keep  it  up  lady  starlight .  im to  far away  to  attend  myself  . but  MAG  do  some  good  work  on behalf  of the  rest  of  us                                                                                                                                                                               

Hi Everyone, Not sure that I'm a newbie as been a standard member for a while but BM gave me full membership so a big thanks to them. Thanks to every one who noded me as well I'm not rude just couldn't nod back at the time. Hope everyone has a good Christmas and new year and this fantasic biking weather lasts until weekend.   Jim                                                                                                                                                                             

I posted this topic in General Chat/ Anything Goes, I thought it had been deleted, when I couldn't find it there ...lmao. Thanks to those who found it for me in Active Topics.

There still aren't many active members local to me though & I still don't feel I have control of my personal input on this site's format, without being "mothered" by someone who I don't know & doesn't know me. No offense meant, but I'm sorry to say, it looks like the pint every fortnight is winning right now, as I can't see many benefits from subscribing for more than, let's say,  £20 per year.

I never wrote "(is that you)" on the title of my topic, why do some folk feel it's their duty to interfere, without asking first ?  At least I would have punctuated it correctly..... lmao

It was probley moved as it was a good topic and would get seen better in active topics As for not much in your area post a meet for the new year see if you get any interest ?                                                                                                                                                                             

With respect JP, the only "meets" I get to hear about & attend down here are backpatch club members & guests only, It would be wrong for me to invite anyone to those. I would have thought that those who are taking the BM membership monies should be responsible for arranging &/or publicising events, in ALL areas, otherwise what are folk paying for here, which free social networking sites don't offer? :)

Well as I dont know your area I would find it very difecult to oganize a meet there so perhaps you could send details of a local bike friendly cafe or pub with a date to sandi at the events calender and she could post it for you or contact your local events team there at the bottom of the page under site staff

Flat Tracker, BM is a tool for us to contact, chat to and meet up with like minded folks.

As JP has said it would be difficult for somebody outside of your area, without any local knowledge to arrange a meeting place. As for advertising and promoting events in all areas, check out the events pages, there is tons of stuff listed on there, from big rallies to local pub meets.  If you know of any then drop Sandi a message and she will post them for you.

If there is nothing local to you that takes your fancy then do what loads of other folk have done and organise something yourself :)

  @JP... There are plenty of bike friendly venues in the South West, as there are plenty of bikers here, no appointments are necessary for most of these places so dates are somewhat irrelevent.
 I notice that BM still doesn't have a South West region moderator, that says it all, why am I not surprised ? .... ahaha. It's time BM got around to appointing one, to take care of arranging & publicising events down here, isn't it ? Unless, of course, BM still doesn't want members down here, which appears to have been the case in the past. Please inform me when a South West region moderator is appointed & I'll consider renewing my membership to liase with them.

@Jackie ..... Catch 22 .....If folk are expected to pay for a service, they should receive a service, not provide it :)

There's no offense meant to anyone, in any of my posts. If you want to accumulate, you have to speculate.

Moderators are not the folks who organise events, so not having a local Mod to you is irrelevant.

I have checked there are 850 folk within a 50 mile radius of your postcode on BM currently. 

As i said previously, the service is the tool to allow you to do as much or as little as you wish to.

The way this site works, which makes it tons better than any other social networking site I've come across, is that you become aware of the people who make a contribution - either in chat or in the forums, then you feel a bit less nervous actually attending an event cos you kind of already know people, though you've never actually met   Then what tends to happen is you attend your first event and you have such a fabby time with all you new mates....and you want more more more lol   Then you think hmm wish more was happening closer to where I live...well I do anyway. I live up in the Lake District and I often feel a bit distant from all the action   Then I thought "bugger it, I'm gonna organise something!". And together with Turtle20 & Blackberry we've done it and plan more in 2012. If we can tempt people to venture northward, you can get em to go southwest...it doesn't rain as much there lol                                                                                                                                                                             

Well Jackie, with respect, I've just had this topic hijacked by someone who re-wrote the title using appauling grammar, moved it from where I posted it & left my name as the original poster, without even having the decency to inform me. If that's the underhanded way in which posts are dealt with here, you can hardly blame me for having reservations about paying to not have any control over interference, should I want to make further posts, especially those regarding events. I think Matt needs to reign in his staff, as I'm probably not the only one who's been disrespected in this way .... It's a trust issue, at the end of the day.

@ Minnie, I'm happy it's worked for you, you're in the right part of the country for this site :)

With respect if you only come on when Matt gives you a free week and just knock those that do there best to make Bm a great place to make new friends and riding buddys Dont bother                                                                                                                                                                              

Just a question Jackie .... Exactly how many of the 850 members in my area are fully payed up & have made regular & recent contributions on BM ? If there's enough of them, I'll consider getting involved again :)

I'm not knocking anything JP, (intonation is not easy to put across effectively in text), I'd love to join & am only trying to get some value for money as I live in a part of the country which doesn't really get included here. As I said before, I don't mean any offense to anyone, I'm just trying to get to the bottom of this issue, so there's no need for your negativity, if you can't answer the questions rationally & intelligently best not try eh ? :) ..... I'd happily pay, if there was anything happening in my area. Your last comment was completely unnecessary & entirely innaccurate JP.

Nope Flatracker...look at your map. The Lakes & yorkshire Dales are a damn long way to ride from the midlands and the south of England to get soaked in persistant rain, and believe me they did get soaked at ours, but people do it and they will do it again.   But that isn't what folk are bothered about ...it's about sharing good campany and all it takes is for someone down your way to take a chance and post a thread suggesting a meet up or a run out, then see what response you get...you just need a catalyst to get some action started then watch it snowball                                                                                                                                                                              

 I only have maps of France Spain & Portugal Minnie where it's generally warmer .....lol.  I used to have to ride up to Manchester often, when I was with the club, it was a horrible ride so I can sympathise.The lake district is nice though, but it's not practical to go from here, for less than a long weekend.

 I'll wait & see if Jackie gets back to me with an answer to my question to her, before making a decision, like I said, if enough members are active down here & it looks positive, I'll probably get involved.

Not all can afford it                                                                                                                                                                              

hi  flat tracker 762 ... you  have not  had your  topic hi jacked ,, i started this  topic , and  yes  i  started it  wiv bad grammar, if everything upsets you  so  much ,, go  and  find  your  topic that  you  started , the  one  without  (is that  you) ..

hi welcome  jump in enjoy                                                                                                                                                                              

i'll say thanks again for my freebie, seems my original message and thread have vanished? most odd                                                                                                                                                                             

I think the freebie should be extended a little longer as I've noticed some who haven't been on for ages and look like they've been given the freebie, yes I'm being my usual cheeky self he he he Hope you all have had a wonderful Christmas :^) x