2016 Kootenay Rat Raid Recap
The 14th annual Kootenay Rat Raid will go down as the year of the rain, hail and unseasonably cold temperatures! Despite unfavourable afternoon weather, everyone seemed to get out for a ride when they could and come back with some great stories. One of the more common phrases due to how cold later in the evening was that people only brought one pair of pants and they were soaked! Note for future events, aside from in BC we stay under 40km/h over or they will take your motorcycle for one week, check the forecast and pack appropriately!
This year's sizeable charitable donation went to the Nelson Community Services Center. To read up more on this very deserving charity, please click here. It was also decided we had so much fun auctioning off the one jacket that we will likely do that again next year!
The planned events were all a hit for those who participated. We saw the return of the brewery tour up at the Nelson Brewing Company where it was a full house of 30 people from our group! Jerry, the brewmaster, gave a fantastic tour and NBC donated a couple prizes to the banquet giveaways! We had 2 planned lead group rides; Creston loop which includes the 3A and the Slocan loop which includes the 31A. We brought back the photography on the Friday group ride including the 31A and the Slocan Loop. About 30 riders went through this but as we gathered at Fish Lake to wait for everyone to catch up, the sky was looking quite dark so the majority decided to head back the same way we came up. Most of us got back dry, some of us were held up due to an accident with one of ours and a person who decided to u-turn in the middle of corners over a solid double yellow. Our guy was smart with his split second decision and after all assessments were done, ended up walking away with the drivers claiming full responsibility. The Saturday group ride over to Creston and the 3A saw a few less people than the day before but there were a couple new people who had never done that road and everyone had a fantastic time.
The Show 'n Shine was a huge success. Some really classic bikes won awards.
The banquet, dinner as usual was fantastic. The Adventure always does such a great job with everything they do for us. Once everyone had had enough, we were off to give away a bunch of swag sent to us by Triumph Canada and a few goodies from British Customs, Bill's Snohomish Cycle, Blackfoot and the Nelson Brewing Company. The room was full of laughs, fun and such positive energy. We recognized our "every year" attendees which we are down to 5, we thanked our "first timers" for coming out and they all seemed like they were coming back. We met some of our youngest attendees ever. The Mitchell's crew to 10, they seem to be taking over!! Gordie put on the girls shirt he won in a show of great sportsmanship! In all my years attending, I have not had so much fun hosting a banquet. With Triumph Canada on site this year, Ian McKinstray came up and said a few words including some very nice ones about me and our event. It was his first time, and first time in the Kootenays and he would like to come back! Once we finished handing out the Show 'n Shine trophies, we had an impromptu auction of a jacket that one of the guys wanted to see raise more money for charity. That ended up being almost the highlight until it was time to draw our 50/50. It was the biggest jackpot we have had yet! Well done to all!
We all need to thank our partners and sponsors in this event. Without their support, the Raid as a whole would be very scaled back. So in no particular order:
Website is now updated with next year’s dates and the new registration form. The new 2016 gallery of pictures will be up soon so please check back.
Until next year, ride safe!
Cheers,
Liane
Raid Captain
This year's sizeable charitable donation went to the Nelson Community Services Center. To read up more on this very deserving charity, please click here. It was also decided we had so much fun auctioning off the one jacket that we will likely do that again next year!
The planned events were all a hit for those who participated. We saw the return of the brewery tour up at the Nelson Brewing Company where it was a full house of 30 people from our group! Jerry, the brewmaster, gave a fantastic tour and NBC donated a couple prizes to the banquet giveaways! We had 2 planned lead group rides; Creston loop which includes the 3A and the Slocan loop which includes the 31A. We brought back the photography on the Friday group ride including the 31A and the Slocan Loop. About 30 riders went through this but as we gathered at Fish Lake to wait for everyone to catch up, the sky was looking quite dark so the majority decided to head back the same way we came up. Most of us got back dry, some of us were held up due to an accident with one of ours and a person who decided to u-turn in the middle of corners over a solid double yellow. Our guy was smart with his split second decision and after all assessments were done, ended up walking away with the drivers claiming full responsibility. The Saturday group ride over to Creston and the 3A saw a few less people than the day before but there were a couple new people who had never done that road and everyone had a fantastic time.
The Show 'n Shine was a huge success. Some really classic bikes won awards.
- Best Sport/Sport Touring - Pav Lazic - StreetTriple - absolultely amazing paint scheme on this bike
- Best Dual - Pat McKay - Tiger - for the first time ever, we had a Tiger with a side car and the uniqueness made this bike worthy
- Best Modern Cruiser - Mike Belaire - Thunderbird - a lot of work to customize this bike and you can tell it is loved
- Best Modern Classic - Marco Palyniak - Bonneville T100 - absolute classic cafe racer design, lots of great small details, beautiful lines
- Best Overall - Marty Noubarian - America - the rootbeer custom paint job stood out to our judges along with all the care and details put into the design
- Furthest Travelled - Tim Herbst - travelled over 1300km to join us as our furthest Saskatchewan attendee
- Oldest Triumph - Tedd McHenry - Speed Triple - this bike looks incredible and still brand new for a '95
The banquet, dinner as usual was fantastic. The Adventure always does such a great job with everything they do for us. Once everyone had had enough, we were off to give away a bunch of swag sent to us by Triumph Canada and a few goodies from British Customs, Bill's Snohomish Cycle, Blackfoot and the Nelson Brewing Company. The room was full of laughs, fun and such positive energy. We recognized our "every year" attendees which we are down to 5, we thanked our "first timers" for coming out and they all seemed like they were coming back. We met some of our youngest attendees ever. The Mitchell's crew to 10, they seem to be taking over!! Gordie put on the girls shirt he won in a show of great sportsmanship! In all my years attending, I have not had so much fun hosting a banquet. With Triumph Canada on site this year, Ian McKinstray came up and said a few words including some very nice ones about me and our event. It was his first time, and first time in the Kootenays and he would like to come back! Once we finished handing out the Show 'n Shine trophies, we had an impromptu auction of a jacket that one of the guys wanted to see raise more money for charity. That ended up being almost the highlight until it was time to draw our 50/50. It was the biggest jackpot we have had yet! Well done to all!
We all need to thank our partners and sponsors in this event. Without their support, the Raid as a whole would be very scaled back. So in no particular order:
- The Adventure Hotel - for your 14th year in supporting and helping to host this event. Danny, Rob, Graham, Destiny, Chef, Rhonda and all the staff at the Adventure, you go above and beyond every year with help and stellar service for our group.
- Triumph Canada - Chris Ellis and Ian McKinstray, thank you for your continued support and sending us so much stuff to give away! We all more than appreciate the support from the brand we all love.
- Echo Cycle - We know you had a busy start to your summer and moved into your new building! We hope the new place gives you new beginnings and we thank you for your continued support.
- Blackfoot - Joe and Mike were out and participating in the activities in and around Nelson with the group. Blackfoot has always stepped up and we thank them for their continued support!
- Bentley Motorrad - Never ceases to amaze me that when I send out the sponsor letters, Dave is usually the first to respond. Your continued support of this event has not gone unnoticed and is so much appreciated. We hope to see you back out at the Raid in the future!
- British Customs - Big thanks to the folks at BC for sending up some great giveaways and their continued support for our event. Matt was a pleasure to coordinate with and it is my hopes that perhaps someone can come up one year to check it out first hand!
- Bill's Snohomish Cycle - Bill and Denita are salt of the earth people and came on board as sponsors 3 years ago after many years as attendees. Anyone in the Puget Sound area should pop in and support these guys. Truly one of a kind and appreciate all your help and your donations. Special thanks to Denita for her enormous help at registration. No words for how much that helps me out.
- Empire Cycle - out of Spokane, Washington and new to our event! Kristin and Cheryl were scheduled to come up but at the last minute needed to say back and be at their shop. We thank them for coming on board and look forward to hopefully seeing them next year!
- The Hume Hotel - not just a favorite breakfast stop for our attendees, but also a great place to stay. Ryan, we appreciate your continued support of our event in your second year of sponsoring.
- The Mountain Hound - just around the corner from our headquarters, even under new owners Tom made sure they stayed on board and welcomes all of our attendees who are looking for a place to stay. We thank you for sponsoring our event.
- Liam Rathgeber - Your continued support of this event through photography does not go unnoticed. You are the reason so many of us have great memories to hold on to. The idea to shoot on the 31A has remained a success. The time lapse footage from the Thursday was pure genius and so fun to watch! I look forward to working with you next year on making this event even better.
- Volunteers - Big thanks from me to all who stepped forward to help with the event. Again, Denita and Vicky for all their help at registration! Pav for finally getting to do the Saturday group ride! Everyone who helped set up and tear down the tent and hauled boxes and water in and out of the storage room. Gina for her help setting up the banquet. Vicki and Denita for helping me sell 50/50 tickets. Patrick, John, Linda and Jenni for their efforts in the Show 'n Shine judging. Heather Graham for her design of this year's logo which became the most talked about and loved logo yet! And anyone I missed and I am so sorry if I did.
Website is now updated with next year’s dates and the new registration form. The new 2016 gallery of pictures will be up soon so please check back.
Until next year, ride safe!
Cheers,
Liane
Raid Captain
