I didn't participate in the parade. I took advantage of the empty campground to do some riding on the trails and take a shower without waiting in line. Even still, I hate to hear that a few guys might have ruined it for everyone else.
I'm glad Jeff's banning the dirtbikes and big two strokes though. The guy next to us ran back and his two stroke at 40-50mph all day Friday and Saturday. It was so loud, that it made it hard to have a conversation with the people standing next to me
I'm glad Jeff's banning the dirtbikes and big two strokes though. The guy next to us ran back and his two stroke at 40-50mph all day Friday and Saturday. It was so loud, that it made it hard to have a conversation with the people standing next to me
That guy KNEW the noise was obnoxious and I know several people asked him to tone it down. So what did he do, he revved the hell out of it. Well...that didn't get past The Big Kahuna! Jeff told me he couldn't talk to people and the guy was half way up the hill it was so loud. His words were "Never again!" I agree with you Capgun. When he said that I did a little jig lol.
Doc
Doc
Razzo,
Good points made.
Please don't shoot the messenger as it were, but here are some concerns.
We can't expect new people who are coming to the event for the first to know all the current "unwritten rules"
I know what most are, but only because of coming for years do I know this.
In order for people to obey the rules, they must first know the rules.
Any pay-to-ride facility that I have ever ridden at, first gives you a Map when you register so you know where the roads end and the trials begin and acceptable speeds and behavior, Windber does not currently.
Here at Windber the main dirt road is part of the trail system with people camping on both sides of the road, so part of the problem may be riders do not know where the "legal part" of the dirt road starts and ends. Signage needs to convey this better.
I believe it to be OK to ride slowly on the part from the Port-O-Pots up the hill.
One rider in my group who had not been to the event before got on the Kiddie oval and I promptly pulled him off of it and explained to him that I was told some years ago that kids should use it during the day hours but at a certain hour late in the day that adults would ride it then.
Again, never saw anything in writing so who knows.
Now, the Parade, again nothing in writing. Trying to hear someone give you last minute directions while mini bikes are running all around you in the staging area does not always work well. Directions over the PA were either really loud or really soft and hard to understand.
When the Parade group is this large, it really needs to be broken up into at least 3 groups. Maybe with a 3 wheel trike with signage as a lead bike in each section to keep the gap.
All small children and newbie riders should be in the Last group.
Even with these improvements, No rider has the right to act like an idiot and as you said it was about 50% older aggressive riders and 50% young riders.
When people pull up to register, they should have to declare what bikes they have with them. If you see the letters CRF or KX anything that is probably an indication there are powerful dirt bikes present.
But someone can easily build a 20hp vintage bike, so just to say "no newer bikes" is not a cut/dry method of weeding out fast bikes.
Trailers could be inspected and bikes deemed not applicable for this meet could be tagged at that point, why wait till later when it can be nipped in the bud?
Just some food for thought.
Thanks
Keith
Good points made.
Please don't shoot the messenger as it were, but here are some concerns.
We can't expect new people who are coming to the event for the first to know all the current "unwritten rules"
I know what most are, but only because of coming for years do I know this.
In order for people to obey the rules, they must first know the rules.
Any pay-to-ride facility that I have ever ridden at, first gives you a Map when you register so you know where the roads end and the trials begin and acceptable speeds and behavior, Windber does not currently.
Here at Windber the main dirt road is part of the trail system with people camping on both sides of the road, so part of the problem may be riders do not know where the "legal part" of the dirt road starts and ends. Signage needs to convey this better.
I believe it to be OK to ride slowly on the part from the Port-O-Pots up the hill.
One rider in my group who had not been to the event before got on the Kiddie oval and I promptly pulled him off of it and explained to him that I was told some years ago that kids should use it during the day hours but at a certain hour late in the day that adults would ride it then.
Again, never saw anything in writing so who knows.
Now, the Parade, again nothing in writing. Trying to hear someone give you last minute directions while mini bikes are running all around you in the staging area does not always work well. Directions over the PA were either really loud or really soft and hard to understand.
When the Parade group is this large, it really needs to be broken up into at least 3 groups. Maybe with a 3 wheel trike with signage as a lead bike in each section to keep the gap.
All small children and newbie riders should be in the Last group.
Even with these improvements, No rider has the right to act like an idiot and as you said it was about 50% older aggressive riders and 50% young riders.
When people pull up to register, they should have to declare what bikes they have with them. If you see the letters CRF or KX anything that is probably an indication there are powerful dirt bikes present.
But someone can easily build a 20hp vintage bike, so just to say "no newer bikes" is not a cut/dry method of weeding out fast bikes.
Trailers could be inspected and bikes deemed not applicable for this meet could be tagged at that point, why wait till later when it can be nipped in the bud?
Just some food for thought.
Thanks
Keith
Yes, that did bother me. I don't have a problem with someone smoking a little weed. It was more than just a little, but what you do on your own time is your business. But, do it away from everyone else. Don't do it in the middle of camp where it blows across 5 other campsites. There were tons of trails up in the woods. Go up there
Well made points by all , I hope this event can continue . It was my families first time to attend and as we live 1150 miles away we can't possibly attend annually however we do plan to come back in the not so distant future . I too hope rules are tightened a bit on the bikes , it should be mini bikes only ! I don't know that vintage only is appropriate as some folks just can't find them and still want to participate in this great hobby , Azusa's , DB's , etc. are and do fit the description of a mini bike . Thanks Jeff for a wonderful time and also the Ladies that took such good care of my wife and daughter , it was truly a pleasure to meet you and am glad we had time to talk ( Deer Hunting ) as busy as you were !!
Here's my input on the parade. Everyone is well behaved going down to the parade because of the police escort down. The reason for the craziness on the way back is because its just a free for all. Now I'm guilty in previous years of opening it up on the way back too. But it isn't the time or place to go high speeds because everything is riding on Jeffs reputation in the town. This being said, I truly think the only way the parade will continue is having a police escort to and from the parade with everyone staying at a leisurely pace and have fun. Adults on the outside and younger kids on the inside. As much as I wanna fly back also it isnt my gig and have to respect Jeffs reputation in his hometown.
I was excited to be in the parade but the trailer queen mini bikes we brought couldn't even make it to the start of the parade let alone ride the grounds. Numerous issues. I do hope that the rules will be modified and everyone can continue to enjoy this awesome event hosted by Jeff and Dawn. Unfortunately at every event no matter what the venue is you will always find an asshole or 2 that ruin it for everyone else.
What people need to understand is when all of us that attended the event finally head home, Jeff and his family have to deal with many issues for days and weeks after we are all home resting comfortably. Even though I was not riding around on a mini bike, I apologize to Jeff, Dawn and the entire Mihalko family for having to deal with this BS created by others. Not fair to them at all. And I am a first timer and do Not want the MBR to end. There was my 2 cents.
What people need to understand is when all of us that attended the event finally head home, Jeff and his family have to deal with many issues for days and weeks after we are all home resting comfortably. Even though I was not riding around on a mini bike, I apologize to Jeff, Dawn and the entire Mihalko family for having to deal with this BS created by others. Not fair to them at all. And I am a first timer and do Not want the MBR to end. There was my 2 cents.
Well...we are all hanging our heads a little over some of the events going on there. Here is a happy note. I was talking to Mrs. Mihalko and Dawn and they both said emphatically that WE were such good people. After the event, there is never a scrap of paper or garbage that they have to pick up. We apparently leave the grounds just as we found it trash wise. They were quite impressed with us. So we do have that and a few other things we can be proud of...it's not all bad thank God.
Doc
Doc
I just read through the latest posts and several talked about the rules--written and unwritten. The registration forms were pretty clear about what bikes were acceptable as was the Orange Flyer (I posted it in advance of the event). My observations: 1) all registrants should have got the Orange Flyer rules by mail (but apparently that wasn't the case). 2) Forum members talked about the rules in advance and asked for clarification. 3) This is a private event hosted by Jeff.
Running an event this big is a real challenge. In a previous life, I organized and supervised regional, state and national conferences usually with 1000 or more participants, so believe me: you don't sleep, you're on the run constantly, somebody is always doing something stupid leaving a mess for you to clean up, and you don't get the chance to have fun. Jeff runs this event with limited help meaning we need to step up and keep people in line, especially when they don't understand "courtesy and common-sense."
So, if we (enthusiasts) want to continue to have the privilege to attend, then we have to police ourselves. The dirt bikes never should have been there and the idiot should have been escorted off property as soon as he abused his privilege (weed, attitude, etc.)--If Jeff had known the rest of the story, the clown should have seen shiny badges on uniforms at his camp site--that's us policing us to prevent the loss of privilege.
From my vantage, things were much better this year until the Saturday morning inflow of "paraders." Then things started to get out of control. We only had a couple of daredevil kids down behind the pavilion, and the dirt road was used appropriately until Saturday when it became a speedway. I also thought Jeff was pretty clear with his expectations throughout.
As to the parade, wow. That's a lot of bikes to get down and back. I agree with some sort of staging system. My buddy is a novice rider, and he had trouble with being passed at high rates of speed on both sides while trying to control a bike new to him. I'm not an expert rider by any means but I built the two bikes we had and I knew their control characteristics. Yet I did not know the roads we traveled. As you all know, riding a bike requires a bit of just-in-time planning for road or trail conditions. Inexperienced riders haven't learned that skill yet--back to the "courtesy and commonsense" point.
More than my 2 cents worth, so apologies in advance.
Running an event this big is a real challenge. In a previous life, I organized and supervised regional, state and national conferences usually with 1000 or more participants, so believe me: you don't sleep, you're on the run constantly, somebody is always doing something stupid leaving a mess for you to clean up, and you don't get the chance to have fun. Jeff runs this event with limited help meaning we need to step up and keep people in line, especially when they don't understand "courtesy and common-sense."
So, if we (enthusiasts) want to continue to have the privilege to attend, then we have to police ourselves. The dirt bikes never should have been there and the idiot should have been escorted off property as soon as he abused his privilege (weed, attitude, etc.)--If Jeff had known the rest of the story, the clown should have seen shiny badges on uniforms at his camp site--that's us policing us to prevent the loss of privilege.
From my vantage, things were much better this year until the Saturday morning inflow of "paraders." Then things started to get out of control. We only had a couple of daredevil kids down behind the pavilion, and the dirt road was used appropriately until Saturday when it became a speedway. I also thought Jeff was pretty clear with his expectations throughout.
As to the parade, wow. That's a lot of bikes to get down and back. I agree with some sort of staging system. My buddy is a novice rider, and he had trouble with being passed at high rates of speed on both sides while trying to control a bike new to him. I'm not an expert rider by any means but I built the two bikes we had and I knew their control characteristics. Yet I did not know the roads we traveled. As you all know, riding a bike requires a bit of just-in-time planning for road or trail conditions. Inexperienced riders haven't learned that skill yet--back to the "courtesy and commonsense" point.
More than my 2 cents worth, so apologies in advance.
I believe it was mentioned "trailering" the bikes to and from the parade which based on the number of bikes seems like either it would take too long or just keep people from wanting to do the parade at all or even go to the event. I know everyone wants to open up the throttle and see what their bikes can do. I would suggest the faster riders in the front and the kids or slower riders in the rear where they won't have to worry about being passed. Not that the faster riders would be allowed to totally go crazy. But at least be limited to not passing Jeff. I am also wondering if there is a place in town available for a more of a "speed test" area?