2004 MICHIGAN

MOTO GUZZI RALLY

By: Ron Kurylo

The usual early birds started to arrive on Thursday. Leon Karlak rolled in on his trusty 73’ Eldo all the way from Lockport NY, Gerry Mees rocketed in from Kentucky to keep the stories as hot as the campfire. Bob Loomis added his name to the early arrivals with a lengthy ride in from Racine. Rick and Dawn Pelton had already dropped off a big load of firewood for all to enjoy during the rally. Even with all of the good friends coming in to help kick off the Michigan Rally, the atmosphere was somewhat subdued. A notable absence in our customary early arrivals was Ike and Mary Lou Heign. Tragically, Ike was taken from us a few months earlier at the age of 71. The arrival of Ike and Mary Lou on their trusty 76’ Convert will be deeply missed. The night was spent gathered around the fire pit, reminiscing about friends here and gone, about journeys taken and planned.  

Friday saw a steady stream of bikes pulling into Cycle-Moore campground located in scenic Interlochen Michigan. Brian and Angie Kurylo took care of the registration table and t-shirt sales while Tom, Pat and I tended to the other chores. Sloppy Joes and baked beans were the dinner of choice. Figured we could keep everything warm for the late arrivals. As in years past, local support was provided by the Michigan Moto Guzzi Dealers and other notables; GT Motors from Lansing - thanks again for the cannolis Larry!, Detroit EuroCycles - Jeff rode up on a nicely done sidecar rig loaded full of door prizes, Grand Rapids Guzzi - Jamie Muller on his high mile 03 EV-T, with good hydraulic lifters, and Dave Blue - The Authorized Guzzi Mechanic. Dave set up shop and was on hand to do tune ups at a nominal fee. His excellent reputation and talents kept him busy all weekend. The good folks at Cycle-Moore Campground led by Shirley and Steve Moore, once again went the extra mile to insure that things ran smoothly. In spite of a painful foot and ankle, Shirley made sure that all of our needs were attended to. You can always rest assured that hot showers and clean facilities await you at Cycle-Moore Campground. To quote Gerry Mees, “Good people”. They flat make our jobs a lot easier. Jay and Ronda Salisbury stopped by for a couple of minutes just to say Hi and to donate a couple of finely embroidered Moto Guzzi shirts for the rally. Jim had been ill and felt it best not to tempt fate by sleeping in a tent on the ground.     

Saturday morning saw the chief cook (son Brian) up well before sunrise. By 8:00 a.m., scrambled eggs, sausage, hash browns, biscuits and gravy, coffee, and orange juice were ready to be served. We also had a big surprise. In the wee hours of the morning, before the cooking crew even got up, Bruce Anson, local baker, stopped by the campground on his way home from work and dropped off a ton of pastries. Not just everyday Little Suzie creamsicles, but honest big ticket, right side of the tracks, fancy stuff. For an encore, Bruce swung by later and donated a bunch of bread for dinner. Not the stuff we use to wad up and take fishing but the good stuff, names too fancy for me to pronounce. After everybody gave breakfast a chance to settle a bit, Tom Canute led a group ride through Frankfort, Glenn Arbor, Platte River and The Dunes with a stop for lunch at Boon Docks. The entire Interlochen / Traverse City area has got to be one of the most picturesque locations in the state. The weather for the ride was about as perfect as one could hope for.  Once the breakfast clean up was done, the crew started in on preparing dinner.  By 5:00 p.m. hearty portions of meatballs with gravy and noodles, red potatoes, corn and salad were ready to be served up, along with generous portions of those fancy breads. Even though a lot of people managed to save room for seconds, everybody managed to squeeze in a few cannolis generously donated by GT Motors - Lansing.

After dinner we had the 50/50 raffle, door prizes and awards. The 50/50 raffle was won by one of the luckiest people I know, Kathy McLernon. Long Distance Male went to Stephan Brenton from South Carolina, the Female Long Distance was awarded to Valrie Donndelinger from Dearborn.  Long Distance Two Up plaque was won by Jim and Cheryl Robson from Illinois. George Dalin won the Oldest Rider at 78 years young award while Kristopher James did a repeat performance for Youngest Rider. High Mileage Guzzi went to Karl Worth. If the road to the moon was paved, Karl would have been there by now! As with all the previous years, Tom Canute hand-crafted the awards. I might be a bit biased, but they are some of the finest award plaques I have seen. MGNOC Representatives in attendance included our own Michigan Rep Paul Szostak, Ohio Rep Jack Arnold (sorry Alice and Joan couldn’t make it), and Andy Thompson, the Indiana Rep. Jim Standard, one of the coordinators for the Illinois MGNOC Rally was also in attendance unfortunately without his sidekick Stanley Overstreet. A plethora of door prizes were handed out this year. A listing of our most generous supporters is noted below. Please remember to patronize their establishments. They support not only our rally, but many others. Without their support, the rallies would just not be the same. Bill Spurrier conducted a brief service of thanks for the all the good times and good memories provided. Later that evening we were treated to a brief but heavy downpour.  Cycle-Moore Campground has a huge pavilion, so everybody kept dry (I hope). By the time we left Sunday morning, everything was dry. I think that Jeff Bottrell - DetroitEuroCycles might have gotten a bit wet as he sidecar’d it across the state well after the festivities ended Saturday night. 

Sunday morning we walked around to police up the area, but as usual, there just wasn’t much to clean up. As with every year, the guys and gals attending the rally leave the place in fine order. All during the rally I see people picking up cans and bottles and general debris. It makes our life a bunch easier. This year the rally provided us with an addition to the family. While we were in the office squaring up the bill with Steve and Shirley, we heard a little whimpering noise emanating from the back room. My wife Pat and daughter-in-law Angie went back to investigate and there they saw a cute (so my wife thought) little puppy. Appears that the pup had been running the streets of Interlochen, so humanitarian Steve and Shirley were caring for her while they searched for the lost owners. Long story short, nobody claimed her and we were back up at Cycle-Moore Campground a week later to pick up our new dog. Son Brian suggested that we name her “Jackal”. I exercised my veto power and came up with “Rally”. Now, six months later, I think Brian was right. Jackal would have been a much better fit. Jackal indeed.

All in all, it was another good time. Think we’ll do it again this year. Thanks again to the 115+ rally attendees, the staff at Cycle-Moore Campground, and all those who generously supported the rally. Special thanks to those who always lend a hand to pitch in and help. We really appreciate it. See you in September.

Rally Supporters: Aero Design & Mfg Company (Aerostich), Associated Spring, Bill & Donna Spurrier, Bruce Anson, Cycle-Moore Inc., Detroit EuroCycles in Eastpointe MI, Rider Magazine, Eurosports in Waynesville OH (Jack Arnold), Floyd & Sally Kantz, Grand Rapids Guzzi in Grand Rapids MI, GT Motors in Lansing MI, Harper’s Moto Guzzi, the Illinois Rally Crew, Jay & Ronda Salisbury, Jim Somers, MGNOC – Frank Wedge, Mothers Polish, Paul & Alice Szostak, Precision Imprints, Randy Kepner, Rick & Dawn Pelton, Vintage Motorcycle Works  (Kevin Lentz), Whitehorse Press, and the Wisconsin Rally Crew.