Eureka Springs.... What's the word?

[Backroad Mike]

Originally Posted by Infidel!

I think maybe we start planning for next year?

I like either ES or MV

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

I'm going to try saving some vacation specifically for this trip.

[Turbo Turtle]

Well, if anyone wants to come over and ride this year, just say when...


bob

[orbit]

Like many other Doof events, no one wants to take the lead in scouting and setting up rides any more.

Those who used to do that kind of stuff have either quit the group or no longer want to do that stuff.

It takes a lot of effort to plan a multiple day event.

dj and I worked hard to put together decent events up here in IL/WI/IA. We'd start early, like February, scouting different motels, places to eat, size up the land a little bit. We'd choose a base motel fairly quickly, then started working on the route planning, which was probably the hardest thing to do. Lots of time was spent on the google maps trying to make stuff different and interesting.

Come June or July, we'd blow out of work early on Friday to head up to the base motel. We'd spend the better part of the next two days pre-tripping our routes, checking on dining establishments, gas stations, places to stop for a break.

Sunday afternoon late we'd head for home, just in time to go back to work on Monday.

Then we'd plug those events here on the Doof site. We'd put all the stuff we learned in a event-specific post. Heck, I even shot and edited video of some of the stuff we'd see and put up youtube videos of the same, all in the hopes of encouraging others to join us.

After all that work, rider attendance still dropped. The last Cheesapalooza we hosted only Richard showed up. Kudos to him - he rode in from Kansas. That was up in Tomah in '11.

We'd do the same stuff for the GBNF rides we hosted in Guttenberg, IA and Viroqua, WI. Same recipe as before. All the same work, sans video. First ride Big Tom showed up, second ride Big Cheese. That was it.

dj got tired of putting in all that effort for naught. So did I.

The last ride we hosted was a GBNF back in June of '14. That's the last ride I ever made with Doofs. Yep, coming up on six years.

Look back in the early history of this site. Heck, there were rides all over the place. I'd do three a year - Manure Tour, Squish and Cheesapalooza. Those rides are all dead.

There used to be East coast stuff, Midwest stuff, Texas stuff, except for Cloudriders, which I believe Ms. T is still in charge of. Even now there's no advance announcement on the Doof site of what's up with that ride. I don't do facebook anymore, so Cloudriders is a mystery to me.

All the cool rides we used to have ceased to exist because no one was willing to pick up the torch and run with it.

And, apparently, that's still the case.

I was to ES one time only, back in '14. I had to cram a lot of riding in as I only had four days, and two of those days were down and back days, so two days of riding in AR was all I could fit in. I was tired and beat by the time I got back home, but it was worth it. It would've been nice to have a day to lounge around and socialize with all y'all, but I didn't have the time to do so.

So, until someone decides to take the lead, it seems like Doofapalooza will be like the other rides, a distant memory.

Peace.

[Fe Butte]

Originally Posted by orbit

Like many other Doof events, no one wants to take the lead in scouting and setting up rides any more.

Those who used to do that kind of stuff have either quit the group or no longer want to do that stuff.

It takes a lot of effort to plan a multiple day event.

dj and I worked hard to put together decent events up here in IL/WI/IA. We'd start early, like February, scouting different motels, places to eat, size up the land a little bit. We'd choose a base motel fairly quickly, then started working on the route planning, which was probably the hardest thing to do. Lots of time was spent on the google maps trying to make stuff different and interesting.

Come June or July, we'd blow out of work early on Friday to head up to the base motel. We'd spend the better part of the next two days pre-tripping our routes, checking on dining establishments, gas stations, places to stop for a break.

Sunday afternoon late we'd head for home, just in time to go back to work on Monday.

Then we'd plug those events here on the Doof site. We'd put all the stuff we learned in a event-specific post. Heck, I even shot and edited video of some of the stuff we'd see and put up youtube videos of the same, all in the hopes of encouraging others to join us.

After all that work, rider attendance still dropped. The last Cheesapalooza we hosted only Richard showed up. Kudos to him - he rode in from Kansas. That was up in Tomah in '11.

We'd do the same stuff for the GBNF rides we hosted in Guttenberg, IA and Viroqua, WI. Same recipe as before. All the same work, sans video. First ride Big Tom showed up, second ride Big Cheese. That was it.

dj got tired of putting in all that effort for naught. So did I.

The last ride we hosted was a GBNF back in June of '14. That's the last ride I ever made with Doofs. Yep, coming up on six years.

Look back in the early history of this site. Heck, there were rides all over the place. I'd do three a year - Manure Tour, Squish and Cheesapalooza. Those rides are all dead.

There used to be East coast stuff, Midwest stuff, Texas stuff, except for Cloudriders, which I believe Ms. T is still in charge of. Even now there's no advance announcement on the Doof site of what's up with that ride. I don't do facebook anymore, so Cloudriders is a mystery to me.

All the cool rides we used to have ceased to exist because no one was willing to pick up the torch and run with it.

And, apparently, that's still the case.

I was to ES one time only, back in '14. I had to cram a lot of riding in as I only had four days, and two of those days were down and back days, so two days of riding in AR was all I could fit in. I was tired and beat by the time I got back home, but it was worth it. It would've been nice to have a day to lounge around and socialize with all y'all, but I didn't have the time to do so.

So, until someone decides to take the lead, it seems like Doofapalooza will be like the other rides, a distant memory.

Peace.

Yes a lot of work goes into the scouting and setting up a place to stay / hold rooms until XX date, so people can get their reservations locked in at the "base" hotel / motel.


I have enjoyed every ride I have been able to do.
Just to meet up with remote friends who love and share the riding life obsession and have a few days together for a great time.
Most of my trips involved a week of just getting to and from and I enjoyed every moment of it.

[orbit]

Originally Posted by Fe Butte

Yes a lot of work goes into the scouting and setting up a place to stay / hold rooms until XX date, so people can get their reservations locked in at the "base" hotel / motel.


I have enjoyed every ride I have been able to do.
Just to meet up with remote friends who love and share the riding life obsession and have a few days together for a great time.
Most of my trips involved a week of just getting to and from and I enjoyed every moment of it.

Yeah, Tom.

I'll always tip my hat to you.



Cloudriders '10 you rode out with Doug and Geno. I thought it was a big deal when whyme Ed, dj and I rode three days to get there. You guys were on the road for like a week, all to hang out and ride a day ride in Hill Country.

Then almost another week for all y'all to get home.

And you still ride cross country to Doof events.

Kudos, my friend!

Kudos!

[Margarita]

Roy and I went to two rides: one Cloudriders and Red Lodge. I did some scouting for Red Lodge but someone else, Billy B, I think, made the arrangements.

The two of us generally ride a mile apart through wide open country. It was a genuine pleasure to meet some of you nice folks but riding in crowds is an intense experience for introverts.

[Scabbydoo]

Originally Posted by orbit

Like many other Doof events, no one wants to take the lead in scouting and setting up rides any more.
It takes a lot of effort to plan a multiple day event.

You are spot on Ken. It does take a lot of time and effort, don't ask how I know...

The hassle of trying to please everybody and the eventual blow-back do to that being a physical impossibility tends to make you less eager to keep 'sticking your hand up'.

Originally Posted by orbit

Yeah, Tom.

I'll always tip my hat to you.

Tom and Richard are two of my hardcore heroes.

[MrSurly]

There’s no question that it takes a bunch of work and time to put together a ride event. I’ve done two of them, both local East Texas events, one based at my house (Piney woods) and another in Nacogdoches (GBNF) and both were small events, but a surprising bit of time was required to get it together.
They were both totally worth it, great memories were made.
ES of course is a bigger thing (has been) but there’s another way to approach this. I think the possibility exists of doing ES in a “less big” way. Will we ever have the group we had in ‘08? Nope, not gonna happen. Is there a hope of a Doofapalooza level event? Probably not.
However, the routes are a known quantity. Massive pre-planning and scouting is really not needed.
There’s the old standard hotel, flaws and all but there are many others. We have some familiarity with them.
Could we do an “official” DooF event? HellifIknow.
Given our familiarity with the venue, the food, the shopping and the many other features of the ES area, it seems to me that if an agreement on a date window could be reached, there’s nothing to stop a group of friends from spending a week or so riding at ES.
Maybe the group is two. Or maybe it’s a dozen. Maybe.... that group includes you.

[MrSurly]

After typing all that, I have to add that I have NO IDEA the many ways that the COVID issue is going to wreak havoc on my job and ability to plan anything. We do a lot of work for the Navy and DOD.
At this time we have many projects postponed and whenever the project floodgates open, it is likely I will be slammed.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Fe Butte]

Also the W VA ride was a blast.


The biggie is someone scouting out a motel in an area, then getting all those that are thinking of coming to make reservations.


I know some people are extremely frugal when it comes to renting a room for a day or more.



What I have found in my travels is there is a wide range of room charges, and that all turn on the local economy and the area being a huge tourist draw or not.




I have been in high end chain hotels / motels that are charging half of what some mom and pop (meets the need) motel is charging and that all depends on if they are year round or shut down for 4 - 6 months out of the year due to the amount of the people traveling in their area and the weather conditions prohibit people from coming to the area.

[Infidel!]

Covid is he big issue right now. I don't want to travel and eat out until things settle down, which is going to be a while according to all indications.

That said I have no problem putting in the effort to organize a gathering. I like doing that and I've got nothing but time and a motorcycle to spend it on.

If there is interest I can begin working on it for next year.

ES is good, Maggie Valley is good, but we've been there.

How about some other place near ES like Branson, MO? Still kind of central to the country and in the Ozarks. I would love to see some old faces again. (Besides my own)

[fred1369]

100 miles and 3 hours closer.

[Infidel!]

Originally Posted by fred1369

100 miles and 3 hours closer.

You drive slow


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

[MrSurly]

I like the idea of Branson. My only foray into Branson to date involved a breakdown, an entertaining slide down a greased wrecker bed and ended (eventually) with a very expensive trip to Springfield. I never got to actually experience Branson. I have no doubt that there are ES-equivalent venues and rides in the area. ES itself is easily in the day-ride range.
So, yes, I’m interested.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[stoney]

I don't really think I could attend this year...... the difference in our currencies means everything would cost me 40% more and I really can't afford that at this time. But if the dollar gets better, ya never know.....