MOA & RA Rallies - 10. End of the Two National Rallies

10. End of the Two National Rallies

Only the Bike Covers Got Wet

Sunday and we are all leaving to go ‘home’.

We had rain last night, everything around us is soaking wet. I mean really wet. It poured down on us, the thunder and lightning woke me up, which is unusual, because I can sleep through anything. 

I felt a bit sorry for the folks who had their tents out in the open. 

Remember, we were under cover; we did not get a drop of water on our tent.

Packing up a wet tent is not fun; everything stays wet for days if you don’t find a spot to dry it out thoroughly.

Others Packing Wet Tents

Sunday morning the rain stopped, so at least people could pack without standing in the downpour.  Like at the MOA, we were packed within an hour, all was strapped and secured to the bikes. Carol had the soft goods; I took the ‘hardware’. 

We said our goodbyes and off we rode, aiming for Toronto.

The GPS told us which way to go and it was just a matter of riding and more riding. We made it in one day, from Wellsboro to Toronto.  450 km or about 280 miles…. It took us about 6 hours to get home.   We had to cross the U.S./Canadian border and naturally, it was stop and go traffic to get to the border crossing in Buffalo. In Buffalo they have EZ Pass, but …. Yes, my unit did not work, the battery in it died I learned later on.  I had to call to pay in Cash. Later I had to get a new unit sent do me…  Ah, Electronics are not always your best friends.

Home Again

Thanks for coming on to this trip with me… see you on the road.

Shiny side up!  OK?

MOA & RA Rallies - 9. Wellsboro, PA – the RA Rally 2018

9. Wellsboro, PA – the RA Rally 2018

So now we have to ride from Iowa to Pennsylvania and again we have to bypass Chicago. After our visit to the Field of Dreams we wanted to make miles, so we sat on the Interstate, just sat on our bikes, twisted the throttle and let the hours tick by. We made good miles that day and got to Ohio. Slept in a motel somewhere along the Interstate and moved on the next day.

Our goal was to get to Wellsboro by Wednesday for the opening of the RA rally on Thursday Morning. 

The same heat that we had in Iowa followed us all the way to Pennsylvania (PA). The ride was hot. No, we did not volunteer for the RA rally, we were just visiting. Still, the RA rally is also run with volunteer power but the RA folks are way, way more relaxed than the higher strung group at the MOA. Here at an RA rally you kind of have to fend for yourself. There are no signs as to what is what, where to go, nor do they have a bike wash station but hey, if you want to wash your bike, sure… there is an outlet on the wall, help yourself. And of course there is our friend Marty who makes his living travelling to rallies in the U.S.A. and Canada to clean bikes.

Marty - Hard at Work Cleaning a Bike

You want an oil change?  Of course, no problem, someone might even come along and help you. But you need to drop off the old oil at a gas station somewhere; there is no real setup for that. Just lie on the grass, do your oil change but NO, NO do not dump the oil, which is strictly forbidden. Deposit it properly.

Seminar By Jack

There are a few ‘seminars’ but all is very loosely organized. There is a central location where you check in, where messages are posted on a wall, where volunteers give you a registration armband, where meals can be purchased etc. but it’s not strictly organized. There are no fenced off, marked off sections for tents. Plop your tent where you like. Well, within reason, of course. 

People at the RA are a lot more relaxed and self-sufficient compared to the MOA. I knew it immediately when we visited this ‘fairground’. It was an old Fairground, still used, mind you, but it was old; from the 1940’s or so. No trees for shade to speak of and here we have to sleep in a tent. There were some folks who made arrangements to sleep in a nearby college dorm, but I missed that deal.

Field Camping

But it’s ok, we had our tent. The only question was where to set it up. Yes, we came kind of ‘early’ and had some choices but the best places were taken already. In the prevailing heat, people use the animal stalls as shade, as shelter. Yes, they slept on top of old manure. It no longer smelled, it was so dried out, but still I could not make myself drop our tent on top of S*%t. I found however, a space large enough for our

Great Job Setting Up the Tent

tent at the entrance to one of the barns. The stalls left and right would have been too small for our tent, but the center aisle of this barn was where we erected our tent. There was no way I could use pegs since the flooring was concrete, but with some left over building material as anchors, with the sides tied to the support beams of the stalls, I managed to ‘build’ a house for Carol and me for the few days we were at the RA rally. Home sweet home, like some people said. We were out of the elements, we

More Barn Campers

were mostly in shade, and we had even some working electrical outlets to charge our iPads. Life was good! We found, to me, the perfect spot.

Sure it would have been nicer under a large leafy tree with soft grass under the tent, but we managed. The manure did not stink, so all was OK.

For the next 3 days, we again mostly schmoozed. Yes, the RA had a few vendors but nothing outstandingly new like at the MOA.

Relaxing

It is not really fair to compare the MOA to the RA or vise versa. The RA does not have a huge membership count. The RA concentrates more on the tough rider, the off-road people, the self-sufficient men or women. 

The seminars given at the RA are mostly riders who talk about their experiences. There are hardly ‘salesmen’ giving a seminar like at the MOA.

A Few Vendors

Here at the RA rally, it is about comrades you know. Or you make new connections. For us, Carol and I, it was a support trip for the RA. We like the people who are members. The rough and independent kind, the folks who want, above anything, be free and ride their motorcycles.

The RA is a BMW group, a split off from the MOA. When the MOA became too big, too corporate, the RA was

formed to stay simple and just have fun riding. The RA rally is more of a Tribal Meeting than anything I know. Here is where you can try out your bike in the dirt, get your bike really good and dirty. Learn some tips on camping efficiently. 

Hans and Carol

Another Hans and Carol

While at the MOA many people who visited used motels nearby, here at the RA it is mostly tent city. The attendance at the RA rally was near 2000; less than half of the attendance at the MOA.

Dining Hall/Seminar Room/ AC Schmooze Place

We spent 3 days in Wellsboro; we never even left the fairground. We ate on the grounds, ate what was cooked in the fairground kitchen, and had the free coffee that was offered and above all chatted with anybody who came near us, while we were sitting in the A/C dining hall.

Sure we walked around some, but we mostly moved from one spot to another getting to know folks. John C. (I had not seen him for ages) said hello. Muriel had her little tent set up near us; our ‘new’ neighbors needed a new bike battery and could not find one. We talked about J.J. who had a big mishap coming off a

GS Jane, Editor

Friend Shag

ferry. He had a slow get off because the rail on the ship’s ramp caught his front tire. I met Jane again, who was the Editor for the magazine the RA puts out. Dutch and Kate had their tent next to the dining hall; we could not miss seeing them a lot. We chatted with Shag, who could not make the MOA but made this RA. We kind of looked out for Jean and Ross, but they never showed. We listened to Jack Riepe and his advice. Ha!   We idled away hours, but nobody cared, we for sure did not care. No, we never even started up our bikes for 3 days. 

Entertainment

We enjoyed our time at the more relaxing RA Rally, away from the world, surrounded by folks like us, motorcycle dudes.

MOA & RA Rallies - 8. Field of Dreams

8. Field of Dreams

In the middle of corn fields, there it is.

Setting For the Field of Dreams Movie

You ride along, there are ‘some’ signs but you wonder if this is a joke when all of a sudden, there it is... a baseball field in the middle of farm country.

Baseball - the All American Ballgame. 

Here in Iowa, baseball is a big thing.  Just imagine how you must love this sport if you build yourself a whole baseball field right in front of your house. 

Arriving At the Site

Sure it was the background of a good movie with the name ‘Field of Dreams’ but the field is still there. This baseball field actually means a lot more. You can go and visit. There is no admission. You can park your car, walk up to the plate and swing at a baseball. Find a pitcher who will pitch you the ball if you want to really do it up right. If you are a great hitter your ball will fly into the corn, the corn that grows right up to the edge of the ball park. It’s a home run if you can hit the ball this far. 

Pitching to His Dad With the Corn in the Background

In the movie ‘Field of Dreams’ was a character Shoeless Jackson. But it’s not really about Jackson. This field, here in the middle of nowhere, is like an American art form. It is surreal; this place has a deeper meaning.

Do you remember the American Gothic picture and remember that the painter wanted to catch the American Spirit on the faces of the Midwestern folks? You can compare this quest to find America to the location here. Here is another slice of America, a love so strong for a sport that it overwhelms logic.  But it is not about Sport either. 

The House

You build it and they will come?   It is true.......many people came that day and come every day to just take a look at this baseball field; this field stuck right in the middle of the corn, in front of a farm house. 

No admission is charged. People come, park their car, walk around, sit in the bleachers, walk out unto the batter’s box or the pitcher’s mound and then leave again. Not much is said, no blaring music, no screaming advertisements. And every soul who comes here, feels a bit more American because they have been there, seen it, felt it. 

The Baseball Field Surrounded By Corn Fields

It’s not just a ball park. It’s a field that represents the American Dream. It shows that everybody can come and play the game, go by the rules and you too, can be part of America. You can hit a home run, right into the corn.

Even while leaving this place on our bikes, I stopped on the way out, turned around and looked back at this weird place. I tried to get a last impression into my brain of the impossible being possible.  Yes, there is a fully fledged baseball field in the middle of a corn field. Anything is possible in the U.S. 

Baseball Field and House

 Again, play by the rules and you can hit a home run... only in America!

It was an out of the way location to visit. We took a detour to see it, instead of going south as we should have; we went north, took the road less traveled.

Was it worth it? You bet!

The Gardener...