Attendance 4,580

4,580 is the head count.

Is that good or bad?
OM

It seems below normal (5.5k) please correct if wrong.

Also,
It was really hot...And thanks to, Your planning, I had a Wonderful time! CU, next year in Tenn.

Sent from my C6606 using Tapatalk

I think 4-5 k is the 'new norm.'

Will be interesting if the switch to late June next year results in a noticeable bump?!

Tennessee will make it bump. Easterly is always better. Left coast is better than the fly over country. It is the distribution of membership and the willingness to ride to the site that makes a difference. I do agree that 4-5K may be a new normal, but I predict 7K for 2019.

Des Moines did have some excellent camping areas.
I didn’t see many non-BMW bikes, though.
Certainly not as many as SLC.

PGlaves said:

Tennessee will make it bump. Easterly is always better. Left coast is better than the fly over country. It is the distribution of membership and the willingness to ride to the site that makes a difference. I do agree that 4-5K may be a new normal, but I predict 7K for 2019.

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Oops, the politically correct term one should be using is wet not left. Hey, the good thing about lower attendance numbers is maybe the powers that be at the MOA can consider more interesting places besides downtown SLC and the like. Then there is Des Moines, IA.....man, I've had happier thoughts and when I think about the pain and suffering I would go through just getting there. As in riding across Nebraska in the middle of July. Honestly I would rather be in hell and that's the truth. Actually it's kind of a tossup come to think about it.

jammess said:

Oops, the politically correct term one should be using is wet not left. Hey, the good thing about lower attendance numbers is maybe the powers that be at the MOA can consider more interesting places besides downtown SLC and the like. Then there is Des Moines, IA.....man, I've had happier thoughts and when I think about the pain and suffering I would go through just getting there. As in riding across Nebraska in the middle of July. Honestly I would rather be in hell and that's the truth. Actually it's kind of a tossup come to think about it.

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There are always ways to make the route fun and exciting. I had an absolute blast getting there, and in the process discovered Iowa is not all about corn and flatness. I wasn't expecting much at the fairgrounds and was pleasantly surprised at how nice it was, how much shade (Friday afternoon there were still plenty of shaded tent sites), how great the air conditioning was, how lively the local microbrew scene was.

Pete and Glenlivet

glenfiddich said:

There are always ways to make the route fun and exciting. I had an absolute blast getting there, and in the process discovered Iowa is not all about corn and flatness. I wasn't expecting much at the fairgrounds and was pleasantly surprised at how nice it was, how much shade (Friday afternoon there were still plenty of shaded tent sites), how great the air conditioning was, how lively the local microbrew scene was.

Pete and Glenlivet

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In fairness to Jammness, there's a big difference between riding from Vermont and riding from Oregon. I also made the decision not to attend with the thought of having to ride across some pretty uninteresting and hot geography (yes, I've ridden across it before). I've also ridden through Iowa and it really can be a nice ride...just kinda tough getting there from the West coast.

powwow said:

In fairness to Jammness, there's a big difference between riding from Vermont and riding from Oregon.

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If it doesn't sound like fun don't make the ride. No joy crapping in others' Cheerios, though.

Salem was a long way from Vermont, and much of that ride was brutally hot. But I wanted to see the West Coast so Barley and I went. We took a meandering 5400 mile route (8800 miles round trip) and had a blast despite the elements. For the Minneapolis/St Paul rally we never left the rally grounds, but the ride there and back was fantastic!

Ride, or don't ride. Nobody has to justify their decision.

Pete

Afternoon Pete, I'm kind of curious about your age? To tell the truth I think my enthusiasm for the long haul has gone kind of sideways as the years piled up. I'm 7-1/2 decades old now and doubt I'll be riding in 5 more years anyway.

Hi Larry, I was through your neck of the woods a week or so ago on my way to Burns and got totally confused trying to go around rather than through Bend. It was 27th St. that got me. There weren't any roundabouts there the last time I took the bypass. Bend will soon be bigger than Eugene. Unbelievable! Was there about 3 weeks ago as well meeting a guy in La Pine for lunch then up to Condon for the night. I spend so much time over there I should maybe move over the hill. Wife would kill me.

jammess said:

Afternoon Pete, I'm kind of curious about your age? To tell the truth I think my enthusiasm for the long haul has gone kind of sideways as the years piled up.

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62 and retired for five weeks. I'm in the process of trying to mentally adapt to not having to be back at a fixed date. It's a surprisingly difficult struggle.

I hear you about the aging demographics. As we collectively age fewer will ride long distances or in arduous conditions. More will bring RVs or stay in hotels. And the net effect is that as the inclusion criteria for rally sites become more stringent the number of "suitable" sites will likely shrink to just a handful. I'll likely not attend the next rally as that's a tough time of year to travel with a dog. I'll see Tennessee, but in the spring or fall. The regional getaways look more and more attractive to me.

jammess said:

Afternoon Pete, I'm kind of curious about your age? To tell the truth I think my enthusiasm for the long haul has gone kind of sideways as the years piled up. I'm 7-1/2 decades old now and doubt I'll be riding in 5 more years anyway.

Hi Larry, I was through your neck of the woods a week or so ago on my way to Burns and got totally confused trying to go around rather than through Bend. It was 27th St. that got me. There weren't any roundabouts there the last time I took the bypass. Bend will soon be bigger than Eugene. Unbelievable! Was there about 3 weeks ago as well meeting a guy in La Pine for lunch then up to Condon for the night. I spend so much time over there I should maybe move over the hill. Wife would kill me.

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Bend is continuing to explode...we're at 100,000 and expecting another 40,000 in the next 10 years. Yikes!!

We lived in Seattle for many years and finally decided we were done with the dreariness. PM me next time you make it over and we can meet for coffee.

Now, back to the regularly scheduled thread...

Well, I'm 73. I have made every national since 1984 except one - Moodus CT in 1994 because I was just weeks into a new job. Voni went anyway. She has made every national since 1984. Some have been hot. Bloomsburg was the hottest. Spokane, Lima, Sedalia, Salt Lake City to name a few. Florida in '85 and Texas in 97 were not really very hot. Some have been wet. Few have been cold. To go to these rallies we've crossed the plains, suffered the congestion of the northeast, winds on the plains, drivers near Chicago, crossed the Mojave, been rained on, chased by a hurricane trying to escape Florida, and suffered the snow in July in Wyoming. Wow. What adventure.

I would do it all over again - EXCEPT - Bloomsburg. The weather was bad but the facility truly sucked. If that fairgrounds had been like Saint Paul, Sedalia, Salt Lake City, or Des Moines it would have been an OK rally. But it was decrepit - without air conditioning - and 108 to 114 in that humidity was unhealthy: heat index exceeded 120. Kudos to MOA for the water misters and free water and ice. Even so there were a couple of hundreds of ambulance runs rally site to the hospital for heat issue. So in retrospect, Des Moines was wonderful.

The key to fun travel like this is to be prepared. We ride away from home for two to three months every summer. It might be 100 degrees but my heated gear is in a saddle bag. It might be 40 degrees but my LD Comfort shirt - ready to wet down is along too. We camp unless we are on a tight schedule, it is too cold, too hot, or too windy. If so we find motels.

Everybody else has their own game plan. Some are better than others. Many may be better than ours. Folks will however notice that great plains and midwest rallies always have fewer attendees than eastern rallies and most western rallies. That is the result of membership distribution, and the aversion that eastern and west coastal folks have about crossing or even entering the "empty quarter." So be it. Folks do what folks do.

glenfiddich said:

If it doesn't sound like fun don't make the ride. No joy crapping in others' Cheerios, though.

Salem was a long way from Vermont, and much of that ride was brutally hot. But I wanted to see the West Coast so Barley and I went. We took a meandering 5400 mile route (8800 miles round trip) and had a blast despite the elements. For the Minneapolis/St Paul rally we never left the rally grounds, but the ride there and back was fantastic!

Ride, or don't ride. Nobody has to justify their decision.

Pete

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I sincerely apologize if my comments were in any way insulting to others. I've done many 4000-5000 mile tours, but just didn't think I wanted to beat it across this year. Decided to attend the Cascade Rendezvous next week in Republic, WA as an alternative.

Best wishes...and I have loved the pictures of your canine riding partners!

powwow said:

Decided to attend the Cascade Rendezvous next week in Republic, WA as an alternative.

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We are headed that way now after leaving Des Moines yesterday. We will see you there. Come to our little seminar Saturday evening.

I got back last night from Des Moines, 720 miles. I thought I'd be spending a night on the road, but got to Mcalester, OK and figured I'd make it home before nightfall so I just kept rolling on the throttle.

Really liked the facility, it was huge. To my perspective that made the 4,580 attendance look smaller, the fairgrounds just swallowed up the number of attendees. I camped out with a group of members from Iowa. Man I thought Texans were a friendly folk, these Iowans made me feel right at home. Weather felt just like Texas, very warm and humid, but the nights cooled off enough to make tent sleeping comfortable. I hadn't attended a National since 2007 in West Bend, Des Moines was a good way to return. Big kudos to those who make these events happen.

Only hiccup in the trip was a citation for failing to yield to a stop sign in Miami, OK. The road I was riding was detoured and with so many signs telling where to go I up and missed the most important sign . So the state of Oklahoma will be getting a $183 (a $108 DOCKET FEE?!) donation

PGlaves said:

We are headed that way now after leaving Des Moines yesterday. We will see you there. Come to our little seminar Saturday evening.

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I'll be there!

Rally Cherry

First rally had a blast, lots of time spent at aircentral so possibly some bias toward fun side. The location was great, it was a bit hot so someone on a golf cart with a very nice black dog talked to some one from maintenance and came back with a couple of electric fans, I returned them Sunday and talked to a maintenance person working, while we were making some small talk his quote it was a good group ( us ralley goers) with emphasis on good.
Food for future thought the MOA needs to have a map reading seminar as some people seemed to be having trouble with paper map, or advance the technology on the rally app so if for example you want to go to the beer garden and drink a very cold beer and meet many very nice people you could go to the rally app click on beer garden and get step by step directions ( those not challenged by paper maps could get much entertainment watching people walking and looking at their phone run into each other).

powwow said:

I'll be there!

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Hey, see you guys there. Going to take the FJR since wife wants to go also.

James