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The Rally ROCKED!

So glad i made it.

This was my first Annual Rally too. Really enjoyed talking with all the people who were eager to share their experiences.
Music was excellent
Plenty of port a potties
Super rides just short distance away
Lots of vendors
Lots of BMW's
Lots of friendly people
Cool airshow
Plenty of cold beer, and other liquid refreshments
Great time overall.
Spent so much time riding i missed all the classes i wanted to attend.
Will definately consider riding from Missouri to Oregon next year, but would like to do in small group next time instead of solo.
Like many things in life, the rally was what you made of it.
 
This was my first BMW MOA Rally.

What I liked:

1. Well organized (thank you to all the organizers and the volunteers);

2. Great seminars. I'd like to see more of those in future rallies;

3. Decent showers and always available when I needed;

4. Demo rides;

5. Great roads;

6. Traffic in and out o the rally was manageable.

A new attendee or new member social, as suggested in another thread, would have been helpful to people travelling alone like me.

I will definitely consider attending next year's rally, but would like to ride with a small group instead of solo.
 
I found the one little vendor on the fairway who was selling parts AND making
espresso drinks.
His tween daughter made an outstanding latte for me, and it was all the better for being
both well made AND unexpected.

I tipped her heavily. :thumb
 
Tom, you know the ones most likely to post are the unhappy ones. I'd guess the "Rally Sucked" vs. "Rally Rocked" ratio is more like 1 to 100! :thumb

not if you consider that half of "sucked" contains positive comments.

i think my favorite part of the rally was the people of tennessee.

in addition to just plain friendly non-motorcycling locals, the east tennessee pterodactyls (club #63) provided a TON of help... everything from their local contacts to working tirelessly on-site throughout the entire rally.

there's a reason it's called the volunteer state. :nod

ian
 
not if you consider that half of "sucked" contains positive comments.

i think my favorite part of the rally was the people of tennessee.

in addition to just plain friendly non-motorcycling locals, the east tennessee pterodactyls (club #63) provided a TON of help... everything from their local contacts to working tirelessly on-site throughout the entire rally.

there's a reason it's called the volunteer state. :nod

ian
+1

And I'll add that there wasn't a single native I encountered in any state South of the Mason-Dixon that wasn't as friendly as they come. From store clerks, to lunch counter cooks to cagers at gas stations, everyone was delightfully curious and conversational about my (our) origin and destination.

A big thank you to all the people of the South. :thumb
 
I had a blast in Tennessee

From a solo trip to the rally in a day and a half to the music and fireworks, good friends and new friends, I had a great time!

Not to mention the fantastic roads everywhere I went before, during and after the rally! The low point was picking up a head injured HD rider after an accident...wear a fuc%?«n helmet ok? :( I got blood on my jacket, and he won’t be riding any time soon.

Unlike so many of you, my way of finding roads was to get lost, come out of the twisties somewhere in the Carolinas! OMG what twisty unending roads! Everywhere! You guys that live here are spoiled rotten! Out in MN, we have some twisties, but nothing like what you got there! OUTRAGIOUS!! Thanks for the GREAT hospitality everywhere I went, you people of Tennessee are great!

On Sunday, I ate lunch with my 95 yr old Aunt, Cousin and her 15 yr old daughter, in Elizabethton, then headed up by the Watuga River into places unknown and ended up four hours later and a million pavement and dirt twisty roads later in the Carolinas! I came back home later after a visit to Nashville and trip back up the Mississippi from Memphis to Minneapolis, following Alton Browns’ footsteps until the rain took me home. This trip and Rally rocked!

3000+ miles, 11 states, Barbeque at least at dozen meals and done right (burp) and a trip to remember! It was my third National, and all have rocked as far as I'm concerned.

Red
 
Unlike so many of you, my way of finding roads was to get lost, come out of the twisties somewhere in the Carolinas! OMG what twisty unending roads! Everywhere! You guys that live here are spoiled rotten! Red

I live here in the mountains and don't carry a map. We meet frequently on Wednesday mornings for breakfast and decide on the direction we are going to ride. We don't know or care what roads we take or where we end up. We ride in that direction until we have lunch somewhere and they head in the general direction toward home but on different roads. Almost all roads comes across a familiar road sooner or later and we can proceed homel. You're not lost if you don't care where you are.

We've always found our way home and have never had a bad ride in the mountains.
 
I loved the rally! My 6 year old did too.
The children's area was great, I never dreamed I could leave my child with someone and then go to a seminar! All my child talked about was getting to break a pinata on the last day.
My 6 yr old really loved the dunk tank. We watched numerous people hit and not hit the target.
The thai food and homemade ice cream was awesome! The fruit stand was great too! I wish I would have known about the fish.
The local food was great too. We went to Gino's and it was the best Italian food I have had in awhile.
The demo ride was great!
The sale on BMW gear was great. I got a whole suit!
Donna
 
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a few of my favorite things

  • Hot coffee and Krispee Kreme donuts
  • rides to the hot showers, we never used the trailer trucks
  • Plenty of green space in our camping area
  • ear plugs
  • meeting new friends:thumb
  • YB Tent
  • great hills for walking ;)
  • the tent didn't leak
  • onsite UPS...shipped 40 lbs home. :dunno
  • tables with power plugs and wi fi!

And a round of applause
3749716054_2b41a233c4.jpg
 
This was my fourth National and my wife's first. They have all been great. I thouroughly enjoyed Vermont, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. They all had something different to offer. This one was great. My wife and I volunteered for multiple shifts and enjoyed doing it. The rally experience is what you make of it. We made it a fantastic 10 day trip. We road some great roads to and from the rally and while there. We ride up to the Smokies every year for a week or so and find more great roads each time. For those that chose to let a few minor inconveniences get in the way of having a good time, I'm sorry for you. You missed out on a fun time. We loved the great food vendors, lots of vendors, the GS challenge, Chris Mcneil, and all of the great BMW and local folks. The air show was a great touch but sorry we missed the fireworks. This rally had it all. IMHO it ROCKED.:dance
 
Hated seeing the other one keep popping up on the main page...even if I was the cause...:laugh

We really had a blast...didn't get to meet the gaggle of ex -TOTS patrons Friday night in the Beer Garden as I was helping a fellow out with a busted gas connector up by Registration...but that's the Boy Scout/McGyver in me. Didn't want my gas fumes to ignite from certain cigar smokers after that anyway:whistleThe place was a frenzy as expected with that many folks and having attended other brand rallies in our past still refreshingly PG. We spent some money on clothing and bike stuff... The beer tent was great, what little music we heard was great, the volunteers were awesome for the most part ( see other thread:laugh) And almost everyone had a smile on their faces...even when huffing up a hillside. When you said Hello...it was typically reciprocated in like fashion. Got to see two fellow clubmates get mileage awards...Cool! Didn't win a bike, but one of these days...Have won door prizes at the last two rallies ...wasn't my year...
If you got out and rode the area...WOW! We did the track event at Bristol...another WOW and a once in a lifetime opportunity. The locals we met repeated what others said about us being the quiet ones and asked about our bikes and where we came from.They said we talked funny in Texas:laugh Met some of the senior Model T drivers at our hotel that were coming in as we were leaving...they appreciated the bikes and the heritage as well.

So in our minds...The Rally ROCKED:thumb
 
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