Bigbird
New member
Let me throw out a question related to Rally timing. As far as I know, the Rally has always been held in mid-July. Why? I mean it's the hottest time of the year, which means Sweat City is almost garanteed unless its held in Alaska!
I rode out to the 2001 Rally in Redmond, Oregon from NY, taking a northern tier route - Ontario, UP, Wisc, Minnesota, N Dakota, Montana, Idaho. I still had temps over 100 F on much the ride. Hey, it was mid July, so no surprize.
Most Rally sites are "fair grounds"-type locations, which means lots of open space and damned little shade to pitch a tent in. So you can figure on your tent being out in the sun heating up thru 12 - 16 hours of daylight. Sure, you can stay in a nice motel with A/C but you're still going to be riding out inthe heat and the high humidity that often goes with it.
Also, a mid-July date pretty much insures that any place in the Deep South and Desert Southwest will never host an MOA Rally. So why not look into holding the Rally in say, late September or even into mid-October? A Fall rally in Tucson, Birmingham, El Paso or, yes, Fayetteville, might be a real treat. Cooler riding temperatures, beautiful fall colors, less "vacationers" driving Winnabagos and hauling trailers clogging up the highways.
I've heard that MOA always chose a mid-July date to boost attendance, and that many members prefer a "summer vacation". Really? Are there that many MOA members who are school teachers and have the whole summer off? Sure some are, but I bet most MOA members can put in for a week or two of vacation pretty much any time of the year. Anway, a Fall MOA Rally is something to seriously concider. I'd like to see MOA do a poll of the membership to see
how a Fall Rally would be recieved.
I rode out to the 2001 Rally in Redmond, Oregon from NY, taking a northern tier route - Ontario, UP, Wisc, Minnesota, N Dakota, Montana, Idaho. I still had temps over 100 F on much the ride. Hey, it was mid July, so no surprize.
Most Rally sites are "fair grounds"-type locations, which means lots of open space and damned little shade to pitch a tent in. So you can figure on your tent being out in the sun heating up thru 12 - 16 hours of daylight. Sure, you can stay in a nice motel with A/C but you're still going to be riding out inthe heat and the high humidity that often goes with it.
Also, a mid-July date pretty much insures that any place in the Deep South and Desert Southwest will never host an MOA Rally. So why not look into holding the Rally in say, late September or even into mid-October? A Fall rally in Tucson, Birmingham, El Paso or, yes, Fayetteville, might be a real treat. Cooler riding temperatures, beautiful fall colors, less "vacationers" driving Winnabagos and hauling trailers clogging up the highways.
I've heard that MOA always chose a mid-July date to boost attendance, and that many members prefer a "summer vacation". Really? Are there that many MOA members who are school teachers and have the whole summer off? Sure some are, but I bet most MOA members can put in for a week or two of vacation pretty much any time of the year. Anway, a Fall MOA Rally is something to seriously concider. I'd like to see MOA do a poll of the membership to see
how a Fall Rally would be recieved.
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