2017 New River Gorge Bridge/Beckley WV Meet is now Sat., April 8

[74/171FAN]

It sounds like the best way to handle things at this point, since quite a few people have committed to hotel reservations and/or time off surrounding this weekend, is to simply have the meet go on without its intended host - have one of the attendees take over as lead and have H.B. forward the tour notes along to said person. There is precedent for this, it happened with the Ottawa meet in 2012.

While I am not attending this meet, if I had been planning on doing so I would be completely unable to reschedule my trip at this point and would still be driving to West Virginia this weekend. I imagine quite a few of the attendees are in a similar situation. Attempting to reschedule the meet is going to result in only a few people showing up while everyone else either still gathers this weekend or attends neither.

Basically, you are right in that is what is happening.  I will be there this weekend as I have implied in the Facebook Event, but I had also made plans to sneak by Blacksburg Sunday and after events in my life last weekend I could not let myself postpone that portion of my trip.

[noelbotevera]

I'm one of the few that decided to change. Reason for that was because April 1st would conflict with having to go to Dulles Airport to drop off my mom. If the meet doesn't happen, I'm still heading down anyways.

[okroads]

I am still planning on going to WV this weekend, as I am not able to go next weekend, but am still figuring out my schedule as this is the first part of what will hopefully be a multi-day trip through VA, MD, and PA. I may or may not be at any of the "cancelled" meet, that is still TBD.

[hbelkins]

Can I get a count of who's going tomorrow anyway,and who will be there next weekend when (hopefully) I will be recovered enough to be there?

Even if I abandoned my plan of doing some route clinching and came directly to the meet tomorrow, my leg is telling me that's not going to happen. I'm in hopes of getting a painkiller stronger than hydrocodone to knock this thing out.

[Laura]

CP, David, Husband, and I are coming tomorrow (4/1). We will miss you HB! Rest up and feel better soon. Piriformis syndrome sucks. I go to Pelvic floor physical therapy for it, actually, and have learned to completely change the way I sit and walk. Also learned some really cool exercises for it sitting, standing, and against the wall. But take care and don't over push yourself.

I gather from the facebook event that it's the 4 of us plus Valerie, Josh, Mark, and Chris. Anyone I'm missing?


iPhone

[hbelkins]

Hate to do this, but I'm going to have to pull the plug on the meet for this weekend. I went to the doctor today and got two shots and three oral medications, but I don't see this clearing up in time for me to be able to stand the drive to West Virginia. Plus, I have to go in for an x-ray Tuesday and the results of that will determine whether I need further examination, such as an MRI.

Watch this space and the Facebook page for any future announcements about the meet, and if anyone wants to go this weekend and use the posted itinerary (as some of you did last weekend), feel free.

I've seen a few pictures of the meet, but not very many, and no accounts or recaps of the meet itself. Would love to see how everyone enjoyed (if they did) the meet.

[tckma]

Hate to do this, but I'm going to have to pull the plug on the meet for this weekend. I went to the doctor today and got two shots and three oral medications, but I don't see this clearing up in time for me to be able to stand the drive to West Virginia.

Your health comes first.  Wouldn't want to go on a meet where the meet host couldn't be there to provide information and insight on the roads involved.  As I said on the FB page, I'm not available this Saturday anyway -- the high school robotics team I mentor for made it to District Championships, which means I'll be driving down to Richmond tomorrow and driving back home very late on Saturday night.  If they do well there, it could mean I get to plan a drive to St. Louis for the World Championships, so I may hit you up for some suggestions for stops in Kentucky, HB.  Last time I went to Worlds (in 2015), it was the very first time I had ever driven through or even been to Kentucky, and before I was active on this site.  Maybe this time, I'll plan better, and actually have time to tour a bourbon distillery instead of just visiting their gift shop.  I could also do the northern route through Ohio as I've never been on that part of I-70, but I'm guessing there's not much to see that way.

Anyway, I'm rambling off the topic.  Go rest and recuperate and listen to your doctor, and let us know when the meet can happen.

[hbelkins]

My apologies again for this meet falling through. For those of you who are not my friends on Facebook, I ended up in the hospital and at one point my wife was told not to expect me to live. Long story short: Don't take prescription strength ibuprofen, even if prescribed, if you are taking metformin or have kidney issues that cause your creatinine levels to run high. I was in renal failure, but to the chagrin of some, I lived. 

I hope everyone who decided to go anyway had a good time. I've seen a few photos; I'd love to see some recaps of your trips.

[noelbotevera]

I had a near death experience at Sandstone Falls (really Brooks Falls, but I just call it Sandstone).

My dad and were shooting pictures of the falls (basically - short whitewater rapids and a five to ten foot drop). We decided to get closer, thanks to some rocks that got close to river level and were the riverbank itself. I decided to try to take a photo of me dipping my hand in the water (prove that I was in one of the oldest rivers in the world, cause bragging rights). I was on a rock that was half "wet", and I spotted a point on the rock that, if I kneeled, I could dip my hand into the water there. It was much closer to the river than where I was standing.

The issue was that it was in the wet area. I assumed it was just water, and that I wouldn't slip. I tried walking over to the point, and upon entering the wet area, I almost fell to my feet. Luckily, my phone (which I was using as a camera) was in my pocket, and didn't fall out. Had I slipped, I would've either cracked my head on the rock, or fell into the whitewater rapids and get pummeled by the rocks in the falls. I also would've probably lost my phone. Luckily, I didn't, and told my dad that there was a slippery part of rock. My dad told me that it was algae that was near invisible to the eye, and not to stand there.

Lesson learned, so I tried another spot that was dry. I never took the picture, since my dad wanted me to pose in a photo.

[CYoder]

Glad you are well, HB!

[seicer]

My apologies again for this meet falling through. For those of you who are not my friends on Facebook, I ended up in the hospital and at one point my wife was told not to expect me to live. Long story short: Don't take prescription strength ibuprofen, even if prescribed, if you are taking metformin or have kidney issues that cause your creatinine levels to run high. I was in renal failure, but to the chagrin of some, I lived. 

I hope everyone who decided to go anyway had a good time. I've seen a few photos; I'd love to see some recaps of your trips.

Holy cow, HB. I'm glad you are doing a lot better but still. We have years of your wisdom and wisecracks left

[SSOWorld]

My apologies again for this meet falling through. For those of you who are not my friends on Facebook, I ended up in the hospital and at one point my wife was told not to expect me to live. Long story short: Don't take prescription strength ibuprofen, even if prescribed, if you are taking metformin or have kidney issues that cause your creatinine levels to run high. I was in renal failure, but to the chagrin of some, I lived. 

I hope everyone who decided to go anyway had a good time. I've seen a few photos; I'd love to see some recaps of your trips.

Holy cow, HB. I'm glad you are doing a lot better but still. We have years of your wisdom and wisecracks left

No, "Right".