Please use this conversation thread to post Questions around the Route Changes coming in 2027. We will address the questions and offer answers during the Town Hall meeting on January 15th. Town Hall login details to follow.
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For more information please see https://rftw.us/special-presidents-message-2025/
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Zoom link for next week’s TownHall below…
Topic: RFTW Townhall Meeting
Time: Jan 15, 2025 06:00 PM Arizona
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https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89378522580?pwd=cwGgNinNhkgDlJU6zWVbK2Is64hXVg.1
Meeting ID: 893 7852 2580
Passcode: 172977
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Meeting ID: 893 7852 2580
Passcode: 172977
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So will the revamped Sandbox route not allow riders from the Southern Route to participate? It sounds like you must be on the Midway Route to ride to the Middle East Conflicts Wall to participate in the Sandbox Route.
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The Valor route will be a C2C route just like Southern and Central today. It will leave Ontario on Wednesday, and arrive in DC the following Friday, along with the other 2 routes. Since the Valor route will be a C2C route like SR & CR, riders will have to choose between routes and select their personal preference.
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Is there a proposed map of the route? Or is that going to be figured out on the Recon?
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Looks like taking the best of Midway and what we like and taking the SB route away from the vets who can’t do the long routes.
This sucks. Good old boys from Central making all the decisions again looks like to me.
Egos and jealousy. Wow. All in the name of doing something good. I call BS.
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So will there be a midway route in 2026 or just the recon?
Patti, I’m sorry you see this necessary change that way. While I understand how you feel, nothing in your post is true.
Members of the Sustainment Committee came from all routes and were recommended by the RCs when we set up the Committee. Your “good old boys from CR” comment is simply untrue. RFTW is rapidly fading. Our registration numbers are down 13% from the same time last year and 15% from 2023. Only 25% of riders on SB are riding SB alone. For years, we’ve had complaints and concerns that SB never has the opportunity to develop its own “personality” like the C2C routes. Many of these SB concerns came from the RCs. And your comment about taking SB away from the Vets is simply inaccurate. We went to great lengths to ensure that, as our age and rider demographics change, we provide the best opportunity for all of our veterans, riders, and patriots.
Your comment about “all in the name of doing something good” seems conflicting. It is good to do what is necessary to ensure the long-term sustainability of RFTW. The BoD has long said that AARs are confidential, and we take them seriously. When you receive AARs from different riders over the course of a few years that point out a potential issue, it would be irresponsible not to at least take a deep dive into the issues.
Please reread the release and understand the reasons behind the decision.
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Preacherman - Yes, there will be a Midway route, as it looks today, in 2026.
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Will there be places that we down on the coast can join in??
I know in the past town hall meetings, the participates were cut short due to bandwidth, or # of allowed personnel in the “room”. do you anticipate an issue this year with that? Will you be disclosing who the members of the committee were? Along with that, will you be posting the committee members minuets from their meetings, the interview sheets of those who people/businesses were interviewed and the results from those both for and against? I think if we were able to pull back the curtain and see what the committee saw, it would be an easier pill to swallow. Thanks, and I will be listening in on the 15th Jay
Freebird,
We have arranged for a large group Zoom meeting that will accommodate well over 100 participants dialing into the TownHall Meeting.
Glad to see you will be dialed in. The rest of your questions may be raised and addressed then.
Sincerely,
Bugs
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The new route name is a challenge. “Valor, Central and Southern” seems one of these things is not like the others.
Shall we change CR to Honor and SR to Courage? Seems overkill.
Who about calling the new route MECW or a derivation?
Thanks, have a nice evening.
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I have talked with a group of RFTW veterans of all degrees. FNG, 1 year, 2 years, 5 years, 9 years, and even one in the teens. None of these riders can understand how we got to the point of combining 2 routes and leaving everyone to decide between routes they have been riding for years and the “Valor Route.”
The President talked about the cohesiveness of the other routes, yet we want to force those longtime devoted route veterans to choose between “their” route and honoring our MEC fallen Brothers and Sisters? Doesn’t that break the cohesiveness you were bragging about on the other routes?
Another issue in the Presidents message was the fact that it isn’t “self-sustaining” due to leadership coming from the other routes. Don’t we value experience in our leadership? What is wrong with leadership doing a legacy route and the Sandbox Route if they desire? If we want others to step up into leadership roles, we must first egage them by soliciting their opinions and ideas BEFORE we come out with a huge change and then say, “change my mind.”
Another notation in the Presidents message is the length of the Sandbox route and the fact that people have to get to D.C. then ride to Marseilles and then go home. Well, that is a personal decision. There are people on all routes that have to end the Run and make a long ride home. I know that trying to please everyone often results in compromises, making it impossible to fully satisfy anyone in the end.
So, one idea to come from the veteran RFTW riders previously mentioned was a 4th C2C route and a better name more aligned with the others. There were many name suggestions that could be added later.
The 4th route idea is better than the “Valor Route” and combining the 2 routes essentilly deleting one. However, a 4th route still makes people have to choose to sit out of the MECMW route if they want to do one of the legacy routes. If we just bump “The Sandbox Route” takeoff one day, so leave on Monday, everyone that wants to and can, logistically, will be able to do an existing, legacy route, ride the Rolling to Remember protest run and still be able to do “The Sandbox Route” honoring as many of our fallen Brothers and Sisters as their personal lives will afford.
None of us can fathom what brought us to this “Valor Route” combo/deletion as a solution or even an idea in the first place.
Respectfully,
Todd Risner
Rev King
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So Midways Arc 2026 will become the RC fior this new route ?
Yup, I agree it’s an emotional issue especially since it impacts primarily OUR MIDWAY FAMILY. But I, for one, want to withhold judgment until I listen to the Board. After all they have a Mission to achieve and a business to run. Management decisions are tough.
JavaJoe
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When in Command, Command. If the troops aren’t complaining, they aren’t training.
When are the stops along the Midway Route being notified of this change?
Who has the job of notifying the stops and friends that Midway has made along the route that Midway will be NO MORE? It should be RFTW president, or the BoD minimum.
Why is Midway changing and not Central? Middle Eastern Conflicts Wall is closer to Central.
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