Rally report: Friday midday

BMW MOA INTERNATIONAL RALLY, Tenn. – I love dogs and there are several here at the rally, including Indy Club member Jim Stocking’s young pup, pictured above.

And Beach Motorcycle Adventures has Luke, a big friendly pup of mixed heritage.

The rain refuses to go away completely, but there are also periods of sunshine this morning.

I mentioned on Tuesday that I had to leave home without my spandex bicycle shorts because they mysteriously vanished after I got home from Daytona in March. I went on an intensive search of the vendors this morning and found what may be the best possible replacement for them – LDComfort Undergarments.

They’re made from a dual layer wicking material and the demonstration at the booth was almost as impressive as Vince and ShamWow. I bought a pair for $49 and am almost looking forward to the long ride home on Sunday to see how well the perform.

Markel Insurance is here again with a table set up in the Country Store where everyone who enters the door prize drawings or buys a rally t-shirt will see them. And they’re handing out their yellow totebag/backpack things by the thousands. About every third person walking around the vendor area has one. It’s a brilliant advertising move.

There are also jail prisoners here, emptying trash barrels, cleaning restrooms and doing other chores for the public service part of their sentences. You can spot them easily because they all wear jailhouse orange scrubs. I also saw one of them this morning sporting an orange safety vest with “I AM A DRUNK DRIVER” on the back.

Oh, yeah. I got a new nametag this morning: