Rhinebeck Grand National Meet...
Rhinebeck Grand National Meet...Although June is still a few months away, has anyone been to the Rhinebeck Grand National Meet in Rhinebeck, NY? It's sponsored by the AMCA, which could possibly mean lots of Harleys, but there is also a VJMC logo attached to the advertisement in the May 2008 Issue of Walneck's, so it has me thinking that there will be some sympathetic VJ folks there too. I'm thinking of riding up there, being that the plan to ride to the Barber Museum in October has been effectively quashed by a higher power (my wife, that is).
It's June 13-15, and there is a website ( www.rhinebecknationalmeet.com ), but if anyone has some firsthand experience they'd like to share, I would be greatly appreciative indeed. It's about 300 miles from me, so it would be a nice ride and wouldn't be too traumatic for my wife!
Well after getting no replies to this post (I'm assuming no one knows anything about this meet), I've decided to throw caution to the wind and go on up there in June (plus it has been officially blessed by my wife). I'll report back to let everyone know if it's worth attending. It sounds pretty interesting, as there are going to be lots of things happening there besides bikes (tractors, airplanes, vintage trucks, etc), and that's a nice part of the state, so I'm sure the riding will be good too. There was also something about it in the latest VJMC magazine, so there will be at least some Japanese bike presence.
I don't think that Rhinebeck will have any kind of racing, and it seems like there's going to be quite a bit of 'American' motorcycles, so I guess we'll find out how much VJ stuff there is. As far as racing in the Northeast goes, the only ones I know about are in Canada, like Shannonville (near Kingston, Ont.) and maybe Atlantic Motorsport Park in Shubenacadie (Nova Scotia). Not up on the scene in New York or in the Northeast states.
Well just got back from Rhinebeck this morning (730 mile round trip), and overall the trip was worthwhile. There was a VJMC booth there, and Stuart Covington had a few ultra clean machines, in addition to some other VJMC members. I think I was the lone SuperHawk in attendance, as the event was generally awash in Harley and Indian. Sunday was the judging, and I entered the machine in the 'Period Modified' category (they didn't use AMCA judging criteria for this category, as the 'points' would not have applied), but I didn't get anything...oh well.
Very pretty part of the state, if anyone is interested in exploring that part of NY.
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