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Who did not attend because of the heat?

Who did not attend because of the heat?


  • Total voters
    100
  • Poll closed .
This is a no brainer. I did not attend the rally in Bloomsburg, PA and Sedalia, MO because of the heat and I'll never pre register again. I'm in relatively good shape and I can ride trough any condition heat or cold but it's a misery and not fun. Attending rallies and riding my motorcycle should be enjoyable not the opposite.
I can bet anyone that 2013 Rally will be much better attended because of the weather and location.
 
I thought about skipping the rally, but I didn't.

The first day I rode 900 miles in the 105F heat and I kind of liked zipping in through 4 states before resting in a Days-inn at MT Vernon IL at 10PM.
The heat made me tired, but I took a break every 60-90 minutes. And, I drank a few gallons of water.

However, after taking all rural roads from MT Vernon, IL, I promptly forgot about the heat. I also slept in a tent. The only hot evening for me was Wednesday. When it was 93F outside. After that, I really enjoyed the Rally. I lost 5-7 lbs during the rally and the riding.

I figure global warming is not going to make the heat any better, so I am conditioning my body and brain to get used to it. :p
 
Why not make date be location dependent? We hold the rally each year in a different area of the country, why not be flexible on the date as well? If we are holding it in the North, we could have it in July or August. If in the South, maybe Spring or Fall?
 
the question i have is why won't the board address this issue as it seems to be a topic that every member has an opinion on. i know the board does not discuss business on the forum but we have gotten to the point where this issue needs to be formally addressed.
 
And with all due respect...Why do you think that it has NOT been addressed??


i honestly have never seen an official statement from the board as to why the rally can't be changed to a different time frame. i have "heard" various reasons from various members but nothing officially from the board.

now it is possibly that they have addressed this issue in the past, either online, in the owners news or in some other way and i just missed it.

since we have had this debate after last years rally and again this year maybe it is time for the board to inform the membership as to why the dates can't be changed. it wouldn't take much on there part and it would show the members that they listen and are responding to members concerns.
 
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Maybe there could be a Wus Rally, or not.

Maybe if all the air conditioners were turned off, energy would be saved, it would help our impact on global warming, and our bodies would again acclimate to the outside world. Just a thought as I sit here on my porch, just rained, cooled down from 89 to 70, the air is clean and fresh, and I am enjoying white wine and green olives. Oh yea, I had a blast in Sedalia. There was a breeze all day and the sleeping under the stars was cool enough I had to use the sleeping bag. Sorry a lot of you missed out.
 
Sorry a lot of you missed out

i am sorry i had to miss the rally again this year, but i get no joy out of riding/sleeping in 95 + temps with high humidity.

i love going to the rallies but to me it shouldn't be a survivial contest. if you are fine with that, great, go and enjoy yourselves. for me, i will either be home in the AC/pool or on the road else ware where the temps won't bake me alive.
 
Please let's keep this thread civil!


I know, having had life threatening heat stroke twice, that different people handle temperature extremes differently. By being careful, I can handle heat but not humidity. In winter I can comfortably ride into the single digits farenheit. Others' tolerance levels vary at either end of the spectrum and we need to respect that.

But casting aspersions on those with differing points of view really isn't advancing the discussion. The MOA learned from Bloomburg and took steps to lessen the blow this year, but obviously didn't please everybody.
 
My thanks to whoever cancelled their reservation at the Sedalia Super 7 Wednesday afternoon, I got your room:clap

The rally was great, the fairgounds was one of the best locations we've had.
 
We - the Board - have taken action !

This issue has been addressed, as recently as last fall. After Bloomsburg, the Board created a Rally Review Committee. I am that committee chairman.

One of the things we did was conduct a survey. Actually, there were several surveys:
There there three groups surveyed:
1) Vendors
2) Key Committee Chairs
3) 2000 randomly selected BMW MOA members

We chose the vendors and the "Key" committee chairs because let's face it folks: without these hard working key committee chairs and the big turn-out of the vendors, we could not do the rally as we do it today. The third group was created by creating a computer-generated randomized list of members. Their survey was marginally different in that we wanted to know additional questions, such as - how they felt about Regional Events and smartphone applications.

I will work with Greg Feeler to pull all of the information together and post it here. Stand by. This may take a few days to pull all of that information together so that it is a readable format.

Sue
 
I for one never considered the weather much when I went on a motorcycle trip. I just carried my rain gear. But now that I'm older and have had some health problems, I look at the weather very carefully. Last year I got heat exhaustion on the way to Bloomsburg. I left Bloomsburg at 8:00 PM on Saturday night and rode 720 miles overnight to get home. It was a long, but cool ride. This year we wanted to attend, and the wife also wanted to go. We decided early on that we didn't want to camp, and made motel reservations. As the time grew closer the heat went higher, so we decided to cancel and go another time. We'll see ya'all at another one...
 
We chose the vendors and the "Key" committee chairs because let's face it folks: without these hard working key committee chairs and the big turn-out of the vendors, we could not do the rally as we do it today. Sue

Why is so much credence given to vendors? Does the club make that much money renting vending space at a rally? For me the vendors are the least important part of a rally. With so much to do at, or around, a rally the last thing I want to do is go shopping.
 
Why is so much credence given to vendors? Does the club make that much money renting vending space at a rally? For me the vendors are the least important part of a rally. With so much to do at, or around, a rally the last thing I want to do is go shopping.

For those of us who must ride 4 hours to a decent motorcycle shop the vendors are our chance to compare and contrast gear and accessories we've only seen in magazines.
 
For those of us who must ride 4 hours to a decent motorcycle shop the vendors are our chance to compare and contrast gear and accessories we've only seen in magazines.

Vendors are a big draw for me. It's nice to get your hands on expensive booty you're considering to purchase and talk directly to the people who create this gear. Beats the pants offa the shopping cart on the website.

At one rally, I had a guy make me a lighter adapter to bare wire leads while I waited. The phone got charged that night as a result, and what he did was top quality in both materials and workmanship. Yeah, I could have found a radio shack and done it myself, but not without the great conversation during the process.
 
I have no regrets about having attended the rally this year. Sure I was exhausted from riding in 106 degrees Wednesday and I didn't do any of the demo rides I was looking forward to doing because of it.. But it was all worth the opportunity to reconnect with existing friends, make new friends, attend several outstanding seminars (Paul Glaves , Ramey "Coach" Stroud, Andrea Borella, to name a few). The vendors are a "key" part of the rally and one of the "key" reasons I attend. And I've already made plans to attend the 41st. It will be a great opportunity for a road trip from Wisconsin regardless of the weather/distance. We can always find an excuse for not doing something....
 
I know some saided to hold the rally in the spring or fall, that would count me out due to work. Yes i still work!

We have tornadoes here in the mideast/midwest in the spring time and hurricanes in the southeast in the fall time. Bloomsburg had the heat in July, and the floods in Sept. I can ride in the heat, but I cant ride in the floods.


ROC
 
The wife and I attended the Rally and in spite of conditions, we had a great time..most of the vendors were in air conditioned buildings and there was also plenty of cooling spots..shade and eateries. One of the highlights was meeting up with Paul Rawlings (Celtic Riders) from Ireland who made our IOM and Ireland tour a possibility.... We want to extend our thanks to all who made this years Rally so enjoyable and really appreciate the dedication and hard work that went into this event..
 
One of the things we did was conduct a survey. Actually, there were several surveys:
There there three groups surveyed:
1) Vendors
2) Key Committee Chairs
3) 2000 randomly selected BMW MOA members

a couple of observations/questions about the survey. i might be going out on a limb here but i am will to bet that

1) the vendors want the rally held at the same time so they can plan there rally schedule for the following year.

2) the key committee chairs want the rally held at the same time. my best guess is that the key committee chairs have been doing this a long time and plan there vacations for the same time each year.



this leaves the 2000 random MOA members surveyed. were these 2000 all attendees at Bloomsburg or were they a mixture of Bloomsburg attendees as well as those who choose not to attend for one reason or another? how was the survey done, was the questionnaire handed out during the rally or was it mailed/e-mailed out afterwards?

as i am sure everyone knows you can have a survey and get whatever results you want based on how & when you take the survey. i am not saying this is what happened but if the 2000 members that were surveyed were all present at Bloomsburg and the survey was conducted durning the rally it seems to me like the results would be very biased as a complete group, those that did not attend the rally, were excluded from the survey.

i am sure being on the board is a tiring and thankless job, especially when you have someone like me questioning some of the things they do. i do appreciate all they do for our club and although we may not see eye to eye on some things i would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to all the MOA board members who work so hard to make this club the success it is.
 
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