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Tent spaces

One of my pet peeves is the guy who absolutely positively has to put his motorcycle next to his tent yet he set up his tent in the middle of the field.
And what if the road-side slots are already taken?

In any event, what's wrong with parking by your tent in the middle of the field? It's not like there's not plenty of room in this venue. Nor is there much of a noise issue -- I've never been to a rally where the guy leaving at 6AM doesn't wake up most of the campers -- wherever on the field -- with starting/riding out.

FWIW, I'm also thinking: Why should I have to schlep all my gear from the edge of where you think I should park, out to the middle of the field (and then back at pack-out time)?

Sorry, I don't see the problem here.
 
All the talk about reserving spaces made me remember one of my pet peeves.

Setting up tents with no regard for those who were set up earlier being able to get in or out with their machines. Being land locked is no fun.

Ah, good point.
At my first MOA rally (TN) I arrived in the evening, rather tired. There was plenty of open space in the tent areas, although all the best spots were taken as well as locations near the road. So I rode to an open space where I unloaded, setup the tent, and soon thereafter went to sleep.
There were unmarked but obvious paths through the camping areas for both foot traffic and bike traffic to get into the camping areas and back to the farther reaches of those areas.

Later the next day I started riding back to my tent to gear up for a ride, but the path(s) through the tent areas were blocked -- typically by just one little tent or even just tent stakes. There was a path leading up to the tent, and a path leading away on the other side, but someone was oblivious enough to place their tent right into the roadway. Even though everyone else was able to see that paths had naturally been created by all the other campers, it only took just a couple people to effectively kill the system that been organically formed by everyone else. Had I still been parked on the *other* side of his tent I would have been land locked and unable to go on my ride.

So, do people NEED to respect the trails that are created? No, of course not. Its a free country.

But, if someone chooses to locate their tent in a way that screws up everyone else when there is still room to do otherwise, then I reserve the right to call them a douche-bag.
;-p


...in other news,
See you at the Rally!
(I'll be the one perfectly aligned with everyone else.)
 
tents

I've found a little common courtesy goes a long way in both site selection and getting your bike to and from the tent. At the RA rally, we couldn't ride on the soccer field where tents were set up but it wasn't that far to walk either. I parked my bike a ways off because I knew I'd be taking an early morning ride and didn't want to wake up the whole population. It sounds like Sedalia will have a lot of tent room and if I'm lucky a bit of shade. I'm heading up tomorrow and will be doing some volunteering so maybe I'll get a good spot to set up. I'm sure it will be fine except the one or two who always think they are the only ones in existence. Let's all gather upwind at 5 am and smoke cigars by their tents. :)
 
And what if the road-side slots are already taken?

In any event, what's wrong with parking by your tent in the middle of the field? It's not like there's not plenty of room in this venue. Nor is there much of a noise issue -- I've never been to a rally where the guy leaving at 6AM doesn't wake up most of the campers -- wherever on the field -- with starting/riding out.

FWIW, I'm also thinking: Why should I have to schlep all my gear from the edge of where you think I should park, out to the middle of the field (and then back at pack-out time)?

Sorry, I don't see the problem here.

There isn't. At all the big field events I've been to there are usually "roads" set up so folks can move, the porta potties can be emptied and all that.

The guy who sets up dead center in the middle of a square surrounded by "roads" should expect as the field fills with tents to no longer be able to get his bike directly to his tent.

Expecting this to happen is to me pretty rude. If you absolutely positively have to park at your tent then placement of the tent needs to include this, either by being near or along a "road" or off far enough away from the crowd that it doesn't matter.

EDIT: I'd also wager a cold barley beverage that the folks that have the biggest problem with this are the early arrivals. You know them, they are the ones who show up Tuesday or even Monday with no intention to volunteer or perhaps for an hour or two on Saturday if at all. Their major play is to arrive early and score the "best" spot even if it's just for them. Imagine the irony when the rally fills up and a ton of other people also want to be near the "best spot." Now they can't get their bike to their tent because "their" rode is blocked by a "douchebag."
 
We camped outside the fence at Bloomsburg as well. Had a great spot, were close to the BMW Motorad Octoberfest venue, and had great neighbors. In fact, VT Bob talked us into going up to the MOV Green Mtn Rally (he is the cook) and we had a great time seeing him there as well. If you go to a rally, you gotta camp!
 
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