Colorado 2005: First Annual HU Travellers Meeting

Colorado, USA, July 7-10, 2005

See video about HU Travellers' Meeting. Want to know what people thought of one of last years Meetings? Is it worth coming to the Meeting? See their comments here.

If you missed it, you missed a good one! We had 111 travellers show up for the meeting!

Photos and report to come.

Comments from attendees:

From Allen and Carol Naille:

"Chris & Erin, Grant, et al,
Great time (except for the wind!), great people, programs, and location. Got to see old friends and meet some new ones. A lot of effort goes into putting one of these events together and we all appreciate it. We usually don't attend these kind of rallies, but this was FUN! Thank you all.
Allen and Carol"

Mark Attwell:

"Grant, I've thanked Chris & Erin for all their hard work but I would also like to extend my thanks to you for everything you do to make Horizons Unlimited a success in all aspects. The rally was the best weekend of my 2005 summer to date and I think it'll be hard to beat."

2005 speakers:

• Chris and Erin Ratay, "Ultimate Journey"
• Grant Johnson on "How to do the long trip" - Saturday afternoon, 3 hours
• Jim Stanley, "South American rambling"
• Jim Oliver and Dennis O'Neil, "around the world in 60 days"
• Cindy Liboiron and Dan Graham, Canada, "buying a bike in Australia to travel on"
• Paul Orland, New Zealand adventure on a shoestring
• Norm and Linda Babcock of Ayres Adventures (www.AyresAdventures.com) will do a video presentation of South America
• Stephen Golub – Riding the Continental Divide
• Rickey Gates, USA to South America, at 23 on a CX500.
• Dale Eva – Adventure Alaska
• Jim Key’s GS video through Baja and the Copper Canyon

Tech Sessions:

• Grant Johnson - Photo Composition for travellers - the one everyone SHOULD take, but no one does...
• Jim Stanley - Tire Changing
• Bill Ryder, spoke wheel maintenance, trueing (will be combined with tire changing with Jim)
• Allan Wyatt, Northern Colorado BMW Preventive Maintenance and Parts Minutiae (I'm going just to see what that means!:)
• Jim Hyde, Off-pavement basics. Jim will also do off-pavement courses at the meeting. See below.
• Eric Hougen, Wolfman Luggage, on packing
• Steve Green – How to fix broken cables in the field
• Vendor Session: Roger Pioszak – Exhaust Modifications

NOTE: Northern Colorado BMW/Ducati were on hand as support and with lots of goodies for you!

Important! Rideouts!

NOTE: There is a Rodeo parade through town on Sat @ 10am.  Chamber of Commerce would love it if some bikes could participate and hand out candy to kids. Let's all get out there!

Rideouts - will be limited to 10 people per ride, no exceptions.

Erin Ratay will lead a women only ride, paved and graded dirt, over a couple of passes and beautiful scenery.

Steve Green on his KLR will lead an advanced ride for single cylinder dual sport motorcycles to remote high Colorado passes. The all day ride will be approx. 200 miles and limited to 10 experienced riders. Jim Stanley will lead an intermediate/advanced ride across Taylor Pass to Aspen.

Jim Hyde and Eric Hougen will lead an intermediate ride across some of Colorado’s favorite passes, for larger bikes and intermediate riders. The ride will be several hours.

Planned is a geo-caching ride on Friday, so be there early if you want to do it.

Jim Hyde, Rawhyde Adventure Training

Jim will be at the meeting and will conduct training sessions. He did a 4 hour at Copper Canyon, Mexico, last year, and it got rave reviews, so sign up soon!

Fri 8 am: 3-4 hour training session
Fri 1pm: Intermediate Ride (leader)
Fri Night: 30 min Presentation (free)
Sat 8 am: 3-4 hour training session.

Jim says: "I'm going to help people to avoid the typical "top 5 mistakes"... this will incorporate;
How to stand and ride ... (for better balance)
How to avoid obstacles (target fixation)
How to be smooth with the throttle, clutch & brake while standing...
How to turn properly off road (counter balancing & avoid washout)
How to 'ride within your limits' off road.
and how to stay relaxed... and keep it all together."

The price for the class will be $89, payable on the day.

Camping

Please pay us on the day, US$7 / day per person.

Leaving on a big trip in 2005?

Plan on leaving from the Meeting! We'll make it a great send-off! Or coming home around the time of the Meeting? What a great place to arrive at!

All times - and everything - approximate!

Thursday morning

CHECK-IN and sign up! You MUST be registered to go on a ride.

Guided rides start Thursday afternoon.

Friday afternoon/evening

CHECK-IN and sign up! You MUST be registered to go on a ride.

Friday night

7:00 pm
Speakers presentations

Saturday morning – late check in

8:30 - Breakfast, all morning

As well as the meals, (see below) snacks are available all day, various prices.

Rideouts - off-road runs details here.

We would like travel equipment vendors. Vendors please contact me for details.

Saturday Lunch,

Saturday afternoon,

Rideouts - off-road runs details here.

On road runs - we'll post a sheet of paper up for you to add your name to a destination, volunteers to lead appreciated!

Tech seminars, details to come. If you want to volunteer to lead a seminar or breakout session, on any appropriate topic, please contact us. We have had lots of interest in seminars, ranging from 30 minutes to several hours, on subjects from GPS to packing lists to tire changing.

Saturday dinner,

Saturday afternoon buffet served from 4:00 pm till 7:00 pm. Cost payable on the day to the venue.

7:30 pm sharp
Speakers presentations
Door prizes - you have to be there to win!

Sunday

Breakfast served from 8:00

Half-day of rafting with River Runners (www.riverrunnersltd.com). Pick-up at 9:30am, return to campground at 1pm.  Class 3 = $33; Class 4+ = $45. Payable on the day. (Prices and pickup based on a minimum of 20 - if less, it'll be more.)

Pre-booking required. To book, contact

Sunday lunch from 12:00 till 2:00, cost payable to the venue.

Miscellaneous notes:

Organizers will be there most of Thursday, hopefully Wednesday too, if anyone wishes to arrive early and just hang out or go for a ride in the area.

Accommodation and all meals are NOT included.