Tuesday, April 28, 2015

ADV Old School Spring Rally 2015

From April 23 to 26 I attended the ADV Old School Spring Rally.  The ADV Old School group is a great bunch of guys that get together twice a year.  It is a relatively small group and more a gathering of friends than "motorcycle rally".  This year, as usual, we met at the Blue Ridge Motorcycle Campground in Cruso, NC.  This is really close for me, about a 45 minute ride down the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Since this was the "Old School" rally I decided to ride my 1985 BMW R80RT.  I really love this machine even thought the Frau is always wanting me to sell it.  This year I got a cabin instead of tenting it and found that at my age I really enjoyed the added comfort.  I still like tenting, though.

My 1985 BMW in front of my cabin
 The weather was predicted to be lousy. The forecast was for 80% chance of heavy rain all day Saturday.  The forecast was wrong.  The weather was beautiful!  On Saturday I got a good ride in on the old airhead and had a great time!

On the Blue Ridge Parkway near Mount Pisgah



What can I say?




Of course, the best part of this rally is getting together with old friends and riding.  This rally was no exception.  Great friends, great bikes and great locations!

Using my new selfie stick



 I have a couple of videos to add to this post.  I hope you enjoy them!




Stay tuned as this is just the beginning of the season.  I have many more motorcycle trips planned this year!

Thursday, April 16, 2015

Horizon Unlimited Traveller's Meeting - Virginia

The 2015 riding season has begun!  My first trip of this year was to the Horizons Unlimited Traveller's Meeting near Appomattox, VA.  The HU meetings are gatherings of like minded souls that like to travel internationally by motorcycle.  A normal group of people we are not!  The weekend was filled with several trip reports ranging from Mongolia (a favorite among us for some reason) to China to the Middle East.  I did not present at this meeting but plan on presenting at the October meeting in Stecoah, NC.

We were just a few miles from the Appomattox Court House where General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant.  This weekend was the 150th anniversary of the surrender.  At times we could hear cannons in the night while laying in our tents.  There were re-enactors on the site re-enacting the events of 150 years ago.

The camping area
A class on travel photography




It was a great weekend and I got to reunite with some old friends that I have not seen in years.  One had ridden around the world on his motorcycle since I saw him last.

There will be more events and weekends coming up soon, so stay tuned and check back often!