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2010 Redmond Oregon Rally

fleamarket at the rally ?

Hey, Does anyone know if there will be a flea market at the rally this year ? If so who do you contact, what are the rules and hours ? Thanks for any info
 
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Rally Review

This was my first BMW rally since I am a new owner, but I am not new to motorcycle rallys in general.

First of all I want to thank Redmond for hosting the event. I met some very wonderful people at the rally and made some new friends. The road stories were both entertaining and interesting. Paul Hawthorne was great and he has earned a new fan.

I appreciate the guys from Ohlin's who let me take a look at an RT they had on their lift that gave me a great view of how my RT looks torn down. And thanks to all the vendors who helped me spend my money on well deserved Farkles. :bikes

My only complaints whould be that there should have been more food vendors. But I am curious as why it took so long to get portapotties delivered to the fair grounds and why there were no more shower facilities? And with temperatures in the 90's there was no water sources available for everyone? You were forced to buy bottled water at $3.00 and no cool down facilities? Being a retired fireman, that concerned me. :cry

Overall it was a great experiance and I look forward to attending my next event.

Thanks BMW MOA for putting on a gret event.

Norsk62
 
Paul Thorn best part of the rally for me.

Not to pick nits but you will want to buy a Paul Thorn CD, not sure who Hawthorn is.
I found free water at the drinking fountains once I had a $3.00 container. Cool down was inside any of the many air conditioned buildings and the stream was wonderfull for cooling my feet. Yes it would have been better with a couple of sprayers set up.
I remember the showers in indiana that were outside, cold and in a ring formation with no dividers. Where were the shower trailers? As I heard one rally rat say "showering is overated". You just have to time it so you shower during off hours.
All in all I had a wonderful overnight rally experience, (came for Paul Thorn) rode two of the new bikes and pushed my 86K75T hard on the way home through the forest with no traffic north of Detroit Lake. I don't need a new bike I just need to ride the two I have more often.
Every rally is what YOU make of it.
 
I believe the board of directors and future rally committees have learned the problems associated with a "closed shop" when considering future rally locations. The rally committee had practically zero control or negotiating power in the face of the fairground's single contracted service vendor. It took a major effort to get "some" control over the cost of beer and ice at the rally. I heard numerous complaints about the lack of showers and was told the MOA could not afford them from the vendor regime. Once a rider has scouted out the lay of a rally and cost aspects, one can take some personal initiative to mitigate the lack of facilities or unacceptable costs. There are plenty of creative options and partnerships that can formed versus stewing in one's own juice for four days. Some have already been listed. I often wonder if large facilities like the fairground consider the limitations they put on potential customers in the face of their own presumed cost necessity that prompts them into these exclusive agreements. I found it somewhat troubling for a quasi-isolated location such as Redmond, Oregon and also find the monopoly, closed shop, non-negotiating aspect in conflict with the basic principles upon which our club and most of the free world are based. It's a beautiful facility in a wonderful part of the world but I would not endorse returning under the current management conditions ever again. :nono

Of course, the shower in our hotel room and saltwater soaking pool worked fine every day of the rally but I was hopeful that those camping might enjoy the "extra" showers we had ostensibly paid for at the rally site with our registrations but not using. :wow
 
Just rode back into town last night.

On the subject of showers. There were also showers available off site at the middle school. That information was posted in the rally program. All may not have seen it. The reason we didn't rent shower trailers wasn't cost it was availabvlity. There were none available within several hundred miles. I started the search about a year in advance including forest fire fighters and the Oregon Guard. They simply weren't available. Our choice to supplement showers was to contract with the local school dist.

It would truely be great to find a site that 100% meets our needs but as of yet I don't believe that site has been built. PLEASE if you find a site that you feel would meet the needs of the MOA, contact the site selection committee. :bikes
 
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I never found it difficult to access the showers at the rally. The large locker room showers in the Hooker Creek building were busy, but I never had to wait for a spot.

The thing that was most difficult was discovering where the showers were. It was basically word of mouth information from others who had discovered them. They should have been marked on the map in the rally book and had more signage to direct people to them. I never heard about the off site showers at all.
 
Too true

I was shocked to learn we had ommitted the restroom and shower locations from the rally map. When I first heard they were not on the rally map in the program I immediately looked in the program because I couldn't believe we had overlooked it. It was an unintentional mistake and I made it. Neither were marked on site to the level we would have intended. That will go into the rally follow up report and will be addressed for future rallies.

Lack of easy identification is why we brought in the porta potties. The site had more than double the number of toilets required for a group our size. The problem arose because people couldn't find them when they were detemining where to set up their campsite nor when they needed them during the event.
 
Had a great time. Chatted up some new friends, had some beer and rode and rode around the region. No complaints about anything.
Pic of me on the Cascades Lakes Scenic Byway
 

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I never found it difficult to access the showers at the rally. The large locker room showers in the Hooker Creek building were busy, but I never had to wait for a spot.

The thing that was most difficult was discovering where the showers were. It was basically word of mouth information from others who had discovered them. They should have been marked on the map in the rally book and had more signage to direct people to them. I never heard about the off site showers at all.

My wife and I worked the registration desks Thursday afternoon from 12:00 - 4:00 P.M. and one of the things we were asked to do was point out where important things like seminars, showers and the beer tent was located. We would mark on the grounds map and point out each of the facilities.

So I know those I registered knew where they were.

cbcK1200S - Colin
 
Redmond was my first BMW National and I had a FANTASTIC time.

I brought along a 1.5 liter Platypus water bag to keep me hydrated. You can't control the weather, and I would rather have sunny and 92F as opposed to 65F and rain.

I had no problems finding the restrooms, but I did have to ask around for the shower. Heard a few women moan and bitch about the shower facilities. Apparently they wanted private showers, large mirrors, enough outlets for their blow dryers and curling irons and a big enough counter to lay out their 7 lbs of make up products. :violin

There was a Safeway grocery store down the street that had everything I wanted for b-fast, lunch and dinner.

My only complaint is that I wish I had gotten there on Wednesday morning instead of Thursday afternoon. So many things to do, not enough time in the day.

Hoping I can get enough time off to head east next year!


:clap:clap:clap:clap:clap:dance:dance:dance:dance
 
....So many things to do, not enough time in the day. .....

I had that problem too. I missed several seminars and events that I would have like to have gone to. I did get to a number of good ones though including the GS Anti-Concours (second place winner too). :clap

The onsite buffet breakfast was good, the other food vendors were adequate; the fruit bowl with ice cream was quite tasty. I never left the grounds after I arrived on Thursday until I was packed up and headed for home on Sunday. I managed just fine on the services available there, but then I was surviving on backcountry camping rations for four days before, so my point of reference was not too hard to top. :p

It was a very enjoyable rally all-in-all.:thumb:thumb Met some old friends and made some new friends which is what it's really all about.
 
There were 2 private showers by the Sherpa camping area, and they were generally lined up for more than an hour. Time of day didn't seem to matter (I saw one fellow leaving the shower at 3:45 AM!) The showers were just as lined up at midnight as they were first thing in the morning; sometimes just 2 or 3 people waiting, sometimes 8 or more. Hit and miss, I guess. I didn't know the location of any other showers on site until after the closing ceremonies. There WAS a sign indicating shower facilities were available at the high school 3 miles away, but being one of those ladies who does NOT bring a hair dryer etc, I wasn't thrilled with the idea of putting my helmet on over my wet hair.

Apart from the shower issue, we had a great time as always! Already looking forward to next year!
 
There were 2 private showers by the Sherpa camping area, and they were generally lined up for more than an hour. Time of day didn't seem to matter (I saw one fellow leaving the shower at 3:45 AM!)
Apart from the shower issue, we had a great time as always! Already looking forward to next year!

I never found those showers, but camped behind the Hooker Creek Event center, and there was a ladies locker room there. Gang showers, but I never had a problem, (went there at 4:00 AM, and middle of the afternoon). Was getting ready once when I looked over in the other shower area to see a guy opening one of the lockers :wave After a quick "excuse me....this is the ladies locker room...he made a hasty retreat....I guess it was too early in the AM for him!

I even curled up on the bench Monday night to warm up (temps were down in the 30's).. Good time....thanks Deb, Stan and all the members who worked the event!!
 
Good times! Great neighbors, too. (You Black Sheep know who you are) :wave:wave Looking forward to seeing everybody at another rally down the road!
 
My first rally and the experience was great, starting with registration. everything was spelled out and easy to remember. the next morning we heard the announcements about baths and showers. never had a complaint about anything. The heat was nice, cause the night was cold. just like i like em! :clap
 
Volunteering at the rally

I would like to thank everyone who volunteered at the Rally, Its people like you that make these things the success they are.
Martin.
2010 Volunteer Committee, Chair
 
This was the second Redmond rally my wife and I attended, and we enjoyed it thoroughly. Coupla comments:

1. Rooms in Prineville were nice and reasonably priced. Couple of good restaurants in town, too. We often find that staying 15-20 minutes away from the actual rally site provides a nice eye-opener in the morning.

2. Beer, food, and the like. Beer garden was fine, ice and bottled water onsite were a bit spendy but that was remedied at the local Albertson's. The problem with running a sidecar rig is that you always get elected to do the beer and ice run. Food on site was OK but just. C'mon, since when do you pay $8 for a pulled pork sandwich and not get at least some beans, chips, or slaw with it? The taco salads were by far the best buy onsite-- we ended up eating all but two meals offsite. HINT TO FOOD VENDORS: Tarping to provide shade for your waiting lines is cheap and draws people like flies....

The ice cream vendors were great.....

3. Vendor selection this year was good, lots of activity both inside and out. My wallet is still smarting!

4. The seminars we attended were great, but we didn't make it to many because we were out enjoying the AWESOME SCENIC ROADS. Bump that requirement higher on the priority list, please!

Great job by rally staff and volunteers, a big thank you to all of them!
:)

GTRider
 
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