Keeping a blog updated regularly is a lot more difficult when you're working full time and in school. Often the last thing I want to do is spend MORE time at the computer typing. But damned if I'm not stubborn! (...although I like to think of it more as determined)
I thought tonight, I would share my experience with the Rolling Thunder Motorcycle Rally 2011.
Rolling Thunder, if you're unfamiliar, is one of (if not THE) largest single motorcycle runs in the world. It's held every year on Memorial Day. To give you an idea, this year they expect over 400,000 (yes, four hundred THOUSAND) motorcycles to ride through the streets of Washington, D.C. The first Rolling Thunder Motorcycle Rally (RTMR) was held in 1988, run with about 2500 participants. The founding members stood up Rolling Thunder as a charity and a motorcycle club, with chapters subsequently popping up all over the country. By 1991, the rally had grown to 20,000, and in 2000, the RTMR had officially grown tenfold, with a quarter-million bikes descending on the capital. The mission of Rolling Thunder and the Rally is to make certain that we, as a nation, neither neglect our prisoners of war nor forget our missing in action.
The ride itself is actually quite short - participants assemble in the Pentagon parking lots and ride across the Arlington Memorial Bridge, down Constitution Avenue towards the Capitol Building, turn at 3rd Street and again at Independence Avenue proceeding around the National Mall and ending near the Lincoln Memorial. In all, just over 6 miles... Here's a map of the route.
I first heard about RTMR poking around the internet looking for cool motorcycle runs and rallies in the area. At that point, I had only had my bike a month or two and was still super excited about it. Although, to be fair, here I am over a year later, and just as excited. As soon as I heard such a huge motorcycle event went down here, I was dead set on being a part of it. In fact, I'm pretty sure I decided immediately that it was going to be an annual thing for me. Even now, if I move away from the area, I plan to come back for Rolling Thunder every year.
I hit the road to DC at around 0930 the morning of Memorial Day, and arrived shortly after 10. If I'm not mistaken, registration opened at 0730 so I thought I was arriving late. I soon discovered I was glad I hadn't gotten there much earlier - it would have just been more time sitting around. When I rolled in, the parking areas were really well marked, and they had members of Rolling Thunder standing out in the road in their colors directing traffic. They had us pull into the parking lot, loop around and park in lines facing the road. They directed you in to make sure spacing was good, etc... told you when you were in and when to kill the engine. After that, it was pretty much waiting. There was really no "official" registration to participate - just show up. So I spent a few minutes letting the areas around me fill up (so as not to block traffic in my wandering around) and just taking it all in. There were bikes just about as far as I could see. A sea of iron and chrome - thousands and thousands of bikes. And just when I felt overwhelmed by how many motorcycles I could see, I wandered to the other side of a bridge and there was an even bigger lot completely full of bikes. Turns out, I was in the first of 2 overflow lots. And the other overflow lot was larger than the first and the primary combined. By the time we rolled out, all 3 were all nearly full.
See my pictures for examples/evidence.
So I wandered around and took pictures. Thankfully, it wasn't too hot that day - fairly overcast and there was a nice breeze. I was also really glad I had thought to bring a sandwich and a bottle of water in a cooler in one of my saddle bags.
Officially, the ride starts at 12 noon, but that's when the first parking lot begins to empty out. It was well after 2 when I finally started my engine. Unfortunately, I don't have many pictures of the ride itself - it's kind of difficult to ride and photograph simultaneously. But it's pretty inspiring to come rolling across the Arlington Memorial Bridge and see a lone Marine in full dress uniform in the street saluting, silhouetted by the Lincoln Memorial, and surrounded on all sides by hundreds of people. Everyone was clapping and cheering and waving American flags. That Marine stood there for over 3 hours, at attention, holding that salute. Truly inspiring. Here's a video I found of a news report about the guy. He's retired but should be given some sort of medal or award anyway...
We turned the corner onto Constitution Ave, trees in full bloom, barricades keeping the thousands and thousands of people out of the street, and motorcycles growling down the road as far as you could see. It's one thing to see a bunch of bikes sitting in parking lots, it's another to sit behind 6 lanes of elbow to elbow rumbling and roaring motorcycles and those riding them, all gathered there for a common purpose... and then to look in your rearview, or turn your head, and see the same behind you as far as you can see the road. It's hard to convey, but if you've ever been to DC, you know that's a lot of road... and a thoroughly overwhelming number of motorcycles. Even more intense - a full 2 hours after I started my ride, they were STILL coming down the street.
But I'm getting ahead of myself...
On Constitution, they stopped us in front of the Ellipse, in front of the White House. Everyone started revving engines, honking horns, shouting and hollering... At the risk of sounding totally cheesy, this is what really put the Thunder in Rolling Thunder. Wow. Again, it's one thing to sit on the street with a bunch of idling bikes, or ride slowly behind them. It's a completely different experience when they all crank 'em up at the same time. It really is earth shaking.
The rest of the ride is less exciting, but still absolutely moving and amazing. One of my favorite parts was the kids - anybody who rides or has kids knows that kids love motorcycles. And guys with long hair and beards, which are, of course, in abundance at an event like that. So the little kids waving the little American flags stepping out into the street, extending their arms to get high fives from the bikers... So cool. Even better when you're the one giving the high five - to see their huge smiles and excitement about the whole thing was awesome.
The ride back down Independence is more of the same - tons of bikes and tons of people... Lots of salutes and American flags and ecstatic kids... Very touching and I think it was what really set the stage for my current interest in groups like the Patriot Guard Riders and the Hogs and Heroes Foundation (both of which I am now a member, but those are subjects for another post!).
At the end of the ride, they directed us to park in this big field near the (at the time, under construction) MLK memorial. It was another good opportunity to sit and watch bikes roll by, walk around and look at the other parked bikes, or to go back out the street and watch them coming around the corner and down the street. And like I said, they just kept coming. I think I finally left around 4 or 4:30, and bikes were STILL steadily rolling down the street towards the parking area. A lot of guys were getting to the end and, instead of parking, just taking off. Or they would park, find the members of their group, and head out. There were people speaking and presentations being given, but I was feeling pretty drained at that point - a combination of being out in the sun all afternoon and the surprisingly emotional 6 miles I'd just ridden - so I didn't hang around to listen. After taking some more pictures, I hopped back in the saddle and headed home.
The whole thing was a really incredible experience. I can't say enough good things about it, and I know as long as I'm able, I will be a regular and avid participant in the Rolling Thunder Motorcycle Rally. If you like motorcycles and America, I highly encourage everyone who can to head to the National Mall on Memorial Day. It really could be a once in a lifetime experience and I'm so excited to have the opportunity to be a part of it annually.
I thought tonight, I would share my experience with the Rolling Thunder Motorcycle Rally 2011.
Rolling Thunder, if you're unfamiliar, is one of (if not THE) largest single motorcycle runs in the world. It's held every year on Memorial Day. To give you an idea, this year they expect over 400,000 (yes, four hundred THOUSAND) motorcycles to ride through the streets of Washington, D.C. The first Rolling Thunder Motorcycle Rally (RTMR) was held in 1988, run with about 2500 participants. The founding members stood up Rolling Thunder as a charity and a motorcycle club, with chapters subsequently popping up all over the country. By 1991, the rally had grown to 20,000, and in 2000, the RTMR had officially grown tenfold, with a quarter-million bikes descending on the capital. The mission of Rolling Thunder and the Rally is to make certain that we, as a nation, neither neglect our prisoners of war nor forget our missing in action.
The ride itself is actually quite short - participants assemble in the Pentagon parking lots and ride across the Arlington Memorial Bridge, down Constitution Avenue towards the Capitol Building, turn at 3rd Street and again at Independence Avenue proceeding around the National Mall and ending near the Lincoln Memorial. In all, just over 6 miles... Here's a map of the route.
I first heard about RTMR poking around the internet looking for cool motorcycle runs and rallies in the area. At that point, I had only had my bike a month or two and was still super excited about it. Although, to be fair, here I am over a year later, and just as excited. As soon as I heard such a huge motorcycle event went down here, I was dead set on being a part of it. In fact, I'm pretty sure I decided immediately that it was going to be an annual thing for me. Even now, if I move away from the area, I plan to come back for Rolling Thunder every year.
I hit the road to DC at around 0930 the morning of Memorial Day, and arrived shortly after 10. If I'm not mistaken, registration opened at 0730 so I thought I was arriving late. I soon discovered I was glad I hadn't gotten there much earlier - it would have just been more time sitting around. When I rolled in, the parking areas were really well marked, and they had members of Rolling Thunder standing out in the road in their colors directing traffic. They had us pull into the parking lot, loop around and park in lines facing the road. They directed you in to make sure spacing was good, etc... told you when you were in and when to kill the engine. After that, it was pretty much waiting. There was really no "official" registration to participate - just show up. So I spent a few minutes letting the areas around me fill up (so as not to block traffic in my wandering around) and just taking it all in. There were bikes just about as far as I could see. A sea of iron and chrome - thousands and thousands of bikes. And just when I felt overwhelmed by how many motorcycles I could see, I wandered to the other side of a bridge and there was an even bigger lot completely full of bikes. Turns out, I was in the first of 2 overflow lots. And the other overflow lot was larger than the first and the primary combined. By the time we rolled out, all 3 were all nearly full.
See my pictures for examples/evidence.
So I wandered around and took pictures. Thankfully, it wasn't too hot that day - fairly overcast and there was a nice breeze. I was also really glad I had thought to bring a sandwich and a bottle of water in a cooler in one of my saddle bags.
Officially, the ride starts at 12 noon, but that's when the first parking lot begins to empty out. It was well after 2 when I finally started my engine. Unfortunately, I don't have many pictures of the ride itself - it's kind of difficult to ride and photograph simultaneously. But it's pretty inspiring to come rolling across the Arlington Memorial Bridge and see a lone Marine in full dress uniform in the street saluting, silhouetted by the Lincoln Memorial, and surrounded on all sides by hundreds of people. Everyone was clapping and cheering and waving American flags. That Marine stood there for over 3 hours, at attention, holding that salute. Truly inspiring. Here's a video I found of a news report about the guy. He's retired but should be given some sort of medal or award anyway...
We turned the corner onto Constitution Ave, trees in full bloom, barricades keeping the thousands and thousands of people out of the street, and motorcycles growling down the road as far as you could see. It's one thing to see a bunch of bikes sitting in parking lots, it's another to sit behind 6 lanes of elbow to elbow rumbling and roaring motorcycles and those riding them, all gathered there for a common purpose... and then to look in your rearview, or turn your head, and see the same behind you as far as you can see the road. It's hard to convey, but if you've ever been to DC, you know that's a lot of road... and a thoroughly overwhelming number of motorcycles. Even more intense - a full 2 hours after I started my ride, they were STILL coming down the street.
But I'm getting ahead of myself...
On Constitution, they stopped us in front of the Ellipse, in front of the White House. Everyone started revving engines, honking horns, shouting and hollering... At the risk of sounding totally cheesy, this is what really put the Thunder in Rolling Thunder. Wow. Again, it's one thing to sit on the street with a bunch of idling bikes, or ride slowly behind them. It's a completely different experience when they all crank 'em up at the same time. It really is earth shaking.
The rest of the ride is less exciting, but still absolutely moving and amazing. One of my favorite parts was the kids - anybody who rides or has kids knows that kids love motorcycles. And guys with long hair and beards, which are, of course, in abundance at an event like that. So the little kids waving the little American flags stepping out into the street, extending their arms to get high fives from the bikers... So cool. Even better when you're the one giving the high five - to see their huge smiles and excitement about the whole thing was awesome.
The ride back down Independence is more of the same - tons of bikes and tons of people... Lots of salutes and American flags and ecstatic kids... Very touching and I think it was what really set the stage for my current interest in groups like the Patriot Guard Riders and the Hogs and Heroes Foundation (both of which I am now a member, but those are subjects for another post!).
At the end of the ride, they directed us to park in this big field near the (at the time, under construction) MLK memorial. It was another good opportunity to sit and watch bikes roll by, walk around and look at the other parked bikes, or to go back out the street and watch them coming around the corner and down the street. And like I said, they just kept coming. I think I finally left around 4 or 4:30, and bikes were STILL steadily rolling down the street towards the parking area. A lot of guys were getting to the end and, instead of parking, just taking off. Or they would park, find the members of their group, and head out. There were people speaking and presentations being given, but I was feeling pretty drained at that point - a combination of being out in the sun all afternoon and the surprisingly emotional 6 miles I'd just ridden - so I didn't hang around to listen. After taking some more pictures, I hopped back in the saddle and headed home.
The whole thing was a really incredible experience. I can't say enough good things about it, and I know as long as I'm able, I will be a regular and avid participant in the Rolling Thunder Motorcycle Rally. If you like motorcycles and America, I highly encourage everyone who can to head to the National Mall on Memorial Day. It really could be a once in a lifetime experience and I'm so excited to have the opportunity to be a part of it annually.
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