FORCE RIDE

i know we all think our back yard is the best place in the world to have a force ride but i feel that nobody should have the right to call something the 'force ride'?

did this get group approval or did schwim have a looksee?

what i'm saying is that we all knew that the first force ride dragged 3-5 extra along because of the legend that is MOAB. breathtaking, stunningly beautiful, wild, aaltitude, space, quality over quantity!

you could stop and take breathtaking photos and the memory of it will live with me forever.

but it seems to me the name is being hijacked.

if we were to stand back for a moment, i think we could define what it is and what we want. what's the best quality one we could do?

the first force ride had long been anticipated and i'm quoted as saying tht IT ONLY JUST WORKED. I'VE SAID THAT GROUPS OF 7 BIKES HAD JUST THREE HUSEYS IN THEM AND therefore 4 strangers in a group.

velo and brendan are regular members, john availed himself to all. le frog and one-lung have since joined the frat. but really, come on, any less and it wouldn't have worked!

three groups means plenty of riders needed. plenty of UHE riders needed.

people have only so much time and money and it's far more important that we should call one ride per year and all be there than to call two or three and say that some visited some!

can we have another name for this trip. can we stop making every single ride THEEEE ride!! it's a gathering/a whoop of gorillas, a murder of crows, a school of whales!

maybe once per year is fine and hell! living abroad and not coming over doesn't give me the right to say too much but what i want you to promise out of this is that i can come over every second year to THEEE ride of the year, to see you all, to have EVERYONE there!

to do that we have to be less parochial and stop talking about where we live but rather "where is the next, best, most stunning ride".

i think you'll get everyone there if you announce only one force ride, every second year, at a georgous location with stunning scenery and plan, plan and plan again well ahead!

dealers and barrett marketing-supermototeam will be our guests and not our organisers. they will sponsor it if they wish but not tell us what we do at our gathering!

there's nothing stopping a percentage having an SM race per day, there's nothing stopping us having a UHE enduro on the second day!

it can be done but i still haven't heard anyone else say how close the first came to being the last! it only needed bob, tuts, fry or json to be missing and the thing would have been deviod of atmosphere!

there's nothing wrong with calling MOAB again! just make sure we have a lit undercover canopy! UHE barbie with food not put up by one poor fool but with everyone paying before we go and somebody doing the beans and somebody else doing the salad!

THAT'S HOW TO DO IT EVEN BETTER!
I PROPOSE THE MOTION THAT WE LOOK AT THE SPRING/SUMMER OF 2007.

that we get a place and date agreed and work at it, dilligently over the next 1.5 years. put on something that we all want to go to and something that the dealers will come and join us at without hijacking OUR gathering!

we have a courtious and warm relationship with the importer and let's continue to make it grow.

because i don't know your continent that well i make the following proposal

we ride in florida or alabama over the debris (that one's a joke ok!)-great course-not too popular with the natives!

ok

canada, stunning mountains, naturally rich and green, less hassle and the yanks and i get a stamp in the 'ol passport!

colorado, 10,000ft stunning views, good links north and south-not so good west to east?

let's go where there are no people, no sheeyut, no hassles and enjoy the warmth of the sun and the rides and the views. let's think outside the box and all agree that were going to be there!

thankyou gentlemen

Taffy

i'm pleased to see that people have gone along approximately with the drift of my thoughts.

calling the mother of all force rides in 2007 sounds the way to go with something else annually and lots of things locally to you (whoever you are!) in your region etc.

can i suggest that 'force ride 2007' is the name of it and that anything else after berger's gathering doesn't use this term again at UHE?

no harm done ken, just one of those things that creeps up on us all slowly and suddenly you have to take a rain check on it.

perhaps we could have another name for the 2006 ride and then again other names for more local gatherings. for local stuff it sounds like "the hat mccoy run" -'run' being the operative word here.

and 2006 could be called the 'national force run' -maybe?

i'm no longer running my own business but have become a self-employed lecturer so i have to work school term times. however with a lot of begging with a year to go i could possibly get the time off to come back over to see y'all!

can i just mention that all my adult life, from well before it might be expected of someone of such tender years, i have organised trips, meals, holidays etc etc.

even tonight i have organised a meal for 16 men at the syhlet tandoori in ely along with naval hats and eye patches! we only ever lost one war but then again that's also the only war they've ever won without us! (only joking!). :twisted: :twisted:

keep it cheap.
make well off people bring their RVs and give those less well off the opportunity to cabin/tent it. i'm not worried about pools or jacuzzis, i wanna know that the ride that you guys pick is the business and that wherever you come from you're gonna say at the end (like we did at MOAB) wow-wee! that was it!

because if people keep taking away from it - A GREAT RIDE - then no matter how they spend their evenings and social time-they will have enjoyed it. that way they can do their own thing, ride and then do their own thing.

some people like bob and i, love a belly laugh and a beer but for others it's not their style. indeed, as some of you know i was damn near turned to god half way up the highway. jeez! i had the calling but just managed to get out of it by sitting in with berger and discoving a new religous experience - meditation and a state of zen!

i wouldn't worry about the dealers or importers at all! for a start, we are only a small group. 15 bergs were at moab and 20 members perhaps! although we had outsiders in, they either had to start with us or they simply got left out and sucked out the atmosphere! and what's the point of opening it up to non-UHE?

who are we doing this for!

can you imagine it? one of us advertises, takes dozens of enquiries, 4 show up, they don't pay for their room, we can't ride the first morning coz we're waiting for 8-strangers who never arrive?

nope! we do it for us! UHE! that's who!

if we got to 40 this time, i'd then let JEDI know about it and let him call it! it's a business decision for him and 40 old men trundling around won't sell him many SMs, MXs and whatever.

what we MIGHT be able to do as members is ride around for the next year and mention to all husey owners that we see "hey! we have a huge gathering coming up in the spring of '07. come and join us at husaberg.org!"

i think if you start checking your numbers, it will tell you what SCALE that we can attempt. the first thing to do is agree on where we are and when. let's sort the facilities and for people like myself, airports are important-very important and of course as a european i would be leaning on you good folk again where and when i can for help.

i think that given that we would have easy and hard trails- maybe people with more of an SM or road background might come over!

i'm lucky! i live, like simon, near the airports that route out to the USA. i'd be happy to put up some lads here if they flew in from scandinavia first to stansted airport. we have really cheap european flights at this end with ryan air and easyjet. so the scandos could fly into the UK first for a reasonable cost but boy! i travelled for 36 hours to get to MOAB so perhaps a little thought for us and we may afford to come over.

for you over there it was a 4 day ride. for me? it was an 8-day trek and holiday! i'll come again as long as i think we'll all be there!

please don't pick children's breaks coz the flight costs go out the roof!

regards

Taffy

just did a quick survey of those at the 2005 force ride and haven't included erics wife and son nor splat's and have the following;

Taffy
Fryguy
tuts
coronaberg

splat
husabutt
bobzilla
ossaman
euroenduro

json
berger
bksavs
dezduster
joeusa

that's 14 members with huseys

and;
one-lung = a non-member but with a husey

and;
brendan
velosapiens

john?

charles
le frog

all of whom are members and didn't have a husey (le frog joining at the time)

then we had

dave and crazy canook (2)
young ken
euroenduro's 2 mates
andy - syborg canook

in total i make that

14 members w/
1 non member w/
5 members w/o huseys
6 non members w/o

about 26 of us and of those 14 rode huseys. i have made a mistake here but you get my drift.

we had a massive drop out rate with about a fortnight to go of which i found the excuses quite lame but the point is that next time you'll get them again.

if someone was to do a percentage/head check i think we had at least 4 call off close to launch.

if some europeans and further flung americans etc were to want to go but to fly in and take a ride on a spare machine then maybe we 'borrowers' need to fund a pool as insurance against one of us blitzing a machine. that may mean that a generous soul like berger doesn't go home with a smile but the inner feeling that all his machines have been trashed.

i'm quite keen that any european thinking of going over should be able to do it with YOUR generous help. don't say too much yet because there are 17 months to go yet and promises should be simple pledges that "all being well etc....".

i think on that basis, some of the europeans would come over this time!

regards

Taffy

ken

'your' what do you mean 'your' you cheeky bugger! i may have suggested it but i'm no longer alone on this one?

i think the idea of a sustainable rally every second year is in the ascendency here! i'd love to be in canada next year but the spondoolies don't spread that far!

the name(s) can be what we agree on. you've put up a name or two and so have i!

i don't have a problem with newbies coming also, i'm saying that like moab we do this for US and not just head counting like "o wow wee we have 30 - 40 - 50. it's bigger so it's better because there are more here!-type crap!" add to that the fact that half of them arrived late and knew nobody makes me say: if a friend brings them fine! but... we don't do as i've said-chase for them!

i wanna see the guys from UHE and not end up being split into ever smaller groups with some turkey who's got a personality defiecency and an atmosphere hoover in the boot of the truck!

i wanna ride with the people i sup beer with and a stranger. some yes. a few yes.

when someone does something good and charitable, they don't always want to share their labours with a total group of strangers! i believe that is asking people to suspend or lose that good will.

and ken, you should know about this one fella!

regards

Taffy