Events / Recreational Events / BMW Tahoe Rally

BMW Tahoe Rally

BMW Motorrad's 80th Celebration

Photography by Not to be confused with Sturgis, Daytona
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Not to be confused with Sturgis, Daytona, or even Myrtle Beach, BMW's event was held recently in the near hallucinatory mountain paradise of Squaw Valley, adjacent to Lake Tahoe, CA. Burnouts, arm chaps, and coleslaw wrestling were noticeably absent, and I don't think there was so much as a loud argument, let alone a drunken brawl.

I tried to start one but couldn't find any takers, so I finally gave up and did some polka dancing instead. Felt equally ashamed of myself the next morning so it actually worked out OK.

To BMW's credit, they recognized that their constituency was primarily attracted by the opportunity for communal cruises and demo rides through some of the most attractive curves this side of Pamela Anderson- Neil- Lee-Rock (I lose track of which greasy rocker she's married to this week). Attendance for the weekend event was recorded as approximately 2,000, but I doubt that more than 200 were hanging out at the midway at any given time.

There was no way to compete with the charms of Tahoe's alpine scenery, but for pit stops between sessions, entertainment was provided by 40-something tyro Jean Pierre Goy going absolutely bonkers on the entire product line of stock Beemers.

Those who might accuse the French of lacking in "les oeufs", have never seen JP getting his groove on. Paris-Dakkar veteran Jimmy Lewis provided some offroading lessons for the duosport crowd, and browsable attractions included a mini-museum of vintage bikes, ten or so vendors, a trailer full of BMW apparel, and of course for those who go for that sort of thing, the beer garden. The parking lot offered some curiousities as well, but in the end the road kept calling you back for more, more, more!

 
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