2021 meets

[A.J. Bertin]

We're now down to the last three months of 2020 and getting closer to the end of this horrible year.  Even though the COVID pandemic has wrought havoc on everyone's lives and has prompted some slight changes to how road meets are handled, many of us have still been able to attend or host some great road meets throughout 2020... although perhaps fewer than in recent years.  (And yes... some meets have been postponed... but "postponed" is better than "cancelled"... right?)  Let's see what the upcoming months will bring in terms of a vaccine and any kind of herd immunity against this awful virus.

I thought I would once again start a list of road meets that are being considered for the upcoming year.  Here are the meets I've heard about that are on the docket for 2021:

• Outer Banks NC "city meet" - April 24
• Quad Cities (IA/IL) - June 19
• Durham (NC) East End Connector - July 17
• Wilmington DE - July 17
• Cleveland OH - August 28
• Plattsburgh/Clinton County NY - August or September?
• Onondaga County NY (mini-meet) - September 5
• West Irondequoit NY - September 25
• San Antonio TX - October 2
• Atlantic Beach NY (mini-meet) - October 9?
• Cumberland MD - October?
• Jackson MI - fall?
• Oneonta NY - fall?
• Elmsford NY (mini-meet) - October 30
• Elgin/Schaumburg IL - November 13

Of course, who knows what this pandemic will bring in 2021... but I'm trying to be optimistic.  Am I forgetting any meets that have been mentioned as possibilities?

--sso 9/1/2021 fixed tags

[Takumi]

I’ve been kicking around the idea of a Powhatan County, VA mini meet for a few months now, but I may wait a few more years on that until the planned improvements for US 60 between US 522 and the Chesterfield line are either underway or done. There are some interesting bridges scattered around the county, and secondary route 711 was recently widened to four lanes all the way to VA 288. Plus US 522 ends at US 60 in the county.

[Max Rockatansky]

Being out in the middle of nowhere California it's hard to come by a meet that has been really feasible to attend given my wife and I tend to be usually spending our vacations knocking out National Parks.  That said, I'm always game for a mini-meet if someone is in the Sierra Nevada Mountains or Big Sur.

[Dougtone]

I've been toying with the idea of an Oneonta, NY area meet (basically around Otsego and northern Delaware Counties), possibly for the fall of 2021, but it's quite possible that I would push that back to 2022.

[baugh17]

I've been toying with the idea of an Oneonta, NY area meet (basically around Otsego and northern Delaware Counties), possibly for the fall of 2021, but it's quite possible that I would push that back to 2022.

My cousins own a restaurant in Walton.  Just sayin'. 

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

From the "facts that might only interest me" file, this is the latest we've started a thread for an upcoming year of roadmeets since the 2015 year thread.

[Alps]

I think the Nice Bridge construction makes more sense for 2022 than 2021, and that's all I've got on my radar besides the OBX.

[cl94]

I think the Nice Bridge construction makes more sense for 2022 than 2021

Agree. We'll have more progress by then.

I'm not going to put my hat in the ring for anything 2021 due to grad school and uncertainty about where I'll be living come the second half of the year. But I would like to attend a couple...

[Brandon]

Sometime during the summer, the Quad Cities with the new I-74 bridges as the main course.

[A.J. Bertin]

Sometime during the summer, the Quad Cities with the new I-74 bridges as the main course.

Sweet... I'll be very interested in this one.  I'll add this to the list now.

[rawmustard]

I'm thinking of doing something in Jackson, MI. Honestly, if COVID hadn't reared its ugly head, I might have done that this year, but it probably would work better for me personally next year regardless. There have definitely been a lot of road changes in the last few years, plus I'm sure the retail geeks among us would have a keen interest in what has happened to the retail spaces *ducks*.

[A.J. Bertin]

I'm thinking of doing something in Jackson, MI. Honestly, if COVID hadn't reared its ugly head, I might have done that this year, but it probably would work better for me personally next year regardless. There have definitely been a lot of road changes in the last few years, plus I'm sure the retail geeks among us would have a keen interest in what has happened to the retail spaces *ducks*.

Awesome!  I will be very interested in this one.  For a while, I'd been kind of hoping that someone would someday host a meet in Jackson MI so I'm happy to hear this.  Do you have an idea of roughly which part of the year in 2021 you think you might host your Jackson meet?

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

I'm thinking of doing something in Jackson, MI. Honestly, if COVID hadn't reared its ugly head, I might have done that this year, but it probably would work better for me personally next year regardless. There have definitely been a lot of road changes in the last few years, plus I'm sure the retail geeks among us would have a keen interest in what has happened to the retail spaces *ducks*.

If you could dovetail a Jackson Roadmeet with their Bright walls festival (https://www.brightwallsjackson.com) https://www.flickr.com/photos/roadfan_reborn/albums/72157710818700111 in September, that would be cool.

[hbelkins]

I'm thinking of doing something in Jackson, MI. Honestly, if COVID hadn't reared its ugly head, I might have done that this year, but it probably would work better for me personally next year regardless. There have definitely been a lot of road changes in the last few years, plus I'm sure the retail geeks among us would have a keen interest in what has happened to the retail spaces *ducks*.

Awesome!  I will be very interested in this one.  For a while, I'd been kind of hoping that someone would someday host a meet in Jackson MI so I'm happy to hear this.  Do you have an idea of roughly which part of the year in 2021 you think you might host your Jackson meet?

I thought someone (Cody?) hosted a meet in Jackson a couple of years ago. Or was it somewhere else in Mississippi? I know that I was trying to come up with a county-collecting route for most of northern Mississippi to get to the meet, but something came up and I had to abandon plans to attend.

[oscar]

I'm thinking of doing something in Jackson, MI. Honestly, if COVID hadn't reared its ugly head, I might have done that this year, but it probably would work better for me personally next year regardless. There have definitely been a lot of road changes in the last few years, plus I'm sure the retail geeks among us would have a keen interest in what has happened to the retail spaces *ducks*.

Awesome!  I will be very interested in this one.  For a while, I'd been kind of hoping that someone would someday host a meet in Jackson MI so I'm happy to hear this.  Do you have an idea of roughly which part of the year in 2021 you think you might host your Jackson meet?

I thought someone (Cody?) hosted a meet in Jackson a couple of years ago. Or was it somewhere else in Mississippi? I know that I was trying to come up with a county-collecting route for most of northern Mississippi to get to the meet, but something came up and I had to abandon plans to attend.

I think rawmustard had Jackson, Michigan in mind for 2021. Cody hosted a meet in Jackson, Mississippi in 2017.

[rawmustard]

Awesome!  I will be very interested in this one.  For a while, I'd been kind of hoping that someone would someday host a meet in Jackson MI so I'm happy to hear this.  Do you have an idea of roughly which part of the year in 2021 you think you might host your Jackson meet?

All I will say at this point is sometime after winter and not the weekend of August 22 (NASCAR at MIS). It actually may work in our favor that there's no June race in 2021, but if fans are expected back (even at a reduced capacity), Jackson becomes much busier.

[hbelkins]

I think rawmustard had Jackson, Michigan in mind for 2021. Cody hosted a meet in Jackson, Mississippi in 2017.

That's what I get for answering a response, not the original. Makes sense that Brian wouldn't be hosting a meet in MIssissippi, but in MIchigan, instead.

[bandit957]

I'm thinking of having another Cincinnati meet because so many people were either scared away from the 2020 meet or prevented from going due to ridiculous travel restrictions.

[A.J. Bertin]

I'm thinking of having another Cincinnati meet because so many people were either scared away from the 2020 meet or prevented from going due to ridiculous travel restrictions.

My reason for not attending the 2020 Cincinnati meet actually had little to do with the pandemic and more to do with the fact that I just didn't have a desire to attend a Cincinnati meet given other road meets and other travel plans I had this year.  If it weren't for other meets I was attending and other travel plans I had this year, I might have considered attending.  And with other road meets that are already being announced for 2021, I can't say I would prioritize attending a Cincinnati meet in 2021 either.  (I'd prefer to save my money and resources for other trips... not that I wouldn't consider attending a Cincinnati meet in a year that wasn't filled with plenty of other road meets I'm more interested in attending.)

Also, I had previously attended a road meet in Cincinnati back in 2013.  In many cases, the idea of attending another road meet in a same city that I've visited previously doesn't interest me all that much.  Again... not saying I would definitely say no to attending another Cincinnati meet, but it's just not as high on my priority list.

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

As far as my plans for "Ohio" in 2021 goes, first dibs go to Dan Garnell & Sean Lyons for Toledo 3. If they don't have anything proposed by the start of Spring, I'll go ahead with a Findlay meet (though its scope could stretch from Bowling Green to  Lima along I-75/Dixie Highway/Old US 25).
I see Tim has already offered up Cincy 3.1 for 2021, so I'll leave him to his own devices concerning that replay.

FWIW, I'm figuring to direct roadmeets for Cleveland for 2022, returning to Columbus again in 2023 (assuming most of the I-70/71 rebuild is finished), and hoping the National Road Museum, outside of Zanesville is still in business come 2024. Obviously man can plan, while god laughs. I just hope its catching its breath for awhile.

[A.J. Bertin]

As far as my plans for "Ohio" in 2021 goes, first dibs go to Dan Garnell & Sean Lyons for Toledo 3. If they don't have anything proposed by the start of Spring, I'll go ahead with a Findlay meet (though its scope could stretch from Bowling Green to  Lima along I-75/Dixie Highway/Old US 25).

Sweet!  I'll be very interested in attending a Findlay meet if it happens and if I can swing it.

[M3100]

Being out in the middle of nowhere California it's hard to come by a meet that has been really feasible to attend {snip} I'm always game for a mini-meet if someone is in the Sierra Nevada Mountains or Big Sur.

I'm in the LA area and see that the road planned meets are entirely "further east", maybe because a larger number of meet attendees live closer to the gathering spots.  (Another group I belong to also has a midwest/east coast emphasis, which is fine, because it gives me an opportunity to explore).

In any case, I agree with your comment...the Sierras [and surrounding foothills] or Big Sur would make interesting sites.

[Max Rockatansky]

Being out in the middle of nowhere California it's hard to come by a meet that has been really feasible to attend {snip} I'm always game for a mini-meet if someone is in the Sierra Nevada Mountains or Big Sur.

I'm in the LA area and see that the road planned meets are entirely "further east", maybe because a larger number of meet attendees live closer to the gathering spots.  (Another group I belong to also has a midwest/east coast emphasis, which is fine, because it gives me an opportunity to explore).

In any case, I agree with your comment...the Sierras [and surrounding foothills] or Big Sur would make interesting sites.

Its definitely pretty hard to organize anything substantial when everyone tends to live at least 3 hours from each other.  In regards to California I've tended to drop in on people for lunch or dinner over the years when I've been in their areas.  I want to say the In' n' Out Burger in Roseville has been a particularly prime spot for a lot of mini Road Meets.

[Alps]

Being out in the middle of nowhere California it's hard to come by a meet that has been really feasible to attend {snip} I'm always game for a mini-meet if someone is in the Sierra Nevada Mountains or Big Sur.

I'm in the LA area and see that the road planned meets are entirely "further east", maybe because a larger number of meet attendees live closer to the gathering spots.  (Another group I belong to also has a midwest/east coast emphasis, which is fine, because it gives me an opportunity to explore).

In any case, I agree with your comment...the Sierras [and surrounding foothills] or Big Sur would make interesting sites.

Its definitely pretty hard to organize anything substantial when everyone tends to live at least 3 hours from each other.  In regards to California I've tended to drop in on people for lunch or dinner over the years when I've been in their areas.  I want to say the In' n' Out Burger in Roseville has been a particularly prime spot for a lot of mini Road Meets.

I believe I've used it for that same purpose

[Duke87]

Being out in the middle of nowhere California it's hard to come by a meet that has been really feasible to attend {snip} I'm always game for a mini-meet if someone is in the Sierra Nevada Mountains or Big Sur.

I'm in the LA area and see that the road planned meets are entirely "further east", maybe because a larger number of meet attendees live closer to the gathering spots.  (Another group I belong to also has a midwest/east coast emphasis, which is fine, because it gives me an opportunity to explore).

In any case, I agree with your comment...the Sierras [and surrounding foothills] or Big Sur would make interesting sites.

Road meets do seem to be largely concentrated in the northeast and midwest, and otherwise rarely (but not never) occur anywhere in the western half of the country.

To some degree this is a consequence of population density but it's also a consequence of social inertia. Road meets started in the northeast, and the idea gained steam and became a thing because a pool of people willing to host them or at least willing to attend them developed and grew in that part of the country.

There are enough roadgeeks in California to organize a good-size meet with Californians alone, but road meet culture as a specific subset of the broader roadgeeking hobby never really made it out there, and so these people aren't used to organizing and attending meets.

Meanwhile it seems that within the northeast at least, road meet culture has been sort of slowly dying off - meets have been hosted just about everywhere there is enough of interest to host one, and the group of regular attendees has gotten to know each other well enough that we don't really need road meets to get us together anymore, we just meet up and socialize as friends generically.