Feel free to submit pix and write-ups to Ron Sands  mail to Ron

Jim Callahan asks for everyone to send pictures to him for submission in the Torque magazine.  Mailing a CD to him will work the best for him.

Updated 01-06-05  with more pictures from Ted Merklin

Updated 01-06-05  with more pictures from Erric Zdzchowski 

Updated 10-31-04  with more pictures from Jeff Moyer

Updated 09-13-04  with more pictures from Ed Clark, Bill Ozanich and Don Wehr

We had a great event this year with the attendance shooting up to 105 (fantastic!).  Many riders came from long distances and there were many first time attendees.  Riders came from Indiana, Georgia, North Carolina, Massachusetts, Ohio, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Virginia, West Virginia and Ontario.  

We had several packs in attendance - the largest being the Windber (WARP) pack.  Other packs on attendance were Hermy's (Royal RATs), Martin's (Triumph Riders of Coventry), Kissell's (Nittany RATs), Uncommon, Triumph Pittsburgh RATs, formerly of Appalachian (King's Brigade), Capes Performance RATs, Mt. Holly, NJ (Jersey Devil RATs) and the Crazy Canucks from Ontario.

The format was changed to allow having tents outdoors for us to have our Saturday evening dinner under the tents and everyone seemed to enjoy the change.

Many riders endured rain coming up on Thursday and some rain continued into Friday but it didn't dampen spirits.  Friday had some riders going on many different rides.  Some went to the Zippo Factory Museum in Bradford.  Some went for bison burgers in New York State.  Some cruised the Devil's Highway (666) and 555.  A group took a ride around the beautiful Kinzua Reservoir.  After cruising the Long House Scenic Byway, many stopped for lunch at the Dock Siders restaurant at the Kinzua Marina.  Other riders went exploring on their own.

Friday evening brought the opening "ceremonies"  preceded by a sandwich pizza buffet which was sponsored by Martin's Motorsports and Hermy's Cycles.  Many settled in at the Eben's Lounge to catch up with old friends and "kick some tires".

On Saturday, the weather was sparkling after a morning fog.  The bulk of the riders went to Kissell's Motorsports in State College for the luncheon they sponsored.  Riders took several different routes to get there.  Two groups took an excellent ride through the Black Moshanon State Forest.  Another took the reverse route of one that was used last year to get there.  A few riders went to the Pine Creek/Grand Canyon area.  Variety was the name of the game this weekend.

Some jumped into the outdoor hot tub after the day's ride.  The Towne House provided bike washing facilities which was used heavily and appreciated.

Saturday's dinner was held outside under the tents.  A DJ was on hand to entertain while Jim ran the festivities which included the raffle drawings and RAT awards.  The raffle drawing gave away prizes donated by RAT, Martin's Motorsports, Triumph of Windber, Triumph of Pittsburgh, Hermy's Cycles and Kissell's Motorsports.  The prizes were great and well appreciated by the winners.

A new trend occurred when Jim, Ken Towers and Kathy as well as Richard Ford all wore kilts.  It seems that kilts are becoming proper RAT RAID attire!  Next year....

After the music ended, some serious "arm bending" took place in the lounge and a group of hearty souls did venture out on the "Bermuda Crawl".

Sunday morning brought more photo shots and good byes.  A fairly large group of riders rode to the brunch buffet at Gilbert's Restaurant on Brookville which was organized by the Windber pack.

Many people commented about how much they enjoyed the RAID.  See you in 2005!

Enjoy the pictures!

Ron