you ended up replacing the Tenere?
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Yes, BD... tell us did you get the 2015 ES?
BD, am I seeing from your signature line that the you ended up replacing the Tenere?
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I just wanted to add my thanks to Rick and Pat. The event was wonderful. I rode the Devils Triangle with three other bikes and had a wonderful day of riding. We encounter a wide variety of conditions from wet to dry to gravel roads to slippery roads with coal dust. It was truly an adventure.
I also wanted to comment on the hospitality of the hotel which was great. Excellent choice!!
Thanks,
Rick B.
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Yes, I got the 2015 ES.
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Thanks to everyone that attended the Non-event in Middlesboro this past weekend. Even with a less than sunny forecast for the weekend, there was a great turnout of MSTA riders who enjoyed the local roads and after ride socials in the lobby each evening.
Pat and I plan to hold the non-event again next year and have moved the date up a little (Sept 16-18th) to better space it out between events in the area. We hope to see everyone back again next year along with any other members that want to attend. I will let everyone know when we have the block of rooms held so you can make your reservations for next year.
Rick
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I didn't get a lot of photos at the event due to Mother Nature but do have a few.
If you want to contribute the photo download link is in the Members Only Photo Download section of this forum -JEP-
https://msta.smugmug.com/Jff/2015-Middlesboro-Kentucky-JFF/ (https://msta.smugmug.com/Jff/2015-Middlesboro-Kentucky-JFF/)