2008 Gillette National - attending or not?

Wouldn't miss it!

My 12 year old son Dan will be riding pillion. I took my 13 year old daughter to the (inter)National in Wisconsin last year and we both really loved the ride and the rally.
This year I'm trying door-to-door shun-piking. Should be a nice day trip: north-cascades, rocky mountains, and then roll on into Gillette. If anyone knows of a good tour route from Glacier National Park to the rally, let me know.
See you there!

First timer from West Virginia

I plan to attend the rally along with my lady friend who lives in Denmark. Not sure what route I will take, but I would prefer two lanes as much as possible. Any suggestions as to the route? I think I plan to approach Wyoming from the south and get some mileage in the Rockies of Colorado Also, not sure whether to camp, which means carrying a lot of equipment, thus fewer clothes, or to motel it. Advice appreciated.

WVBrit said:

I plan to attend the rally along with my lady friend who lives in Denmark. Not sure what route I will take, but I would prefer two lanes as much as possible. Any suggestions as to the route? I think I plan to approach Wyoming from the south and get some mileage in the Rockies of Colorado Also, not sure whether to camp, which means carrying a lot of equipment, thus fewer clothes, or to motel it. Advice appreciated.

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Motels rooms are rare and expensive for this one. You can reserve a tent from the Sherpa service, so you don't have to pack a tent and sleeping bags.

WVBrit said:

I plan to attend the rally along with my lady friend who lives in Denmark. Not sure what route I will take, but I would prefer two lanes as much as possible. Any suggestions as to the route? I think I plan to approach Wyoming from the south and get some mileage in the Rockies of Colorado Also, not sure whether to camp, which means carrying a lot of equipment, thus fewer clothes, or to motel it. Advice appreciated.

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here's a recent thread on an all-brands forum. pretty good group- and i know i've talked to other MOAers over there.
http://www.sport-touring.net/forums/index.php/topic,19397.0.html

Sounds bad but...

If my wife dies before the rally, I'll be there!
That's not a joke.

WVBrit said:

I plan to attend the rally along with my lady friend who lives in Denmark. Not sure what route I will take, but I would prefer two lanes as much as possible. Any suggestions as to the route? I think I plan to approach Wyoming from the south and get some mileage in the Rockies of Colorado Also, not sure whether to camp, which means carrying a lot of equipment, thus fewer clothes, or to motel it. Advice appreciated.

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Lots of good Colorado routes HERE

Riding Company to Gillette Rally

nytrashman said:

i'll be riding my F650GS from NY to Wyoming. not sure of my exact route yet but if your going and want to hook up along the way let me know.

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Thanks for the reply. Haven't finalized plans yet--maybe going with my aging Dad to Scotland. How many riding days out there do you plan? I like to explore and do spur of the moment sidetracks. And if weather is good will camp.

I certainly am planning on it. Not 100% sure yet, but I'd have to say at least 70%.

This would be my first National after 28 years of membership (I have no excuse other than I didn't had a BMW M/C after 1990, until 2007). The good news is I have hotel room all reserved already.

No room at the Inn!

My wife and I would like to attend but after spending all day on the phone trying to get a room I'm not sure. There are no rooms available. The Best Western said their block rooms are sold out but they had rooms available starting at $239.00 per night. Why would the BMW MOA have a rally in a town with less than 1000 rooms for up to 7500 people? Yea I know we can camp but at our age it is not doable. Driving 125-200 miles a day are not my idea of a good time if we stayed in Deadwood or Sturgis. I have been doing sturgis since 1967 and they start filling up that time of year before the rally. Don't mean to sound like sour apples but this would be my first BMW MOA rally with my new R1200RT and was looking forward to attending. I am sure many others are in the same predicament. Lets hear from you.

You Make Good Points

jaherbst said:

My wife and I would like to attend but after spending all day on the phone trying to get a room I'm not sure. There are no rooms available. The Best Western said their block rooms are sold out but they had rooms available starting at $239.00 per night. Why would the BMW MOA have a rally in a town with less than 1000 rooms for up to 7500 people? Yea I know we can camp but at our age it is not doable. Driving 125-200 miles a day are not my idea of a good time if we stayed in Deadwood or Sturgis. I have been doing sturgis since 1967 and they start filling up that time of year before the rally. Don't mean to sound like sour apples but this would be my first BMW MOA rally with my new R1200RT and was looking forward to attending. I am sure many others are in the same predicament. Lets hear from you.

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You're right about one thing - "...many others are in the same predicament."

While I've done some camping in my younger days, I prefer to settle into a nice, warm, dry motel room at the end of a long day riding. 'Roughing it' translates into having to cross the street to access the restaurant.

However, the reality of Gillette is that, while there may be rooms still on the menu, they are highly over-priced (not always the MOA's fault) and camping seems to be the only avenue left. I am presently on the fence about attending (I will be in CO, about 6 hours south of the Rally when it commences), but if I show up, it will be with tent and sleeping sack strapped to the back of my R1200RT.

I also feel your pain when one considers the distances involved with roundtrip communting from 'nearby' alternate lodging locations. Most of the 'scenic' riding being promoted with Gillette suffers the same math.

I hope you and your wife give 'tenting' a second thought, as despite my misgivings about our rally site selection process, I owe my patronage to the MOA, if I want it to survive and grow.

If there, I'll watch for your arrival on the glidepath to Gillette, full flaps and a greased landing with your new BMW!

I attended last years rally in West Bend (my first - aka big red one pin) and had a blast. I took the slab from CO to West Bend. I can atest from first hand experience - Neb and Iowa were really hot. The rest stops in Iowa were great - even had free wireless internet. I had a mesh jacket and non-mesh armored pants (shorts underneath) and roasted the entire trip. On the way home I stopped at the last rest stop in NE before the state line for water and they were completely out. (Note to self: pack camelback).

With regards to lodging, I used the Sherpa service last time and found it to be a great service. Not having to carry all the camping equipment to and from was really nice. I got there the night before the rally started and everything was ready. Fortunately, we had great weather and I slept great on the air matteress every night and if I needed it toped off Ted took care of it. Plus the coffee in the morning was nice and no lines.

I used the Super 8s on the road. First time for me staying at the Super 8 and found them clean and a pretty good value.

I'm planning on going to this year's rally but plan on brining my own gear as it is closer to home (good time to upgrade a couple of items - new sleeping pad and a jet boil for coffee are on the list) and I plan on several side trips and camping / fly fishing. Thinking seriously about trying the Black Hills Stampede the week before the Rally. After seeing a couple of threads about the roads I'm probably going to bring my KLR 650 vice My K100.

See you there....

Sorry, Don't have the time to invest this year. Doesn't seem like an ideal place to visit to me anyway.

RTNewbie said:

Sorry, Don't have the time to invest this year. Doesn't seem like an ideal place to visit to me anyway.

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We have all been there. I am going to Gillette though. See you next year.(maybe, it depends where it is.)

I going to the Black Hill Stampede prior to the rally. I won't be going to the rally. I surprised at the lack of rooms available. I thought one of the selection criteria is the number of hotel/motel rooms available?

Rode to 5 rallies in a row but was forced to miss Wisconsin. Hope to start a new streak this year. I hit Gillette on the way home from Spokane and really can't wait to get back to that area. Don't remember much about the town itself but I know there are some great roads nearby. I can't believe some people are actually complaining about the location.

Enjoyed reading all the replies to this thread. Diane and I plan to attend. Plan to ride through SD, angle into ND, head to Billings via Ekalaka, then through Beartooth pass, to Gillette. just over 1500 miles from Minneapolis over three days. We will be the couple riding two up on a 1975 R60/6. Should be a great ride to a Great Rally.http://forums.bmwmoa.org/images/smilies/usa.gif

shandeland said:

Enjoyed reading all the replies to this thread. Diane and I plan to attend. Plan to ride through SD, angle into ND, head to Billings via Ekalaka, then through Beartooth pass, to Gillette. just over 1500 miles from Minneapolis over three days. We will be the couple riding two up on a 1975 R60/6. Should be a great ride to a Great Rally.http://forums.bmwmoa.org/images/smilies/usa.gif

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I am going out the same way; I have always wanted to go though North Dakota and Montana versus heading out over country I have ridden now many times! I am looking forward to the ride as much as I do the rally! Bring on Gillette!

Sadly... no

After many months looking forward to attending we are not able due to a family event - my son is getting married on Vancouver Island on June 21. I do not have enough vacation to do everything. However, our trip returning from the wedding takes us right into the rally neighborhood. So, at least we get to ride in the area again. Up side is: we'll probably be able to get a motel room Anyway, we look forward to hearing the stories after the event. Will probably get the t-shirt. Oh well. -Bob (BTW.... after this year I will likely be retired and thus not chained to employer expectations. )

Much too far

4,000 miles of slab for 3 days of comraderie is difficult to justify with limited vacation time. Local rallies offer much more bang for the buck...and a lot more fun quotient, all things considered. In the end, all you lose is access to vendors. After three days of slab to get to Gillette, I'd need two to rest up in order to enjoy the venue. I would only hope that leadership would be mindful of this type of suituation and plan the annuals regionally on a rotating - say three or four year - basis so none of us has to forgo a national rally more than three years in a row.

Yeah, it's all about making choices, priorities and all that, I know. Interstate riding is just not that exciting and six days of slab on secondary highways (one way) isn't either.

hcmiller52 said:

4,000 miles of slab for 3 days of comraderie is difficult to justify with limited vacation time. Local rallies offer much more bang for the buck...and a lot more fun quotient, all things considered. In the end, all you lose is access to vendors. After three days of slab to get to Gillette, I'd need two to rest up in order to enjoy the venue. I would only hope that leadership would be mindful of this type of suituation and plan the annuals regionally on a rotating - say three or four year - basis so none of us has to forgo a national rally more than three years in a row.

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The International Rally sites have been on a regional rotation basis for many years. That's why there was one in Wisconsin last year and Vermont the year before. More information here: http://www.bmwmoa.org/rally/rally06/rallyprocess.htm

Yeah, it's all about making choices, priorities and all that, I know. Interstate riding is just not that exciting and six days of slab on secondary highways (one way) isn't either.

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Every rally site is going to be too far for some, but on the other hand, close enough for others that they can finally go. Very few folks go to every one regardless of location. I know a number of people going to Gillette from my region who couldn't possibly have made the trip to Vermont. Next year will be in different region which might work better for you.