2009 Rally: First Impressions

By Kate Wood,  age 19,  BMW MOA #151882

From the October 2009 BMW Owners News

We left home in Boone, NC, my father and I, for my first motorcycle rally. I was in a bad mood because of an altercation involving the rain suit that he had bought me, but was now nowhere to be found. He was driving his big blue R1150RT.  The F650CS that I had just learned to ride was in the shop (that's another story) so I was perched behind him, hurling silent curses and insults at the DOT sticker that stared back at me. Once we cleared Boone traffic, however, I was over my grudge and started to enjoy the ride. 

We had heard the call and it was nothing but wide open road, hairpin curves and beautiful views for the short 65 mile hop over the mountains to Johnson City, Tennessee for the annual BMW MOA rally. It was a call heard far and wide, and answered by thousands of motorcycle enthusiasts from across the nation and the world. 

Upon reaching the fairgrounds, I was floored not only by the sheer number of motorcycles and people, but by the range of distance covered by these people and their bikes to get there. Kentucky, Ohio, Wyoming, Kansas and Michigan license plates jumped out at me from the sea of tiny tags. It was my first taste of the passion that these people felt for their motorcycles and the bond that exists between them. It was the first taste of many.

As I stood in line behind hundreds of other people waiting to register in the middle school cafeteria, I observed mostly gray-haired men, dressed in varying degrees and styles of motorcycle garb and each clutching a rally registration card. I looked around expecting to see the length of the line and the heat of the day mirrored on the faces surrounding me. What I saw was them transform in to giddy school boys before my eyes. They joked and played as they waited in line for the cafeteria and once inside; mayhem. Hoops and hollers could be heard as people scrambled over cafeteria tables to greet each other and turn in their registration cards. I was surprised when no one pulled out a lunchbox bearing some superhero and offered to trade their Oreos for my Twinkie. "They're insane," I thought as I looked around at the clamor. "My father has brought me to the loony bin for bikers!"

It was only when I caught sight of three fully grown men, each wearing a shockingly colorful BMW tee shirt and doo-rag standing arm in arm before a glistening 1974 BMW R something or other, posing for a picture with the most unbelievably gleeful expressions on their faces that I realized what it was that was making these thousands of strangers act like schoolboys. It was love. These people loved where they were. They loved who they were with, how they got there and why they came. It was enough to make me sign up and become a member of the BMW MOA.

For more on the 2009 BMW MOA Rally, check the October issue of the BMW Owners News.