Fifty Plus (50+) - Great Ride-But a missed opportunity.....

Louisville, KY hosted it's annual Mayor's Memorial Day Ride event. Drew a HUGE (the news said 2500 & I was on there!) bunch of riders, from hardcore to mom, pop, kids, grandma/pop types. While the ride was decent, there was absolutely nothing going on to make those who had finished the ride want to just hang around, mingle, and meet other riders. No rider "rodeo", no courses to test bike handling skill, no raffles, noone from the tourism bureau trying to promote what the city of Louisville has to offer (we only moved here 4 years ago and have visited more art shops, etc than many we meet who were born here). I just don't get it--host an event that draws that kind of crowd, then after the ride is over--OK, time for everyone to go home!-nothing to see here, move along. Kind of disappointed that nothing was going on after the ride. Is this how other cities do their rides, or are we just lucky to have a ride, regardless of anything else after?

That's kinda the way most of the charity centuries I ride have been, partly because everyone finishes at such different times, I suppose. Some have spaghetti feeds going on for several hours, but they seem to keep all the riders somewhat captive. This was true (minus the feed) of the century I did Saturday, and it was sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce! Seems like there should at least be someone there from the chamber handing out coupons, freebies, etc. I'm with you on this one.

So volunteer to organize the post ride events for next year.

Well that does seem odd if it's titled the Mayor's Memorial Day Ride. The Mayor in Philadelphia gets involved in some ride there. I never went. But he gets at least 15 seconds on the bike for the news cameras. The bike race next week in Reading, PA has the Mayor involved to announce "Gentlemen, start your engines", or whatever you yell to start a bike race. Each city does their own thing. Reading has the bike race because Trenton, NJ was tired of it and kicked them out. Go figure. Anyway I look for manned rest stops with snacks and food at end. And not all events do that. A number of them hand out goodie bags full of brochures with tourist info. That usually becomes a bother as I have to go back to the car to dump the bag.

Louisville, KY hosted it's annual Mayor's Memorial Day Ride event. ..... Kind of disappointed that nothing was going on after the ride. Is this how other cities do their rides, or are we just lucky to have a ride, regardless of anything else after?

Try to get the bike shops to come together for next year's event. And surely the Chamber of Commerce would show up. Plan the ride near any military base or military cemetary, then you could get Veterans groups or the KY Guard involved. Heck, go ask the Mayor's office for ideas - is he up for re-election in 2008?

You could have joined the hammerheads for the Emerald Necklace, ya know ;)

You could have joined the hammerheads for the Emerald Necklace, ya know ;)

But then, I'd have missed all that quality family time! And it was good to see Donna hammerin'. She was rolling right along there, for someone who doesn't ride often!!