Thanks for a great weekend!
 

Just wanted to post a big THANK YOU to all the folks who attended the Petrolia HU weekend! It was my first such event I was bowled over by the warmth and generosity of everyone there, from great chats to help with my bike (yes, I had one of those flats!). I learned so much in three+ days and am still in the process of soaking it all in this morning.

Also thanks to my HUBB rider partners Craig and Ansel and all the HUBB folks who pulled over on 101 to offer support in sorting out my rear break issue... while I knew pretty much what to do having some folks there in case things went terribly wrong made me feel much more at ease with the trouble shooting. As Kevin said in the roadside maintenance session, it's all about karma, and I look forward to the time when I can pull over and offer a helpful word or extra hand to a stranded rider.

Looking forward to further contact in future and meeting up somewhere along the road!

Pity I missed it but I think I passed a few of you returning from it on the 101 near the Oregon/Washinton border on my white G650XC, and what a road that is!!

I'm still trying to register the bike in Oregon with out being a resident which is a bit of fun, can anyone lend me their address to use in Oregon :helpsmilie:?

That was probably The Canadian Contingent, Damon, rushing to make it to the BC ferry on time. :)

Michael and Ansel were great to ride with, and very patient with my overloaded 250cc sportybike. I suspect they could have been home an hour earlier if it weren't for me. 70mph bursts were do-able if we were going downhill and if I laid on the tank. Maybe my mohawk helmet-hair causes too much wind drag...?

And although our Willits lunch stop turned out to be a less spectacular dining experience than hoped for, the company was great. It even included Carla King, who had tried to steer us to a cool bakery for chow. Unfortunately, the building was empty -- a story that seems to be too common nowadays.

Photos from the gathering
 

Here are Stefan and Jayne's photos from this Horizon's Unlimited meeting (as well as photos to and from the event). I'll blog about it soon at my own blog. Really loved meeting so many wonderful people!

Outstanding!
 

Add our 4 thumbs up for the Petrolia meeting. Great job Susan, Grant and Stephan. Great group of people. GREAT RIDING!. We're looking forward to next year!

Susan and Grant mentioned the possibility of finding a location that would be accessible to more people (in order to make the event financially sustainable). We're looking into possible venues in the Central Coast/San Luis Obispo area. We're about half way between SF & LA (about 250 mi each way)
It's not the Lost Coast - but Big Sur ain't too shabby. We'll keep posting here as we explore it. Any suggestions, comments, input - let us hear from you.

Thanks again to everyone, Sandy & Mike Dimond (HiViz green helmets)

PS - the KLR made it home fine on the repaired flat. Thanks Grant!

Great photos Jayne & Stefan, thanks for the sharing them. I took some photos leading up to the meeting and then apparently forgot I had a camera... grrr!

Also, Mike Dimond, I seem to have ended up with your special tire tool, PM me and I'll stick it in the mail.

And neglected to thank Grant and Susan and Stephen for putting this meeting together, great job! And extra thanks Grant for all the tire tutoring, got me home safely!

PS - Craig, I don't think your 250 held us back at all, you were amazing on the "dual-sport" Ninja!

it was great meeting all of y'all! many thanks to Grant, Susan, and Stephan for organizing this event.

i'll be posting some more links to the requested medical stuff - should i put it here or in the first aid forum?

for now - here's where you can take a Wilderness First Responder course:
Wilderness First Responder

molly
(on the dr650)

Molly, the medical forum is probably the best idea to help the most people, and then we can link to the post from here.

Thanks for the great presentation! If it saves one person's life, it's huge!

See you next year :)

Had a great time riding back with you, Craig and Michael. Hope you didn't mind me splitting away when we were stuck in that quagmire in Santa Rosa. I couldn't takes it no more!! That was pretty funny with the six Harleys splitting past us while there was still only like 2 feet between the cars, eh?

Awesome event. Thanks to the organizers, Grant, Susan, and Stephen. And to all the presenters. The learning never ends, but as a new rider I really got a lot out of it. Looking forward to the next NA meeting!

ok, i started a thread here:
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...sses-usa-52292

i'll add more to it as time permits :)

Gear info from Petrolia
 

Does anyone recall the name of the manufacturer of the tire levers Grant recommended at the demo. I wrote it down - then put my jeans in the wash with the note in the pocket!

To all those who wanted contact info for the rack on my KLR (the one with the flat tire) it's CycleRacks.com

Thanks, Mike

I believe it was Hazet, and that BMW or Touratech might also sell them under a different brand name.

Maybe we could find a discount on a group buy!

Yes - Hazet, who make them for BMW, (in a 6" and an 8" version) and also sold by Touratech. So BMW dealers or Touratech will be the place to get them.

Hazet (Germany) also makes great tools generally, which I often prefer over Snap-on or Craftsman for varying reasons. The sockets are very thin for instance.

A quick Google search turned up a place right away that sells them for about $20. Is that a good price?

Next meeting
 

We also talked about this with Susan... The attendance would be a lot more if it moves down south between LA and SF.

I met a fireman in Big Sur on the way back and mentioned about the possibility of an event around there. He is very much into motorcycle travelling and was very excited about it. He knows the area very well, and will talk to some of the locals for a location.

I'll keep posted and try to bring him to this forum as well...

I also want to thank everyone at the meeting. It was a lot of fun and I learned a lot of things from many people. Not just the presenters but everyone.

I always meet many people with lots of things to share at these meetings. You don't need to do a substantial amount of riding to talk about "best cameras for motorcycle travelling" or "blogging the right way" or "how I got my wife into riding" :) etc.. There are some very interesting people and I would love to see them presenting next year.

Erdem