EOM 2011 after action thread

EOM 2011 Comments, Complaints, and Suggestions thread

EOM2011 is in the bag. Annette and I just got back to the house, and I hope everyone else has / had a safe ride home. Thank you to everyone to make the trip to Cumberland Falls, it is always great to see old friends again and to make new ones as well.

Also, once again, a special thanks to everyone who made this annual gathering happen – Jason (Jwilly), Dom (Ngarider), Jeff (haulinashe), Chris (Jeiger), Duane (OHFJR), Mike (DSbiker), James (protondecay123 – bluegrass tour), Barry (Bustanut – dogtag engraving), Sharron (Scoops – rider first aid kit display) and to all the sponsors and members who donated swag.

Now, comments, complaints, & suggestions. If you’ve got a comment about something that you liked or disliked, great. If you’ve got a complaint, have a recommendation if you’re going to list it, and any suggestions – activities, locations, etc. Just remember, if you put it out there, be willing to stand up for it.

I’ll hit the top three right off the bat:

1. Complaint: No alcohol. Yea, it was a dry county, it was discussed a couple of times, but it was still a surprise to some. Recommendation: Jason drives his car again and fills the trunk with beer at the nearest wet county on the way! (or we pick a location NOT in a dry county).

2. Complaint: Phone / internet access sucked. The price of admission to such an out of the way locality.

3. Comment: KY90 was the best entrance / exit to any EOM venue I’ve ever been to (2007 to present)!!

Wayne

No biggy Wayne. Thanks to you it was painless.

Regarding Complaint #2 I was a little concerned, I figured the lot of ya got the Altitude sickness and posting up was too difficult a task. :lol:

I hear Captain U turn got a case of it...

Oh, and ummmm...... KY and entrance/exit? Funny choice of words there.

Comment: EOM 11 was great Fun - nearly everyone went out of their way to be friendly and generous. A personal thank you to everyone who helped with my (cough, uh) 'electrical problem'.

Suggestion: I think it'd be cool to have a BBQ arranged next year. I don't know what it would cost, or if the chosen facility will allow it, but nothing beats roasted pig.

I have nothing but admiration for all who put in all the frickin time with all the bad crap that goes on in your personal lives while all this unimportant EOM stuff has to get put together. Thanks to all the organizing committee for doing all the work through the year.

Sorry that I have nothing constructive to add.

Call me the official EOM suckup. I just had a great time. Thanks. :clapping:

BTW, the roads were GREAT!!!!!!!! :yahoo:

It was all great. The only suggestion would be maybe pre-sign ups for routes. I would be willing to organize it - maybe a thread for each route - each day and people just respond to that thread - then we can pick leaders and all meet at set time at designated place in parking lot. Could then subdivide into the pace people like to go on the routes. Must say got set up both days on chance with a great group of 5 and 8 riders and had a awesome time. We all enjoyed the same pace and had a great leader in Mike and Ken as alternate when Mike GPS went out.

Good job to all involved in constructing EOM 2011.

So it was wet.... and I camped. So it was a dry county.... and I spent a day riding around looking for booze and cigars. The pluses... I made friends, drank too much, smoked to many cigars and rode around looking cool in three states.

So when and where is EOM 2012?

Thanks guys and gals.

Wayne,

This was a great choice for a location for the rally. The rustic ambiance of the lodge, which was pretty darned cost effective IMO, having the stuff in the park to see and do (how many folks didn't go down to see the falls?), the seemingly endless supply of awesome roads to ride including the approach roads from both directions. What's not to like?

One thing that we did at NERDS this year that might help with the ride grouping was we set out blank ride sign up sheets each night so folks could volunteer to lead a small group ride and others, especially those who are new to the fold, could join in on one and get to meet and ride with others that they have never even met before. It seemed to work out well from my vantage point, but maybe check with some of the NERDS attendees for candid feedback on how successful it really was.

Also having some community beer coolers set out in the rear parking lot would probably go a long way towards easing the "dry county" complaints. Just have folks drop a buck or two in a jar when they help themselves and the coolers should never go empty.

OTOH, having the event in bourbon country, and getting to visit the distillery was a real treat for me personally (Thanks again, James!).

Maybe the lodge would be willing to block off car access to the back lot for the whole event? It was great having everyone hanging together there Sat night after the dinner. I would definitely keep that place on the EOM rotation.

Kudos to Wayne and everyone involved in Planning this Rally. We had a blast!! Will definitely be back next year!

In my planning for the EOM Tour of the Bluegrass, I tried to lessen the impact of some of these issues.

Complaint 1: No alcohol. > We went to a distillery and stopped by a liquor store on the way home. I figured that most people would get in on Thursday, so Friday as a full day of riding and an opportunity to "stock up" for the weekend. Was born and raised in a dry county, but only had to drive about 10 -15 miles to get beer, wine, or whiskey there. Was surprised by how far you had to drive from Cumberland Falls to get a beer ( Tennessee about 30 miles away). If you wanted wine or whiskey then you had to go about 50 miles to a different town in Tennessee or about 70 miles to Lancaster, KY.

One word of caution regarding sending the truck to the liquor store is that dry counties have "bootlegging" laws regarding how much alcohol you can have in your personal possession. In Arkansas it was one 1/2 Gallon of whiskey, 2 cases of beer or 2 gallons of wine. > One idea is to have a "bootleggers run" for some twisties to the liquor store available to all on their own timeframe and capacity.

Complaint 2: Phone/internet access. > Not much you can do about that.

Route signups > Thats pretty much the idea behind this tour. "Themed" routes aren't for everyone for sure, but we definitely had some great twisties to ride. We rode at a leisurely pace, appropriate for those two up.

No place is perfect > Overall the place was awesome! Would definitely go back to an EOM there again!

I really enjoyed EOM and meeting folks again and some folks for the first time...just a great all-around experience. Never expected to have great cell service up there mainly because I use AT&T, lol, and it's in the mountains...so no biggie. I thought the facilities were nice; our cabin was great! If I had one tiny criticism on the lodging arrangement it would be that we were scattered just a bit.

I'm glad to have gotten the chance to visit Sgt. York's hometown with some good friends, Patriot, and Mvette! Being a tourist before rider can be fun!

Hat's off to the team for putting this together! It was a job well done!

Dry county? Meh... since I knew about it I could pack it in.

Phone and Internet sucky? Actually... that was almost a benefit as I had to "check in" less frequently... besides the area was so gorgeous and the roads so excellent who wanted to be on the damn phone and Internet anyway??

LOVED the routes... Really enjoyed protondecay123's themed ride (excellent BBQ at that roadside joint and I learned a ton about whiskey) even riding in the downpour was just part of the adventure and the change of pace riding the Cumberland Gap East route with some... err... "spirited" riders the next day was outstanding. That is the BEST day of riding I have had in a looooong time.

I think the idea of route threads for sign up prior is a great idea... if you have a couple of folks volunteer to lead groups on each route for each day that would help out newbies and solos a lot (maybe a "normal" and "fast" group breakout?). Me being a newbie to EOM, El Toro Joe kind of led me around a bit and that was greatly appreciated. Without him as a guide or "sponsor" or whatever you call it I wouldn't likely have gotten into such a great group on Saturday.

I've said it before but it can't be said enough... THANK YOU to all who helped put this event together. I will definitely be going to EOM again next year.

maybe you stop scheduling this thing around my kid birthday. The little dude will be selecting my Looney toon home, I need to be good to him

I had company at home and only made it in Saturday and back out Sunday. Nevertheless, had a great ride with the missus (she really enjoyed bantering with all the females - another great plus for this group), great mingling and fellowship in the parking lot. I do not miss the phone and computer connects, but still would be nice if available.

I agree with Jager on the possibility of BBQ. I liked the location, albeit remote, and would hope it would stay somewhat in the EOM rotation also. I wish I could comment on the routes, but did not ride a single one. Another good reason to return.

But most of all, none of it would have worked without the few who give so much. Thank you ever so much to Jwilly, Mr and Mrs Extreme Marine, Jager, Haulin, as well as the many that have contributed in the past. Everybody who attended, thank yourselves for keeping it going in tough times. It was good to see some folks I had not seeen in years. Cliff

Fred (not Ed) has the right idea'r here.. :clapping:

Susan and I had a great time at the EOM. The only suggestion I would have is a sheet given out at registration listing the attendees names and screen names. I met a bunch of really nice people and Susan had a ball talking about her VFR at a FJR meet. Everyone made us feel like it was not our first EOM but we were old friends. Talked a lot about being a Darksider and raised a few eyebrows but no one took me up on the offer to take it for a ride, maybe next year. All in all, I could not have experianced a better weekend. The organizers did a fantastic job which took countless hours of planning to pull off. The routes that Jeff made were fantastic. I rode each day with MikeHogan aka Powerman and every time we saw a dirt road or "challenge" all he would do is smile and say that it was Jeff's signature, now lets have fun. Truly an event to remember and look forward to again.

Annie and I had a good time! Thanks!

Made it home from my very 1st EOM or anyother orgainized FRJ ride. It was a great experience and i look forward to the next one! Sencerly the unoffical Youngest FJR rider...maybe in the world hahaha :clapping:

It's very difficult to find someone willing to put forth so much effort and then sit quietly while inviting people to give him crap about the details.

A big thanks to Wayne for his willingness to take on the challenge. And Thank You to everyone sharing their thoughts. I hope you feel good about the investment of your own efforts, time and money.

The weather played a big role in what could be accomplished this year. I hope everyone got a chance to ride at least SOME of the SouthwestEggRolls and CucumberlandGap routes. Those two were definitely my first choices.

Anyone who ran CrackedIce with a GPS... I would love to have your track file. I can determine where the goat trails were by watching your speed and direction. Those 197-point turns are fairly easy to spot.

I didn't mind the dry county thing, mostly because I called ahead and asked Grumpy to bring extra. Traveling six days, two-up on the FJR didn't leave any space for hooch. But I must admit to missing a bar. Some of the best times I've had at EOM have been sitting around the bar telling fresh lies about the day's journey.

My suggestions for change pretty much remain unchanged each year.

* Have the banquet/dinner on Friday evening, leaving Sat-Sun open for those who need two days to travel home and report to work on Monday.

* Schedule the event earlier in the year, at least every other year, so those with younger children can attend during summer break.

I had a great time at EOM, as I always do when I get together with the folks who just happen to ride the same model bike that I ride. I suppose the bike we choose really does say something about the kind of people we are, since we all seem to enjoy each other's company. And a big thanks to Wayne and all the other folks who VOLUNTEERED their time to pull this together.

Cumberland Falls was a very nice place. I enjoyed the rustic lodge and I camped across the street from the lodge so the proximity was good for me. I would not have liked it as much if I had been in the other campground or one of the cabins which were further away from the center of activity. In fact I think I'd like to go back there with the family some day to just enjoy the park and be a tourist.

I no longer carry a laptop when I ride so internet was not a concern for me. The poor cell service was actually better than what I have at home, which is none at all, so that was not problem for me.

I planned ahead for the place being in a dry county and brought a small bottle of my favorite branch water.

Although it was a great experience and I enjoyed it a lot, I suggest that we try another place next year. A place more like the Brier Inn in Lewisburg is perfect because it has the central parking lot for socializing, fuel right next door, restaurants, and other shopping very close, including beer. And I like the roads around Lewisburg better than any other place I have ridden. Just my 2 cents.

Again, had a great time! The best part is the people...no mater the site. It's always like a family reunion seeing everyone again. Thanks to the organizers for all their hard work in making it happen! :drinks: The routes were really great...especially 66 and 63 in Tn. :fan_1: