On Labor Day weekend 2019, the Long Island BMW Riders Club held their very first Rally! After 22 years of the club being together, it was voted on during a business meeting earlier in the year to hold the first ever Long Island rally . . . . . And boy oh boy did we! With Rob leading things off and investigating what it would take to pull it off, others jumped on board quickly to help! We had to locate a destination, investigate how much it would cost, put those plans out at other business meetings (to make sure everything was ok with the club members as we moved forward) and carry on with offering lodging (tents), food, campfire supplies, chairs, insect repellant, figure out some rides for those who attended and generally “Make it Happen”. We decided on the dates for the Rally; August 30th thru September 2nd, 2019. The place chosen for the rally was in Flanders, NY. A Suffolk County Park named: Sears Bellows County Park. It was quite secluded and had a pond with row boats and plenty of shade under the trees. The light breezes were pretty constant and would keep us all comfortable during the event. Temperatures couldn’t have been better! Mid 70s with low humidity during the day for excellent riding weather and low 60s in the evening for great sleeping!
At LIBMWRC we try to be as democratic as possible and we offered choices for food and took a vote for each item. The usual breakfast fare of eggs, bacon, sausages, breads, coffee/tea, orange juice and then hot dogs and hamburgers for lunch. The fun stuff started in when it was time to offer dinner meal ideas! Saturday evening was deep fried Turkey in peanut oil. Deserts were warm pie with whipped cream and other delights. Then our President, James Dubarry, offered to cook a whole pig for a Sunday evening feast! I know I left out some foods, but you get the idea; We didn’t go hungry! With the logistics of food and a place for the rally behind us, all we had to do was load up all “the stuff” and head east to the park and what became known as The Rally in The Bellows.
Most members who helped with setup decided not to ride out and as I had offered club members extra tents I drove with bike in tow. I packed up my Chevy Suburban and an open trailer with just a few items, such as my K75RT, two cocktail tables, a few tents, cots, chairs, a large fan to circulate some air at the site if things got stagnant, and so much more. Jim D, Mike C, Rob VB, Achim, Bernadette and John Z set things into motion to get there for Friday early afternoon to set the campsite up for the members.
Upon arrival to the park, we all got to work and everyone was busy doing something. I emptied my trailer and started setting up what I had. Two tents, one two man and one eight man tent. There are cots, fold-up chairs and some lighting in each tent. We also set up my family “Circus Tent” as the main event tent for gathering for our meals and conversation. It was a good size, ranging 20’ wide by 30’ in length. Rob VB was a character for sure as he even had a blow up “sectional couch” on a rug out in front of his tent area. Go Rob! We set up some fun areas too to include horse shoe throwing and a bean bag toss.
Because food always features in everything we do, we had a full food tent with a quite sizable kitchen setup. Numerous grills and stoves, tables for serving the food to the masses and even a separate pantry! Go figure: “Those BMW People”!
Then, with the main tent up, we placed park benches underneath and Mike C put up his lights all along the perimeters for effect and lighting for the evenings. We also set up a nice area with a burn barrel and many folding chairs and recliners to enjoy the usual camp fires in the evening. Those were great for kibitzing and picking on Harold. Friday was a long day of setup and getting ready for the main event to start the next day. A few more members came and stayed the night.
Saturday we greeted members of the club as they stopped by to hang for a while, grab a bite to eat and drink and off they would go. Some stayed the night, whilst others day tripped for the weekend. Our members are great, and many would jump right in and start cooking and thank goodness for them doing that! Food is the center of what we do but each evening the fire pit would light up and we had a great time with Mike C leading the way! Our members can be quite eclectic at times and Harold was his usual self and kept “passing wind”. JD was not having it. He said “Keep it up Harold and I’m going to douse you with that pail of water!”. Harold continued and he got drenched!
Sunday afternoon eight of us decided to take a short ride over to The Duck in Flanders for a group photograph. Extremely busy Route 24 made for a tough setup for the picture, but we made it happen. Then we went to some backroads such as Red Creek Road into Hampton Bays for some ice cream at Gemelli Gelato. We got there about 45 minutes before they opened up, however, the owners were there and said they would open up early for us! After we enjoyed some great ice cream we rode back to camp as the traffic was not conducive for enjoying a ride anywhere. The pig was done so we started having dinner by midafternoon on Sunday. That pig didn’t stand a chance! We devoured it in seconds and to say it was fabulous is understating how good it was! During the Sunday late afternoon food fest, we presented some raffle gifts to club members who participated in the Rally. A few shirts were given out and then a custom wall clock in the style of our original, and favorite, club logo was won by Ron B. Ron then gave the clock to club president Jim D for his shop. A very nice gesture by Ron B! We then raffled a BMW Navigator VI GPS, valued at $1,000, which was given to the club for our first rally by Gold Coast Motorsports of New Hyde Park, NY. The Nav unit was won by Ray M. Ray couldn’t believe it and said he never won anything in his life! Well, good for you Ray and a big CONGRATULATIONS on your winning prize! Ray can now find himself to the Nautilus diner on the weekends.
The next morning, Monday, we began the breakdown task of packing everything up and loading up our trucks and trailers in order to head home before a good sized storm hit later in the afternoon. We were all home safely by then! It was one heck of a fun weekend with some fantastic people.
Those who were there said they would absolutely do it again next year.
Those who were not there, well . . . . . . All we can say is you missed one hell of a time with the brethren.
As I write this we are already in October, the kids are back in school, the days are getting shorter and cooler and, for some of us, the riding season is coming to an end. Not for we BMW riders though, as we ride all year long!
Until next time. . . . . . Ride Safely and Stay Alert out there!
Regards,
LIBMWRC 2019