In June 2023 I drove on my motorcycle to the 50th annual BMW Motorcycle Owners of America (BMWMOA) National Rally in Doswell, Virginia just north of Richmond. Last month I was in Munich, Germany at the BMW Headquarters and Museum where they were celebrating the BMW Motorcycle's 100th anniversary. This month I'm on my way to the BMWMOA 50th rally. Neato.
The good news, I was allowing several days to get there to allow me to stop at some sites along the way. I generally allow for a 300-mile (483-kilometre) day, but I can do more. That way, if the weather is bad or I do sightsee I am not rushed and can maybe avoid driving in the dark. Now the bad news, I left at Noon on Friday. Unfortunately, really bad traffic plus construction. It took me almost 3.5 hours to go just 100 miles (161 kilometres). Even traffic in the other direction was bad. I may have to consider an alternate (longer) route to get back home to avoid the traffic. Eventually traffic got better since I took 2-lane roads for the last stretch of the drive through Indiana. I spent the first night in Fort Wayne, Indiana. I just missed getting room 247 (Google 'BMW 247 engine', how cool would that have been), but I felt room 248 was a little underpowering. Get it? You would if you Googled 247, you see 248 is the R45 and R65 engine design...
I always make sure all of the lights are working on the bike before I ride. That first night when I arrived at the hotel, I noticed my main brake light on the bike was not working. A while back I installed 2 extra Denali brand parking/brake super bright lights and they fortunately were still working. Before I started the day, I took the brake light apart. I found that one of the connections had broken off. Fixed it. I carry crimper/wire cutters and spade connectors as well as super handy Posi-tap brand electrical connectors. I also carry extra wire and a bunch of other stuff (tools and parts). When you ride a 35-year-old motorcycle, you stay prepared...
I was on my way to Charleston, West Virginia to stay for 2 nights, it was about 335 miles according to my GPS. On my way, I stopped in Columbus, Ohio to get a picture at the State Capital. About 80 miles (129 kilometres) from my hotel in Charleston, West Virginia I noticed the scenery was improving. After I got to the hotel, I walked around the Charleston downtown historic district and had a nice dinner.
I was staying in Charleston, West Virginia for 2 nights so I could spend a day driving around the area for a day. I heard they had some nice roads, now I was on my way to find them. I had a good hotel breakfast, then out for my ride. I had a good time driving all these roads, lots of 2-lane backroads. I did manage to get back late in the afternoon, so that gave me a chance to get my West Virginia State Capital photo. I'm not sure what West Virginia's food specialty is, but that evening I ended up having dinner at a Texas Roadhouse I found nearby.
While getting ready to leave my hotel, the weather called for a nice day, but looking out over the hills around the city there's fog. I need to get to Charlottesville, Virginia (not to be confused with the current Charleston, West Virginia). Fortunately, the fog was confined to the hills. I was avoiding driving on Interstates to maximize the nice roads in the area. This included crossing West Virginia and Virginia on 2 lane roads. This was really nice, not much traffic and roads were in really good shape. There were also a couple large National Forests I drove through. This was pretty much a scenic driving day.
Charlottesville, Virginia is where Thomas Jefferson's Monticello is located. I spent part of the day there, taking the tour of the home and gardens. The house has 35 rooms and, incredibly, is the only private home in the U.S. to have a UNESCO World Heritage Site status. Obviously, he is associated with being the primary author of the Declaration of Independence. Ironically, he died on July 4th, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
I spent a nice day walking around Richmond, Virginia. It has a surprising nice Historic Downtown Mall in the city centre that is pedestrian only. Lots of shops and restaurants, and plenty of trees. This also gave me a chance to get my Virginia State Capital picture. Unfortunately, because of road closures, I could not get the motorcycle close enough to get a picture with the bike. I'm not sure what was going on, the roads around the State Capital building were closed off by police cars. This was my last night before the rally.
The rally was held at the Meadow Event Park in Doswell, Virginia, only about 30 miles north of Richmond. Since I was staying in Richmond the night before, it was no problem getting there early to register at 0800. The first thing I wanted to do was attend a seminar being held at 0930. There was already a lot of people there. They do allow volunteers helping with the rally get there a day or so ahead of time.
The rally is 3 full days, and on the 4th day everyone packs up and goes home. I enjoy the day walking around and seeing all the BMW motorcycles, especially the Airhead (classic) ones like mine. Sometimes you start talking to someone about the bikes and the next thing you know a lot of time has passed. There are also seminars going on throughout the day that you can attend, depending on your interest. They also have a large selection of vendors selling motorcycle related items, usually at a discounted rally price. They also have raffles going on throughout the weekend, this year I didn't win anything. Camping for the weekend is included in your ticket price. You just need to be cautious of where you setup your tent, some areas are pretty active and you may not get as much sleep as you want. This year, I entered my motorcycle in the People's Choice Awards. You put your bike on display in the appropriate category you choose, then people vote on their favorites. I had 2 compliments by people just while I was parking the bike to display. Didn't win...
I enjoyed the rally and had a good time.
The weather had been perfect so far, but that was about to change. It was time to pack up and start heading home. The weather didn't sound too promising for the day. I had about a 400-mile (644-kilometre) drive to Canton, Ohio and was likely to run into rain. In the end, I encountered about 3 hours of rain, some highway and some on the backroads. It's not that I am not prepared for rain and cold, it just makes for miserable conditions on the bike. But, you forge ahead.
For the last day, I had about 450 miles to get home. When I left the hotel, the roads were still wet from the rain overnight, it was about 60°f (16°c), and no sun in sight. Just after I left the hotel it started raining again and didn't stop for about 100 miles (161 kilometres). However, it was still very cool and blustery for about another 120 miles (193 kilometres). At this point I was about 1/2 way home and I was back in Fort Wayne, Indiana (where my first night stop was when I started this trip). The weather was finally cooperating, so I stopped to get something to eat. At one of my stops, I had received a message from my brother reminding me about the time zone change, I was gaining an hour! Well, that was comforting. Fortunately, I didn't encounter the massive traffic jam I did when I left for this trip. As I got closer to home, I did encounter a few raindrops and it started to get cloudy. Luckily, that was all it was.
Made it home! Total for this trip was 1,878 miles (3,022 kilometres).
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