The Breakfast Club: 2024 BMW Rally in Redmond, Or

Wednesday – Sunday, 12–16 Jun 2024

Pictures start here

Ran writes:

Jeff Zane and my pal Mike from SoCal came to my place in Laterville on Tuesday June 11 for a Wednesday AM departure to the national BMW Rally in Redmond, OR. The plan was to ride up Hwy 101 to Gold Beach, OR and stay the night at a Motel 6 that I had been to a few years ago, then up to Reedsport, OR and turn inland on Hwy 38 along the Umpqua River, to Springfield, OR to Hwy 126 for arrival at Redmond on Thursday afternoon.

We had a pleasant ride up to Crescent City on Hwy 101 and avoided the triple-digit heat that Chris Weld and Les Katz endured on Hwy 5. But since they were going to Roseburg, OR to pick up Harvey and stay the night, it made sense for them to take Hwy 5.

After Crescent City it got cold and foggy for us on the OR coast, which was okay but then it also got REALLY windy all the way into Gold Beach. Triple-digit heat was sounding pretty good at that point. The fog burned off at Gold Beach but the wind kept up until the sun went down. We rode across the Rogue River to a decent restaurant called The Landing North for dinner.

I thought the Motel 6 was okay but Jeff and Mike both woke up in the AM with insect bites, and Mike was even in another room. So I guess Jeff is tastier to bugs than I am.

We continued up 101 to Reedsport, got $4 fuel (92 octane!) and stopped for lunch in beautiful downtown Drain, OR. We spotted a Mexican place, and ate tasty burritos. Hwy 38 along the Umpqua River was beautiful and paved well, as were all of the OR roads we travelled. We should get Cal Trans to go up there and take some lessons.

We had to take off a layer in Drain, and then rode 30 miles up Hwy 5 to get to Springfield, just outside of Eugene. Hwy 126 was also beautiful. We had planned to take Hwy 126 to Hwy 242 to get to Sisters, OR but when we got to 242 it looked very narrow and slow. There was also the problem of a “Snow Gate” sign that said “closed”. We wondered if that meant it was closed when it snows (in June?), or if it was closed for Summer. As we were discussing our options two GS riders came down and confirmed that 242 was in fact closed seven miles further up. So that answered that question.

We went on up 126 to Hwy 20 to Sisters. I hadn’t been in Sisters for several years, and apparently 4PM on a Thursday in June is peak Tourist Time with bumper-to-bumper traffic and wandering tourists. By now it was officially hot, and we crawled across town in 1st gear.

We got to the Deschutes county Fairgrounds in Redmond and found Chris working a “security” post, sitting in a lawn chair and defending a pedestrian gate from the impatient, violent and aggressive horde of BMW rally attendees. Not.

Chris directed us to his reserved patch of grass about 1/4 mile away that we named Weldville and we set up our tents. I soon realized that I had made a rookie mistake of not bringing coffee, so I mounted up and found a nearby Walgreens and bought coffee, beer and ice. Lester and Harvey were already in camp and John Guy had also joined the group. Pretty soon Simon Hansen and his brother John rolled in.

So, how was the Rally, you ask? In my opinion, it was pretty lame on several counts. You had to download an App to see information about the Rally events, seminars, and schedule. Does BMW remember that their typical member is about 70 years old? There was no wifi that I could locate, but I didn’t try very hard either. For some reason there was limited Draft Beer on Friday at the Beer Garden, but you could buy a domestic 12 oz can for $8 or an import beer for $9. There was an “all you can hold down” beer party on Saturday afternoon, four hours for $39 admission. The MOA also had dozens of “glamping” tents set up for the Upper Class attendees. I hadn’t seen that before.

Chris and Les had pre-registered for a $20 “breakfast” on Sat AM. It turned out to be a small polystyrene bowl of powdered eggs with potatoes, and sausage chunks and bacon bits sprinkled on top. When they tried to go back for seconds, the Vendor had run out of food, and needed 30 minutes to whip up some more. Chris and Les can correct me if I’m being too harsh.

The food options on site were limited, but there was a good Philly Cheese Steak sandwich place, and a good Breakfast Burrito place. We also found the Original Pancake house (founded in 1953!) about a ten minute ride from the Rally site, and it was so good, some of us went there twice.

The weather was fairly nice, blue skies with VERY strong winds most days. Nighttime temps were in the 40’s until about midnight and then down into the 30’s overnight. Jeff and Mike liked the local bands so much that they stayed up late listening to them both nights.

On Sunday AM, everybody cleared out at various times. Chris planned to see his daughter in Portland. Lester had to make time back south to Nipomo. Simon and John headed south too. Jeff, Mike and I rode down Hwy 97 to Gordy’s Truck Stop in La Pine for fuel and food. We decided to just slab it on 97 down to Weed, take Hwy 5 to Redding and stay the night. Much to our surprise, we spotted a bike with an SMBC sticker on it and found that Carl Tyler was staying at the same hotel. Carl opted out of joining us for dinner at a nearby Cattleman’s steak place, we had a decent meal and turned in early. On Monday AM, Carl left early and the rest of us rode Hwy 5 to get to our respective destinations.