 2010 Rally in the Gorge Recap
Each year I look over the highlights from past rallies and always
note how varied things are from year to year. This year was no
exception. New rides, new adventures, new rally events, new food
options. It was all going on.
With an array of flash gear, Turkphotos created studio-like
images onsite at Panorama Point during the Friday Fun Run. To see
more photos and purchase choice shots visit
www.turkphotos.com.
It was our eighth in a row, and we’re always changing things around,
improving them for the attendees and making our setups and
breakdowns smoother and more complete.
 Rally
setup this year was nearly complete by mid-day on Tuesday giving us
time to cross all our t’s, dot all our i’s and double check things
before we opened our doors on Wednesday morning. We've been working
toward making it more of a turn-key setup and we're getting there.
Thanks to Bruce, Paul, Connie, Greg, Emily and all the CMA Fast Lane
staff setup and breakdown was a breeze.
Above: Here come the cords. You think it's gonna last, but after several 200+ mile days you limp back to the
fairground and Don mounts a new tire for you.
Wednesday morning we opened at 9 a.m. without a hitch. Having the
RV field all stripped before we arrived really helped the Fast Lane
guys with parking RV users and placing the car campers. We noted a lot more
trailers being brought in this year, which seems to be a result of
merging all the components together (Sportbike Northwest, Dualsport
Northwest, Sport Touring Northwest and Maxi Scoot Northwest) last
year and attendees wanting to have more than one bike available to
participate in the various events throughout the rally. Several
riders were able to mount dual sports for one day and use a sport
bike on another.
 Our
first clinic on Wednesday was Bret Tkacs suspension setup clinic.
It’s always been popular in the past and this one was mobbed with
more than 50 attendees. Our featured guest Lee Parks was on hand and
assisted, which allowed the guys to break the group into two more manageable
halves, creating a better learning experience for all. A
suspension setup taught by two great instructors is worth the cost
of a rally alone; these things usually require at least two shop
hours at an average of $100 an hour.
Above: Lee Parks works another bike through the suspension
clinic.
Since learning the Vanishing Point technique, I’ve been a big
endorser of it and asked Puget Sound Safety to teach a class module
followed by a rolling clinic. Again it was mobbed, and the rolling
clinic went out with 32 riders in all. There was a reference to it
on one of the suggested ride maps so people had a refresher when
they were ready.
 Thursday Tim Bernard from Happy Trails led a group of a dozen
dual sport riders out to the Yakima Indian Reservation. The route
to and from presented several variations of dual sport surfaces and
riders were able to work on technique going out and coming back. The
group enjoyed a salmon lunch which included three types of salmon,
all native to the hatchery.
Above: Salmon waiting for dual sporters on the Thursday Happy
Trail ride. Photo by Tim Bernard
Throughout the rally, Todd & Janet Ostrom and their crew kept
meals coming all day. Caterers by trade, this was their first time
doing a vendor space at an event, which is vastly different from catering in
many ways. For a first time job we thought they did a great job
overall. The ingredients they used were top-of-the-line, portions
were explosive and while service seemed slow at times, that is what
you get when all the food is prepared to order. They also did a
great job keeping our staff fueled throughout. We’re looking forward
to having them back in 2011.
A new addition at the rally was the self-serve bike wash, which Bruce Scott
setup and furnished the accessories for. We’ve always wanted a local
kids organization to run one, but that’s never materialized. This
year Bruce took it upon himself to make it happen regardless, and it
was a busy place during non-riding hours.
Friday started out with a 200 mile fun run; 165 miles if you took
the dual sport route. At each checkpoint riders were inspected and
got points for carrying items that solve many problems while
traveling. Air pumps, patches, spare fuses, duct tape and full
riding gear were all ponied up along with other assorted items. In
the end, the first place winner Ryan Seward had all but five of the
30 needed items and won with 155 points. There were three 2nd
place winners and three 3rd place winners, one of whom
happened to happened to be Seward’s dad, Mark.
 For
the Fun Run, I had the pleasure of giving the
Kymco Downtown 300i a test ride.
I must say, it was quite a fun 200 mile test ride. Click the link to read
the separate story. Between checkpoint 3 & 4 I doddled a while and
checked out a bridge washout from five years ago. Looks like the Forest
Service has gotten around to repairing it, and I'm told it will be
open in time for next year's rally!
Right: Bridge Repair means a whole new road in
2011.
Following the Fun Run awards, Dave Preston and Harvey Gilkerson
launched into a rousing disbursement of door prizes. Additional door
prize tickets were sold with the proceeds going to our Gorge Kids
Explorer fund that provides funding for local educational trips to
kids living in the area. As the door prizes went on, the sky welled
up, the wind picked up and lightning was all around us. Just as the
final door prize was divvied, the sky opened up and dumped several
inches of rain in the course of a few hours. There’s just nothing
like a good Cascade summer lighting and thunder storm in the middle
of summer at the end of the day.
By morning the clouds were gone and the Gorge was back to being
it’s beautiful self. The morning breakfast opened early and a full
spread of tasty continental breakfast items ensued. Attendees
enjoyed demo rides from Kymco USA and South Sound BMW. Some riders
headed to Maryhill for the always popular road clinic in the
morning, while others used a variety of long routes to make their
way out for the afternoon session on the Maryhill Loops Road.
 I
grabbed David Hough for the ride back and took him along the roads
less travelled from Maryhill back toward Stevenson. We rarely rode
on SR 14 at all. At several points we pulled out and like good
journalists, spent some time photographing one another. There's Dave
with Klickitat Canyon in the background.
Saturday evening, another round of door prizes occurred and then
we rolled into the not-so Silent Auction. Due to an administrative
glitch we were unable to put together the sheets for the Silent
Auction the way we normally do, so instead Dave and Harvey called
the auction live. A dozen items brought several thousand dollars in
for the Explorers fund and a good time was had by all. Tim Bernard
had thrown in a set of Happy Trail’s panniers which were stalling
out at $550, but when Tim offered a second set, one for each high
bidder if they would each go to $600, Lee Parks and Rolf-Immo Gabbe
both walked away winners.
You're simply my interpretation of the event. Every rally goer
had their own adventure and I'm enjoying hearing theirs too.
I recall the first year we did the rally back in 2003. The ride
home included tears because it just seemed like the perfect end to a
great riding season that year. I still get a little choked up about
the end of the rally, only now there’s still several months of great
riding to go.
Get out there and ride, and we hope to see you at the rally in
2011. Dates will be announced in a future issue of SR!
TM/Summer '10 Below: Event staffers Greg and Emily
take time out for some fun near Mt. Adams.
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