Linda Balough inspects a bizarre sheet metal fairing at the 1991 Top O’ The Rockies Rally in Paonia, Colo. Photo by John Flora.
By JOHN FLORA, Editor
Spring is almost here and with it comes the rally season in these latitudes.
A lot of Indianapolis BMW Club members make BMW rallies a regular part of their annual riding calendar, but we also have a bunch of new members, as well as members of longer standing who haven't yet had the rally experience. If you're a “rally virgin,” you're missing a lot of fun.
So, what is a rally?
Everybody has his own thoughts, but here are some suggested definitions:
1. An excuse to go for a long weekend ride.
2. A party.
3. A place to see lots of other BMWs and meet other BMW riders.
4. A chance to get to know your fellow club members better.
5. A place to buy motorcycle stuff from a variety of vendors.
6. All of the above and more.
For the sake of consistency, I'll limit this piece to BMW rallies and, for the uninitiated, I'll focus on the basics.
A rally is a campout where a host BMW club organizes camping facilities, food and activities.
The camping facilities can range from primitive to posh. Typically, host clubs choose state or city parks or fairgrounds as rally sites. The comfort level is usually dictated by the number and quality of the restroom/shower facilities and this can vary widely.
The routine for most of us is pretty simple: Ride to the rally site, pay the registration fee (usually in the $15-50 range) and scan the campground for other Indy Club members.
Several of us have club flags and we attach them to our tents to help other club members find us. Greg Miller pulls a pop-up Time Out camper trailer that transforms itself into the big blue Burg Müller. Being retired, Greg is a regular on the rally circuit and is often among the first club members to show up at a rally, so his camper is often the anchor for whatever Indy Club enclave that coalesces around it.
Most rallies serve food – usually a Saturday evening meal – that is included in your admission fee. In many cases, the fee also gets you a commemorative rally pin or patch or both and maybe some other geegaw, like a plastic cup for your rally libations.
Rallies also often include other activities like field events and poker runs.
Field events are a group of contests calling for riding skill, a good sense of humor and a willingness to dump your bike. They are limited only by the imaginations of the organizers and can range from such obvious stuff as a slow ride over a measured course to a relay race in which rider and passenger ride from one end of the field to the other, swap clothes, and ride back. Since my K100RS has lots of expensive plastic parts, I prefer to be a field events spectator.
A poker run is a ride over a route several miles long with a series of checkpoints. Each rider draws a playing card at each checkpoint to build a poker hand. The winning hand at the end of the ride wins the top prize.
Most rallies start on Friday afternoons and run through Sunday afternoon, but there are some notable exceptions.
The typical rally schedule starts on Friday evening with registration, followed on Saturday with a poker run or some other kind of ride in the morning and field events in the afternoon. Following Saturday evening's dinner, there is often an awards program where prizes are given to poker run and/or field events winners as well as to the oldest/youngest rider/passenger, the rider/passenger who came the greatest distance, the club with the most members present and other notable achievements.
Some rallies offer a Sunday morning breakfast.
The nice thing about rally events is that you can participate, spectate or ignore them. The whole idea is to hang out and do as little or as much as you like.
Each rally has its own qualities to recommend it.
Some are held at glamour destinations.
Some are known for their food and drink.
There are also rallies at historic destinations, like the Return to Shiloh Rally, south of Savannah, Tenn. This one is just minutes from the Shiloh Battlefield, a site steeped in the tragedy and heroism of the Civil War.
So you think it sounds like fun, but you hate to camp?
No problem. Most rally sites have hotels and motels close by for those who prefer to sleep in a real bed and under a real roof.
This would be a fine way for rally virgins to get their first taste of rallying.
For an overview of the 2001 BMW rally season, check out the Internet web sites of the BMW RA and the BMW Motorcycle Owners of America.
If you've never attended a rally, don't let this riding season get away without finding out what it's all about.