Friends,
Sound Riders has announced the dates of their 2011 Maxi scouter Rally and training for July 27-31 2011 Stevenson, Washington.
I enjoyed this Rally in 2010. It was very well organized, the instruction was by the guys who rote the books, the location was outstanding, It was interesting how they worked the rides. they where self organized with published routes and folks from sections of the training getting together. The rolling training was done on the twisties with an instructor who would stop and teach a riding skill then folks would follow along at 4 second intervals at speed practicing the instruction.Great Vendor with displays and conversation. Accommodations included, motel, RV parking, and camping. the location is on the Columbia river at a small but wonderful equipped county Fairground. Bikes where parked inside on asphalt, some food was includes and a caterer was on hand for meal purchases for the other meals. Several of the folks found time to dine at one of several establishments along main street in Stevenson. The riding was outstanding "Twisted road for us old toads" the scenery is panoramic views of the Cascade mountains of St Helens, Mt Hood and Mt Adams, the great Northwest Douglas Fir forests and the open dry foothills of the eastern gorge. I don't have stock in this event but I can tell you that it was the best riding training that I have attended. I'm a better rider because of this training.

http://www.soundrider.com/nwse/rally/

Someday when I no longer have to satisfy the need to pay my mortgage - this will be one of the gatherings we plan to attend.

Looking at the picture from papa johns sure makes me want to go back to the Columbia River Gorge. I was there in 2008 but I was traveling in a cage as you all refer to it on this forum. I drove from Seatle down to Crescent City, CA. We went to the gorge then down the Oregon coast into CA back up thru Crater Lake National Park back to Seatle. The scenary is just awesome. Bob and I would love to get out there on our bikes one day. Good to know about the rally we will have to keep that in mind.

Cathy

Pretty tempting to go, but I doubt I'll have enough time back riding to want to ride with a pack of more experienced riders this year. Some of the speakers look great, in fact I read the Proficient Motorcycling book set by one of the keynote speakers in preparation for the MSF class. Next year for sure - perhaps I"ll get my wife on a SWing by then also

I was PM'ing Garnett from BurgmanUSA about this and thinking of going myself. Then she reminded me of some of the things I didn't enjoy the year I went.

The first day out was a group ride with Tom Mehren leading. We took off going along some back roads at 15-20 mph over the speed limit. I had to wonder as we were heading out, if Tom had an "in" with the local law enforcement so they'd look the other way. If you didn't feel comfortable with the potential for a speeding ticket and rode a little closer to the speed limit, he came over and berated you in front of the group for not keeping up. And if you decided you wanted to drop out of the ride, you had no idea where they were going or how to get back.

The second day out, I decided I'd rather do some exploring on my own and decided to go around Mt. Hood for the day. I posted a note on the bulletin board and didn't expect anyone to join me. I think we had another 5 riders decide they too wanted to go without the main group too. That day was a lot more fun and enjoyable.

I'm sure the rally has improved over the couple years its been since I was there. But those memories were enough to keep me away for another year.

Chris

I recognise the location of in that photo, I had my photo taken in almost the same place. It's of course the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon, at that Visitor Centre you have to wind your way down a hill to get to. I was there in October 2009 with Mrs M, it was also very cold and windy up there, and I remember sitting in our rental car vainly trying and failing to finish half a dozen doughnuts we had brought along from Voodoo Doughnuts in Portland. We also went to Multnomah Falls and the Bonneville Dam that day.