Natural Bridge FART 2022 Check IN Thread

[Indy Dave]

Let us know you made it home!

[Indy Dave]

The Bumbling BackRoad Riders have rolled up the red carpet and are setting sail for TN, MD, AL and IN. Thanks one and all for making yet another GREAT FART -I wish this one could linger longer . . .

 

A big shout out to @TyTass and @twistyguy for the spectacular routes! Thanks to @DaveCinNO for the vests! Thanks to the other BBR's who couldn't be here with us this time for their behind the scenes work @Bernie @Endobob @marcopolo@terryofperry.

 

Congrats to @terryofperry for winning the BackRoad Bumbler Award!

 

Remember to post your photos in the FART Natural Bridge Gallery - Here's the link: FART 2022 photo Gallery

 

Thanks to all of YOU - obviously, these would not happen without your support! And it's not just that, thank you all for for the courtesy, patience and respect you always show the staff at the locations we hold our events in. It is noted by every venue we go to.

 

And of course, thanks so much for your wonderful singing! We look forward to next Spring, when we can all say "Hello Again".... again!

 

 

[twistyguy]

Home safe.  1465 total miles on the trip.  Best ART ever for me—weather was perfect for all 6 days of riding on my trip.  Thanks, Dave, for arranging the weather like that.  Had some epic rides on and off-road and lots of stories to remember!  Great to see everyone again. 
And special thanks to IndyDave for all he does to make these events happen.

[RandyShields]

In at 12:30 pm after following an early departure with the lack of fog.  Stopped for breakfast in Floyd after following an 11-bike conga line of HDs into town.  We knew immediately they were heading for our restaurant, but we parked and ordered faster than them and were on our way before they even got their food!

 

Agree with Peter -- fantastic event.  Great location, weather and tremendous routes.  Nice to have a restaurant on site.  We did NW, N and W and each was so much fun.  It was cool to catch up with so many old friends and meet some new ones as well.  

 

See everyone in Ellijay.

 

Randy

[taylor1]

Home safe. Getting reacquainted with my recliner. LOL. Had a great time with a group of great people. Many thanks to Dave and everyone behind the scenes. Already looking forward to Start.

[wbw6cos]

Home safe and sound.   Few more miles left to go on my rear tire, but no issues.  (...see gallery for proof)   Time to order a new one, I guess.

 

The stay was awesome; great rooms, great staff. and friendly locals.   Two thumbs up.  Will stay again.

 

The routes were phenomonal!   I would like to personally thank my Weather Prognosticator for allowing Mother Nature to take a breather for this event.  Full appreciation to the folks that put the routes together and making a sacrifice by personally scouting each route ahead of time.   

 

Kudos for all the hard work that the Bumbling Back Road Riders contributed to this FART.

 

See y'all in April!

 

 

[Bill Murray]

Departed at 7:10 with Dennis Barlow,  arrived home in Georgia at 5:28. Hit some REALLY thick fog a bit below Roanoke on I-81. After getting a few miles in on I-81 and I-77, we did the last 350 miles home on non-interstate in NC, SC, and GA.

 

Thanks for the great routes! Hopefully the sport touring style riding will not scare my friend away from attending the Spring event in Ellijay. 

 

And thank you again to all the Bumbling Backroad Riders for your hard work behind the scenes. 

 

Bill Murray

 

[Indy Dave]

When I left Natural Bridge at 10:15, only The Flying Waltini and a lone RTW (not sure who's) remained.  Back home in Indy about 5:30. Traffic was progressively worse the further West I traveled. The temps also noticeably increased. I wanna go back!

 

 

 

[Ron-M]

Dave Whiting (F16Viper68), our friend Wynn Ayers, and I left at 7:15 am, trailing behind Randy (RandyShields) who lead us on a great backroad route to Charlotte, where we departed his company and continued on towards Florida.   Wyn had previously broken off and slabbed it (81 to 77 to 421) to his summer home in Linville NC (Wyn took the fastest route home, lured by his wife's promise that she was making homemade lasagna).  As Randy said, a few miles from our breakfast stop, we caught up to a large group of Harley riders, who, as predicted, stopped at the same small restaurant we were stopping at, The Blue Ridge Diner, in Floyd VA.  We parked our bikes and Randy hustled in to get a table before the masses arrived, and with the help of a great wait staff, we were seated, ordered, and ate our breakfast before the large group got comfortable in their seats.  It was funny to watch others who had also observed the group pull in to go to the restaurant, literally run into the diner to get ahead of the group.  After breaking off from Randy, our original plan was to ride about 3/4 of the way home and stop for the night, get up early on Monday and continue on to our Tallahassee, Florida destination.  However, the further we went, that plan dissolved, as we convinced ourselves that we could "do this," and make the ride home in one day.  We did.  I arrived home at 8:30 pm (672 miles,) and Dave about 45 minutes later at his home in Crawfordville, Fl.  What a fantastic event.  As others have said, the routes were fantastic (thank you Craig), and the countryside in which the routes took in was beautiful.  Thank you to Dave and all the BBR members who coordinated this event.  You did it again.  

 

Ron

[Slumgullion]

Took 200 miles to get to Hburg to spend the week with the Grandkiddos! I didn't care much for the 35mph on Sky Line Dr., put me asleep!!! Thx to the team who put so much time and care in putting this event on, I am truly grateful!

[randy]

Andy, Kathryn and I arrived home around 7pm EST.  I really like VA and WV.  I hope Natural Bridge becomes a repeat FART/START location.  I spoke with the staff at the Hotel multiple times and they seemed genuine in their appreciation of our group, and asked that we come back.

 

looking forward to Elijay,

 

Still lots of riding time left in GA, usually good riding until Dec 15, not every day but we usually get one or two weekends in Nov and Dec that are enjoyable.

 

Then Winter projects
Phone holder was a complete mess up, so going to redo it
Get a better GoPro mount on the bike.  90% of GoPro footage is from my helmet mount, but I do like the bike view on some occasions

I have gone through 4 different driver footpegs.  I have the ones I like the most, but need to work on them over the winter for a better fit

The wiring for my auxiliary driving lights (2 sets) is messy, want to see if I can clean it up.
If possible I want to move my top case mount to the passenger seat, i.e. move the weight forward.  I did this on my S1000r and it was noticeable, the S1kr had an actual OEM fitting aftermarket solution, so far nothing like that for the Tracer.  So it is a winter project.

 

Many thanks to all the BMWST members who spend their time creating, organizing and executing these events.  I personally know how much time/effort goes into doing an event of this size, and you all do 3 of these each year.  So again MANY thanks

[MikeB60]

DyAnne and I made it home about thirty minutes ago. Great event, big thanks and we'll done to @Indy Dave. Looking forward to the SECFF lunches over the winter and Start next spring. 

[TSConver]

We made it home late yesterday.  Had a great time.  Great event as always, thanks Dave and all others involved.

[9Mary7]

KaTooM and I made it home just after 3:30 today, I did a total of 2,506 miles over the seven days. Chris did a little less because U-Haul miles don't count 

That said, he got a new bike out of the trip and I didn't so there's that......

 

Thanks for the great time and the organization that went into this event. It was great for my first time attending. Special thanks to Twistyguy and Kaz for an EPIC ride on Thursday. 

[John Ranalletta]

Home just now.  Visited kin in Winston Salem overnight.  

Great event.  Thanks for all who made it possible.

 

Virginia has the best roads EVER!

[9Mary7]

On 9/18/2022 at 7:55 AM, Indy Dave said:

Let us know you made it home!

Note to Indy Dave....

The desk staff was very appreciative of our group and would love to have us back.

[Indy Dave]

Must have been the jokes I told them... 😉🙃

[RandyShields]

36 minutes ago, Indy Dave said:

Must have been the jokes I told them...

Everyone I saw/heard interacting with desk staff was polite and respectful.  That goes a long way in how folks react to a group like ours.  It comes with the territory with such good people.

[wbw6cos]

A taller lady stopped me in the hall after returning from a ride and asked if I had a great ride!  Where did I go?  Etc.  Genuine interest.   All I could remember was Snow Shoe and following someone else, not knowing the route by heart.  Very impressive. 

[60Aviator]

9 hours ago, Indy Dave said:

Must have been the jokes I told them... 😉🙃

 

I told them you have HPD!