New England TRIKE TALK 2018

[dougv]

Mal, thanks for inquiring about the rally. That area if you have never been there is great for riding. Traffic is very minimal except around the major towns and it's easy to avoid those. Most of the roads have been resurfaced so very few pot holes to deal with and the views are great from valley towns along the Hudson River to the mountain ski areas around Windham.

My wife and I have a seasonal site up that way and I try to bring the trike every now and then and we usually have a good group of people from camp to ride with. Ir you have any questions please feel free to e-mail me at dveronneau@sbcglobal.net since the PM feature is not working.

Hope to meet you and your group...

 

[John Luciano]

Glad to have you come. Don't know if you read the deal. The place we are staying at ( if you choose to , there are other places in the area if you chose not to stay at our hoste venue ) not really a motel. Some people have the wrong idea that this is a MOTEL. This is actually a place people have weddings and banquets, class reunions etc. add that to what Doug mentioned in the previous post and we are looking at FUN . If we get enough people I'll do a prize Raffle , trophies, and we can do T shirts . Love to have your group. BTW we don't frown on 2 wheelers all welcome.

 

[dougv]

throwing in the towel

Hey everyone, as the title says I am throwing in the towel on the New England Rally, at least as Trike Talk members are concerned. The number of members who have shown an interest in a rally is very low, I know we are trying to get sign ups early but we have conditions put on the rally by the resorts owner, mainly he needs to fill his resort in the summer and if we don't as a group, he has to look elsewhere.

It's tough to judge what you as members are thinking, at this point we don't know the reason why many of you who I met at the Ct and Vt rally's are not even telling us why there is no interest, whether cost is an issue or location.

For those of you that have signed up, the rally will still go on at the designated place. The owner has asked me if we would mind if he advertised on the Long island TV channel as he is interested in hosting a motorcycle/trike event himself, whether it is Trike Talk members or another group.

I belong to another riding group New England Riders and several members do have trikes and the admin has given me permission to post on that groups Facebook page about the rally. I don't want to be the person responsible for the resorts owner losing a weekends profit and if another bike/trike group wants to join us they will be welcome.

So basically this is last call before the resort is opened to other groups so if anyone from Trike talk is interested in going, I suggest you make your reservations now. Unfortunately we have been plagued with technical issues that prevent us from contacting you directly but the information is in these posts and if you have any questions, please e-mail me at dveronneau@sbcglobal.net

I'm hoping this will turn around.

 

[spiritdream]

Attendance issues

Doug, something that may help answer your questions about low attendance/registration. I for one have a very limited amount to spend for "away" vacations, usually only one every few years, so I generally choose Americade for it's proximity, size, sights (more bikes to ogle & drool over), and the vendors (I can't always buy, but I can plan). Even then, I can really only afford a few days. I've enjoyed many TrikeTalk rallies over the years, both New England and Maggie Valley, and wish I could attend more, but right now it's beyond my ability to afford to do that and attend Americade.

Having coordinated a number of rallies, I know how much work and worry is involved in trying to make everyone happy, even though you know it's impossible to do, and I also know that everyone who attends appreciates all you've done. Even if the gathering didn't satisfy everything that everyone wanted, they all know that you tried to keep them all in mind when making decisions. And even though I haven't been able to attend, I know you & John tried very hard the last couple of years to put together the best weekends you could for as many people as possible. As a TrikeTalk member, I thank you both for your efforts.

 

[dougv]

Hi Cheri, thanks for the encouragement, I know what you mean about time off, my wife and I usually reserve a few weeks off in April to go south and then the rest of my vacation we spread out, so to take 2 days out of a week is not easy with my job. Next weekend is a good example, as long as the weather is decent we are heading up to Americade with friends for the day, I go back to work on Thursday and then we are heading to Maine to see my niece on Friday through Monday. That will probably be the extent of my vacation until later in the summer for the rally.

I guess what bothers me more is not getting any responses back. Hearing that someone can't make it due to other plans or whatever reason is better than not getting any traffic or comments about the rally. John and I are dissapointed because the last good rally where a lot of people went was in Vt., since the NH rally had to be cancelled, it seems like it lost steam and I don't think that one had a lot of sign ups either. Maybe the riders who have trikes are getting older and don't want to go far and the younger riders can't afford a trike, although we had riders with Spyders. Maybe we can combine Americade with our rally sometime so this way it's more affordable.

 

[spiritdream]

Wish I had an answer for you Doug. I can tell you that very few will contact you to say they aren't coming, for whatever reason. Could be the economy or just changing interests, but have you considered that part of the "problem" might be the location? I could be way off, but it seems to me that interest started dropping around the time it drifted to New York. A lot of the previous attendees came because they wanted to visit New England - NH, Maine, Vt, etc. New York is a bit further for many of them, and "local" for some of the others.

We used to try to have a breakfast/dinner gathering for TrikeTalk members at Americade, but even that was hard to coordinate, what with people coming & going at different times or signing up for events & cruises. And that was only usually 8-10 people, when we managed to do it at all.

It's a shame if this come to an end, but I don't have the time or the health to take it over again, so if you & John can't continue with it, I just want to say thanks for all you've both done. Maybe someone else will be able to step up and continue it.

 

[John Luciano]

Actually it is closer now and easier to get to for the majority of the regular attendees. The route to Catskills is easier. $ wise this is cheaper than the last few rallies. Once you pay you can leave your credit card I your pocket. You don't have to scope out area restaurants ( been there. Done that. ) have been disappointed with my choice a few times. As Doug mentioned. If you don't like something we are doing tell us. Don't just fade away. This is YOUR. Rally . We did have people ask for other locations further south. We did it up here because all the other rally's are further south.also those that are asking for the location expect Doug and I to still do it. If some one wants to try it next year let us know. This is too much work for just 10 people to attend.

 

[87Trike1200]

John - I just ran across the group picture from a few years ago. We all had blue rally shirts on - I think maybe it was the Torrington rally. If I counted right, there were 33 people in the picture plus an unknown number who didn't make it to the picture.

It can't believe the apparent low head count so far for this year. As discussed privately, my 2 back surgeries have, so far, left me walking with a cane and/or walker. IF I did show up at the "last minute" it would be via Mini Cooper. It's like a 4 wheel "trike" with a roof.

I encourage anyone with doubt's about going, to attend - you won't be sorry. Best wishes to all...

 

[John Luciano]

Thanks , enjoy see you no mates what you come in.

Torrington was the 1st large rally 54 people. NH 1st was 58 the 2nd NH was 40

we skipped s year the next 1st Catskills was 21

 

[dougv]

Hey Warren, if you are thinking of going with the mini, it would be great to see you and Barbara. The resort has a group of rooms that are on ground level and there are paved paths leading into the main building. You can always register now and if it didn't work out, you have time to cancel.

The roads up there are perfect for trikes, bikes and minis:clapping:

 

[John Luciano]

Here we are at the rally. The food was better than expected. Having a great time. Bozo is posting pictures. I hope to be able to see if he teaches me how..desert was sometimes all you can eat from this selection or, you got served a choice of Pie with icecream,or a Sunday,yes the cordials ( liquior ) was included, Balies Irish cream was a favorites. Right Ron ?

night time entertainment was Fun. Yours truly even tried a tune or 2 on the Kareoke machine.

 

[Bikerbozo]

Here we are at the rally. The food was better than expected. Having a great time. O o is posting pictures. I hope to be able to if he teaches me how

When you can snatch the jpegs from my hand, grasshopper, then you will be ready to post them.:qpnmt:

 

[1dn5up]

When you can snatch the jpegs from my hand, grasshopper, then you will be ready to post them.:qpnmt:

You 2 ain’t sharing the same room, I hope :Shrug:

 

[John Luciano]

Who wants to see the food. We were to the point we were thinking of refusing some. I may be wrong but I think someone did refuse desert. cheery pie Ala Mode

Doug eying Paula’s Chicken. My veal parm, and when the chicken noodle soup came out. Ron thought it was just his portion. Cathy put an end to that in a hurry. Enough soup to have seconds.

this was the steak last night .

 

[John Luciano]

Not all about food. Doug took us on some interesting rides. I loved the rollercoster ride down the mountain. Paula was not impressed with the 100 foot drops on the sides.Yogi called it the tail of the Geico. Boat ride on the Hudson was enjoyable.

 

[John Luciano]

Bet you wish By now Bozo never showed me how

so just a few more. Breakfast every morning, raffle prizes ( everyone won something) 3 grand prizes a drone, and 2 craftsman wrench sets. Trophy awards too!

 

[John Luciano]

And they let us park right in front of the room with the trailer

 

[Burnerboy]

A fun time "was had" by all!

It was great to meet everyone, and to actually put a "face" too a name..............:clapping:

When's the next rally ??????????????? I'm there again!

Ronnie

 

[Burnerboy]

A very special "thanks" should go out to John an Doug, ​for all their hard work and dedication setting this trike Rally up!!!



Ronnie

Thank you!

 

[John Luciano]

The last nett rally ?????

We talked about this going to be the last. Well response was so good. We had so much fun. We learned a lot of what people liked and did not like. We will be posting new info after the 1st of the year. NETT 2019. I can't have this end on such a high note. We want people to be happy. We talked about looking into an alternative place to stay. ACRA MANOR HOTEL & RESORT will still be our host motel. They allow non guest to eat breakfast or even a meal or two at a reasonable rate. This will allow those that want to ride further and eat at local restaurants. The bar is also open at night. Keep the weekend before Labor Day pencilled in on your calendar ( save a date ) THANKS FOR ALL YOR WELL WISHES.

PS. I Think Doug and myself need to hear from people that will be interested in going next year. We liked the small group. Maybe we should limit it to 1st 10 or 12 sign ups .. Limit it to 10 or 12 .... Bikes / trikes .. Please voice an opinion. We are all ears.

 

[Yogisan]

Home again, home again

Letty and I rolled in about 3:15 pm. As usual for PA we got trapped in a backup on Rt 22 because of an accident. Other than that it was pretty routine.

I know a couple of people put in a lot of work to pull this together for this year, but we was not particularly impressed with Acra Manor. In my opinion, for what we paid, the rooms were crappy and the food was disappointing (and I'm not the only one who felt that way). Considering the expectations that were set, rather than us being lucky to get rooms there, in my opinion, they were lucky to get us. I didn't take an actual head count, but it appeared that our small group was about half of their total visitors during the time we were there.

 

[Bikerbozo]

File this under the "it coulda happened while at the rally". Even though I only rode my backup bike up there(trailered to hotel). Took it to office today. On way home, I go to up shift. Heal shifter is missing. Made an illegal u turn between HOV lanes. Went back a couple of miles. Had to go further than I meant to due to po po sitting in another u turn. Went back same way and spotted shifter. Pulled over and walked back to get it. Good thing too, since I decided to take the bike to Hooksett NH in morning for work.

 

[dougv]

Yogi, why are you so negative on this rally, I think you are a person who is never happy no matter what the level of service is either that you have too much time on your hands and just like to bitch. I'm sorry that we have to air our dirty laundry in a public forum since we can't PM any more but I heard of no complaints and if there was a complaint, I would have addressed it to the staff. The staff was more than happy to take care of us, I don't know where you eat normally but the meals were excellent and there was plenty to eat. You want to pay $50.00 a night for a room and then expect the best place, well look around and check prices, your not going to get that in the northeast/NY area.

As for how many people stayed there, the dining room is big and was built in the heyday of the Catskill travel years and a lot of these places have either closed or just hanging in there. Karen and I have eaten dinner out at several places in that area and the food was better than most places I have been. John was in the kitchen and it was spotless and modern. Being the weekend before Labor Day that weekend always has less visitors then, that is the reason I picked it.

I'm not going to beat a dead horse over your comments but, IF we decide to keep the rally there, I will not waste my time trying to find a hotel that meets your expectations. You can find your own hotel and better yet, start your own rally in Md.

 

[John Luciano]

I would love to hear others comments. The only way to improve this rally is to get input.

I am quite fussy with food. If the meals were bad I would have said so. My streak on Sat was one of the best I have had in a restaurant in a while. Cooked perfectly, I even cut it with a fork. The night before my chicken was moist and fully cooked a full size bird. Not a pigeon as you sometimes get. I agree the sauce was not my mothers sauce ( she passed 48 years ago so not going to get that anytime soon )..last year we did the find your own eating place and I don't think I can remember getting any meal better than we had last weekend. We ate at Captains Look out and if I remember correctly it was about $40 plus tip. We ate breakfast in town $12 for Eggs ham and a coffee. Rooms in that area start at $100 a night. Last year mine was $140 I just dug out my bill. It was no lux room. We had no social time last year. All cramed in a 12x12 room. And even told to keep it quiet more than once. The find your own motel next year is a good option, let us know how you make out. As I remember at the VT rally the people that were less fortunate ( well that too is an understatement ) and had to go down the street to a better motel ( I had to sit on the bed to open the drawers, and step in the shower to close the bathroom door. No Tv and No AC wait that was $120 a night with breakfast . The people 20 miles down the road were left out on a lot of rides and meetings. Ok who wants to tell me what was so wrong this year.

 

[Bikerbozo]

Just ask Dianne. I am a very picky eater. Not a single complaint about the food . Enjoyed it all. Didn't like there was a charge for soda. But I will survive. WiFi sucked. I brought that up to the staff and suggested what they could do to improve. Needed to hang bedspread over window to block that laser beam at night. Staff was surprised angle of light got in. Will look into it. Would have liked a refrigerator in room. They had no problems keeping all my ice packs in a freezer in donut shop. Plenty of ice available for me. Standard type price for area. Overall, I was happy with place. Oh, and Dianne wants a bigger TV. Nice pool too. Great staff. Mean little rottweiler wannabe. Everyone looks happy in the videos I took in lounge. Will try and get uploaded soon.

 

[dougv]

I don't like breakfast buffets but this one was absolutely the best, the ones in our town don't even come close to measuring up to this one....the eggs were freshly made, bagels were fresh, none of the bread or pastries were stale or hard, the only thing missing was grits

The dinners blew away what we got at the Grey Ghost Inn, up there Karen just asked for chicken instead of chicken and ribs and ended up with just one small piece of chicken, no comparison in quality and quantity....

 

[cavie]

Yogi, why are you so negative on this rally, I think you are a person who is never happy no matter what the level of service is either that you have too much time on your hands and just like to bitch. I'm sorry that we have to air our dirty laundry in a public forum since we can't PM any more but I heard of no complaints and if there was a complaint, I would have addressed it to the staff. The staff was more than happy to take care of us, I don't know where you eat normally but the meals were excellent and there was plenty to eat. You want to pay $50.00 a night for a room and then expect the best place, well look around and check prices, your not going to get that in the northeast/NY area.

As for how many people stayed there, the dining room is big and was built in the heyday of the Catskill travel years and a lot of these places have either closed or just hanging in there. Karen and I have eaten dinner out at several places in that area and the food was better than most places I have been. John was in the kitchen and it was spotless and modern. Being the weekend before Labor Day that weekend always has less visitors then, that is the reason I picked it.

I'm not going to beat a dead horse over your comments but, IF we decide to keep the rally there, I will not waste my time trying to find a hotel that meets your expectations. You can find your own hotel and better yet, start your own rally in Md.

Not trying to hijack this thread. I hope to attend next years rally as it is near me when I'm up here Pittsfield in the summers. I've been away from the forum for a while. I have been trying to PM a member involved in this thread as he is near me here in MA and apparently near me in Florida also. What happened to PM's. How can I contact this member?

 

[dougv]

Hey Butch,

Is that Ronnie (Burner Boy) you were looking for? If it is, send me an e-mail at dveronneau@sbcglobal.net

Ronnie was at the rally this year, if it isn't, maybe someone else knows who you are looking for. It was very difficult this year trying to reach people because of not allowing PM's and I don't know if everyone puts their e-mail or contact info on this site. We were kicking around the idea to start a Facebook group to keep in touch better. I am on one group but they are for Honda trikes only and I want to make it open to any brand.

 

[dougv]

Butch,

John and myself are in Torrington, Ct., not far south of you. When are you heading back to Florida, maybe we can do a meet up for dinner with Ronnie and a few other people. I am almost retired and will be in St Pete during the winter hopefully, I have family in Englewood, not far from your Florida home.

 

[John Luciano]

Our table was 100% pleased with the place. 1st night was a touch down with extra point field goal ( that would be the Baileys) .. 2nd night was a hole in one , 3rd night was Nothing but NET 3 pointer .. ( we were sports ratting ) ..I made my only complaints. Bozo told us his.

He was on the other table so he can tell us who did not like the food. We did not hear from Cathy or Garry . I'm sure Pat and Don are still on the road.

No place is PEEEEEERFECT". That would be nice but not gona happen. I stayed at a motel in Hawaii. 35 years ago $200 a night and it was not perfect. Like I said we spent little time in the room. I had WiFi sparaticly in my room. Excellent and then nothing. I agree repeaters are cheap. I have one so I have Wifi at my pool ( 200 feet from my router ) I did not have much problem with the Wifi I only used it to do the pictures and check email.

Im waiting to hear from the others.