V-Strom Get Together East V - In the Bag

[johnofchar]

When: 17-20 May, 2007

Where: Ironhorse Motorcycle Lodge, Stecoah. NC

GPS Coordinates: N35 23.358  W83 40.665

They are holding all rooms & cabins for us until the end of February, so make your own reservations ASAP.  Tell them your with the VStrom group.

Their web site: http://www.ironhorsenc.com/



I'll try and answer a few common questions:

1. Folks will be arriving mostly on Thursday (17th) & Friday (18th). Most will depart Sunday morning.

2. If camping, no reservations are required. I would ask that you post your intentions in this thread so we can get a fair count for meals.

3. Wifes, girlfriends & kids welcome. Although there isn't a lot for them to do if not riding.

4. All bikes are welcome, even Harley's.  

5. Most group rides will be on Friday & Saturday.

6. Breakfast & Dinners are served at Ironhorse (good stuff). Lunch your on your own unless prior arrangements are made.

7. Dry county, so bring your own if so inclined. Ice & coolers available for a small fee.

8. Coffee is available around 7AM. Iced Tea & coffee in the evenings after dinner.

9. Kickstands up around 9AM for Friday & Saturday rides.

10. There are other motels & campgrounds in the area if you procrastinate too long.

11. I am not planing any tech sessions, must ride, not work. I will have my Yosh Box with for evening tuning sessions on Thu - Sat.

12. Garry promises no rain. So you know who to go after if it does.

Hope to see you all there. I'll post some other motel info later.

[TwoRs]

Thanks for posting John!

No rain......

Somewhere there will be no rain but our luck.....well we have always been able to ride in one direction or another to skirt the rain clouds.

Still a great time with great folks, the best riding roads East of the Mississippi!

See you there!

[R5]

Looking forward to it! Hope we can have an Alaska Night. Here's a link to the Adventure Rider discussion.

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=190527

Dick Peterson
05 V-Strom 650

[johnofchar]

Camping at the Horse is great. Plenty of room & nice bath houses. Bring your rain fly!  

[Anonymous]

Quote:

NoVA-Strom wrote on 10.01.2007 16:19[/i] Currently planning to come down and this would be my first motorcycle trip.  I am an avid camper and have the backpacking style camping gear small enough for transport on the bike.  Just curious to here from people who have done these before how well camping works out for this sort of thing, or if you are better off to go with something like the bunk houses?  Any one that camps a lot that doesn't recomment camping on a moto trip like this?

I camped at the "Gathering" last year (06), and it was pretty good; small areas to pitch a tent.  You'll be on the road alot anyway.  Good showers, food and Great! people.  You'll get to know the area (on and off-road) after a couple days.  Many people stay in the area for a week or more.  I'll be seeing everyone at the gathering.

Mark

markdek@comcast.net
Grand Rapids, MI

05, blue, DL650 /w 30,000, and no valve check yet.

[johnofchar]

Hey Mark, you remember this?  

[Vaughn]

I sure do!  I was camped just outside the edge of that picture.  All night I dreamed of a great flood, with many tents floating down a raging river towards a huge waterfall (like Niagra Falls)!  But I woke up mostly dry the next day, hung some stuff up in the warm southern sun, and went riding again.  

At least it was a warm rain....

 

[johnofchar]

Be fun to see you all again.

Just to be fair, this photo was taken at the 04 gathering and this was the first mouth Ironhorse was open & they hadn't had a real gully washer before this, so didn't know about the drainage problem. It has been fixed.  

[mcho]

Yes I remember it well, and I will take that spot again this year.  As hard as it may be to believe everything was still dry.  It pays to have good equipment.

Right now I am waiting for it to get above freezing so I can get some more miles on the new bike.

Mark

[Anonymous]

Yep, I remember it too; and I also had my tent pitched in a high spot.  It only added to the adventure, but it was nice not getting wet.

Mark D (DeKruyter)

[Bubbleman]

I have been under the impression that if you're bringing a tent there are no accomadation issues, is this correct?

I'll most likely be a gametime decision.  As of right now, I don't see how I'll be able to make it, but if something should free up I'd be able to go at the last minute with no reservations as long as I'm in a tent, right?

[Anonymous]

Basically yes; no reservations are needed for tent camping; they do appreciate notifications though.  And if you come early/on-time, you get the best sites; else, they'll  put you in the flood zone.

:-)

[johnofchar]

Here are some other accommodations in the area of Ironhorse.

2.1 miles - Kickstand Lodge
6.2 miles - Tuskeegee Motel
8.6 miles - Freeman's Motel
11.2 miles - Nantahala Village
12.5 miles - Microtel
14.8 miles - Cold Springs Country Inn
15.1 miles - Two Wheel inn
16.9 miles - Fontana Village
21.0 miles - Treetops
22.8 miles - Deals Gap
23.7 miles - Tapoco Lodge

[TwoRs]

Wheels Through Time Museum is a GREAT stop and well worth the time spent. As John mentioned the group rode there from Suches, GA one year and even though I am not a big Harley fan, the group of bikes that is represented is the early history of motorcycling in the US. This is one not to missed by any motorcyclist.

http://www.visitmaggie.com/wheels_in_time.html

[DaveInVa]

I'm in for a third year of camping. Hope Gary's right about the rain this year.
This time, however, I'm heading down to Ironhorse on Thursday. Bringing my riding pal with his K-bike again.

If anyone coming from the north country needs a place to sleep on the way south -  the door is open here.
Roy left his trailer with me two years ago and Sylvain took advantage of a bed last year.
I'm located about 30 minutes east of Roanoke and I-81.

Looking forward to seeing ya'll again.

I still have a GPS route file with multiple loops available if anyone wants some ride suggestions.

Ironhorse Loops / .gpx format

Sylvain - You know you don't have to ask. Of course we want REAL maple syrup!

Dave

[johnofchar]

See you there. Plenty of camping space.

edit after gathering: We had a lot of campers this year. Could maybe squeeze in another half dozen or so.  

[R5]

Alaska Night at V-Strom East
Friday, May 18 from 9-10:30

Last year I came to the V-Strom East event to help prepare for our planned trip to Alaska in July. I got a lot of information and good advice--a great group of riders! The following people were particularly helpful and have agreed to give short presentations.

Bill Clelland and Mark Choquett will start us off.
Roy Bertalotto and Bob Hadden will go next.
Lew Waterman (and Punky) will go next.
Jeff Timblin, Joe Busby and Dick Peterson will conclude.  

Just thought it would be interesting to have some people to share their experiences this year. I know that many V-Stromer have taken some great trips to near and far away places. The Alaska night is not intended to leave anyone out ... just to get the ball rolling on what will hopefully be an annual tradition. Perhaps someone will volunteer to organize a presentation for next year.

The format will be that each group has about 15 minutes to talk about their experiences and show a few photos. The good folks at the Ironhorse have agreed to let us use their projector in the main lodge.

We'll start around 9 and finish with some Q&A by 10:30. My hope is that it will be fast-paced and entertaining (not boring) to a wide audience whether you plan to go to Alaska or not.

Comments and suggestions are welcome. Looking forward to seeing everyone there!

Dick Peterson
05 V-Strom 650
http://vstrom2alaska.blogspot.com/

[Stromdaddy]

Here is a quick video of Friday morning 2006 with a group leaving for the Dragon.
Just "found" it on my hard drive as I am getting ready for May.
Just thought I'd see if anyone recognizes themselves.
Sorry for the poor quality it was my camera (still) not video.

Stroms on Parade

[johnofchar]

Yes it's dry. You can get or share a cooler at the Horse. Don't know which way your coming from, but Bryson City is the closest where beer available.

[Redbeard]

I'd like to spend a little time and go looking for this "lost road"...

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=224493

Others are welcome to join in.

Take care,
Bob S.

[johnofchar]

Looks interesting. Finding the "lost road" is no problem as Mr. Garmin knows.

Southern red marker is entrane off Wayah Rd. Northern red marker is off White Oak Ln, which is 0.7 miles from green marker on Wayah Rd. The road is marked NC711.

[TwoRs]

Interesting road, have fun on that one with the Stroms!

You can scout it out on Friday and let the group know if it is worth the effort, same goes for the street crowd, scout areas and report that night as to thier worth.

Garry

[Busaroop]

I know that road well. I stayed on it last year. Very nice. There is a dirt road off Wayah that goes up to Wayah Bald as well that would be fun. I started up that road, but never made it to the top. Had a car load of wife and labs and the wife was gettin cranky.

You can take 28 down from bryson city to franklin (another good road) and then catch Wayah road out of Franklin up to 19. Wayah road is hwy 1310. That would be a very good loop.

[Anonymous]

On to the t-shirt. . .

Going with an update to last year's design.  Since we have more new people and I managed to get the date right this time, there might be more interest.  I wasn't planning on buying a bunch and bringing them down but you can order them on Zazzle once this is published (5/8/2007).

Updates include the date on the front with the VSRI logo and the URL for Vstrom.info on the back.  Figured it would be a good way to direct interested parties to the chaos.

Zazzle has a lot more options this year in terms of shirts.  I'm going with the performance microfiber.  It costs more, but it's better.  Plus it will eventually make a better car washing rag than that rough cotton stuff.

[Anonymous]

I'll make it available now.  I just thought I'd get some feedback on the changes.

Don't forget to use the $5 off $25 mother's day code (if it works on this order... not sure but saw it when I was building the shirt yesterday.)  I think the code is MOMDAYZAZZLE.


VSRI East Coast Group Ride 2007 T-Shirt

and for those who prefer it in black, I've already done the contrast customization on the text for you:

VSRI East Coast Group Ride 2007 - Black

Jerry

[TwoRs]

Is this the high tech fabric or the cotton?

How do I specify the HT stuff if this is not it?

I am like you, the new Under Armour type shirts is all I wear now!

Garry

[Anonymous]

Scroll to the right on the top of the clothing selection and it's the last 5 or so.  Mostly just white or gray though.

[TwoRs]

Every one that is riding with us should have a GPS or Mad Maps for guidance. You will not have to have either if you ride with a group that has the lead covered. I will put together suggested loops and you can choose said loops. The Tail of the Dragon web site has a list of ride loops with maps that can be down loaded that cover the area well and are most of the better rides.

I will check with Ironhorse to see if they have the Mad Maps for sale, they are normally around 10.00. You can order the Mad Maps online and have it delivered before you leave, study the area and read the suggested stops and type of ride, it includes estimated time to complete and turn by turn written directions in addition to the road map.

The groups should be kept close to 10 riders, if everyone has a map with a destination in mind, a lunch break and a return time will dictate what loop you may what to ride that day.

We need to know how many are going to be at the Lodge for dinner on Thursday so that the crew can cook enough food. Please contact the lodge or post here by Tuesday May 15th.

Garry

[TwoRs]

OK I have some Garmin routes that John Weldon may be able to post; but if not I can try and send you the file that you can look at and download if you have a Garmin compatible software program.

The files are of two street loops, one is a SE loop and the other is the Gap, Skyway and Ducktown loop. Both are all day loops and can be shortened.

The dual sport loop I was going to use is the one off of the Tail of the Dragon web site as I don't have personal experience with the off road riding in this area.

Garry

[johnofchar]

Garry's Routes:

The big one - 353 miles


Smaller but similar - 271 miles


The Gap, Ducktown & Cherohala - 217 miles