BMW MOA Rally, July, 2011

July 22-23, 2011
BMW MOA International Rally
Bloomsburg Fairgrounds, PA

GYPSY Stats:
Day 1, Friday 7/22
3 hr 53 min (9 hr 14 min, Lindsey) Road Time
2 hr 17 min (6 hr 22 min, Lindsey) Rolling Time
90.6 (263, Lindsey) miles
39.7 (41.3, Lindsey) ave. mph

Day 2, Saturday 7/23
4 hrs 54 min Road Time
3 hrs 17 min Rolling Time
142.5 Miles
43.5 ave. mph

BMW Stats:
Day 1
271 miles
42 ave. mph
50 ave. mpg

Day 2
147 miles
43 ave. mph
49 ave. mpg

Pump Stats:
50.1 mpg for the R1200R
$4.00/gal average for 93 octane this weekend



Well the big annual BMW rally was right in our backyard this year, so we figured we had to go and check it out - first time for all of us.  We geared up with bags full and camping gear strapped on top in typical hedgehog fashion and set off early, forming up at 7:00 on Friday morning instead of our usual 8:00, due to the anticipated heat.  Even with a relatively leisurely and circuitous ride, we were at the Bloomsburg Diner by 9:00 where the parking lot was full of bikes, the staff was overworked, and the eggs Benedict were excellent (not to mention relatively cheap at $5.95).  With full bellies, it was a quick jaunt to the fairgrounds where we were quickly registered. The theme of the day was H, O, T, Hot, with triple digit temps threatening by mid-morning.  By 10:30 we were wandering around looking for a camping spot with some shade.

We found a spot with some shade out on the perimeter and started setting up when I quickly discovered that I had forgotten to pack my tent poles.  I decided that the punishment for being so stupid was to spend the better part of the day going home to get them, though Tim pointed out that spending the day riding the motorcycle did not really qualify as punishment.  In any event, while Tim and Dave set up their tents (with poles remembered), helped the German WWII re-enactors next door set up their tent, and toured the vendor exhibits, I returned home for tent poles and a stop at the store for dinner.  This explains the difference in distance and riding time stats, above.

This day was easily the hottest weather I have ever ridden in.  The thermometer was above 97 the entire ride and was up to 102-103 for a good portion of it.  The grass was brown and the corn sharply spiked with drought the whole way.   I was wearing the mesh riding suit over the LD short underwear with nothing else.  I found it critical to keep drinking water and watch out for dehydration the whole time.  Before the return trip, I soaked the LD shirt in water.  I find the short sleeve shirt will hold about 3/4 liter of water in the outer fabric and still feel dry on the inner layer.  This was a great help with evaporative cooling on the return trip for at least the first hour.  Even so, by the end of the day I was pretty well salt encrusted and dehydrated.

I got back to the rally around 4:00, set up my tent, wandered to the midway for a bottle of water and a large fresh lemonade, and went looking to Tim and Dave.  Turns out they were sitting and chatting with our neighbors, the German re-enactors, at the back of the lot where their big tent cast some shade, absent in our small patch by this time of day with the southwestern exposure.

One point of this trip was to work on what to pack, what not to pack, and where to put it all for long distance motorcycle camping.  My goal is to be able to travel across country in a variety of conditions - heat, cold, rain - while camping most nights.  In my one saddle bag, I was carrying my electric jacket , suit liners, windproof jersey, and long LD base layer (all not used this trip!).  This gave me demonstrated comfortable temperature range for riding of about 40 to 100+ degrees (whoops, I was not carrying the winter gloves or long pants, but there was room for them; they are necessary below about 60).  LD claims that by using the water soaking trick replenished hourly, with the long sleeve shirt to increase cooling capacity, one can extend the riding range in a mesh suit up to about 115 for desert crossings.  I have not tried that yet, but I had all the gear needed with me.  For extreme rain, I had the both the Frogg Toggs suit and the Triumph one piece waterproof.  This needs to be pared down to one set of either better sized Frogg Togg or Goretex over-pants and jacket.  I am leaning towards Goretex if price is not an issue and towards Frogg Toggs if it is, especially with the new Frogg Togg jacket design we saw at the rally.  That will free up about 1/3 of a side bag for additional gear.  I still need to work on the right pair of pants, also.  I am inclined to try a pair of microfiber khakis with zip off lower legs so they can look as dressy as I need to be while hedgehogging, be a pair of shorts around camp, or be the extra layer over the base layer in the cold.  That piece still needs work.

Another point of this trip was to try out some of the new motorcycle camping gear close to home.  The new cot from Aerostich is a definite winner.  It packs up smaller than a Therma-rest pad and fits in the side bag, sets up or tears down in minutes, and is the most comfortable camp bed I have ever used, bar none.  It is expensive but worth it.  The home made longitudinal compression wrap for the sleeping bag also worked well.  This is just a piece of heavy cloth or canvas with three straps sewn to it.  It wraps around the sleeping bag in its normal stuff bag, then compresses the diameter down by nearly 50%.  The sleeping bag and tent then fit together in a single waterproof bag.  I am planning to make more cylindrical compression wraps for other items like the electric jacket and suit liners which take up too much volume when not in use, maybe also for the tent and fly.

The new folding aluminum table from Aerostich was also a winner.  We had no facilities at all at our camping spot. This table provided plenty of room for cooking dinner using two one-burner stoves.  It packs up so it just fits in a medium water-proof bag with the Kermit chair.  I bought an inexpensive one-burner propane stove in place of the unleaded gasoline model.  It really is a lot easier and cleaner to use.  I am working on how to pack it efficiently in the tail bag.  The Wolfman tail bag holds the camp kitchen.  Yes, a complete kitchen for one, stretchable to three (each carried his own eating utensils and Dave brings the second propane stove), fits in there with a little room to spare - another winner.  Also, I bungeed the gear on for the trip up but bought some Rok Straps at the rally for the trip back - another great improvement.

We did camp cooking as it started to cool down a bit towards sundown: chicken and rice one-pot, always a favorite.  I forgot to pack the larger pot (don't know where my head was at 5:00 am when I was packing for this trip) and so had to make two smaller pots.  In the cool (relatively) of the evening we toured the rally, checking out food vendors options and BMWs of every type and vintage.  We finally went to bed after it cooled down some and slept the sleep of the innocent until early Saturday morning. 

Next morning we jumped into the rally life style with both feet:  free coffee on the midway watching the motorcycle "parade", breakfast at a vendor tent, scoping out the tire change equipment, touring the vintage bike exhibit, seeing all the vendors, etc.  At the LD booth, Mario, inventor and founder of LD Comfort wear, gave us the pitch personally.  Tim and Dave both bought a pair; Tim wore his on the ride home and was an instant convert (duh, I been tellin' ya for a year).  There was a 1923 (first year) BMW beautifully restored.  Controls included three thumb levers, two on the right (throttle and mixture) and one on the left (spark advance).  Now that took some riding skill.  I can just imagine the old timers who mastered it complaining about these new-fangled modern bikes with electronic fuel and ignition management, "Why you don't need to know how to do anything to ride one of those!".  Next thing you know they'll make 'em so you don't even have to know how to shift the dang gears.

At noon our German neighbors put on a live fire demonstration of WWII vintage weapons.  At that point we felt like we had pretty much seen what the rally had to offer, so we packed up and headed for home.  We took the long route, of course, riding the Pennsylvania twisties, some of which had just been tarred and chipped to our distress.  Home in time for dinner on Saturday with an extra day off on Sunday to catch up on the blog!

 All-in-all it was an interesting weekend and we got to see what the rally scene is all about.  But we were glad is was right in our backyard this year and probably will not make to the next one in Missouri next year, if you catch my drift.  We don't seem to be cut out for large scale events, taking  hedgehogging to be a more personal issue.