Coop's Corner: Minnesota Hiawatha BMW Rally

Monday, June 3, 2019

Minnesota Hiawatha BMW Rally - 2019

Not that we needed any special rally weather to enjoy it, we got some anyway....it was beautiful!! As Steve mentioned last night at the banquet, "....no rainbows this year!...". That's a fact, we didn't get nor did we need any rainbows. A nice wispy shower Saturday afternoon on my way back from Lanesboro was all that I personally dealt with.

Friday morning?? Beautiful.

My obligatory stop along County 4 to get a quick Rally Bike In Profile shot....framed by fence posts, just the way I like them.

Red was Friday with Jeff and Eric, blue was my short route to/from Lanesboro's Rhubarb Festival.

There's been a certain amount of clamoring for more Karuba On The Post photos, so here you go (watch for a Bonus shot later!).

I arrived at my committed to 9-ish and had my tent setup when Eric arrived just a short time later.

Very quiet that early down at Registration, but not too early for Twin Headlight Ernie to be ready set to get his vending location spec'd out.

I didn't stop but according to buzz around camp, there were some excellent deals available here. Buddy Michael started the trip home this morning with a 'Stich electric vest that he hadn't left home with.

Jeff (our second CRF 250L) arrived right around his slotted 11AM. There weren't very many Honda's at the BMW rally and even fewer 250's. It just dawned on me that we three were the Two Fifty Gang this weekend!!

Michael's got the Friday rally thing completely nailed down....tent up, morning sun and a camp chair.

Eric's not afraid to do the same; Jeff soon following suit.

Here's what they look like when they're together.

Here's the Bonus I teased you with.... 2 bikes and icy cold refreshment. Enjoy it, this just won't be happening very often.

Jeff's traveled extensively, all over the world. I take him to Iowa and he gets silly, likely preparing himself for what will soon follow.

It seems Jeff wasn't the only one to suffer....

Iowa...Iowa roads....take a look at the video, we found a gem...it had to be with a name like Itchy Koo!! Out the other side.....up on top.

Thanks Eric

Did we go to New Albin for jerky?? We most certainly did!!

Time to refresh....

Friday evening, comfortably enjoying the peace and quiet.....then it was time. If you remember, a few weeks ago I made an extremely bold claim that my AeroPress coffee, the world's finest, would and could easily take on all comers. Jeff was not about to let the audacious quip go unchallenged so we had a Brew Down. An impartial and very fair judge was to be present, Jeff would use his 1876...sorry Jeff, 1976 brewing system, to put everything on the line. Our judge, willing but only reluctantly so, watched the entire process with anticipation (I'm not sure it was fair with me sitting there so near). I was completely enthralled and as such, not a single image was captured, it was that spectacular. Tasting, deliberation....it was obvious that I'd have to be completely on my game Saturday evening, plenty of time for Eric's taste buds to ~~recover from~~ savor Jeff's attempt.

I'll jump ahead here to Saturday evening when it was my turn. The AeroPress was filled, then seeped, then Pressed. Declared an utter and complete draw, we may just do it again someday.

In the evening, a fairly quiet campground, BMW's and a few others :)

Saturday morning we went back to Rushford for breakfast and then took the scenic route on to Lanesboro.

I was intent on spending some time at the Rhubarb Festival; Jeff and Eric walked the grounds with me, taking time for a treat before heading out on their own. I took time, special time, for Multi-Berry/Rhubarb Pie and Rhubarb Ice Cream. Eric found a muffin I believe and Jeff, horror of horrors, somehow, who knows where, managed to find a chocolate brownie!

While enjoying our treats, friend Paul texted that he'd soon be in Lanesboro to join the guys for their afternoon ride. Paul, thanks for coming over, really good to see you!

The 3 guys soon left for some gravel and I returned to learn more about rhubarb and the people that enjoy it.

I returned back to the Rally so that I could go for a test ride, courtesy of Leo's Motorcycles.

I tried a very impressive and fun Ninja 400...

I was right behind Paul and Bill....

Camp Hiawatha.....

Sunday morning packed up and getting ready to leave, Jeff planning to follow me as far as Frontenac. Eric had left an hour or so ahead of us.

We took the back way into Frontenac, using our nearby Minimum Maintenance Road.

Attendance was right around 225, down from where it should have been and following what seems to be a trend. Still, we had great weather and a great time. I do know this....if you're looking for gravel in SE Minnesota, you'd be hard pressed to find better road companions than these two guys.

Jim, a real pleasure to meet you. Dan and Lisa, hope to see you again soon! Paul and Jeff, see you (and Lorelai) up on the shore of the big lake in a couple of weeks.

9 comments:

UnknownJune 4, 2019 at 9:21 AM
Doug, you are The Man. After watching that video, what you did on that Iowa road with the 250GT was pretty amazing. When you were done, did you have forearms like Popeye?
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DanJune 4, 2019 at 6:27 PM
Thank you Doug!! It was great to catch up with you and Lisa and I had a great time at the rally.
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motormikeJune 4, 2019 at 8:17 PM
Great ruffage fest... family friendly.. entire town get's involved. If it was a strawberry fest.. I'd attend.
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redlegsridesJune 5, 2019 at 8:17 AM
Rhubarb Soap?

The lights on that "Traffic Control" RT must have been blinding at close range.

Any further details on that sidecar rig?
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Greg ProsmushkinJuly 24, 2020 at 11:54 AM
Thanks for taking the time to share these excellent photos with us. This rally looks like it was a fun time. Have a great upcoming weekend and keep up the posts.
Greg Prosmushkin
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Others say....

"it was auspicious to approach any situation from a deferential, inquisitive place. Conceding that there is much to learn is the best blueprint for discovering something new." ----B. Fuller

The Man straightened stiffly above the block of salt fixed to the stake and looked at the young cattle ringed about him. The pasture was holding out well and the stock was looking good. This bunch would be ready to sell in another month, maybe sooner if the market was right.

A stir among the cattle down near the river brought him round to face the swinging bridge he'd built years before. Someone was coming toward him from the bridge. Someone in breeches, but it didn't look like a man, somehow. What was a woman doing in his pasture this time of night?

He bent over the salt again; maybe if he paid her no heed she'd go on past and let him mind his own business. He heard her footsteps come nearer and stop. "Good evening," she said.

Her voice was smooth with book learning but friendlier than most, and somehow almost shy. When he made no answer she went on, "I've been sitting on your swinging bridge....I thought I'd like to say thank-you...." Her voice stumbled a little, then she tried once more.

"You are Mr. ____". His name sounded strange in her voice, but she went on to tell her own.

"That's what they've called me the last sixty-eight years," he said, looking past her face to the hills fast darkening under a single star. "I reckon the woods are free for those that like to walk there."

The unfamiliar voice laughed a little. "That's what Emerson said: the grove belongs to the man who walks in it with an open heart....On that basis I guess I've owned part of your woods for a good many years.....". She made a final effort. "I've always wanted to thank you....."

Something deeply hidden stirred in him. "There's a stump up there, in the notch of the woods", he said slowly, "that before the timber grew so tall you could stand on it and see all over this country."

He kept still a minute, remembering, then, "I used to stand up there an' look at things, an' wonder how they come to be like they was, an' how the hills was created, an' all the things in Nature.... I told my wife I guessed all the religion I ever had I got standin' on that old stump, a-wonderin'..." He turned his face away from her.

She helped him out. "I know about that, a little. This afternoon I saw......." Her account of a thing she had really taken time to look at eased him, and he answered with telling of the badger den at the foot of the swinging bridge.

When she had gone, he turned to watch her. After a moment she stood clear and unmoving against the sky. You could hear the sounds of the river where she stood. She was one that could stand still long enough, he thought, really to hear what a body was saying, or a river.

Then she walked down the farther side of the slope and was gone. ------Margaret Snyder from A Chosen Valley

Fall was the end of harvest, end of the growing season, a burst of color and sun-warmth before killing frost turned the land gray and cold. Fall was a moody time, full of both life and death, a time when we were reminded of the power outside of us, reminded that the seasons happen to us. We do not invite the change to come.-------Ben Logan, from The Land Remembers

When you get those rare moments of clarity, those flashes when the universe makes sense, you try desperately to hold onto them. They are the lifeboats for the darker times, when the vastness of it all, the incomprehensible nature of life is completely elusive. So the question becomes or should have been all along, what would you do if you knew you only had one day, or one week, or one month to live. What lifeboat would you grab onto? What secret would you tell? What band would you see? What person would you declare your love to? What wish would you fulfill? What exotic locale would you fly to for coffee? What book would you write? ------- Ben Tyler

We were also cautioned about journeying far from home. As an example of the dangers, the town had a badly crippled lady named Lucy, who as a girl had traveled to New York City. As she traveled along a sidewalk, sightseeing, she was struck by the outstretched hand of a suicide who had leapt from high above. Her spine had been shattered and for the rest of her life, she was to walk bent forward at the waist, tapping the sidewalk with two black canes. Whenever the subject of travel to a big city was raised, someone would say, "Just remember what happened to Miss Tripp." ---- Ted Kooser, from Local Wonders

"Steamboats are like wedding cakes without the complications...." ----Mark Twain

"It's not about having lots of money, it's about having lots of options......." -----Chris Rock

As the very proud father of three former ponytail wearers, hopefully I can get away with this....."For the past few years it's been fashionable for young women to wear ball caps and to snap the strap on the back under their ponytails. I like the looks of that, their shiny ponytails jauntily swinging, but it's hard not to think of the rear ends of horses. There's a piece of harness called the crupper that goes just under a horse's tail to keep its nose down. If the horse lifts its head to look for a way out of whatever predicament it's in, the crupper tightens and hurts the horse. But it's foolish for parents to think that a ball cap might keep a young woman from running away. Anybody can see they're made for running." ------Ted Kooser, Local Wonders

"I tell the guy's girlfriend that the only difference between the book's main character Phaedrus and myself is that I am neither brilliant, tortured or insane, she looks at my bike and there is an uncomfortable silence." --------ahendepe (a.k.a. Vermin)