Talk about timing...
Tom's recent email about booking at the Best Western is quite ironic. I had a meeting with the hotel today, and officially signed the agreement for Cirque 2009. The dates are June 5, 6 & 7 2009, as had been previously announced. The meeting with the hotel was to finalize the contract and talk about next year's event. In the coming weeks we will be brain-storming about possible changes to events next year. Based on feedback I've received, I'm looking at ways to emphasize the "social" aspects of the weekend, provide time for the informal interaction that everyone seems to prefer, promote both formal rides and impromptu riding, and still leave time for people to check out the town of Leesburg.
I've heard some great stories from Plum Grove Cycles about some of the "hanging out" at the shop. Seems like a lot of the "new faces" didn't sign up for the more formal sessions, and were out and about in town, just having fun. Maybe there needs to be more time for everyone to do that. Maybe it's time to rethink the Cirque structure a bit. We'll see.
The Cirque web site is static at the moment, but we hope to re-vamp things and get some new info up soon, so stay tuned. In the mean-time, I encourage people who think they might want to attend the Cirque next year to make your reservations now. You can always cancel right up until a few days before the event, and the more rooms we book, the more willing the hotel is to provide additional services and overlook minor transgressions (like beer consumption). We booked 80% last year, and still had people who wanted in, but were too late. We would love to book 100% of the rooms and really "take over" next time. Hotel information is below:
Best Western Leesburg
726 E Market St
Leesburg, VA 20176-4401
703-777- 9400
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Wayne Bingham
Lovettsville, Virginia USA
http://www.cirqueducyclisme.com/