Rally in the Gorge 2015 SR! RALLY IN THE GORGE Registration 8/26-30 2015 Registration is open for the 2015 Rally in the Gorge. The rally will once again take place in Hood River, Oregon at the HR County Fairgrounds. We're looking forward to it and looking forward to seeing you there as well. Not a lot of details yet as it too soon to announce specific events and the special guests' lineup, but those who have been know, we always put on a good show. Purchase your registration now, or better yet, get two, one for you and one for a loved one. Print your receipt out, put it in an envelope and slip it onto a branch of your favorite holiday tree to present as a gift on that special day. What better way to share the gift of riding together! RALLY Registration>>http://store.mm411.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&product_ID=1300
I'm actually going to be heading down for the full rally this year. After doing several track days, I've discovered the joys of towing through the shitty freeways, pulling the bike out near the twisty road, and camping in the utility trailer. So look for the yellow SV parked behind a Prius/Uhaul combo. Since I'll have the capacity, I'll also have my full complement of tools if anybody needs to do some field repairs or maintenance and doesn't want to bust their knuckles with their OEM toolkit.
The Bonnie's engine is dead . I'm looking for a new one on eBay, but not having much luck. I'm hoping to avoid parting her out. I picked up the SV for riding in the meantime, and possibly conversion to a track bike if I can get the Bonnie back on the road.
Nice to understand. SV's a favorite of mine ... and many. Also means you have the ability to travel distances to rejoin our group rides. Hope.
Well, this is back up in the air at the moment. I crashed at PIR last Friday. Damage isn't too bad to me or the bike, but I'll be missing some work from a sprained AC ligament in my R shoulder. My return to work date is just a week before the rally. So, between how my shoulder feels, whether I've got the bike back to street legality (not much to do, but it's hard to fix a bike left-handed), and finances, I may not be able to make it. I'm hopeful this will be my "back in the saddle" weekend, but only time will tell.
Things are coming back together. Haven't made reservations yet, but the shoulder's about 75% and I have an appointment on Tuesday to get checked and see if the doc thinks it's good enough to get back to work. Did some mild PT putting the bike back together and did a little ride in town today. Not as pretty as before, but kinda cool in that mean streetfighter sort of way. I plan on cleaning up those jagged edges on what's left of the front fairing and riding her like this for now. Mainly just need to see what finances are looking like at this point, but there's a good chance I'll be down there!
Schedule Update Bring your tour books Oregon Raceways Park Tour Honda CB500X Rally Raid on location Rick Wallace GPS Cleanup Share with Others Still sitting on the fence ? - Even after 13 years, there are still riders wondering if the Rally in the Gorge is right for them. Maybe it's time to get off the fence and make your way to the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area to experience one of the best rallies on the West Coast for sport bike, dual sport and sport touring enthusiasts! Schedule Update - The schedule has been updated with all the latest as we know it. Be sure to review it before coming to the rally if you're one of those who likes to plan ahead. There is A LOT going on! Bring your tour book(s) - If you attended the Rally in the Gorge last year, you received one of our two guides to riding in the Columbia River Gorge (paved or dual sport). We will have a number of printed maps and GPS routes that all riders can access during the rally, but if you own one or both of the books, pack them in case you'd like to go beyond the routes provided this year. And yes, we'll have the books available for purchase this year in case it's your first time around or it's been a while. Oregon Raceways Park Tour - On Thursday morning attendees are invited to take a tour and a few parade laps at Oregon Raceways Park in nearby Grass Valley. We'll have several route options to get you there. It all starts at 11 am sharp, so plan your time accordingly. Your rally wristband will be required when you arrive at the park. Giant Loop/Rally Raid Products CB500X - The guys from Giant Loop are bringing their highly modified CB500X to the Rally. Attendees will have the opportunity to get an up-close look at the modifications now available and the bike will be available for test rides on a limited basis. If you want to ride it, please sign up at the Giant Loop vendor booth located outside in the midway. Look for the GL van. Rick Wallace Seminars We are adding two Rick Wallace seminars to our lengthy schedule. Rick will teach a primer to his Crash Scene Safety curriculum and also provide a seminar on emergency helmet removal.
Bike's all together, shoulder is doing good. Reservations are in for a camping spot and a UHaul micro-camper . Anybody else heading down?
I definitely liked it better than 5 years ago at the Skamania fairgrounds. The Hood River fairgrounds were a bit nicer overall, but critically had much less wind, noise, and mosquitos being farther from the river. Hood River itself is a bigger town with more options for food, lodging and a Wal-Mart if you forgot something important. Vendor support was a bit better than 5 years ago as well. Turn out was distinctly more ADV-centric this year than my past appearance. Thursday we rode out to ORP for some parade laps. A little slow for my tastes, but I got to follow behind a guy riding with his ~13yr old son riding pillion on an ADV bike which made up for it. Went out with a group, but decided to come back on some random back roads solo. Friday, I did a group "Team Oregon Lite" ride up to Lost Lake. The ride out was hampered by about 1/3 of the route being covered in deep gravel instead of "a bit of chip seal." Made it through ok, but it was pretty stressful doing it on a street bike with near-slicks after crashing recently. The ride home was on a different road, a single-lane paved that meandered around the mountains like a hiking trail and was absolutely sublime. Friday night was the Gromstacle races - Miniature agility racing. Lots of fun, although I wish I had more than one practice shot since I'd never ridden a Grom before. There were a couple guys who had obvious professional pit-bike racing experience. Saturday, I'd signed up for the MaryHill Loops clinic. But Friday night I'd been pretty achy which I had chalked up to my first 2 days of heavy riding since my crash and sleeping on a cot. Saturday morning I had a full blown lower GI bug going on. And the rain that had been widely predicted came with gusto. I decided to pack up and head home - Pushing me and the bike on slippery roads while my gut bitched me out didn't sound like a good plan. Overall, I had fun. I'd love to see the Tom set something up with one of the track day providers and have them time a track day for the Sunday at the end of the rally. Might help out with sport/touring turnout, and if even a handful of the dual-sport guys gives it a shot, it'd be a hoot to watch. I'd really like to see a second food option (particularly espresso) on site. And I'd like to see more variety in the speakers and topics. The couple classes I went to really hadn't changed from 5 years ago.
