Subject: Re: location Date: Mon, 23 Jun 1997 23:36:48 -0400 (EDT) From: Martyn Wheeler Reply-To: east@dnrc.bell-labs.com To: Multiple recipients of list (Gosh this stuff is filling my *home* mailbox faster than I can reply! Can't wait until I get to work tomorrow and have time to concentrate on this stuff! :-) :-) :-) ) Doug Cook wrote: > I don't have a voice in this having never been to an RCR (yet). (ON SOAPBOX) People, how on *earth* do we get it through your apparently thick skulls that there's *NOT* some damned initiation procedure before you can be franshised? You're on the list, you're interested in the RCR, just go ahead and *SPEAK*! No-one is going to attack your credentials or demand you produce gas receipts from the last three RCR's or anything. You're here to speak as well as to listen. This list is for *discussion*, not monologues. As for having a voice in it, *everyone* is welcome to put in their $0.02, that's why we're all on the list, for chrissake! Now whether your opinion will change things or not, I don't know, it depends on the guy who's organising it. He's doing the work, he will do what he thinks is the best. I can tell you I ruled out Southern Illinois based on list comments, looking for somewhere in the hillier part of western KY/TN, around the Land Between The Lakes. (OFF SOAPBOX) > Thinking of this location discussion gave me an idea that I'd like to > bounce off the list. I know it's not a very exciting idea for most, but > why not scientifically calculate what the most central location would be > for riders that would attend an RCR event? The biggest problem is that you don't know who would attend it -- the only way you could really do it is poll everyone on the list. There are folks who consider 3 hours too far to ride for it (really, there were comments like that before RCR-IV), and then there's eccentric fools (like me :-) ) who'd ride to the Keys or Yellow Knife (if I had studded tyres :-) ) for an RCR. Generally, my observations are that everyone says that if the RCR is within 200 miles of them, they'll go to it. On the day, around 50% of those people actually do so -- some were full of hot air, perhaps, but others had business, family, personal obligations that were higher priority to them. So take a poll of *everyone*'s zip code. Assume (a bad assumption) that the distribution of folks who would come whatever, and wouldn't come whatever, is even across the whole area. It would at least be a fun exercise, even if statistically it's full of holes. > Take a poll of everyone's zip code. I've got one of those cool map > programs that could produce a latitude/longitude based on the zip. Dump > that info into a spreadsheet to produce an 'average' of the coordinates > and Whalaa!: you have the absolute position of the population center for > all the RCR riders. Whadayathinks? Do it. Don't plan an RCR in that location, necessarily (it's *supposed* to move around, and move around more than the natural demographic drift), but I would be interested to know where it is. I'd guess about an hour west of Baltimore. I'm 27502. Which reminds me, there *is* an event in New England to balance the AoDG in the south -- it's the Spring Fling, and (obviously) is held in the spring. I've never been to one, but would like to someday. I think that *geographically* the current RCR "boundaries" are pretty good. They were hashed out on the east list in the fall following RCR-I, to try to map out some sort of guidelines for RCR-II. Yes, it misses out on some of what is probably wonderful riding country further north, south, and east, and certain metropolitan areas will always be further away than others, but them's the breaks. That's what the Spring Fling and AoDG is for, along with all the other local regional events (we have about 3 or 4 here in the TriDoD). Hey, Denizens in Albuquerque or Phoenix are pretty much SOL on *any* DoD events! > Continuous riding of the straight, flat, curveless roads in Florida can > do strange things to one's mind. :) I'm one of those odd people who like *all* riding. I like twisties, I like curvy countryside roads, I like long straight stretches where I can just mellow out and look at the small details of the view. Don't worry, Josh can't stand cruisers either. He just doesn't ride enough relaxing roads to appreciate them. :-) > Anyway, sorry that I will not be able to make this year's RCR, I > certainly hope that everyone else has the wonderful time that it > promises to be. Thanks. :-) Martyn ----pixie@interpath.com----Martyn Wheeler----DoD #293----1kspt=25----- "Touch me with your soul, Bless me with your smile / traci lords Give to me all your love, Baby watch me fly, watch me fly!" "High and wide open, reaching forever, I fly into the blue" -- Moby