FINER TIMER @ THE 49er
 

A fine time was had at the BMW Motorcycle Club of Northern California May 27-31, 2021 at the Mariposa County Fairgrounds, Mariposa, California. (Image 1)


Organizer, Greg Hutchinson, and his Nor Cal team, succeeded in pushing against the stream of lock-downs and social distancing restrictions, putting on a “Cracking Fine Time!” for the 49er Rally attendees. https://bmwnorcal.org/rally



While a BMW club sponsored event, it was open to motorcyclists favoring any type of motorcycle, like a Honda Africa Twin. (Image 2)


One secret take-away was learning to the longtime symbiotic relationship between Northern Club and the globally famous Airheads Beemer Club. The Beemer Club hosts shaded and informative places to work on motorcycles at select events while allowing schmoozing amongst members and non-members. (Image 3)


The rally location and venue offered superb local motorcycling opportunities, on and off pavement, cool grass camping, and excellent amenities. HU has a September Meeting (23-26, 2021) scheduled for the same venue, organized by Flip Morton, who was gracious enough to introduce himself and cheer when HU images were shown during a slide show. It is suggested to register early for the well attended California HU Meeting.


“Baby Helga” made an appearance at the 49er Rally. It is a 1981 BMW R80G/S that is a reproduction of what “Ugly Helga” looked like when it was first acquired. (Image 4)



Ugly Helga, pictured on the cover of the September 2002 BMW Riders Association magazine, ON THE LEVEL, now rests in BOB’s BMW Motorcycle Museum (Jessup, MD), after having logged nearly 250,000 miles while looping the globe and tagging ends of the earth. (Image 5)


During the Friday night presentation, HOW I BECAME A MOTORCYCLE ADVENTURE JUNKIE, a 108 year-old black and white photograph was enlarged and displayed showing Carl Stearns Clancy, accompanied by Robert Allen, departing from San Francisco in 1913 on their Henderson motorcycles. Clancy reported that the toughest part of his record setting first ‘RTW motorcycle ride (1912-1913) was between Sacramento, California and Portland, Oregon…roads well known by many of the Northern California BMW club membership. (Image 6)


It was a “finer timer at the 2021 49er.”