redsky49
New member
Per Rob Nye:
"As for the time of year, it's the same story. The retired folks or riders without families want a rally in a different time of year because there is a perception that no matter where we go it will be brutally hot. The riders with families want a rally when school's out."
As the OP for this thread, I will take the liberty to expand upon Mr. Nye's comments.
It is disingenuous, if not self-delusional, to make the claim that the Rally must be held in July to allow members with families to attend, or to attract "younger" riders, or any one of the numerous "reasons" given for the date. Exactly how many children did you see attending the rally? Is this even 10% of the attendees? For those that wish or need to make arrangements based on family responsibilities, could not a three day trip allow them to at least partially attend the event? Could not one rally every four years be scheduled for an autumn period? Personally, I would love to ride the roads of Vermont, New Hampshire or upstate New York in the fall.
Let's be brutally honest. By far the majority of BMW riders are older (and some way older than others ), and have somewhat greater flexibility in their scheduling. At the same time, increasing health issues among the membership make attending a (questionably scheduled) rally a possible life or death choice. Are we waiting until someone dies from heat stroke before we rethink our priorities?
Just as we rotate the location every year to allow everyone at least the opportunity to attend a rally, why can we not rotate the date? Why is inertia so difficult to overcome in this matter?
Finally, I would hope that we would temper our criticism of those who decided that the oppressive temperatures were too much to bear, and elected not to attend this year. There is nothing to be accomplished by demeaning them. This is not a contest or machismo evaluation.
I know that this is regular hot-button topic of discussion, but would hope that perhaps a new approach might offer up some alternatives to the current situation.
Just my two cents
"As for the time of year, it's the same story. The retired folks or riders without families want a rally in a different time of year because there is a perception that no matter where we go it will be brutally hot. The riders with families want a rally when school's out."
As the OP for this thread, I will take the liberty to expand upon Mr. Nye's comments.
It is disingenuous, if not self-delusional, to make the claim that the Rally must be held in July to allow members with families to attend, or to attract "younger" riders, or any one of the numerous "reasons" given for the date. Exactly how many children did you see attending the rally? Is this even 10% of the attendees? For those that wish or need to make arrangements based on family responsibilities, could not a three day trip allow them to at least partially attend the event? Could not one rally every four years be scheduled for an autumn period? Personally, I would love to ride the roads of Vermont, New Hampshire or upstate New York in the fall.
Let's be brutally honest. By far the majority of BMW riders are older (and some way older than others ), and have somewhat greater flexibility in their scheduling. At the same time, increasing health issues among the membership make attending a (questionably scheduled) rally a possible life or death choice. Are we waiting until someone dies from heat stroke before we rethink our priorities?
Just as we rotate the location every year to allow everyone at least the opportunity to attend a rally, why can we not rotate the date? Why is inertia so difficult to overcome in this matter?
Finally, I would hope that we would temper our criticism of those who decided that the oppressive temperatures were too much to bear, and elected not to attend this year. There is nothing to be accomplished by demeaning them. This is not a contest or machismo evaluation.
I know that this is regular hot-button topic of discussion, but would hope that perhaps a new approach might offer up some alternatives to the current situation.
Just my two cents