Chief Joseph Rally

[reelman]

The 2008 Chief Joseph Rally is being held on June 19-22 at the Grant County Fairgrounds in John Day Oregon. http://www.bmwro.org/cjr2008/index.shtml
I am going to try to make this one. Who’s a going?
Dan

[Mitch_Rider]

Haven't missed a year since 2002!
Great site with fun roads in every direction and also centrally located for picking up GT checkpoints. I usually take two days just for riding.
Nice also that Judy's 97 year old mom lives there and we get an additional chance to visit.

[sanjaun2]

Dan,
I may be up for some or all of those days. Tested out the camping gear this weekend on the north cascades hwy (HWY 20) and of course 2 GT check points. More to follow...

[amarider]

Thinking about heading up, what days? Friday and Saturday?

[Mitch_Rider]

John,
Friday and Saturday are the most active days at the rally and the big dinner is Saturday night. The best part is the riding in the area. Great excuse to excercise that new bike a little bit more!(as if you needed an excuse)
We'll look forward to hopefully seeing you there and doing some riding together.
Jeff

[amarider]

Yep, I know all that. I was asking when you North wet boyz are planning on being there. :D
The River City Beemers have a Photo tour this year that I in part designed that we put checkpoints at John Day and Granite OR. Looking forward to seeing everyone there. I'll call one of the guys to see when they plan on being in so I can find the camp site.

[sanjaun2]

John,
Its still a little early to know for sure, But most likely I will head out thursday after work, Not sure If I can make it by thursday night or not. There are several twisty routes I can take and they will add about 50% more time to my travels over the slab. Just gotta say no to the slab....

[amarider]

Soooooooo, If you blizzard swilling boyz are done on the coast who's going to John Day? :p

1. John F - Plan on getting in on Thursday.:D

[sanjaun2]

Soooooooo, If you blizzard swilling boyz are done on the coast who's going to John Day?

1. John F - Plan on getting in on Thursday
2. Brian L should arrive thursday evening

[bflemingor]

Don't know why anyone would want to go to one of these. Went to a VOA meet several years ago. Wasn't worth the gas....

Just my $0.02.

[Mitch_Rider]

Don't know why anyone would want to go to one of these. Went to a VOA meet several years ago. Wasn't worth the gas....

Just my $0.02.

Centrally located to some of the best riding in the state!

[Mitch_Rider]

Soooooooo, If you blizzard swilling boyz are done on the coast who's going to John Day?

1. John F - Plan on getting in on Thursday
2. Brian L should arrive thursday evening


1. John F - Plan on getting in on Thursday
2. Brian L should arrive thursday evening[/QUOTE]
3. Jeff M-Arriving Thursday, riding to GT checkpoints Friday(FrenchGlen) and Saturday(Enterprise and the 3 adjacent).

[GoldenDragon]

1. John F - Plan on getting in on Thursday
2. Brian L should arrive thursday evening[/QUOTE]
3. Jeff M-Arriving Thursday, riding to GT checkpoints Friday(FrenchGlen) and Saturday(Enterprise and the 3 adjacent).
4. Randi Kobernik - Friday around 10AM

[amarider]

Question to those who have camped here before, Jeff, Brian, Dan. Is there a perfered place to throw up the tent? That is If I get in before the rest of ya.

[Mitch_Rider]

Question to those who have camped here before, Jeff, Brian, Dan. Is there a perfered place to throw up the tent? That is If I get in before the rest of ya.

John,
Typically the quietest section is to the left of the entry and building. The hard party-ers are usually to the front right of the entry and the in-betweeners to the middle.
All the spots are fairly level. The weather is predicted to be in the low to mid 70's so it does not appear that you will need to chase any shade...mid 50's at night. Great riding and sleeping weather! Restrooms are to the front right and back left.
If you have allergies at all, make sure and bring your treatment of choice. Lots of Cottonwoods, DAMHIK.
Here is a link to a view of the fairgrounds from which you can click on Satellite view and expand to see the layout:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=411+NW+Bridge+St.,+John+Day,+OR+97845&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=61.799062,110.390625&ie=UTF8&ll=44.419735,-118.954425&spn=0.027709,0.053902&z=15&om=0
Hope this helps,
Jeff

[amarider]

So are we going to be noisy or quite...... :lol8:

[sanjaun2]

I vote for sleeping in the quiet zone, We can always go to the party zone.

[avonfloater]

My experience is much like Jeff's - the smaller plot of grass in the corner of the fair grounds to the left of the main building is quieter and less "busy" than the mega area to the right. It's also convenient for the non-porta potty restrooms in the main building. There are some nice nooks and crannies adjacent to the fair buildings behind the main structure that afford nice space under trees with immediately adjacent paved parking for your bikes. Thursday arrivals have some decent selection advantages.

Denny

[amarider]

Ok, I'll try and get us a quiet spot if I get there first.
Plan on leaving Wednesday after work to get a bunch of RCB photo tour points. Heading up I-5 then over to Lassen NP then up to Lava Beds NM and try and make Klamath falls by dark for the night. Thursday Morning over to Cascade Siskiyou NM, Crater Lake, Newberry NM and finally John Day Fossil beds NM.
See ya in John Day.

[sanjaun2]

Whoever gets there first save a few spots for us. I'll do the same if I get there first. But doubt I will. I'll be leaving at 4am on thursday. But unfortenately I have to go to work first. Should be able to leave around lunch time. I will be going the back roads, That much you can count on. Hey, Maybe the Meese will stop by and say hello or join us for a few check points?
Jeff, Will you be camping with us? Or do you have a hotel picked out? I'll join you for some of the check points if you want company. I still need Starkey & Loghouse. and then Frenchglen & cindy's kitchen.

[meese]

Hey, Maybe the Meese will stop by and say hello or join us for a few check points?Sorry, not this weekend. Dayle's coming up for a conjugal visit so I'll be a bit busy. :D Enjoy your weekend and I'll catch y'all next time.

[Mitch_Rider]

Whoever gets there first save a few spots for us. I'll do the same if I get there first. But doubt I will. I'll be leaving at 4am on thursday. But unfortenately I have to go to work first. Should be able to leave around lunch time. I will be going the back roads, That much you can count on. Hey, Maybe the Meese will stop by and say hello or join us for a few check points?
Jeff, Will you be camping with us? Or do you have a hotel picked out? I'll join you for some of the check points if you want company. I still need Starkey & Loghouse. and then Frenchglen & cindy's kitchen.

Brian,
Judy's mom lives in John Day so I will be staying at her house rather than camping.
As for company on the checkpoints, absolutely...the more the merrier. I have a couple of different routes worked out. I am leaning to Frenchglen and Durkee on Friday and then Pendleton, Enterprise and Starkey on Saturday. About 450 mile loops each day. I am anticipating we will leave no later than 7:00am each morning. I am ready to roll!...just got new tires put on today.

[Mitch_Rider]

FYI... a heads up for everyone traveling to John Day. Judy's brother just came back from there and he said they are in the middle of "chip sealing" the ten miles to the west of Dayville. There are other routes if you are so inclined.
Jeff

[sanjaun2]

You boys missed a pretty good rally with some of the best riding I have seen any where! I will be returning to the area for some more camping and to check out the rest of the roads. I never knew there where so many fantastic roads over there. I'll post more later. If you are going to keep up with Jeff on the GT points you better get out riding! He is collecting them pretty fast. Thanks for the company Jeff and John. I hope you all made it home okay.

[amarider]

Yes, I loved the riding up and around John Day, OR.
I made it home in under 10 hours, just over 600 miles of back roads. Dodging rain and lighting most of the way. The lighting was a little unnerving when out in the open. After getting home I saw in the news that about 300 fires were started due to lightning stikes.
Jeff, Brian, good to see you both again!

[AlaskaFish]

Yeah, yeah, rub it in guys! Would have loved to make it, but the job got in the way this time. As for the roads over there Brian, know that I do sometimes take the Bike on my work travels to that part of our wonderful state. So getting paid to ride ain't a bad thing! Glad you all had fun, and at least two made it home OK! Jeff, you home yet? Oh yeah, where is home?

John

[Mitch_Rider]

John, it sounds like you made good time. To bad you had to endure the rain and thunderstorm action on the way home Saturday....it had all cleared out by Sunday. It was good to see you again.

Brian, fun riding with you and will look forward to doing it again soon. Maybe we can hook up when I make the trip up to catch the two northern Washington checkpoints. To bad the Wash State BMW Rally was not back in Republic this year as it would be right on the way! Take care of yourself and keep me posted.

Judy and I made it home around 4:00. Temperature was about perfect for riding, but the wind was pretty horrific. About the worst that I have driven in for an extended period of time. It really made Judy uncomfortable. I think that we set a record for the quickest time of getting out of our gear and into the hot tub with a glass of wine when we got home.

The riding around that part of the country is truly some of the best. We collected five GT points while we were over there and did two 450 mileish days, so got to enjoy alot of the roads. We routed home thru Long Creek and then over thru Monument to Kimberly to avoid the 30 mile gravel stretch on 26 and wow what a great scenic road. In all of our times over there, we had never ridden that one before. We will definitely do it again!

[stevek1200lt]

Jeff

2008 = Menlo - 2009 = Republic Can't wait for either!

Steve

To bad the Wash State BMW Rally was not back in Republic this year as it would be right on the way!

[sanjaun2]

Jeff,
I took the same detour you did. It started out being just a straight road through high plains. I started to think it was going to be a bust.Thanks for the tip! Then around a corner and this wonderful twisty road thru mountains and canyons appeared. There was a nice twisty section ahead according to my gps so I dropped the hammer down to pass a car. Passed him and then into a tight corner. There was a cliff above me and one below. Came flying around the corner to find a big momma deer and her spotted fawn right in the middle of the road. The fawn scrammbled up the cliff and momma went down the other way. I was on the brakes pretty good so the deer was not my worry. Luckily the car I passed wasn't going to fast and easily slowed. I saw 8 deer in my lane that morning. Sorry you ran into all the wind, I hate it too. I bet Judy just loved it! The glass of wine and the hot tub would be a perfect way to end the day!

[Mitch_Rider]

Brian,
I think that you might have used up another one of your "nine" finding deer on that road. Thank goodness for ABS!
You must have scared off all the deer in that area as we saw none. Thank you.

One little bit of trivia from the weekend trip.

Highest Price paid for gas was $4.76 (they only had regular) in Frenchglen. Fortunately I only needed 3 gallons.

Best price for gas was $4.29 for Premium in Biggs(long lines)

[sanjaun2]

Here are a few odd pics from the weekend. If you want to see just how beautiful the area is you must go there yourself. Trust me, The pics would not do the roads and surrounding area justice. I was having such a great time riding, I didn't want to stop might also have something to do with it.

[avonfloater]

Nice pics, Brian. Man I missed the CJ event and the rides. I'd be up for a camping sojourn over that way when I bet back from the Middle Fork of the Salmon. BTW, what kind of bike was that funny looking guy in the first pic riding??!!

Jeff - How did your GT run on regular fuel?

Denny

[meese]

Mine's been running fine on Regular for 50K miles. I did a couple of weeks of Premium, but saw no real difference.

[Mitch_Rider]

Mine's been running fine on Regular for 50K miles. I did a couple of weeks of Premium, but saw no real difference.

Same with mine. Forgot that I had even put it in there and with the remote open roads that we were on I had a good chance to test it. I can say first hand that high speed performance and acceleration were certainly not impacted by the use of regular fuel.:) I am sure that Ken has also had a chance to confirm this.:):)