Home from the International

[Freebird]

Eileen and I got home around 1:00 today. I wish we could have stayed another day but had to get home to take care of some other business.

 

I just want to say that Big Tom and his FANTASTIC team did a wonderful job with this years rally. They had so many prizes to give away that I thought they would NEVER stop calling numbers.

 

Everything they did was done top notch. The rides, food, prizes, location.....I can't think of a single thing that could have been done better.

 

We are so fortunate that we always have such great people taking charge and handling our rallies. For any of you who have never put one together, you have no idea of the amount of time and energy that goes into these things.

 

Dingy already made an excellent post about Pioneer Motorsports so I'll just quickly mention again that they are GREAT folks. If we all had dealers like that, you would never hear the horrific dealer stories that we often hear.

 

So thank you to all involved for making this years such a great success.

[dingy]

We are home also.

 

Went through some very intense rain showers, glad I was in jeep.

 

Gary

[Brown Angel]

Lori and I are home and enjoyed with out saying the whole event..

 

We left at 8am and got home at 5pm, we got wet once but liked it cause it was humid as we left the NY area.

 

[RockinRobin]

Just heard from Buckshot, he and Gail stopped in Ohio and he said he talked to Sarge 46 and they got stuck in the storm in Binghamton. They are hold in a hotel without power.

[b2dad]

Pat and I got caught in the storm also. Holed up in a hotel. Will try to finish the trip tomorrow.

[bull463]

We made it home around 12:30. Stopped in Nunda for breakfast and met some of the colorful locals Christy says the magic rainsuit worked again, we didn't hit any rain at all.

[KevinR]

Judy and I threw the suits on this morning also and it must have paid off, got almost enough sprinkles to cover the windshield about 10 miles south of Rochester but that was it. Too bad we didn't have them on Tuesday, lol. Had a GREAT time at out 1st ever VentureRider event and can't wait for the next one! A huge thanks to all involved in setting this up and to Pioneer for being so good to us.

[frankd]

Barb and I made it home about 6 CDT. We had a couple of light showers, and it looked real nasty when we were about 10 miles east of Joliet, but not much rain fell. We were in the same rest area that B2Dad and Pat were in in PA this morning, but left before they did. I guess the rain was right behind us.

 

That New York group sure put on a heck of a rally. You all need to pat each other on the back!!!!! Thanks for a good time.

 

Frank D.

[Marcarl]

We made it home just fine, the only time we needed our rain gear was in Chaffee area, the rest of the ride was more or less on the dry side, but then we were with Saddlebum and he has a different story,,,as usual.

[XV1100SE]

We are in Mercer PA with plans to make our way across Ohio tomorrow, headed to Detroit to cross into Canada.

[saddlebum]

We made it home just fine, the only time we needed our rain gear was in Chaffee area, the rest of the ride was more or less on the dry side, but then we were with Saddlebum and he has a different story,,,as usual.

You got that right. Not 2 minutes after separating from Marcarl and Marca to head east towards my house I got dumped on big time. Since I was headed straight home from there I decided not to stop and put my rain gear on. The end result was that I was so drenched by the time I got home, you could have rung me out like a dish rag, and filled a small swiming pool.

 

But Tom and his crew put on such a great event, that it was worth every drop, just to be there.

[Black Owl]

he said he talked to Sarge 46 and they got stuck in the storm in Binghamton. They are hold in a hotel without power.

 

Shades of Bismarch.... Those two have the worst luck with rain storms and motels.......

[steamer]

Robin and I were having breakfast this morning in Arcade ny and to our surprise Jonesy and Linda walked in. So after breakfast we hooked up with them for our ride home. Had a little rain, but made it home ok. Jonsey and Linda are still on the road.

[adventurer 08]

My wife Sandy and I just got home to puring rain, but we had the best time ever. The NY Gang put on a great rally. Just used a bike one day but from what we did it was beautiful riding country. Thanks to Pioneer Motor sports for there shop and grounds, one real nice bunch of people!

[BuckShot]

Gail and I got home this afternoon. Stayed at the Oberlain Inn for the heck of it, was tired after riding thru Clevland,OH in rush hour traffic. Had a storm in NY just before the Pen. line but blew over in about 20 min. so not to bad of a wait. Was in and out of showers most of the day. Todays ride was sunny all the way home. The NY crew did a fantastic job on the rally.

 

Sarge 46 got off the road just in time. They had stopped in a rest area and a car pulled in behind them and told them about tornado's coming that way and to get off the road. The wind was blowing so hard they could hardley make a turn from one road onto another. Called them this morning and they are fine,but powere didn't come on at the hotel untill almost 11 last night.

[sleepy2]

Left around 9 this morning after having coffee with RandyR at Timmie's.Randy had to wait for someone to check him out of cabin.

Slight rain for 20 min then was fine.

 

YES I was wearing my NEW coat(thanks to the person who donated it as a prize!)It is a little tight but not bad for warm weather riding.

Worked good when the temperature was what it was after my GPS took me on a tour of Buffalo before I mad the border.

 

Had a great time at the International! GREAT JOB GUY'S & GAL'S!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Also thanks to Pioneer Motorsports for their help and use of their property!

 

Great meeting new people and also people I met before!!

[b2dad]

Made it home just a couple hours ago. Rode a few miles yesterday until the storm caught us. Holed up in Ohio for the night and headed out again today. Rode 540 miles to get home..in 99 degree heat. Don't know if it ever made it up to 100 or not...but let me tell you something...it was HOT HOT HOT!!!

 

So grateful to be home. Thanks again to the NW New York committee. They did a GREAT job!!!

[XV1100SE]

We made it home a couple hours ago.

 

For our journey... had hoped to leave Chaffee early enough on Wed night and head south to get below the forecasted track of storms. Didn't leave until 9:30pm so didn't make it as far South as we had hoped. Spent Wed night in Salamanca.

 

Thursday morning woke up to drizzle. Took our time getting ready, nice breakfast in the Holiday Inn. Destination was for Clarion PA and to make time/distance take 80 West into Ohio. Rode thru Allegheny National Forest.

 

Stopped in Leeper PA for a coffee. Skies were cloudy when we parked and Nancy went in to the restaurant (corner of 66 and 36 - friendly staff, decent food). By the time Nancy came out, sirens started whaling. Locals driving by stopped and warned us that there were tornado warnings from Clarion to Leeper. Decided Leeper was as good as anyplace to have lunch. The hinge screws on my trunk were loose (make sure you check yours) so I spent spent a few minutes tighening them.

 

The sky was a medium gray when I started and within the few minutes I spent tightening the screws (with siren still going) the sky turned dark and the wind went from nothing to a fierce howling. Made a bee-line to the restuarant door. Branches were flying past the windows, a large tree across the street came down, rain in buckets !

 

We spent about 2 hours in the restuarant talking with the locals about bikes, families. Met some nice people.

 

Was a light rain when we decided to venture on. Sky still dark to the South but lighter to the West. Set the gps for Greenville PA which had us criss crossing across Amish country, up and down what appeared to be one lane roads, covered in downed branches. Somewhere around Shippenville we saw a sign for hwy 80 and headed that way.

 

Missed one on ramp to 80 at Emlenton and continued on what turned out to be a great road along a river. Got on 80 at Barkeyville and made it to Mercer before we saw heavy lightning ahead. Got off at that point and stayed at the Comfort Inn there.

 

Long story short... woke up Friday morning and checked routes home. Rain to the West, clear sailing to Buffalo. Over 700 miles home via Detroit, 400 via Buffalo. Easy choice.

 

All in all... International was great (Western NY crew set a high bar for future Internationals), didn't ride thru heavy rain, found some great roads, met a lot of locals on our way home. As Mastercard says... "priceless" !

 

I still have a couple weeks of my vacation ahead of us so will be headed towards Ottawa next week... and possibly points beyond !

[sleepy2]

Glad you are OK and storm passed you! Sirens must have been a bit scary if they were the ones I think they were!

Was a good time! Didn't get to socialize as much as I would have liked(still not great in that department--still working on it tho)

Had a good ride home except for the GPS seemed to make me take wrong roads. First it took me down toll road and after resetting it a couple times it only cost me 50cents to get off.

Hope you have a great time the rest of your holidays.Supposed to be good roads around the Ottawa area!

[RandyR]

Got home to Georgia about an hour ago, 3:30pm. Rode interstates much of the way. Rode in the rain on-again-off-again for about 5 hours until I got to Pittsburgh, PA. Took an hour detour to ride WV16 along the Gauley River and then stayed overnight in Beckley,WV. About a 7 hour ride home from there today.

 

The view of the mountains above Asheville from US23 crossing into NC from TN in the morning has to be one of the most beautiful sights.

[spider]

Were home and had a GREAT time!!!:clap2:

 

Rex & Mary

[Carbon_One]

Joyce & I rolled in today at about 6pm. We left the hotel Friday morning and did a day long country ride ending up just east of Pittsburgh, Pa with Jay & Jeanie , Tom & Terry. I parted ways this morning while they contiued on seeking more country roads leading to the Hocking Hills in Ohio.

We had a great time seeing and riding with folks at the rally. There was just so much to choose from one couldn't do it all or be with everyone at any given time. Thanks to Big Tom and his crew for putting on a great rally this year.

Larry

[tomephil]

Joyce & I rolled in today at about 6pm. We left the hotel Friday morning and did a day long country ride ending up just east of Pittsburgh, Pa with Jay & Jeanie , Tom & Terry. I parted ways this morning while they contiued on seeking more country roads leading to the Hocking Hills in Ohio.

We had a great time seeing and riding with folks at the rally. There was just so much to choose from one couldn't do it all or be with everyone at any given time. Thanks to Big Tom and his crew for putting on a great rally this year.

Larry

Glad you got home OK. It was great riding with you.

Tom

[adventurer 08]

We had such a great time meeting and making some new friends and putting faces to names. Hope to see all of you again. I wish we would have had our bike but our Jeep did ok.

[gunboat]

hi folks made it home at 10:30 pm cst. we got caught up in that rain storm around columbus, ohio also. pulled under a underpass as the lighting was blasting all around us. soaked to the bone. friday we made it to about 129 miles from memphis, tenn. man it was warm when we got up and left the hotel. temps got up 105 across arkansas. also ran into road construction before little rock, went down to one lane, and had to turn off the motor several times. and just sat and waite took about an hour to get thru this mess. had a great time at the wny rally everything was top notch. great to see old friends and meet a bunch more.

best reguards to all

don c.