Death Valley Daze Pre-Run date is set!

[Bill_Walker]

OK, Russell, I'm not sure how I missed your and Jerry's posts, but despite the timestamps, I'd swear they weren't there when I posted that!

 

So, has anybody thought about Stovepipe Wells?

[russell_bynum]

[KMG_365]

Maybe it's my "smeller" that's out of whack, but I believe my shoes are clean and I'm somewhat surprised and even a little dismayed at the "tone" this Pre-Run thread keeps trying to take--let's try to bring it back on topic (David isn't this why you passed off El Paseo? ). I'm not surprised by the responses of a few who are still butt-hurt, as Gleno would have so colorfully put it, that some of us from BMWRT.com left the fold and the valley, but the "original" awesome DVD ride still exists--this year it is the week following MLK--there will be lots and lots of BMW's and DualSport motorcycles there, it won't be as crowded, many rooms are still available at Furnace Creek, start your own thread, go and have fun!

 

Let me just try to get this discussion back on track by reminding everyone that this "alternative" DVD ride "came about" because the "original" MLK DVD ride was moved a week (or two) later because of the difficulty in securing enough rooms on MLK weekend in the Valley and having to reserve them--with a large deposit--six months out to assure keeping the whole group together. We've done this dance three times already, but every year there are a handful who seem to forget. At the Exchange Club we filled the 32-room hotel, but even StovePipe Wells already has only seven rooms left and they are now going for $111.00 +12% tax for $375.00 for the weekend and if you can't get in there--there are no other options anywhere close--the group gets scattered all over a rather LARGE area.

 

Originally, there were enough folks among us who had that three day weekend to ride to warrant doing our own "alternative" ride for those folks who wanted a bed for $35.00/night vs. camping for ~$15.00/night in the valley. This is what the first Recon Riders found out for DVD-MLK 2005 and it was an AWESOME time! The Airheads like to camp anyway, and other people camped because they couldn't afford the extreme rates FC was getting or they preferred a more relaxed atmosphere where they could pass around a mason jar--usually frowned on in the lobby of the Furnace Creek Inn.

 

The Pre-run/Recon ride is every bit as much of a fun ride as the actual ride in January (except for doing the tourist-y stuff), so it's really no BURDEN to do that work for the good of the group, really!

 

All that to say that the date was never really in question by the planners--which (since Phil Degnan "pdegnan" who started this ride with me isn't riding with us anymore) is basically Tom "azkaisr", me . . . and to a large extent the votes/opinions of the whole Recon Rider group for the best location we could find. So basically, Tom does all the heavy lifting work of making lots of phone calls, schmoozing GM's for rooms, better rates, reception food (if possible), etc.--all while trying to provide for basic needs while minimizing costs so that the greatest number of folks can join us. I take point on planning, research and keeping everyone informed as to the progress (and also fielding the grief from the whiners--"Pahrump Days"? ). Everybody who wants to gets to come on the Recon Ride and have basically an "extra" vote and have the BLAST that we've had three times now in the past!

 

Remember, this whole ride started as an alternative to the "original" iBMWR/Village Idiots MLK-DVD ride for folks who had a three day weekend over MLK to go riding and couldn't move dates with the original DVD folks. I wanted to get a sense of the group's preferences regarding the alternative places we've stayed, but when it started turning from "where" to "when" to go, I thought it might be worth looking at a change of dates, but only after other better options were eliminated by the recon group. People who went to Pahrump last year liked it and had a great time despite the frigid temps (not a function of location, BTW), and they treated us very well by all accounts.

 

The Exchange Club in Beatty in 2005 was $35.00 plus very cheap Nevada tax (they get most of their income from the gambling) and even if we could have gotten people to commit and gotten the cash together early enough to reserve a block of rooms at Furnace Creek back in August/September before the last ones sold out, they still run $120-150 plus a very high California State tax. Three nights at $40 for $120 total vs. around $400-$450 for the same at Furnace Creek is a $300.00 difference! That represents a lot of riding/gas money for many of the folks who already opted not to just stick with following the iBMWR/Village Idiots/ADVRider DVD to the next week or two later. If we're going to move the ride off of MLK anyway, why bother to reinvent the wheel? Why not just go with the "original" DVD folks and have a great time?

 

None of this precludes anyone from setting up a different ride in February there @ Furnace Creek or in Arizona or whatever, but I'd really rather not change the core of this "traditional" MLK DVD ride unless there really is no other better option. The economies and offerings of these remote Nevada towns ebb and flow based on a myriad of circumstances, and before we even see what the current options are at the Pre-run, I really don't see how we're at the point of looking at other dates yet. We'll check out the Longstreet/Diet Coke/fuel situation at State Line and the situation at the Exchange Club, the status of the Death Valley Inn, the food/dining/catering situation in Beatty, etc., etc., but even if none of those are looking any better than Pahrump, that is still a fine fall back position.

 

So let's go forward with MLK weekend and that by default means not in the Valley proper for logistical reasons if nothing else (not to mention Leslie and I are not camping in 30*F weather). Come join us for the Recon Ride November 16-18th, 2007 and/or the MLK-DVD ride January 18-21, 2008--we'll let you know where to make your reservations for both SOON!

 

Let's MOTO!!

[russell_bynum]

Jamie, I think you're taking too much of this personally.

 

Folks are just expressing their opinions on what they would like this event to be. If I'm not mistaken, you requested this feedback and now it seems you're getting bent out of shape when people's feedback isn't in line with what you want to do.

 

 

Regarding Stovepipe Wells...that's good info. Jerry (and apparently Bill) saw Stovepipe on the map, saw that they had the sort of things that we'd want (hotel, restaurant, gas, camping, etc) and I noted that it was closer to most of the stuff people go see/do/ride while at DVD than any of the other options.

 

That's just a suggestion.

 

You point out that their rates are higher than what Jerry saw on their website and that they don't have availability, and there's nothing else in the area to deal with the overflow. OK, so Stovepipe is out. That's cool. It was just a suggestion.

 

they preferred a more relaxed atmosphere where they could pass around a mason jar--usually frowned on in the lobby of the Furnace Creek Inn.

I don't recall there EVER being a problem with mason jar passing where we stayed in Furnace Creek...be it in the parking lot in front of the saloon, or in the areas around the rooms. I also don't recall the place we stayed at having a "Lobby" to speak of...but maybe that's just amnesia caused by the non-existant mason jar that I didn't sip from because it wasn't passed around.

 

 

 

Any way you slice it, this is your deal and you can run it however you want. People will either come or not, and that's fine.

 

But you asked for opinions and you're getting them. Be careful what you wish for...you may get it.

[flyingreg]

Well, isn't this an interesting discussion!

 

A few folks trying to hijack the planning with votes/polls . . .

 

A few incredibly generous folks for whom money appears to be no object offering to pay for a block of 40 rooms at the Furnace Creek Inn (oh, wait . . . they weren't? Oh . . . nevermind! ) . . .

 

A few folks who actually DO get MLK off and the rest a bunch of retired or otherwise unemployed feckless layabouts who can go anytime . . .

Don't get so bent, they're just making suggestions. Isn't that part of planning? I mean, this is for the group, right? It's not about one small faction of the whole. Maybe some good will come from the exchange of ideas.

 

OK, now take a deep breath, exhale. Doesn't everyone feel better.

 

And dude, name calling just isn't cool.

[KMG_365]

What bends me out of shape is the folks who insist on clogging this discussion with unhelpful arguments over "helpful suggestions" or minutiae that have already been examined and discarded three years in a row now. It takes a lot of time and energy to repeat this every year. Re-read my first post--this is a Pre-run whereby we'll try to find the best location for the MLK-DVD since our first ideal option has changed. Opinions on the various current, practical options and places we've stayed before are helpful and most welcome. Mere sniping from the sidelines--especially from folks who aren't even going on either the Pre-run or the MLK ride are not. Geeze it's hard enough

without folks spooking the herd.

 

BTW, we stayed at the Furnace Creek Ranch before, not the Furnace Creek Inn (up on the hill--my reference was supposed to be a joke ). Although funnily enough Benicia_RT missed the memo and stayed there his first time--thought we were all a bunch of Curve Cowboys or something! If you think the Ranch is expensive, try the rates at the Inn!

[russell_bynum]

It takes a lot of time and energy to repeat this every year.

 

Totally understood. The simple solution is: Don't ask for feedback.

 

If you open it up for discussion, you're going to get discussion.

 

Re-read my first post--this is a Pre-run whereby we'll try to find the best location for the MLK-DVD since our first ideal option has changed.

 

OK. And people are discussing that. There's been some discussion about dates, which you also participated in.

 

And there's been some talk about re-combining "our" event with the original iBMWR/Villiage Idiots/AdvRider event. You aren't interested in that, and you're organizing this, so that's fine.

 

Mere sniping from the sidelines--especially from folks who aren't even going on either the Pre-run or the MLK ride are not.

 

First of all, this isn't sniping...you asked for opinions and feedback and you're getting it. As someone who's been to Death Valley a three times with the iBMWR crowd and a few times on my own, I feel like my opinion might be worth something. I wasn't aware that I had to pre-register for either the event or the pre-run to register an opinion.

 

Besides...it is not a foregone conclusion that we will not attend the event. I don't have any desire to come if it's going to be miserable cold like it sometimes is, but it's a close enough deal for us that we don't really need much advance planning to make it happen. I really like that area and would love to explore some of the dirt roads. Most likely, if the weather looks good the week prior to the event and we're not otherwise tied up, and there's still availability, we will likely be there.

 

Come on man...get real. You asked for opinions and feedback and you're getting them.

 

If you don't want opinions and feedback for the planning of the event that you are organizing, that's totally fine. Just do it your way and be done with it. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that, and nobody would think anything of it if that's how you chose to do it.

 

You opened it up for discussion, so you're getting discussion. What was the point of that if you were just going to accuse the people who don't agree with you of trying to hijack/snipe the event?

[Tony_K]

 

We'll see you at BMWST DVD.

[mrduck]

Jamie-Thank you!

Sheesh some of you guys will ride a thousand miles in one day but then complain about Pahrumph being an extra 20 min away!

Any town with both a strip club and a fireworks store is OK with us!

 

 

 

See ya on the recon ride,we'll be there!

 

 

 

[azkaisr]

Jamie-Thank you!

Sheesh some of you guys will ride a thousand miles in one day but then complain about Pahrumph being an extra 20 min away!

Any town with both a strip club and a fireworks store is OK with us!

 

 

 

See ya on the recon ride,we'll be there!

 

 

 

 

Finally the voice of reason comes through!!!

 

Quack Quack monfrair Duck

[JerryMather]

"Any town with both a strip club and a fireworks store is OK with us!"

 

You make a good point, thanks for sharing that bit of information.

[PhillyFlash]

Any town with both a strip club and a fireworks store is OK with us!

 

They have a fireworks store?!

[russell_bynum]

"Any town with both a strip club and a fireworks store is OK with us!"

 

You make a good point, thanks for sharing that bit of information.

 

They've got a strip club, a fireworks store, and a pretty decent racetrack.

[90%angel]

OK, so I've got it; let's stay at Pahrump, and instead of riding all the way to Death Valley, let's just do a track day at Spring Mountain!! Who's with me?

 

Beuller? Beuller?

[Bill_Walker]

What bends me out of shape is the folks who insist on clogging this discussion with unhelpful arguments over "helpful suggestions" or minutiae that have already been examined and discarded three years in a row now. It takes a lot of time and energy to repeat this every year. ...

 

I have a suggestion for avoiding this, Jamie: save on your computer a brief recap of options previously examined and discarded, and post it in the first message of the thread as reminder for those of us with short memories.

 

Please accept my apologies for suggesting a venue that had already been eliminated.

[Bill_Walker]

OK, so I've got it; let's stay at Pahrump, and instead of riding all the way to Death Valley, let's just do a track day at Spring Mountain!! Who's with me?

 

Beuller? Beuller?

 

Between your suggestion and the dual-sport rides in Torrey, we're gonna have to change our tag line, because the "on-road" part just doesn't cover it any more!

 

I guess we're just an online, on-bike community.

[90%angel]

because the "on-road" part just doesn't cover it any more!

 

"BMWST.com...we ride on road...but some choose to ride off road...not that there's anything wrong with that..."

 

And hey, we were on the road all the way through Capitol Reef and part of Sweeper Madness on our Torrey ride (nevermind that my little 200 could only go 55 on Sweeper!)

 

And we'd be on the road (for about 3 miles...in the pickup...going from the hotel to the track) in Pahrump!

 

...OK, back to my hole...

[BrianT]

How about we leave the DVD decisions to the Magic 8 Ball or just roshambo for it to avoid the arguments.

"Two men enter, one man leaves. That's Thunderdome."

[Les is more]

How about we leave the DVD decisions to the Magic 8 Ball

 

Answer unclear. Ask again later.

[BrianT]

How about we leave the DVD decisions to the Magic 8 Ball

 

Answer unclear. Ask again later.

Exactery!

[Beagler]

Jamie-Thank you!

Sheesh some of you guys will ride a thousand miles in one day but then complain about Pahrumph being an extra 20 min away!

Any town with both a strip club and a fireworks store is OK with us!

 

 

 

See ya on the recon ride,we'll be there!

 

 

 

 

At 120+ mph it only took us a half hour to get to DV from Pahrump. And the cold weather last year was unusual, was the coldest weekend there in 5 years. So Pahrump is a fine idea to me.

[JerryMather]

Jamie-

Please, Be sure to check out this place when your in the area. I've been told that the rooms are very reasonable and may be just what this group is after.

[Firefight911]

Jamie-

Please, Be sure to check out this place when your in the area. I've been told that the rooms are very reasonable and may be just what this group is after.

 

Sweet find Jerry!! A room with a view AND an invisible butler.

[Whip]

Jamie-

Please, Be sure to check out this place when your in the area. I've been told that the rooms are very reasonable and may be just what this group is after.

 

Sweet find Jerry!! A room with a view AND an invisible butler.

 

BTDT

 

 

Parking was the only problem....

 

[bakerzdosen]

Yeah, THAT looks like the place I wanna be spending the night with 9° weather outside...

 

 

(Seriously though, it looks cool).

[JerryMather]

Yeah, THAT looks like the place I wanna be spending the night with 9° weather outside...

 

 

(Seriously though, it looks cool).

 

But think of all the money you''ll be saving !

[bakerzdosen]

But think of all the money you''ll be saving !

And here I thought you were going to point out the obvious advantage of no trees to fall on the bikes...

[ghaverkamp]

And here I thought you were going to point out the obvious advantage of no trees to fall on the bikes...

 

Because falling walls are so much better.

 

I wonder if insurance companies will try to weasel out under acts of apparitions. (I know; ghost town, not haunted town...)

[JerryMather]

And here I thought you were going to point out the obvious advantage of no trees to fall on the bikes...

 

Because falling walls are so much better.

 

I wonder if insurance companies will try to weasel out under acts of apparitions. (I know; ghost town, not haunted town...)

 

 

 

I wonder if Jamie's enjoying this? Or better yet ........... will he ever ask us for suggestions again?

[SageRider]

I wonder if Jamie's enjoying this? Or better yet ........... will he ever ask us for suggestions again?

I'm sure the thought is haunting him at this very moment.

[azkaisr]

What do you guys think of just meeting in Fresno at the Super 8?

 

[BrianT]

What do you guys think of just meeting in Fresno at the Super 8?

 

How about we just meet in Torrey and make it 3 trips a year? Maybe some knobbies or spiked tires on the K12GT wouldn't be so bad in the snow.

[Firefight911]

What do you guys think of just meeting in Fresno at the Super 8?

 

 

Yea, ummm, welll. uhh, no.

 

 

Although, I see they have quite a basketball team!

 

 

 

[JerryMather]

What do you guys think of just meeting in Fresno at the Super 8?

 

I like it!

 

Maybe we should think about staying in these and then we can listen to the local bears pushing over our bikes.

[bakerzdosen]

Maybe we should think about staying in these and then we can listen to the local bears pushing over our bikes.

Check your insurance policy first.

 

I love Yosemite, but it's cold there in August...

[JerryMather]

Maybe we should think about staying in these and then we can listen to the local bears pushing over our bikes.

Check your insurance policy first.

 

I love Yosemite, but it's cold there in August...

 

The rates will offset the temps.

[Les is more]

So much fun and yet still a huge hijack, obliterating the content of the original post. Wading back through everything to find out who's coming to the pre-run requires more time than I carte to spend. So, let's simplify.

 

 

The DVD pre-run is November 16-18th. Who's in?

[bakerzdosen]

The DVD pre-run is November 16-18th. Who's in?

 

Due to global cooling, I won't really be able to commit until I see a 10 day or so weather report...

[Signman]

If you don't mind an old retired guy tagging along, my bike could use the exercise.

[JerryMather]

I wanta go if I have a bike by then.

[Bill_Walker]

The DVD pre-run is November 16-18th. Who's in?

 

I know you'll be shocked to hear this, Les, but I'm a definite maybe. I won't know until the date gets quite close whether my services as a horse hauler are required. I know, I know, I should just teach my wife to drive the rig. My wife's talents are great, many and varied, but visualizing the spatial limits of a large vehicle is not among them.

[Les is more]

Okay. So here's what I think is the list so far. How'm I doin' so far?

 

KMG_365

azkaisr

mrduck--you said "we" so I'm assuming--

Cornelius

Signman

graydude

bakerzdosem--weather permitting

Heck--tentatively

MarkEngland--depending on schedule

[Whip]

Can we get back to the hi-jack now!!!!!

 

It was a lot more fun since we can't make it.

 

 

 

Whip!

 

The question was Who's in--not who can't make it but wants to stir the pot anyway?

 

Don't you have a business to run? Go poke at someone else!!

 

[10ovr]

Im in,,Just waiting to see where we are staying?????

[mrduck]

Les, your assumtion is correct-might even bring Clint also!

Any one coming thru Mojave or up 395 on friday are more than welcome to join us-we'll even take you on the deluxe tour of beautiful downtown Trona!!!

 

 

 

[Les is more]

The list update--

 

Okay. So here's what I think is the list so far. How'm I doin' so far?

 

KMG_365

azkaisr

mrduck--you said "we" so I'm assuming--

Cornelius

Clint--possible

Signman

graydude

bakerzdosem--weather permitting

Heck--tentatively

MarkEngland--depending on schedule

10ovr

JerryMather--if he has a bike and is still healthy enough to ride it

[Tank]

Any one coming thru Mojave or up 395 on friday are more than welcome to join us-we'll even take you on the deluxe tour of beautiful downtown Trona!!!

 

 

 

 

 

You quack me up..... sorry leslie couldn't help myself

 

 

 

[Whip]

Can we get back to the hi-jack now!!!!!

 

It was a lot more fun since we can't make it.

 

 

 

Whip!

 

The question was Who's in--not who can't make it but wants to stir the pot anyway?

 

Don't you have a business to run? Go poke at someone else!!

 

http://s3.amazonaws.com/advrider/DirtDOG.gif

 

 

 

Hey no fair goin to advrider to get an emoticon.........there has to be a rule against that somewhere.

 

 

Where's Haverkamp when you need em?????

 

 

[Heck]

What do you guys think of just meeting in Fresno at the Super 8?

 

 

 

Makes for kind of a short ride.....

 

Guaranteed the temp will not be 9 degrees.

 

BTW...Tentative In confirmed....

[Les is more]

List update--

 

KMG_365

azkaisr

mrduck--you said "we" so I'm assuming--

Cornelius

Clint--possible

Signman

graydude

bakerzdosem--weather permitting

Heck

MarkEngland--depending on schedule

10ovr

JerryMather--if he has a bike and is still healthy enough to ride it

keithb