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Rolling Thunder
WoW!! AAA expects 900,000 motorcyclists this year to travel from across the nation to DC for this weekend's events. That's almost twice as many as the year I went back in 2002. Can't imagine where they will all park. The year I went the Pentagon parking lot was completely filled ... and for those who have never seen it, it is *huge*! |
Rolling Thunder
On Sun, 27 May 2018 18:28:05 -0400, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote: WoW!! AAA expects 900,000 motorcyclists this year to travel from across the nation to DC for this weekend's events. That's almost twice as many as the year I went back in 2002. Can't imagine where they will all park. The year I went the Pentagon parking lot was completely filled ... and for those who have never seen it, it is *huge*! This may just be a testament to the number of boomers who now have no problem going on a road trip ;-) The open question is how many will sleep under a tarp next to their bike and how many will be at the Crystal City Marriott? |
Rolling Thunder
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Rolling Thunder
On Sun, 27 May 2018 18:28:05 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:
WoW!! AAA expects 900,000 motorcyclists this year to travel from across the nation to DC for this weekend's events. That's almost twice as many as the year I went back in 2002. Can't imagine where they will all park. The year I went the Pentagon parking lot was completely filled ... and for those who have never seen it, it is *huge*! There was a lot of noise in the area yesterday. Trump, in his tweet, said '400,000'. One news article said 'a million'. Personally, I think it's probably closer to 'ten's of thousands'. I went last year, but the carb was giving me problems this year. Might give it a shot again next year. My daughter wants to go badly. |
Rolling Thunder
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Rolling Thunder
On 5/28/2018 6:51 AM, John H. wrote:
On Sun, 27 May 2018 18:28:05 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote: WoW!! AAA expects 900,000 motorcyclists this year to travel from across the nation to DC for this weekend's events. That's almost twice as many as the year I went back in 2002. Can't imagine where they will all park. The year I went the Pentagon parking lot was completely filled ... and for those who have never seen it, it is *huge*! There was a lot of noise in the area yesterday. Trump, in his tweet, said '400,000'. One news article said 'a million'. Personally, I think it's probably closer to 'ten's of thousands'. I went last year, but the carb was giving me problems this year. Might give it a shot again next year. My daughter wants to go badly. The year I went there was an estimated 460,000 bikes (mostly Harley's) parked in the staging area in the Pentagon parking lot. Don't know what the actual number was. I know I was in one of the early groups to start the ride over the Arlington Memorial Bridge, down Constitution Ave and then back to the West Potomac Park where we parked the bikes. My group left the Pentagon at noon. By 4pm the bikes were still arriving at the Park. |
Rolling Thunder
On 5/28/2018 6:54 AM, John H. wrote:
On Sun, 27 May 2018 20:45:12 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote: On 5/27/2018 8:00 PM, wrote: On Sun, 27 May 2018 18:28:05 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote: WoW!! AAA expects 900,000 motorcyclists this year to travel from across the nation to DC for this weekend's events. That's almost twice as many as the year I went back in 2002. Can't imagine where they will all park. The year I went the Pentagon parking lot was completely filled ... and for those who have never seen it, it is *huge*! This may just be a testament to the number of boomers who now have no problem going on a road trip ;-) The open question is how many will sleep under a tarp next to their bike and how many will be at the Crystal City Marriott? Don't know. We stayed in some sleezy motel in Manassas VA. It was the only place we could find a couple of rooms. Shoulda yelled, we had room! I'll remember that next time. :-) I think the AAA estimates of 900,000 is in error. I think they were referring to the total number of visitors to the DC area this weekend. The number of bikers is probably closer to half that at most. |
Rolling Thunder
On Mon, 28 May 2018 07:51:46 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:
On 5/28/2018 6:54 AM, John H. wrote: On Sun, 27 May 2018 20:45:12 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote: On 5/27/2018 8:00 PM, wrote: On Sun, 27 May 2018 18:28:05 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote: WoW!! AAA expects 900,000 motorcyclists this year to travel from across the nation to DC for this weekend's events. That's almost twice as many as the year I went back in 2002. Can't imagine where they will all park. The year I went the Pentagon parking lot was completely filled ... and for those who have never seen it, it is *huge*! This may just be a testament to the number of boomers who now have no problem going on a road trip ;-) The open question is how many will sleep under a tarp next to their bike and how many will be at the Crystal City Marriott? Don't know. We stayed in some sleezy motel in Manassas VA. It was the only place we could find a couple of rooms. Shoulda yelled, we had room! I'll remember that next time. :-) I think the AAA estimates of 900,000 is in error. I think they were referring to the total number of visitors to the DC area this weekend. The number of bikers is probably closer to half that at most. I wish one time someone would stand on Memorial Bridge and count the bikes as they go by. |
Rolling Thunder
On 5/28/2018 8:21 AM, John H. wrote:
On Mon, 28 May 2018 07:51:46 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote: On 5/28/2018 6:54 AM, John H. wrote: On Sun, 27 May 2018 20:45:12 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote: On 5/27/2018 8:00 PM, wrote: On Sun, 27 May 2018 18:28:05 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote: WoW!! AAA expects 900,000 motorcyclists this year to travel from across the nation to DC for this weekend's events. That's almost twice as many as the year I went back in 2002. Can't imagine where they will all park. The year I went the Pentagon parking lot was completely filled ... and for those who have never seen it, it is *huge*! This may just be a testament to the number of boomers who now have no problem going on a road trip ;-) The open question is how many will sleep under a tarp next to their bike and how many will be at the Crystal City Marriott? Don't know. We stayed in some sleezy motel in Manassas VA. It was the only place we could find a couple of rooms. Shoulda yelled, we had room! I'll remember that next time. :-) I think the AAA estimates of 900,000 is in error. I think they were referring to the total number of visitors to the DC area this weekend. The number of bikers is probably closer to half that at most. I wish one time someone would stand on Memorial Bridge and count the bikes as they go by. I think they do but many of the bikers come in from places other than the Pentagon parking lot (although they are not supposed to). I've mentioned this before but one of the most memorable things of that trip was being in the staging area at the Pentagon all morning and shooting the **** with many of the other people there. Then, at about 11:45 am, in preparation for starting the ride over you heard a bike start up in the distance. Then another and another in rapid succession. Quickly the whole area would soon be a roar of bikes (again, mostly Harleys) and the air turned blue with an oily haze. It was incredible to hear so many bikes running with the riders gunning the engines at the same time. |
Rolling Thunder
On Mon, 28 May 2018 08:32:22 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:
On 5/28/2018 8:21 AM, John H. wrote: On Mon, 28 May 2018 07:51:46 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote: On 5/28/2018 6:54 AM, John H. wrote: On Sun, 27 May 2018 20:45:12 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote: On 5/27/2018 8:00 PM, wrote: On Sun, 27 May 2018 18:28:05 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote: WoW!! AAA expects 900,000 motorcyclists this year to travel from across the nation to DC for this weekend's events. That's almost twice as many as the year I went back in 2002. Can't imagine where they will all park. The year I went the Pentagon parking lot was completely filled ... and for those who have never seen it, it is *huge*! This may just be a testament to the number of boomers who now have no problem going on a road trip ;-) The open question is how many will sleep under a tarp next to their bike and how many will be at the Crystal City Marriott? Don't know. We stayed in some sleezy motel in Manassas VA. It was the only place we could find a couple of rooms. Shoulda yelled, we had room! I'll remember that next time. :-) I think the AAA estimates of 900,000 is in error. I think they were referring to the total number of visitors to the DC area this weekend. The number of bikers is probably closer to half that at most. I wish one time someone would stand on Memorial Bridge and count the bikes as they go by. I think they do but many of the bikers come in from places other than the Pentagon parking lot (although they are not supposed to). I've mentioned this before but one of the most memorable things of that trip was being in the staging area at the Pentagon all morning and shooting the **** with many of the other people there. Then, at about 11:45 am, in preparation for starting the ride over you heard a bike start up in the distance. Then another and another in rapid succession. Quickly the whole area would soon be a roar of bikes (again, mostly Harleys) and the air turned blue with an oily haze. It was incredible to hear so many bikes running with the riders gunning the engines at the same time. They can't get on the route around the mall unless they go over the Memorial Bridge. They come from all over to the Pentagon parking lot and then there is one exit from the lot to the bridge. All roads to the mall bike route are closed. |
Rolling Thunder
On Mon, 28 May 2018 08:32:22 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:
On 5/28/2018 8:21 AM, John H. wrote: On Mon, 28 May 2018 07:51:46 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote: On 5/28/2018 6:54 AM, John H. wrote: On Sun, 27 May 2018 20:45:12 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote: On 5/27/2018 8:00 PM, wrote: On Sun, 27 May 2018 18:28:05 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote: WoW!! AAA expects 900,000 motorcyclists this year to travel from across the nation to DC for this weekend's events. That's almost twice as many as the year I went back in 2002. Can't imagine where they will all park. The year I went the Pentagon parking lot was completely filled ... and for those who have never seen it, it is *huge*! This may just be a testament to the number of boomers who now have no problem going on a road trip ;-) The open question is how many will sleep under a tarp next to their bike and how many will be at the Crystal City Marriott? Don't know. We stayed in some sleezy motel in Manassas VA. It was the only place we could find a couple of rooms. Shoulda yelled, we had room! I'll remember that next time. :-) I think the AAA estimates of 900,000 is in error. I think they were referring to the total number of visitors to the DC area this weekend. The number of bikers is probably closer to half that at most. I wish one time someone would stand on Memorial Bridge and count the bikes as they go by. I think they do but many of the bikers come in from places other than the Pentagon parking lot (although they are not supposed to). I've mentioned this before but one of the most memorable things of that trip was being in the staging area at the Pentagon all morning and shooting the **** with many of the other people there. Then, at about 11:45 am, in preparation for starting the ride over you heard a bike start up in the distance. Then another and another in rapid succession. Quickly the whole area would soon be a roar of bikes (again, mostly Harleys) and the air turned blue with an oily haze. It was incredible to hear so many bikes running with the riders gunning the engines at the same time. You're right about 'mostly Harley's'. The three times I've gone, I've never seen another Moto Guzzi there. It's kind of fun having all these Harley riders crowding around wonder what the hell a Moto Guzzi is. Many, if they've heard of them at all, think they went out of business right after WWII. |
Rolling Thunder
On 5/28/2018 8:55 AM, John H. wrote:
On Mon, 28 May 2018 08:32:22 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote: On 5/28/2018 8:21 AM, John H. wrote: On Mon, 28 May 2018 07:51:46 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote: On 5/28/2018 6:54 AM, John H. wrote: On Sun, 27 May 2018 20:45:12 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote: On 5/27/2018 8:00 PM, wrote: On Sun, 27 May 2018 18:28:05 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote: WoW!! AAA expects 900,000 motorcyclists this year to travel from across the nation to DC for this weekend's events. That's almost twice as many as the year I went back in 2002. Can't imagine where they will all park. The year I went the Pentagon parking lot was completely filled ... and for those who have never seen it, it is *huge*! This may just be a testament to the number of boomers who now have no problem going on a road trip ;-) The open question is how many will sleep under a tarp next to their bike and how many will be at the Crystal City Marriott? Don't know. We stayed in some sleezy motel in Manassas VA. It was the only place we could find a couple of rooms. Shoulda yelled, we had room! I'll remember that next time. :-) I think the AAA estimates of 900,000 is in error. I think they were referring to the total number of visitors to the DC area this weekend. The number of bikers is probably closer to half that at most. I wish one time someone would stand on Memorial Bridge and count the bikes as they go by. I think they do but many of the bikers come in from places other than the Pentagon parking lot (although they are not supposed to). I've mentioned this before but one of the most memorable things of that trip was being in the staging area at the Pentagon all morning and shooting the **** with many of the other people there. Then, at about 11:45 am, in preparation for starting the ride over you heard a bike start up in the distance. Then another and another in rapid succession. Quickly the whole area would soon be a roar of bikes (again, mostly Harleys) and the air turned blue with an oily haze. It was incredible to hear so many bikes running with the riders gunning the engines at the same time. You're right about 'mostly Harley's'. The three times I've gone, I've never seen another Moto Guzzi there. It's kind of fun having all these Harley riders crowding around wonder what the hell a Moto Guzzi is. Many, if they've heard of them at all, think they went out of business right after WWII. There were some strange looking dudes there some with their "babe" sitting behind them on the bikes. Again, mostly Harley riders. Somewhere I have a picture of my buddy (the one who was a Hospital Corpsman in Vietnam) and I at the staging area and another of us walking the "Wall". If I can find them, I'll post 'em. It was a memorable and meaningful trip but I won't do it again. |
Rolling Thunder
On Mon, 28 May 2018 09:10:51 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:
On 5/28/2018 8:55 AM, John H. wrote: On Mon, 28 May 2018 08:32:22 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote: On 5/28/2018 8:21 AM, John H. wrote: On Mon, 28 May 2018 07:51:46 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote: On 5/28/2018 6:54 AM, John H. wrote: On Sun, 27 May 2018 20:45:12 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote: On 5/27/2018 8:00 PM, wrote: On Sun, 27 May 2018 18:28:05 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote: WoW!! AAA expects 900,000 motorcyclists this year to travel from across the nation to DC for this weekend's events. That's almost twice as many as the year I went back in 2002. Can't imagine where they will all park. The year I went the Pentagon parking lot was completely filled ... and for those who have never seen it, it is *huge*! This may just be a testament to the number of boomers who now have no problem going on a road trip ;-) The open question is how many will sleep under a tarp next to their bike and how many will be at the Crystal City Marriott? Don't know. We stayed in some sleezy motel in Manassas VA. It was the only place we could find a couple of rooms. Shoulda yelled, we had room! I'll remember that next time. :-) I think the AAA estimates of 900,000 is in error. I think they were referring to the total number of visitors to the DC area this weekend. The number of bikers is probably closer to half that at most. I wish one time someone would stand on Memorial Bridge and count the bikes as they go by. I think they do but many of the bikers come in from places other than the Pentagon parking lot (although they are not supposed to). I've mentioned this before but one of the most memorable things of that trip was being in the staging area at the Pentagon all morning and shooting the **** with many of the other people there. Then, at about 11:45 am, in preparation for starting the ride over you heard a bike start up in the distance. Then another and another in rapid succession. Quickly the whole area would soon be a roar of bikes (again, mostly Harleys) and the air turned blue with an oily haze. It was incredible to hear so many bikes running with the riders gunning the engines at the same time. You're right about 'mostly Harley's'. The three times I've gone, I've never seen another Moto Guzzi there. It's kind of fun having all these Harley riders crowding around wonder what the hell a Moto Guzzi is. Many, if they've heard of them at all, think they went out of business right after WWII. There were some strange looking dudes there some with their "babe" sitting behind them on the bikes. Again, mostly Harley riders. Somewhere I have a picture of my buddy (the one who was a Hospital Corpsman in Vietnam) and I at the staging area and another of us walking the "Wall". If I can find them, I'll post 'em. It was a memorable and meaningful trip but I won't do it again. I'll do it only if someone pleads real hard to go with me. My daughter has asked for the past couple years, but some usually comes up. This year she had two sons in two soccer leagues playing for the league championship. Both teams came in second. When I go I like to head up there about 9am. That gets a decent spot in the parking lot, but it then presents a wait of a few hours before the ride begins. This year (or maybe last) they moved the vendors to 22nd street to allow more bikes. But, that provides less for the early arrivals to do. |
Rolling Thunder
On Mon, 28 May 2018 08:55:17 -0400, John H.
wrote: On Mon, 28 May 2018 08:32:22 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote: On 5/28/2018 8:21 AM, John H. wrote: On Mon, 28 May 2018 07:51:46 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote: On 5/28/2018 6:54 AM, John H. wrote: On Sun, 27 May 2018 20:45:12 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote: On 5/27/2018 8:00 PM, wrote: On Sun, 27 May 2018 18:28:05 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote: WoW!! AAA expects 900,000 motorcyclists this year to travel from across the nation to DC for this weekend's events. That's almost twice as many as the year I went back in 2002. Can't imagine where they will all park. The year I went the Pentagon parking lot was completely filled ... and for those who have never seen it, it is *huge*! This may just be a testament to the number of boomers who now have no problem going on a road trip ;-) The open question is how many will sleep under a tarp next to their bike and how many will be at the Crystal City Marriott? Don't know. We stayed in some sleezy motel in Manassas VA. It was the only place we could find a couple of rooms. Shoulda yelled, we had room! I'll remember that next time. :-) I think the AAA estimates of 900,000 is in error. I think they were referring to the total number of visitors to the DC area this weekend. The number of bikers is probably closer to half that at most. I wish one time someone would stand on Memorial Bridge and count the bikes as they go by. I think they do but many of the bikers come in from places other than the Pentagon parking lot (although they are not supposed to). I've mentioned this before but one of the most memorable things of that trip was being in the staging area at the Pentagon all morning and shooting the **** with many of the other people there. Then, at about 11:45 am, in preparation for starting the ride over you heard a bike start up in the distance. Then another and another in rapid succession. Quickly the whole area would soon be a roar of bikes (again, mostly Harleys) and the air turned blue with an oily haze. It was incredible to hear so many bikes running with the riders gunning the engines at the same time. You're right about 'mostly Harley's'. The three times I've gone, I've never seen another Moto Guzzi there. It's kind of fun having all these Harley riders crowding around wonder what the hell a Moto Guzzi is. Many, if they've heard of them at all, think they went out of business right after WWII. Guess they never watched "Magnum Force". Lotta Guzzis in that movie. I am not sure in SFPD had them but Ted Post used them in Clint's movie. |
Rolling Thunder
On Mon, 28 May 2018 12:07:29 -0400, wrote:
On Mon, 28 May 2018 08:55:17 -0400, John H. wrote: On Mon, 28 May 2018 08:32:22 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote: On 5/28/2018 8:21 AM, John H. wrote: On Mon, 28 May 2018 07:51:46 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote: On 5/28/2018 6:54 AM, John H. wrote: On Sun, 27 May 2018 20:45:12 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote: On 5/27/2018 8:00 PM, wrote: On Sun, 27 May 2018 18:28:05 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote: WoW!! AAA expects 900,000 motorcyclists this year to travel from across the nation to DC for this weekend's events. That's almost twice as many as the year I went back in 2002. Can't imagine where they will all park. The year I went the Pentagon parking lot was completely filled ... and for those who have never seen it, it is *huge*! This may just be a testament to the number of boomers who now have no problem going on a road trip ;-) The open question is how many will sleep under a tarp next to their bike and how many will be at the Crystal City Marriott? Don't know. We stayed in some sleezy motel in Manassas VA. It was the only place we could find a couple of rooms. Shoulda yelled, we had room! I'll remember that next time. :-) I think the AAA estimates of 900,000 is in error. I think they were referring to the total number of visitors to the DC area this weekend. The number of bikers is probably closer to half that at most. I wish one time someone would stand on Memorial Bridge and count the bikes as they go by. I think they do but many of the bikers come in from places other than the Pentagon parking lot (although they are not supposed to). I've mentioned this before but one of the most memorable things of that trip was being in the staging area at the Pentagon all morning and shooting the **** with many of the other people there. Then, at about 11:45 am, in preparation for starting the ride over you heard a bike start up in the distance. Then another and another in rapid succession. Quickly the whole area would soon be a roar of bikes (again, mostly Harleys) and the air turned blue with an oily haze. It was incredible to hear so many bikes running with the riders gunning the engines at the same time. You're right about 'mostly Harley's'. The three times I've gone, I've never seen another Moto Guzzi there. It's kind of fun having all these Harley riders crowding around wonder what the hell a Moto Guzzi is. Many, if they've heard of them at all, think they went out of business right after WWII. Guess they never watched "Magnum Force". Lotta Guzzis in that movie. I am not sure in SFPD had them but Ted Post used them in Clint's movie. The LAPD had Guzzi's in the late 60's - The Goose Patrol - http://www.policemotorunits.com/goos...ary-smith.html And the California Highway Patrol had them for a while in the 70's. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CErEnxLUsAA8tcJ.jpg |
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