2013 Kootenay Rat Raid Recap!
Wow! What a weekend! We got through it with only a minor incident which is amazing! So much went on, so many laughs, good times, great people and fantastic roads. For those of you not there, I hope this little recap helps you decide for next year! And I apologize in advance for the novel!
First, the thank yous!
New Grand Hotel – The staff and management are bar none. Please take some time to go on www.tripadvisor.ca and fill out a comment on Danny and his crew. We are truly blessed to have them as a partner for this event.
Triumph Canada – Chris Ellis and all at Triumph Canada, a big thank you for their continued support in providing Triumph swag to give away at our banquet.
Echo Cycle – Big thanks to Dave, Jolene and staff for being my liaison with Triumph Canada as well as helping me with some extra swag for the event.
Western Powersport – Thank you Chris and Rebecca for bringing out the Tiger for people to demo and everything else including swag you were gracious enough to help out with!
Blackfoot Motosports – It was great to have these guys on as a sponsor as well as out for the event! Thank you Doug, Joe and Mike for all you did coming out of Calgary.
Bentley Motorad – Always and forever a dedicated sponsor of the Raid. We appreciate their support each and every year!
British Customs – For the first time we had a south of the border sponsor with British Customs out of California. We were happy to have them and look forward to their continued support!
Mountain Hound Inn – New to sponsoring the event, the Mountain Hound is just around the corner from the New Grand and many of our participants stay there. It is nice to see them support our event as well!
The Hume Hotel – Again new to sponsoring the event, the Hume is just down the block. Not only do many people stay there, nearly everyone goes for breakfast at least once while in town.
Logo – I need to send a huge thank you to Iesza Jordan from the Caroles in Vancouver for designing the 2013 logo. It went over really well! Everyone loved the simplicity of it and the consistency in branding across all the swag.
Participants – A big thank you to everyone who registered for the event. We counted 104 at the banquet which was a nice number, everyone had room to mingle and we had a great time.
Volunteers – Finally, thank you to everyone who helped stuff bags, carry boxes, help with registration, banquet set up and selling 50/50 tickets. Without your help, not sure what I would do. Now that I have a year under my belt I will be looking to more of you guys for help so I can get out for a ride as well with some friends I rarely get to see.
Photography – Big thanks to Travis for taking so many wonderful pictures. He was my go to guy for even pictures and superficially banquet shots and the group picture and it was very much appreciated. Anyone who wants to submit some of their pictures to me for the website can do so by emailing them to [email protected].
New Grand Hotel – The staff and management are bar none. Please take some time to go on www.tripadvisor.ca and fill out a comment on Danny and his crew. We are truly blessed to have them as a partner for this event.
Triumph Canada – Chris Ellis and all at Triumph Canada, a big thank you for their continued support in providing Triumph swag to give away at our banquet.
Echo Cycle – Big thanks to Dave, Jolene and staff for being my liaison with Triumph Canada as well as helping me with some extra swag for the event.
Western Powersport – Thank you Chris and Rebecca for bringing out the Tiger for people to demo and everything else including swag you were gracious enough to help out with!
Blackfoot Motosports – It was great to have these guys on as a sponsor as well as out for the event! Thank you Doug, Joe and Mike for all you did coming out of Calgary.
Bentley Motorad – Always and forever a dedicated sponsor of the Raid. We appreciate their support each and every year!
British Customs – For the first time we had a south of the border sponsor with British Customs out of California. We were happy to have them and look forward to their continued support!
Mountain Hound Inn – New to sponsoring the event, the Mountain Hound is just around the corner from the New Grand and many of our participants stay there. It is nice to see them support our event as well!
The Hume Hotel – Again new to sponsoring the event, the Hume is just down the block. Not only do many people stay there, nearly everyone goes for breakfast at least once while in town.
Logo – I need to send a huge thank you to Iesza Jordan from the Caroles in Vancouver for designing the 2013 logo. It went over really well! Everyone loved the simplicity of it and the consistency in branding across all the swag.
Participants – A big thank you to everyone who registered for the event. We counted 104 at the banquet which was a nice number, everyone had room to mingle and we had a great time.
Volunteers – Finally, thank you to everyone who helped stuff bags, carry boxes, help with registration, banquet set up and selling 50/50 tickets. Without your help, not sure what I would do. Now that I have a year under my belt I will be looking to more of you guys for help so I can get out for a ride as well with some friends I rarely get to see.
Photography – Big thanks to Travis for taking so many wonderful pictures. He was my go to guy for even pictures and superficially banquet shots and the group picture and it was very much appreciated. Anyone who wants to submit some of their pictures to me for the website can do so by emailing them to [email protected].
OK, now on to the events!
Brewery Tour – We had a full house at the Nelson Brewing Company and enjoyed every minute of it. The crew got to sample 3 types of beers and then we toured the over a century old brewery. It was really cool…especially those couple of rooms which temperature wise were a nice relief from the 30 plus weather happening outside! We have had a great feedback and Chad is more than willing to have us back again next year!
Expedition – I wish there would have been more people participating as this is the event that generates the charity money. The feedback from the people who did go on the adventure was awesome. Each person learned something new about the Kootenays, especially concerning history. Rick Sauter does this every year with his CBX rally which is the weekend before ours and was gracious enough to come out and help us with our first. We will be doing this again next year and it will have a new list of destinations!
Congratulations in order from 1 to 3 goes to Peter & Pat Abbot, Gary Bessette and Barry & Fran Kwong for their wins in the inaugural event!
Show ‘n Shine – Big thanks to Brent Carnes, Sam Macey and Pav Lazic for taking over an hour to make the decisions on the winners of the 2013 Show ‘n Shine! The awards were presented as follows:
Best Overall – Rick Lenglet – green Rocket III trike
Best Modern Classic – Jen Moore – army green themed Bonneville
Best Cruiser – Keith Park – red America
Best Sport / Sport Touring – Brad Bardua – black
Best Dual – Jason Leidel – black Tiger 955
Oldest Triumph – Dave Kehoe – 1995 Trident
· Furthest Travelled – Edwin Herrenschmidt – over 3,000km because he took an awfully long scenic route from Calgary!
Banquet – I heard nothing but fantastic comments about the selection and quality of the banquet menu! I was also told that our giveaway method was a lot of fun and fast which people appreciated. The room could have been a little cooler but well, it was before you all got in there! I will consult with Danny and see if there is anything that can be done for next year. It may just be one of those things that comes with 30 plus weather.
Brewery Tour – We had a full house at the Nelson Brewing Company and enjoyed every minute of it. The crew got to sample 3 types of beers and then we toured the over a century old brewery. It was really cool…especially those couple of rooms which temperature wise were a nice relief from the 30 plus weather happening outside! We have had a great feedback and Chad is more than willing to have us back again next year!
Expedition – I wish there would have been more people participating as this is the event that generates the charity money. The feedback from the people who did go on the adventure was awesome. Each person learned something new about the Kootenays, especially concerning history. Rick Sauter does this every year with his CBX rally which is the weekend before ours and was gracious enough to come out and help us with our first. We will be doing this again next year and it will have a new list of destinations!
Congratulations in order from 1 to 3 goes to Peter & Pat Abbot, Gary Bessette and Barry & Fran Kwong for their wins in the inaugural event!
Show ‘n Shine – Big thanks to Brent Carnes, Sam Macey and Pav Lazic for taking over an hour to make the decisions on the winners of the 2013 Show ‘n Shine! The awards were presented as follows:
Best Overall – Rick Lenglet – green Rocket III trike
Best Modern Classic – Jen Moore – army green themed Bonneville
Best Cruiser – Keith Park – red America
Best Sport / Sport Touring – Brad Bardua – black
Best Dual – Jason Leidel – black Tiger 955
Oldest Triumph – Dave Kehoe – 1995 Trident
· Furthest Travelled – Edwin Herrenschmidt – over 3,000km because he took an awfully long scenic route from Calgary!
Banquet – I heard nothing but fantastic comments about the selection and quality of the banquet menu! I was also told that our giveaway method was a lot of fun and fast which people appreciated. The room could have been a little cooler but well, it was before you all got in there! I will consult with Danny and see if there is anything that can be done for next year. It may just be one of those things that comes with 30 plus weather.
Other stuff!
Charitable Donation – It was decided that the Alberta Red Cross Flood Relief would be the beneficiary of the charity donation this year. Although we had a low turnout for the Expedition, my frugal nature in handling this event for the first time allowed us to donate $500 to the Red Cross. We hope that all affected are able to move forward. For those of you not aware, we have a couple participants who were not able to make the Raid due to being part of the cleanup team so we thank all those involved with clean up.
SWAG – The women were thrilled with their women cut shirts! I had a lot of people come tell me these were shirts that they could wear and that made me very happy. The bags went over really well too and everyone seems to like the change to carabineers. The one comment that has stuck out and I agree…we may go with white shirts next year!
On a personal note…
This was quite a unique experience for me, certainly different from the last few years I have come out. Normally I am out and about with my club and hang out with a few others at night. This year afforded me some new friendships that will last a long time. I am not going to single out anyone because you know who you are so to those of you who allowed me an escape, took me for walks, made sure I was fed, and just let me be me, THANK YOU!
I am quite uncertain as to how I am going to outdo myself next year but I’m sure I’ll come up with something! I’ll be sending out an update with the high level of next year in a couple of weeks…just have to get this year sorted and finalized with shirts that need to go out!
Appreciate your patience!
Until then, keep in touch and see you all next year if I don’t see some of you sooner.
Sincerely,
Liane
Your Faithful Raid Captain
Charitable Donation – It was decided that the Alberta Red Cross Flood Relief would be the beneficiary of the charity donation this year. Although we had a low turnout for the Expedition, my frugal nature in handling this event for the first time allowed us to donate $500 to the Red Cross. We hope that all affected are able to move forward. For those of you not aware, we have a couple participants who were not able to make the Raid due to being part of the cleanup team so we thank all those involved with clean up.
SWAG – The women were thrilled with their women cut shirts! I had a lot of people come tell me these were shirts that they could wear and that made me very happy. The bags went over really well too and everyone seems to like the change to carabineers. The one comment that has stuck out and I agree…we may go with white shirts next year!
On a personal note…
This was quite a unique experience for me, certainly different from the last few years I have come out. Normally I am out and about with my club and hang out with a few others at night. This year afforded me some new friendships that will last a long time. I am not going to single out anyone because you know who you are so to those of you who allowed me an escape, took me for walks, made sure I was fed, and just let me be me, THANK YOU!
I am quite uncertain as to how I am going to outdo myself next year but I’m sure I’ll come up with something! I’ll be sending out an update with the high level of next year in a couple of weeks…just have to get this year sorted and finalized with shirts that need to go out!
Appreciate your patience!
Until then, keep in touch and see you all next year if I don’t see some of you sooner.
Sincerely,
Liane
Your Faithful Raid Captain
