allowing me to be a part of it, but also to let him know that his passion was being handed down to the next generation. Each 12th birthday for each son (we are blessed with four!) came with an inaugural ride and the first of hopefully many riding memo- ries, along with another memory for me and a handing down of the passion. So what does all this have to do with the
MOA Weekend Getaways? I attended my first Weekend Getaway at Fontana Dam in 2015. My normal riding friends were not available, so I decided to go alone. “It’s the MOA,” I thought. There will be many like- minded riders there, and riding alone is just as good for the spirit, particularly in the beautiful mountains of North Carolina. I looked forward to it for months. The week- end came, I loaded up and off I went. I had ridden through the area many times but never stayed in Fontana Dam. I arrived late in the afternoon on Friday with enough time to check in, drop the bags and head for the Tail of the Dragon. I had not had a chance to ride my K 1600 GTL on those roads and was looking forward to seeing how it differed from my K 1200 LT, which was a veteran of the Dragon. My late after- noon ride was, in a word, awesome.
I
headed back to the resort for dinner and met some new friends. It’s a small world anyway, as some would say, but the world is even smaller when you’re a part of the MOA. I met some new friends who go to the same BMW dealer near my old house about 1,500 miles away and found we had mutual acquaintances. Saturday’s forecast was rain and cold—
didn’t matter to me. I came to ride, and that was what I was going to do. However, we were blessed with wonderful weather and not a drop of rain until Saturday evening. It was a great day followed by another great evening with other MOA members and rid- ers. The weekend ended too quickly, and we all headed home on Sunday. I enjoyed that weekend and thought on the long ride home how to make it more special. It didn’t take too much time to figure that out: share it. The Weekend Getaway in Pineville, Ken-
tucky, the following September was on my radar, and it was an opportunity to share
that ride with my son. While all my sons have ridden quite a bit and three are fairly regular riders, one has taken to the sport like his father and grandfather. He was on his fifth bike and had a scrapbook full of rid- ing memories already. In the spring of 2015 he sold his crotch rocket and bought a R 1200 GS. Did I have any influence on that? Naah…He is just a wise young man! So, we started talking about the Weekend Getaway. First things first, it is a member
getaway. So for this weekend, and for many other good reasons, as a new BMW owner, he needed to join. His birthday gift that summer was his first MOA membership, a selfish investment on my part to bring him along in the sport and to introduce him to all the great benefits of the MOA. We arrived at Kentucky State Park and
Robert Letteney, the man who started it all.
the host hotel for the Getaway a few hours late, but still in time for dinner. Again, I met some new friends and had a great evening. We reviewed the planned rides for the next day, but decided to take off on our own, accompanied by a good friend from home. Father and son do not get too much time to ride together, and this was our opportunity to do that and see some of the sights that we had on our list. We were up early and ready to go. Unfor-
tunately, the weather did not cooperate, and it was looking like the day would be rainy. No matter, we came to ride! As the dutiful dad, I still had to ask if he had rain gear, proper gloves, cold weather stuff, etc. “Yeah dad…” he said with that annoyed tone I expected him to have in light of my ques- tioning. For a moment I forgot who taught him and, more importantly, who taught his teacher… We rode from gloomy weather into a
monsoon, through the clearing skies and to some great stops in the Kentucky country- side. We experienced the city of Lexington and the mountain back roads, and we were reminded, yet another time, not to trust GPS. (Unless, of course, you really WANT to travel a one-lane country road with two
way traffic while dodging chickens and cows that stand around blind corners.) Pin- eville was another great Weekend Getaway with good food, fellowship, fun and time spent with my son. I recently found the letter I wrote my dad
so many years ago, and the memories flooded back like the wind in your face on the first ride of the year (smiles and bugs in your teeth are optional). This paragraph from the letter sums up the allure of riding and the special bond it offers: Our ride to the Cape still ranks #1 on my
list of great rides, despite the old dirt bike I rode and the many trips I have taken since then. It’s not the machine; it’s the company. And I will recall those great times each time I ride with my sons. I guess that is one reason I hold on to the love of riding; to hold onto a special part of our relationship and to build something else for our kids to enjoy and hold onto. Ah yes, a grandfather’s legacy. Many
thanks to the MOA for the opportunity to continue the family tradition through these Weekend Getaways and for giving us another opportunity to make memories and build upon something to hold onto. My dad has long since passed, and I have sev- eral grandkids myself now. Hopefully that grandfather, son and grandchild ride may happen yet.
March 2016 BMW OWNERS NEWS 29
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