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Situation; - "The Long Ride" is an organised motorcycle ride, converging on different destinations every year, in support of the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia. Doesn't matter where you start from; the destination, and the journey, is key. This year, The Long Ride is finishing in Margaret River in Western Australia (WA). Great wine country. If you live in Perth, WA, it's not so long. If you live on the East Coast, like most of us, it's a looooong ride. Mission; - Ride from Sale VIC to Margaret River WA and back in 3 weeks, in order to raise funds for men's prostate cancer, and generally get up to no good. Execution; - Approx 8 days each way. - 3 days in and around Margaret River. - 08 - 26 Apr. - Organised (ish) on the way over. - More flexible routes & timings on the way back. Admin & Logistics; - 2009 VFR 800. - Camping the whole way. - Separate posts to come on bike and gear setup. - Am travelling with a couple of mates; Simon (Wee-Strom), Fluffy (HD Electra-Glide), Jack (Indian Scout). Of the couple hundred riders involved, there is sure to be a couple of VFRs..... Command and Signal; - Will worry about that later. 8000km (+) for both ways. Should be a pretty awesome trip. More to follow!!

LAST CALL!!! *****Edit for itinerary, food plans, hotel pricing and other information as of 9/11/12 8:45 pm EST***** Feel free to PM me with anything to add or any questions you have. IF YOU WANT ONE, T-SHIRTS FOR THE EVENT ARE AVAILABLE FOR 15.00 EACH. ***** Itinerary... or something like one.***** There will be a scheduling white-board or some-such available on site for you to check on in order to schedule your rides/activities. I'm not going to say that all we'll do is RIDE as there's a good bit of stuff to do outside in the area if the weather's nice, but let's be honest, we're all kind of bike nuts. Friday: Morning- Get to Harrison, AR. The Hub is on HWY 7 due south of Harrison. Check in, etc.. etc.. etc.. Afternoon- Check in and find me for your swag. Mid-afternoon- Kickstands up at 3:30p for an afternoon ride if you're there early enough to participate and care to go after riding in. Would prefer groups to stay around 3-5 riders to facilitate ease of communication, overtaking and basically looking out for one another. If you're not very experienced in group riding, the MSFUSA website has a good bit of information on courtesies of riding in a group (as well as a few threads here on VFRD). It's worth a look. Also, take time to talk with those in your group about any signals or routes. A few volunteers for leading rides would be welcome. 6:00pm- Rally up at the Cliff House just south of Jasper on HWY 7 for some good home-cookin'! We've got reservations for 6pm as of right now. I'll pass out swag to those who have missed it earlier in the day. Night- Hang out, laugh, chat and enjoy. Saturday: Morning- Would like to see rides staggered for those looking to participate starting for you early birds at around 8:00 (sun should be up by then) through 10:00. Afternoon- For those interested, group back up at the Hub for secondary routes leaving at 1:00pm, or take a good nap. Evening- Bathe... Please. VFRD dinner at 7:00... Would love recommendations on a local establishment we can invade that is able to house 20-30 at one time. Night- Hang out, tell lies, chat, and enjoy. Sunday: Morning- Jaunts for those interested starting at around 8:00 NOON- Adios awards ceremony. Afternoon- Shedding of bitter tears as we part ways. I'm not going to pretend that this is even remotely well organized. It's a vacation and I'm not one to give everyone a LOCKED IN schedule when you're enjoying your time away from your every-day grind. However, this is a rough outline of what I think we should be doing. The long and short of it, you'll have to fend for yourself to a certain extent regarding meals and keeping yourself entertained. I have neither the time or desire to plan your day out for you, that just puts a lot of pressure on me and invites some people to have a degree of disappointment. If there's something you want to do, DO IT. This is simply a broad-scale guide on what I imagine everyone would be agreeable to. There will be a white-board or something of that nature posted in a conspicuous place to help with scheduling things ON SITE. I would politely ask that you try to make the group dinners Friday and Saturday evenings. If I'm calling places for reservations for 20+ folks, I would hate for them to staff for that many customers and then nobody shows up. From someone who's worked foodservice, it's just a courtesy... Besides, you'll be hungry. That being said, if you've got some people you think you'd gel with quite well from previous experiences on VFRD rides, work some kind of schedule out among yourselves! There's no harm in it. Just please, be available in the evenings ******************************* Contact is Debbie at the Hub Hotel - 1-800-597-9963 Single and Double rooms available. 10 rooms are currently reserved for VFRD.COM when you call. Both singles and doubles are $60/night (2 night minimum at that price), if more than 2 people share a room it's an additional $5.00 per person. Tents on the property are welcome for $10.00 night. Current Head Count (Let me know if this is wrong...) Yokel (aka Jon) (My Triumph buddies chickened out.) 2thdr - Tent Adam79 (+lady and dad) Gadiantonrob Gswanson David, Adam's friend Justin, Adam's friend Gloryracing (willing to lead spirited group) DutchInterceptor Leaning (+1 or 2) Nowheelies Huntingguns VcFR HispanicSlammer 00Yeller Maybes: Dr.toto Rush2112 OkieMatt VFRurknee - High-speed escort. HVRNAUT ALSO- Ideally I'd like to keep the groups fairly small. Much easier to keep an eye on one another, overtake slower vehicles etc... If you're willing to lead a group, please post up and let me know. GPS is VERY helpful, although getting lost on these meandering roads is a great way to kill a day. ALSO ALSO- PM me with your preferred shirt size if you're planning on buying one. You've got until September 4th to request something other than XL. Just a teaser.... http://www.motorcycl...d=84&Itemid=172 http://www.motorcycl...d=86&Itemid=174 http://www.motorcycl...d=90&Itemid=177 http://www.motorcycl...id=87&Itemid=53 http://www.motorcycl...d=89&Itemid=176 http://www.motorcycl...d=85&Itemid=173 ****EDITED INFORMATION ON TIMEFRAME (work schedule changed)**** For you other OklaHomies- I'm currently planning on kickstand UP at Pops on Rt66 Friday AM at 8:00am. Route to Harrison will go from 66 through Arcadia to the turnpike near Chandler. From the turnpike, skirt south around Tulsa (construction there is just plain stupid right now) and grab hwy 412 through to Harrison. Should take 5-6 hours with a break for lunch which will put us at the Hub around 1:30pm. https://maps.google....z=9&via=1,2&z=8 **************************************************** Hello guys and gals! Due to my schedule sucking the proverbial butt and a myriad of other issues, I'll be missing out on all the fun this Summer/Early Fall with the sanctioned VFRD get-togethers. That got me thinking. There may be OTHER poor souls like me out there that WANT to go, just the timing's all wrong. This is a testing of the water if you will... a way to gauge interest in hitting up the Ozarks in Late September. The temperatures should be good and the weather should be... well... it should be either sunny or rainy. Temps from 80's for highs to 40's for lows that time of year. http://www.weather.c...hly/graph/72601 I went with the Riders Association of Triumph this spring to Harrison, AR.... A place called the Hub Hotel. http://www.hubinfo.com/index.html The routes surrounding the area are absolutely fantastic. The hotel itself is... well... the floor in my room was concrete, I'll put it that way. The sheets were clean and they didn't mind a bunch of hooligans hanging around. (You know those Triumph guys.) They invite tents, have a cafe on site, and are a short ride from civilized life. Prices were 60/night for double occupancy if memory serves. The dates I am thinking of are Sep 21 through 23... that's a Friday through Sunday. It's not a busy holiday weekend, so traffic should be decent, it's not PEAK riding season, so there shouldn't be a lot of pirates out. However, it IS the peak of Fall, so leaves on the roads may be a real concern. If there's enough folks interested in meeting up, I'll call the Hotel and try to find a group rate next week. Currently on their calendar there are no events being hosted that weekend. If there's call for it, maybe I'll make a T-shirt or something... The main thing is to just have an excuse to meet some of you and enjoy the heck out of what I view as some of the prettiest country in the US. I'm thinking everyone starts arriving Friday... Group or individual rides Saturday (would need some leaders to volunteer) then go our seperate ways Sunday. Thoughts? Interested? Put it up here. :) The POLL is to keep accurate tallies on numbers interested. Thanks! Keep an eye on this thread! *note* This ride will not be restricted to ONLY VFR's. If you have friends who would like to come, feel free to invite. While it's something I'm only asking about on this site, I think we all understand that there are loads of people out there just as in love with riding as we are. *Secondary Note* If I'm one of the people designated to lead a ride it should be said that my pace is NOT the pace of a hooligan. I am a pretty firm believer in keeping within my limits. I would classify myself as a slow to moderate pace. Naturally, you're the one that dictates your pace, and there will be rally points set up if you fall behind where we'll wait to make sure you're good to go. If you're nervous about riding the pace of a group, don't be. Safety is always the first concern. That is not to say that someone else with a desire for a more rapid pace won't be willing to lead a group.