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Rally attendance?

Rode up from FL expecting the usual Pocono Summer cool air. What a shock!
My brother and I camped Thurs night, but moved to the dorms on Fri.
I left Sat AM to head back to FL and it was some of the hottest riding I've ever done.

I do think the rally staff did the best they could and made a great effort to keep everyone as cool and hydrated as possible. THANK YOU!

As far as the heat, I just kept thinking about our troops in Iraq faced with 100+ degree heat and kevlar on top. My ride seemed much more comfortable!
 
I would certainly agree

that the organizers and the volunteers did yeoman's work under severe conditions. And no one could have expected or predicted such insane heat. But perhaps if the rally wasn't held in the hottest month of the year, there would be less chance for such an awful weather pattern to be part of our event.

I know that this has been addressed before, but how can it NOT be at least discussed again?? :brow

scott c
 
I LOVE this BMW MOA family! Thank you all for the positive comments.

This reunion tested us all, but we all made the best of it and had a great time.

As to future planning, we'll learn from this and make Missouri even better.

See you all there.

Voni
sMiling
 
that the organizers and the volunteers did yeoman's work under severe conditions. And no one could have expected or predicted such insane heat. But perhaps if the rally wasn't held in the hottest month of the year, there would be less chance for such an awful weather pattern to be part of our event.

I know that this has been addressed before, but how can it NOT be at least discussed again?? :brow

scott c

There is a thread rolling on this already. Go chime in....
 
I had this week slotted for vacation for 6 months now, and unfortunately work kept me around until Friday night. I did ride up from DC leaving at 5am and the ride was just awesome with nice weather in the mid-70's all the way up. It didn't get hot until mid-morning, and then it did indeed get hot and muggy. Was it uncomfortably hot? You bet. Did all the free bottles of water handed out by volunteers every time I turned a corner make it quite bearable? You bet :)

My hat is off to all the volunteers, you all did a fantastic job and I had a blast.

Amen Ted, even though I didn't make it, I know that at any rally volunteers are the backbone of the event.
 
I would suspect the weather caused this dramatic lowering of attendance. Once again, the national doesn't serve up anything that's worth riding in this heatwave. Let's get the rally into a timeframe that is more favorable to riding, to hell with all the other considerations!

This has been requested, discussed and kicked around many times before.... ain't gonna happen.
 
Attendance vs. passes sold? I would say they sold in excess of 10,000..but how many of the pre-registed showed up? My wrist band said 10,309 but who's counting..:brow

The numbers on the wristbands do not correlate to the attendance numbers.
 
Was it uncomfortably hot? You bet. Did all the free bottles of water handed out by volunteers every time I turned a corner make it quite bearable? You bet :)

My hat is off to all the volunteers, you all did a fantastic job and I had a blast.

+ a million
:)
 
...snip.....

But all this talk of heat and miserable conditions is threatening to overshadow the hard work put in by scores of volunteers before and during the rally. The act of pulling a small town together for four days is pretty impressive!

+1

well said, Pete.
 
Outstanding!!

The rally committee and volunteers deserve a round of applause. The rally was awesome, the riding was awesome, the entertainment was awesome. The sweltering heat was most unusual for PA this time of the year but with lots to do, see, and eat one could easily forget how hot it was and just deal with it. The food and bike vendors were excellent as well.

My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
 
I was one of the people hoping for 10,000. As I told a buddy Friday "it would be cool to break 10k, then I could say I kept the poo flowing for 10,000 people." :laugh

It's not really a goal per se but after Vermont (9200) 10k doesn't seem to far out of reach. I thought PA had a good chance of breaking the record because there are more people who live closer than Vermont.

Did the heat keep us form reaching 10K? Dunno, but I'm sure the heat played a huge role. As an aside today I'm hearing all the stories from folks in my office about how hot and miserable it was here and how our AC couldn't keep the office under 80. Personally I'm pretty happy I was roasting at a rally vs roasting in the office. :lol

In this modern era of "accurate" weather forecasting and the drama that must be inserted into something as mundane as the forecast I fear folks have forgotten that weather is nature and we can not control or ultimately predict exactly what nature will do 12 months, 6 months or sometimes even 6 hours in the future. Weather forecasting is a matter of making highly educated guesses packaged as fact or in the case of the Weather Channel (i.e. the disaster channel) entertainment.

Somewhere along the way folks seem to have lost their ability to adapt.

Yup it was hot. The rally chairs adapted by bringing in misters, lawn sprinklers and directing us volunteers who could to load up our carts with bottled water and give it away. Next time you go to rally and it rains for 48 hrs ask yourself if you would rather it was 100 degrees and dry. There are stories of MOA rallies that were lakes and there are stories of rallies where it was too hot. One thing I've learned over the years is it might be hot or it might rain but if I'm ready for both it will be a great time.

Giving away water was a total blast, the best volunteer activity I've done in years. We loaded up our monster cart with almost 500 bottles and had a ball giving them away. The crew who rode with me enjoyed it too, as Leana said "how can you not enjoy doing this, it spreads instant happiness.

I had a great rally, my son had a great rally and I hope you did too. Now I'm looking forward to enjoying the rest of the summer and planning for next year!
 
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Well said Rob!

Well said Rob! Heat happens and we had no A/C before 1903 ever, that's why "summer people" headed for the hills! As you said we are failing to adapt, which is not good as a species!

And yes, rain for 3 days would have been worse. The committees did GREAT JOB and the large tents/awnings at the beer garden was a Godsend, as were the misters and free water. Could have neen a lot worse!

Mark
 
I'm going to focus on the positives.

The Rally Organizers should be commended for:

Really pulling out the stops with the locals. Everyone (and I mean everyone I ran into) in Bloomsburg was glad to see us. I didn't get the same vibe in Redmond/Bend last year.

Arranging with the university for the reasonably priced air-conditioned dorms and shuttle bus that were welcome additions. As an ATGATT type, being able to keep the bike parked in the oppressive heat was a great option. In addition, on Friday I was able to ride the bus and get around while my bike was getting a tire change.

I loved the vintage display (not something you see every day.)

Outstanding collection of vendors in one place. In the age of the internet, a "petting zoo" of gear, parts and accessories is simply invaluable.

Who knew there was a scenic covered bridge and swimming hole within shouting distance of the fairgrounds?
 
Anyone notice the high water mark on the side of the stage? It was about 4' deep - that could have been the other extreme. Reminiscent of the '07 Guzzi rally in MN
 
yes it was HOT, but then again the weather (as has been duly noted) will do that which it will. anyone who waits for perfect weather will A: be disappointed and B: perhaps never leave the house.

this was my very first MOA [inter?] National Rally and i had a great time. i met LOTS of people, and volunteered in a couple locations around camp (beer *tent* & main stage) the heat was oppressive but offset quite adequately by the sheer enthusiasm of the organizers and the attendees. the food vendors were well selected with plenty of variety and folks were obviously happy with the beer... :dance there were all the M/C related vendors which i might have hoped for and i bought a Vanson Mesh Jacket and some P3 flashing lights from Skene Designs... and had my Ohlins Shock adjusted, which the Ohlins guys were nice enough to do free!

i can tell you that it's a rare event which puts out coolers of ice water and then also staff volunteers to carry bottled ice water around to GIVE AWAY to their attendees! IMO the event staff is to be commended for their efforts to keep us all hydrated, if nothing else. anywhere else, it'd be water all right- for 4.00 a bottle!

cheers!
Tom
 
Hat's off to the organizers and the volunteers.They deserve at least three rounds of 'Hoorah!!!'.
At least two rounds of 'hoorah' should go to the attendees. It would have been easy to stay away. Those who did not attend have no reason to second guess their decision. It was VERY hot. 'I survived' shirts would definately be appropriate. I witnessed no arguments or voices raised in anger as one might expect when exposing thousands of people to such conditions. People looked out for their neighbours and we all got through it.
A big THANK YOU to the 7000+ who made it a memoral event despite/because of the heat.
As the new add says...'I am the MOA'...WE are the MOA!
 
Thanks to the organizers and volunteers. A wonderful job done by all. A big salute to all of those who camped. While I love camping, I'm really glad I had a dorm apartment. The accommodations, the food, and the shuttle were great. I had a good time as I have had at every MOA rally that I've attended. I think that I will skip Missouri next year though. Missouri in July is too hot for me.
 
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