MI Cruzbike retreat 2020 - August 6-9, 2020 Benton Harbor Michigan

[3bs]

okay so how serious is everyone? i am game to plan it and execute, but i will need more parameters. left to my own devices, i will make it close to my house, not do it in late august so i can take my kid to college and keep it in berrien county and nearby. it would be fun to overlap the event with one of the local rides such as the apple cider century out of three oaks - last Sunday in September - which would give us maximum tribe exposure and we could also start on a Thursday so we could tag up a couple shorter rides. there is a Thursday night pedal and pints out of watermark brewery also nearby, which has several speed and distance rides. again tribe exposure would be maximized.

or perhaps a century is not on everyone's list. another wonderful way to do this would be the lake shore harvest ride. https://www.lhride.com/
and then we could add a couple extra rides on the Friday before and the Sunday after.

or if you all just want me to be the cruise director, i could put together 5-6 rides over 3 days of varying distances with some loops for distance drops, a winery tour ride, a kal haven out and back, the steelhead triatholon half ironman route. blah blah.

if you want a specific place to stay i could do that, or we could let people pick their accommodations (from camping to suite hotels and vintage b and b's) and have a central meet up location.

golfers? lots of special options. shoppers? lots foodies? fishing? salmon should be running. gambling? four winds is a nice casino venue.

i need some definitive input and a show of hands.

 

[super slim]

okay so how serious is everyone? i am game to plan it and execute, but i will need more parameters. left to my own devices, i will make it close to my house, not do it in late august so i can take my kid to college and keep it in berrien county and nearby. it would be fun to overlap the event with one of the local rides such as the apple cider century out of three oaks - last Sunday in September - which would give us maximum tribe exposure and we could also start on a Thursday so we could tag up a couple shorter rides. there is a Thursday night pedal and pints out of watermark brewery also nearby, which has several speed and distance rides. again tribe exposure would be maximized.

or perhaps a century is not on everyone's list. another wonderful way to do this would be the lake shore harvest ride. https://www.lhride.com/
and then we could add a couple extra rides on the Friday before and the Sunday after.

or if you all just want me to be the cruise director, i could put together 5-6 rides over 3 days of varying distances with some loops for distance drops, a winery tour ride, a kal haven out and back, the steelhead triatholon half ironman route. blah blah.

if you want a specific place to stay i could do that, or we could let people pick their accommodations (from camping to suite hotels and vintage b and b's) and have a central meet up location.

golfers? lots of special options. shoppers? lots foodies? fishing? salmon should be running. gambling? four winds is a nice casino venue.

i need some definitive input and a show of hands.

Thursday 24/9/20 would be great for me as the ACA Van Supported, C&O Canal and Gap ride, finishes on Saturday 19/9/20, so that gives me 4 days to drive there via the Blue Ridge Parkway, and the Dayton Air Museum!!!
The Apple Cider Century sounds great!
I think booking out a small caravan park with cabins, so everyone is together at night would be better!

 

[3bs]

Don't forget the Kalamazoo air zoo!
And since you are so close...University of Notre Dame football and tailgating. They have an Outpost down under.

 

[benphyr]

I am in for sure, with whatever options. Below are my preferences.. but again I am game for whatever gets organized and will be there unless I am thousands of miles away at the time (unlikely). It sounds to me like you would be a great organizer and additionally you have given me ideas for things to do with my family when I am in the area without Cruzbiking commitments!!

But my vote is for earlier in August - selfishly because I will be in the area already usually around Aug 10-14 and/or one of the weekends on either end.

Food for thought:
The official Cruzbike retreat is typically the 1st weekend in October (3-4 for 2020) so if we held MI Cruzbike on Thursday Sep 24 through Sunday Sep 27 that would be two weekends in a row for Cruzbike get togethers. Which would be great! Would people go to those who attend be likely to be interested in going to both? Would having them on close dates allow people to attend both or make people choose between them thereby decreasing possible attendance at each individual event?

For me I would only be able to go to one but as I found this year if the retreat is in Leitchfield it is realistically a little too far for me to make into a long weekend and would require a lot of time off work so I would only go to the MI Cruzbike.

Of the many ideas thrown out these ones all hit the top of my list:
-local ride(s),
-century ride,
-5-6 rides over 3 days of varying distances with some loops for distance drops, a winery tour ride,
-I’d vote for a fixed location with rides that could fan out in different directions. Kind of like the Cruzbike retreat format, but hopefully with not quite as steep of hills as Kentucky.
-booking out a small caravan park with cabins, so everyone is together at night would be better

not on my list: golf, shopping, casino

 

[rfneep]

Sounds interesting, but I will just point out that the Hostel Shoppe is talking about a new version of their Recumbent Rally. I assume that'd be in the first or second weekend of August. It would be a shame to overlap the two.

 

[super slim]

Don't forget the Kalamazoo air zoo!
And since you are so close...University of Notre Dame football and tailgating. They have an Outpost down under.

Don't you mean the Queensland hired 8T truck tailgating club!!!!

 

[3bs]

@super slim

if you are already headed this way doest that mean i dont have to spot you a bike or a trike?

https://studyabroad.nd.edu/programs/

since i grew up in south bend, i have been tailgating notre dame games since i was a delinquent youth scamming beers from the old alums. 40 something years later, we have it well managed. in the old days we would give anyone a run for the money. but many of my old crew have passed away, and i got married and had kids and have become a kid sport chauffeur, but there is always a new generation to pick up the flipper and run the grill. speaking of trucks, one of our many tailgating rigs was a pinzgauer 712k. well loved truck of the outback.


cabins? did someone say cabins? here are just a few: https://www.harborcountrycabins.com/ https://www.sweethavenresort.com/ https://www.southhavenjellystone.com/accommodations/lodging/

airzoo https://www.airzoo.org/


@rfneep yes. we sure don't want to overlap a new hostel shop rally.

@benphyr i know CB is aware of this string, so we should also make sure we dont overlap the cb retreat. of course we really want to them to coopt this event so i can go back to being a visitor rather than a cruise director....LOL. hint @Maria Parker @Robert Holler @Jim Parker

 

[super slim]

@super slim

if you are already headed this way doest that mean i dont have to spot you a bike or a trike?

https://studyabroad.nd.edu/programs/

since i grew up in south bend, i have been tailgating notre dame games since i was a delinquent youth scamming beers from the old alums. 40 something years later, we have it well managed. in the old days we would give anyone a run for the money. but many of my old crew have passed away, and i got married and had kids and have become a kid sport chauffeur, but there is always a new generation to pick up the flipper and run the grill. speaking of trucks, one of our many tailgating rigs was a pinzgauer 712k. well loved truck of the outback.


cabins? did someone say cabins? here are just a few: https://www.harborcountrycabins.com/ https://www.sweethavenresort.com/ https://www.southhavenjellystone.com/accommodations/lodging/

airzoo https://www.airzoo.org/


@rfneep yes. we sure don't want to overlap a new hostel shop rally.

@benphyr i know CB is aware of this string, so we should also make sure we dont overlap the cb retreat. of course we really want to them to coopt this event so i can go back to being a visitor rather than a cruise director....LOL. hint @Maria Parker @Robert Holler @Jim Parker

I will be bringing my Silvio V3.0 with 26" wheels and 42 mm wide Schwalbe Supremes with some tread for gravel rail trails!

 

[woodguy]

I agree that having this become the Cruzbike Retreat would be my favorite option, but if that doesn’t happen I would still plan to attend. The opportunity to hear the @super slim Aussie accent would be hard to resist. I agree with most all of what @benphyr said, and I think @3bs can put together a great weekend.

 

[3bs]

Okay so we have about 5 for sures, and a host of maybes.
Let’s pick the dates.
Unless some one objects, I will make the location near my house, so north berrien county Michigan, which will allow us to also do south haven but also northern st. Joe and Laporte counties in Indiana.

The operative question to set the date is do we want to piggyback an existing ride like the apple cider century or just have me set some rides?

I need to get this on my work and family calander.

 

[woodguy]

Seems like @super slim might have the least flexibility coming from so far & apparently also planning to do a C & O ride in September. If we did it before that ride of his, we would be less likely to clash with the Cruzbike retreat if that ends up in early Oct. I am personally quite flexible in Aug & Sep, so whatever is selected should be fine.

I like the idea of having it in your neighborhood. You can probably set up the best rides near home. If it works to piggyback with another ride, that is great, but not necessary for me..

 

[benphyr]

@Lucia @Maria Parker @Robert Holler or whoever is in charge of organizing THE Cruzbike retreat this year, can you weigh in on:
1. Whether Cruzbike is considering having this become THE Cruzbike Retreat 2020?
2. What date is set / tentative for THE Cruzbike Retreat?

 

[3bs]

Then we need to make @super slim tell us what weekend works best for him, and for CBC to tell us their position on our plan. The jelly stone in south haven puts us near the kal haven trail and it has cabins, and then there is also a KOA about a mile from my house that has cabins as well. But, like I said there are all levels of accommodations in the area

I can also scare up some SAG help if anyone feels like we should have it. If we were not piggybacking the apple cider, I think it would be a good exercise for us to ride the steelhead triathalon route for time. It is an out and back with a loop, and the we could either ride over to the beach and swim, or over to planks

https://www.mapmyride.com/us/saint-joseph-mi/ironman-70-3-steelhead-bike-course-route-44046684

 

[jond]

Ta

There seems to be a LOT of Cruzbikers in West Michigan, OR are they just a few that are more vocal than the rest of us!????

Could Cruzbike update the map of Cruzbikers, even if only with the number in each state?

Could the next Retreat be in the state with the highest number, then the following year, the second highest number, etc????

I think it will be a LONG time before the retreat comes to SUNNY South Australia, with three Cruzbikers!!!!
But it will be BEFORE the Fire raged New South Wales, with only ONE (Jond) Cruzbiker!!!!

Lol four nsw riders I know of slim.

 

[3bs]

I am vocal compared to my compatriots. Among aussies I am a church mouse.
Pick the weekend @super slim so we can start planning

 

[benphyr]

Does a vocal church mouse sing in the choir? Maybe a rodential choir? Just a little bit squeaky on the high notes.

 

[super slim]

I am vocal compared to my compatriots. Among aussies I am a church mouse.
Pick the weekend @super slim so we can start planning

My first preference is after the ACC C&O tour, Thursday 24th Sept to Sunday 25th Sept.
My second preference is before ACC Maine Coast, then New England Mountains, Thursday 6th Aug to Sunday 9th Aug.

 

[3bs]

well team i just got the email for the annual charity ride i do out west. it is set for September 20-25, and i will fly out the 19th so that blows slims first choice.

i have a work thing scheduled august 3 to 21 which if it happens i will be out of pocket, but i am not sure it is actually going to happens during that period, so we could pencil in that date, or we could pick another.

@super slim we need your input here. any other dates that work for you?

 

[super slim]

What about Thursday 23/7/20 to Sunday 26/7/20 prefered as just after Erie Canal tour, OR Thursday 30/7/20 to Sunday 2/8/20

 

[Seth Cooper]

I'm out of town mid July but should be back by the 15th. Since I am local to west MI, I am flexible.