The Green Goat
LGBTQ Compliance Officer -Lotta gays in this place
Lifetime Member
Supporting Member
As a huge introvert who generally doesn't like being around people, I cannot wait to get back next year; its gotten better and better every time I go. I've been to TO 3x now and MOM once. Allow me to share my experiences with you.
TO '21: Didn't know anyone. Didn't talk to many folks. Went out for a ride by myself to get a feel for the area with nothing but a paper trail map and my phone which had no service. Went on Jackal's BMP ride and had a great time. When I wasn't riding, I mostly hung out in my cabin. I still left not knowing many folks though every single person I met was cordial. My fault, not theirs. At that point, I was indifferent about coming to another, but I DO like to ride, so I will continue to come back.
MOM '21: Overlanded with a great group of people. Got to hang out with them for a few days and was led around to some great sites. Now I'm on a casual conversation base with said people.
MOM '22: I'm getting the hang of this now and how it goes. Did some planning ahead of time and had some rides planned out that I wanted to go on. Met another great group of folks on these rides who I now consider friends. This carries over to TO '23.
TO '23: Great ride for me. I did even more planning in advance. I stayed active on the forum for the entire year. I didn't show up late to the party expecting to be led by the hand. I got out of it what I put into it. I don't know if you know this, but I put a sh!tload of time into trying to keep an organized ride list together with all available information readily accessible for new members to see and 'sign up' for. This included where we were meeting and roughly when. Where we were TRYING to go, and who was interested in attending. That said, trying to manage 20 people who are constantly changing their minds is like trying to herd 20 cats. Plans change. Times may run a little late, and we might not see everything we set out to see. Welcome to Life.
I left this TO with even more friends and can't wait to get back to see them again. This is coming from the guy who generally doesn't like crowds or people.
You said you showed up midday Friday and everyone was already gone. What were you expecting? Nearly everyone here came to ride, so it stands to reason that by midday everyone is already out riding. I'm not sure if you've ever been to the TWRA before, but if you aren't aware, Its F'n huge. Rides tend to last awhile. 50-100+ mile rides aren't uncommon. Not many people come back midday.
So that leaves you with Saturday for an 'organized' ride. Which one did you miss? IIRC, someone said you were on the Jackal ride which I also happened to be on. Yea, that ride could have went better, but s*** does happen and its part of the experience. We try to mitigate it as best we can and @JACKAL is a HUGE asset to this forum and does a phenomenal job with guiding groups. That said, the poor guy can't control everything.
You essentially left yourself 1 full day of riding and are now miffed that it didn't go as you had planned. I assume you were one of the 3 machines that were hiding in the shade a little ways ahead of the pack as the rest of us were back in the 87* sun trying to cobble the machine back together so that that guy (who, btw, none of us knew either) could also have a decent experience? Its hard for others to interact with you when you're hiding from them. Its certainly not expected, but I can assure you that had you been around the rest of the group as we were working on the machine, you might have gotten to know us a little better. Hand me a wrench. Offer up a dumb suggestion. Make a smartass comment from the peanut gallery. It really doesn't matter, but had you been there, I feel others would have had more of an opportunity to make sure you had a better experience. I can promise you that IF you were around during that time and IF you had even casually mentioned that this ride wasn't what you were expecting, I, along with many others would have went out of our way to make sure you had a good experience. Really wanted to see the Eternal Flame but were disappointed that you didn't get to? Mention that out loud and I would have made sure you got there. That's hard to do while I'm helping put another guy's machine back together and you're off hiding in the weeds.
TO '21: Didn't know anyone. Didn't talk to many folks. Went out for a ride by myself to get a feel for the area with nothing but a paper trail map and my phone which had no service. Went on Jackal's BMP ride and had a great time. When I wasn't riding, I mostly hung out in my cabin. I still left not knowing many folks though every single person I met was cordial. My fault, not theirs. At that point, I was indifferent about coming to another, but I DO like to ride, so I will continue to come back.
MOM '21: Overlanded with a great group of people. Got to hang out with them for a few days and was led around to some great sites. Now I'm on a casual conversation base with said people.
MOM '22: I'm getting the hang of this now and how it goes. Did some planning ahead of time and had some rides planned out that I wanted to go on. Met another great group of folks on these rides who I now consider friends. This carries over to TO '23.
TO '23: Great ride for me. I did even more planning in advance. I stayed active on the forum for the entire year. I didn't show up late to the party expecting to be led by the hand. I got out of it what I put into it. I don't know if you know this, but I put a sh!tload of time into trying to keep an organized ride list together with all available information readily accessible for new members to see and 'sign up' for. This included where we were meeting and roughly when. Where we were TRYING to go, and who was interested in attending. That said, trying to manage 20 people who are constantly changing their minds is like trying to herd 20 cats. Plans change. Times may run a little late, and we might not see everything we set out to see. Welcome to Life.
I left this TO with even more friends and can't wait to get back to see them again. This is coming from the guy who generally doesn't like crowds or people.
You said you showed up midday Friday and everyone was already gone. What were you expecting? Nearly everyone here came to ride, so it stands to reason that by midday everyone is already out riding. I'm not sure if you've ever been to the TWRA before, but if you aren't aware, Its F'n huge. Rides tend to last awhile. 50-100+ mile rides aren't uncommon. Not many people come back midday.
So that leaves you with Saturday for an 'organized' ride. Which one did you miss? IIRC, someone said you were on the Jackal ride which I also happened to be on. Yea, that ride could have went better, but s*** does happen and its part of the experience. We try to mitigate it as best we can and @JACKAL is a HUGE asset to this forum and does a phenomenal job with guiding groups. That said, the poor guy can't control everything.
You essentially left yourself 1 full day of riding and are now miffed that it didn't go as you had planned. I assume you were one of the 3 machines that were hiding in the shade a little ways ahead of the pack as the rest of us were back in the 87* sun trying to cobble the machine back together so that that guy (who, btw, none of us knew either) could also have a decent experience? Its hard for others to interact with you when you're hiding from them. Its certainly not expected, but I can assure you that had you been around the rest of the group as we were working on the machine, you might have gotten to know us a little better. Hand me a wrench. Offer up a dumb suggestion. Make a smartass comment from the peanut gallery. It really doesn't matter, but had you been there, I feel others would have had more of an opportunity to make sure you had a better experience. I can promise you that IF you were around during that time and IF you had even casually mentioned that this ride wasn't what you were expecting, I, along with many others would have went out of our way to make sure you had a good experience. Really wanted to see the Eternal Flame but were disappointed that you didn't get to? Mention that out loud and I would have made sure you got there. That's hard to do while I'm helping put another guy's machine back together and you're off hiding in the weeds.
