Top of the Rockies Rally

[trevward]

I'm headed to Paonia for the Top of the Rockies rally. I am putting my bike on a trailer from Iowa to Colorado. I would love to park it in eastern Co. (near Colorado Springs) and ride the rest of the way to the rally. Is anybody out there that has a bit of safe parking to help me out.

Thanks,
Trevin Ward
mobile 563-663-3123 Shoot me a text if you would.

 

[millsaps2]

I usually stay at the Comfort Suites in Dillon and leave my truck and trailer there while I visit Paonia, Ouray, Gunnison, Toas for 7-10 days, never has been a problem for the last 4 years.

 

[trevward]

I usually stay at the Comfort Suites in Dillon and leave my truck and trailer there while I visit Paonia, Ouray, Gunnison, Toas for 7-10 days, never has been a problem for the last 4 years.

Thanks. Good to know. Will you be there this year? What are your riding? I'm on an 08 GSA and looking to ride some gravel north of Paonia.

 

[moto316]

There are several guys listed in the anonymous book for Colorado Springs with storage space. Give them a call, I'm sure you will find them to be friendly.

 

[trevward]

There are several guys listed in the anonymous book for Colorado Springs with storage space. Give them a call, I'm sure you will find them to be friendly.

Thanks for the suggestion. That was next on my list. I was hoping that one of them might read this first. ;-)

 

[kbowman]

Last summer I rented an outdoor parking place at a self-storage place in Colorado Springs for my car and bike trailer.

https://www.smartspaceselfstorage.n.../smart-space-self-storage-galley-road/reviews

There are a number of other self-storage places in town, but this one had space and the price was reasonable. It's on the east side of the city on your way into town on US 24.

I think it has changed ownership since then, but it worked well for me. The parkings spaces were pull-through, so there was plenty of room for my car and trailer. Also, the parking area was completely surrounded by storage buildings, so it wasn't visible from the road.

One thing to watch for. They pro-rate the cost for the first month (if you start on the 15th you only pay half a month), but if you stay even one day into the next month you pay for an entire month. I think that is pretty standard in the business.

Ken

 

[trevward]

Last summer I rented an outdoor parking place at a self-storage place in Colorado Springs for my car and bike trailer.

https://www.smartspaceselfstorage.n.../smart-space-self-storage-galley-road/reviews

There are a number of other self-storage places in town, but this one had space and the price was reasonable. It's on the east side of the city on your way into town on US 24.

I think it has changed ownership since then, but it worked well for me. The parkings spaces were pull-through, so there was plenty of room for my car and trailer. Also, the parking area was completely surrounded by storage buildings, so it wasn't visible from the road.

One thing to watch for. They pro-rate the cost for the first month (if you start on the 15th you only pay half a month), but if you stay even one day into the next month you pay for an entire month. I think that is pretty standard in the business.

Ken

Hey Ken,
Thanks for this reply. I'll give them a call if I can't find someone from the anonymous listings. I may contact U-haul since I am renting their motorcycle trailer.

Trevin

 

[mikemacmo]

2022 Top of the Rockies Rally

I need to get away! Went to the MOA in Springfield but stayed at my daughters house so didn’t feel like a ‘real’ get away. What can anyone tell me about the Top of the Rockies Rally?

 

[20774]

Welcome to the forum!! According to the website, it's the "go to event of the summer"!!

https://www.bmwmcc.org/tor/

 

[MountainRyder]

I need to get away! Went to the MOA in Springfield but stayed at my daughters house so didn’t feel like a ‘real’ get away. What can anyone tell me about the Top of the Rockies Rally?

We went to this event a few years ago. We were not impressed.

We grabbed an open picnic table at the beer tent with the hopes that some nice folks would join us for conversation. It never happened, even with our outreach to others. My wife described the event as "a lot of people with a lot in common who commonly didn't want to interact with each other"

There were no organized rides, just some maps they gave out. There were only a 10 or less vendors, and I only recall a custom seat guy and LED blinker vendor that were specifically bike related vendors, but I could be wrong here. There definitely weren't any motorcycle vendors or even dealerships in attendance.

The meal on Saturday night that came with the price of admission was definitely wanting. It was supposed to run for two or three hours, and in the first hour we watched people walk by with HUGE plates of BBQ. Once we got hungry enough to eat, we discovered they were nearly out of BBQ and there was an hour left for the dinner. They had completely run out of the sides and a bunch of people ran to the grocery store to replenish. We watched them take pre-mix bags of salad and simply dumped them into serving bowls with no washing of the lettuce. If you've ever watched your local news do a test of those pre-mixed salad bags, you'd know that a significant amount of them contain salmonella and other food poisoning bugs.

The giveaways amounted to almost nothing of interest. It would be things like "$50 off a custom seat" and not an actual custom seat.

Lastly, when we were waiting in the line to get our food, the two "gentlemen" taking the food tickets had what I can only describe as misogynist conversation in loud terms. We were more than just a little put off by the tenor of their conversation and were even more surprised when those two "gentlemen" came on stage later and were introduced as the "leaders" of the club.

We never received a "thank you" for attending, a post-event survey, never got an invite back, it was like we were never there, and were not considered a potential club member to reach out to. The club did not see the event attendees as anything other than revenue for their club event.

There's no reason for us to go back.

 

[glenfiddich]

I need to get away! Went to the MOA in Springfield but stayed at my daughters house so didn’t feel like a ‘real’ get away. What can anyone tell me about the Top of the Rockies Rally?

I attended once years ago and would love to go back. The long transit through summer heat and humidity stops me, though eventually I hope another cross country trip would have me in the area during that time frame.

The park itself is simply beautiful! Mature shade trees everywhere, soft grass underfoot, nice showers. I’m not into organized group rides, preferring solo adventure, and found plenty to keep me happy: over Kebbler Pass, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Grand Mesa, etc.

I never expect much in the way of prizes at small rallies, and with the small number of attendees don’t expect many vendors either. The beer is always good as is the food, though as someone mentioned it’s best to eat when it’s first offered.

It’s a popular rally with many attendees returning year after year to be with old friends. Some groups are not particularly welcoming for that reason. Others are eager to make new friends. It pays to wear your extrovert hat at events like that

Pete

 

[guenner]

I need to get away! Went to the MOA in Springfield but stayed at my daughters house so didn’t feel like a ‘real’ get away. What can anyone tell me about the Top of the Rockies Rally?

I attend the Paonia rallies since 2002.

An unbiased fact: Last year we had 400 attendees!

As mentioned before, the camping is at a beautiful park with old tall trees within walking distance to downtown.

Showers are ~2 miles away at a high school.

There are plenty of easy day tours available. If you haven't seen this part of the Rockies, maybe this is a good time.

Some people still think Paonia is a leftover from the hippies' time.

Come see for yourself!

 

[guenner]

Correction: 2021 number was 505 attendees

2022 number was 650