The 2025 National Rally location announcement seems to have drawn concern for various reasons. The explanation recently provided in BMW Owners News, which I appreciate regardless of how I feel about it, sheds some light on the challenges of executing such a large event within the requirements of our organization. Personally, I am excited for 2025 in Lebanon, Tennessee. I’ll explain.
In 2019, the last time the rally was in Lebanon, I had just joined the MOA. Being relatively introverted and still getting to know the organization through primarily the Owners News, it was easy to make the excuse that I didn’t feel sufficiently part of the group yet.
In 2020, the pandemic forced us all to have an excuse, with no rally at all. In 2021, the rally came back. After two years of membership, including the lockdown where the Owners News meant even more, I was excuseless. What an amazing time in Great Falls, Montana!
In 2022, I was excited for Springfield, Missouri and to see the friends made the year before. Then my family planned a reunion for the same weekend. Although it was also in Missouri, I failed to convince them to change the town to Springfield. Unfortunate timing, but an understandable excuse.
In 2023, the Richmond, Virginia rally was just three hours from my northern Virginia home. With no logistical or scheduling excuses in sight, I planned and began a beautiful “long way” route to Maine and back. Shortly after entering Maine I got a phone call; my uncle had unexpectedly passed away. Instead of a weekend in Richmond, I spent the weekend in Michigan.
This year’s rally in Redmond, Oregon, felt like an opportunity for unfinished business. But another incredibly special opportunity appeared before I could even buy a ticket. My other uncle returned to motorcycling, and was planning a retirement trip on his new-to-him bike. If you’ve made it this far then you probably guessed it—at the same time as the rally! This was an easy excuse to make, though, and we had a wonderful time riding around southern Colorado.
In 2025, the rally returns to the place I made my first excuse as a new MOA member. Rather than dwell on why it is in Lebanon again, I’m taking it as a sign to begin a personal rally restart. We’re all capable of finding an excuse, don’t let a recent location repeat be yours!
