| Author | Message | ||
     Hooper |
Though my Uly is still in the shop waiting for a new frame (hit a deer, got a hairline crack in the gas tank/frame), I find myself at home (in the Washington, DC area) this Memorial Day weekend - not traveling for once. We DC-area locals try to escape the tourists around certain holidays. I also have a Hog, so I think I'll head to Battley Cycles and join the mob.  I wish it was my fan making all the noise instead of the Vance and Hines, but I hear it's just an amazing experience to ride in Rolling Thunder. Anyone else going? Anyone have any tips? Should I arrive at the dealer at 7am, like they say (to get the free doughnuts), or should I sleep in and show up at 8:30am, just in time for the departure? Should I just ride to the Pentagon and then just head out on my own, or should I stay with the huge procession down to The Wall? Is it worth it? A coworker of mine said the ride from the Pentagon to The Wall was tedious and slow. Anyone have any good photos from years past? | ||
| Buellinabq |
There should be THOUSANDS of riders there this weekend at the Vietnam Memorial, with Rolling Thunder and Run for the wall. I haven't gone, but one branch of the riders go through Albuquerque and it's an impressive sight. I rode part of it with them last year. Last year and this year, Cuba, NM has an event and some riders stop off. I'll bet the DC area would be a parking lot, but it would be impressive to see that many bikes at once, if you have the patience to sit in the crowd. | ||
| Buellinabq |
http://www.rftw.org/index.asp?lg=1&w=pages&r=1&pid =63 350,000 bikes | ||
| Barker |
I'll be there! Working. Shooting rolling footage of the National Guard's OCC bike. | ||
| Hooper |
Yep, I read the Sergeant of the Army will be riding that OCC bike. | ||
| Barker |
General Nutall aboard the OCC bike. | ||
| Ratbuell |
We have lots of folks from here (Frederick) who ride *to* DC with the crowd, but not *IN* to DC. They peel off on the parkway and find their own place to park so they can escape on their schedule. I haven't been myself (watching 1000 bikes doing the 5mph duckwalk on the way out...just not for me thanks) but from what I've heard it can take hours and hours to get out of the parking area once they actually start dismissing bikes. | ||
| Hotredjohn |
I will be there, not on the Uly but on my Road King. I am participating in the VIP escorts, we provide rides to Gold Star Moms, and other VIPs (we will be at or near the front). This is the first year I have done that. All the other years I have ridden in with the rest of the crowd. One suggestion for those never attending before, LEAVE EARLY for the parking lot. The earlier you get there the quicker you are out of the lot! Also something to sit on like a small folding chair or a blanket for the grass. Water, something to snack on, I will be packing a folding umbrella in case my passenger might need some shade. I have not missed or would not miss this event. Hope to see you all there! John | ||
| Unibear12r |
Two years ago I went with two friends on the RFTW LA to DC. 7700 miles and 23 states on my Uly. We were planning to hit more of the states we missed on this years run but making the run didn't work out. Fun in it's own way but a lot of plain superslabbing with little time to see many sights. But everybody should do it at least once. A lot of feeling there. | ||
| Barker |
Just got back. They say 500,000+ bikes. Not sure about that ,but it was the most I have ever seen. | ||
| Hooper |
A quick shot before I post a summary of the event. Frankly, it was amazing. I had only intended on doing the procession from the dealership down to the Pentagon, but I was trapped by other riders, and found myself going along the entire parade route - a 7-hour event, most of it WAITING. Luckily, I brought a good book: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Quick Uly update: I did see ONE Uly in the parade. Only saw one other Buell, an old one. Wish I had mine back...     More later...I encourage everyone to do this once in your life, if you can. (Message edited by hooper on May 29, 2008) | ||
| Hooper |
Also, it reportedly took over 4 hours to empty the Pentagon parking lots into the District. To me, it looked like there were two bikes leaving the lot per second (seriously!). That means there were 28,800 bikes that left the lots. And 20 port-o-lets. I don't even want to do THAT math - especially after what I saw in one of them. In my eyeball estimation, there were 100-150 rows of bikes in my lot, with 100 bikes in each row. There was another lot over from me. That works out to be 15,000 bikes per lot, making it very close to the 28,800 total I estimated before. I could be totally deluded, and I know there were other sources of riders who filtered in, but also those who didn't marshall at the Pentagon. Anyone have any official stats? God knows enough helicopters circled the lots (including W), so I thought there might be estimates.  | ||
| Barker |
a few stills:           | ||
| Chadhargis |
Can you drop us any footage you shot from the Blackhawk or is that proprietary? | ||
| Barker |
mas         | ||
| Barker |
Footage is in LA, coming soon. Should be some good stuff. I have seen any of my footage yet. You should be able to see the final cut. Not sure when or what the final vid will be. |
