Rally Cancelled - Valhalla Rally 2020, Sept 17-20 Grand Forks BC

[gordonv]

Update: Aug 15
Rally cancelled due to the border staying closed till Sept 21, if it even opens after that, who knows. Replied to thread at the end what is happening. We'll try again next year.
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Update: May
Due to COVID, the rally has been moved to Sept 17-20. All reservations have been moved. Nothing more is needed, unless you can't make this time, then you will need to contact the hotel and cancel your reservation. Then please post here, so we can try to get others who may wish to go.
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The 2020 annual British Colombia, Washington State and all Welcome, VRCC Valhalla Rally will be held in Grand Forks BC. The date is the weekend after Fathers Day, June 25 - 28 (thurs - sun).

Mike reserved the whole hotel for the VRCC during these dates. To make a reservation, contact the hotel, and ask for a reservation for the Valhalla Rally. Rooms will be held for us, till a date to be confirmed. Please make your reservation early if you are planning on coming.

Johnny's Motel
Ph:250-442-8242
Fax:1-866-611-8588
7291 Hwy 3 E.
Grand Forks B.C.
Box 876, V0H 1H0
johnnysmotel@shaw.ca

Here is the rooms, and their numbers. I still have the room rates we where quoted for 2018, but it's too soon for them to confirm our rates for 2020.

http://www.johnnysmotel.ca/?page_id=175

There are only 26 rooms. They are numbered looking from the road toward the motel, right-to-left, 1A/1B - 25. The list shows what each room has, and which room #. Choose wisely! Some even have covered parking.

Hope to see you all there.

Thank you for your support of the VRCC.

Mike and I have already reserved our rooms.

[Beardo]

Great job planning and booking it so early.  

Stacey and I are planning on a longer ride next summer for our 25th Anniversary.  We’re thinking about going to the Maritimes so I’m not sure if I’ll be able to make it to Valhalla as well.

Although...might see what happens in the election in October...if eastern Canada and the Maritimes elect another Trudeau government, I don’t think I’ll ever go east of Manitoba again.

I’ll hold off making a reservation at Johnny’s for now. Might just see what happens and show up.  Maybe curl up underneath Gord or Dave’s trailers.

[SteveH]

Booked 

[msb]

Wow we're so organized, blocking off the motel and folks getting their rooms reserved already...10 months in advance!! We'll make sure we dont get carried away though, maintaining enough disorganization to keep up with tradition
Will be nice to get back to the Kootenays again. With the whole place being renovated now, Lisa and I have changed things up and will try room #9 , with  good old 6 & 8 likely  having  lost their unique appeal  

The Riverside Inn next door is still negotiating with their insurance company so haven't completed renovations yet...if we need an overflow motel. It is possible they will be ready in time for next June, we can check early in the new year. If it isn't going to be ready, Daniel recommends the Victorian Motel about 1 km East on Hwy 3 @ 6451 Highway 3....phone 250-442-3011.

[gordonv]

I’ll hold off making a reservation at Johnny’s for now. Might just see what happens and show up.  Maybe curl up underneath Gord or Dave’s trailers.

I've I can find a cote, I'll bring it up for you. 

[Redline +]

Redline + 1 booked. At this time, 16 of the 26 rooms are booked, all covered parking taken, maybe someone will share. I offered to pay more to kick Gordon out of room 6, but it didn't work this year, room 20 for us.

[gordonv]

I offered to pay more to kick Gordon out of room 6, but it didn't work this year, room 20 for us.

There's always room for 2 MC in every spot, even with my trailer and Beardo sleeping under it.

Unless my brother comes up and I change to a 2 room suite, but you mentioned the parking is all taken, so I think the double rooms are too.

At this time, 16 of the 26 rooms are booked, all covered parking taken, maybe someone will share.

Wow, one week and already 3/5th filled! Nice work people! 

[msb]

I've got a call in to the Victorian Motel to give them a heads up as well...just in case we need more than the 26 rooms at Johnny's and the Riverside Inn is not ready by the new year.

[brigand]

First time to Rally, booked, room 2, coming out of Kimberley, easy ride for us, my better half rides as well, always love laying over in G.F., this time a two or three day stay will be good.
See you all in June.
Brigand

[msb]

First time to Rally, booked, room 2, coming out of Kimberley, easy ride for us, my better half rides as well, always love laying over in G.F., this time a two or three day stay will be good.
See you all in June.
Brigand

Looking forward to meeting you and the Mrs, Brigand. You'll enjoy yourselves, we've got a good group that we've established over the past 10 -11 years of this rally. Lots of couples as well. Love Kimberly... I'm from Nelson originally.
Cheers, Mike

[gordonv]

I've bad news for me, I've a wedding of a nephew the Rally weekend. Seems I'll not be able to attend this year. Or more precisely, the weekend.

Also George wasn't going to make the 3 night rally, but I suggested that we still drive up Thursday and back on Friday, and he is up for it.

Mike, do you have a trailer hitch on your bike? Did you want to take my trailer and the fire pit for the Rally?

[Gryphon Rider]

Room booked!  Anticipating bringing my wife this time, but I'm sure one of my kids would be willing to be the backup plan.  I even bought a Hawaiian shirt last summer!

[gordonv]

Room booked!  Anticipating bringing my wife this time, but I'm sure one of my kids would be willing to be the backup plan.  I even bought a Hawaiian shirt last summer!

Great to hear, you'll fit right in with that shirt. 

[nogrey]

If I find myself able to come, it will be at the last minute. If the opportunity makes itself known I will try to be there, but at this point it doesn’t look promising.

[gordonv]

OK people, it's been a while, not much being said, since most are stuck at home trying to not lose our minds. We aren't all like Mike able to drive to some remote secluded lake and trout fish.

I've wedding to go to on the Sat. George who was at Merritt can only do the one night, 25th, also. So we'll be coming in the morning Thurs, and leaving for home after the morning riders head out.

I emailed Johnny's Hotel. I tried to change my room to one night and a dual bed, but the good news is, it's 100% booked, so I was unable to change it. I didn't ask, but that should have been for Valhalla. That's Great work people!

Luckily they emailed back later, that someone had cancelled, and it was a double bed room, so I booked it. But only for the one night, Jun 25th.

This means that room # 6 has one less couple staying in it, thereby making more room for all those others who booked it too. It had a carport!

Then there is my room, leaving it for the 2 nights of the 26-27. So if you are coming the Friday night for the weekend, you might want to jump on this one.


Mike, had we actually arranged anything on the overflow? I believe it was the hotel next door with the pool?

Looks like going forward, Mike will be hosting the Fri and Sat night meet ups?

Now it's just a waiting game to see where this COVID goes. I'm sure we all know what the news is saying. The border is closed, and there is the requests not to travel too much, causing an increase in the risk of bringing the virus to a location that hasn't had any issues yet.

[msb]

I think the plan to wait until May to make a call is still a decent option, however I think it may be likely we'll have to... or want to postpone. Another option is to make the call to postpone now... and call Johnny's and see if we can keep the same rooms booked but change the date to late August or early September. Making that decision  early would give everyone lots of time to plan for the later date, and not have to wait and wonder.

Thoughts, everybody?

[gordonv]

It's so hard to know. I think like the annual flu, all we need is a spell of good weather, doors open, fresh air comes in, and the UV/sun/heat starts killing this thing off.

So if we see one month of this, April, we should see almost a stop to it all by mid May, with an end by June.

We've all made the right move now of staying away from others. This is stopping those huge increases in cases that we see in locations in the USA.

This is not based upon medical data or anything. This is how I see the annual flu behave. I'm still working. I go into 40 different locations a day. I touch hard surfaces, doors/lights/washer/dryers, in every location. On average, 6 machines. I feel I'm high risk. But I try to keep clean, past years and this year. I'm wearing gloves so my hands don't dry out with all the extra washing I'm doing (they are still cracking). In some years I catch a sniffel. I haven't had a sic day I can't remember when, maybe my surgery in 03'?

My concern in changing dates is vacation time is set. I don't expect to be able to change this years, as everyone at work is not traveling for their vacation, some are postponing theirs, as people with the flu are in contact with someone who traveled (students coming home) or family that has a flu, we are down about 30% of our staff. Summer is always a busy time for vacations, and I'm low man on that list.

I'd very much like to just make things easy and do as you suggested, July or Aug postponement. But it is really possible to still carry this out in late June. As long as the virus is out, there is no need to cancel our reservations, as we won't be allowed to travel and would be expected to stay home. When we can go out again, we should be good to go. For the virus,  we are 11.5 weeks away from June 25th.

Did I ramble too much?? I hope not. We'll need to wait for some other opinions/thoughts.

[SteveH]

I vote to stick with the plan to wait until May to make the decision . There is no downside to waiting. That still gives 8 weeks . Things are not looking good right now ....    .... and there continues to be a lot of misinformation circulating.

As of today ...... confirmed cases 17,883 CDN vs 401,636 US .....deaths 381 CDN vs 12,905 US .......recovered 4,050 CDN (23%) vs 22,476 US ( 6%) .

Fun Facts ..... The US is almost as big as Canada ...... Canada 9,984.67 sq km vs US 9,833.52 sq km
              ....... Population Canada 35.6 million vs US 326.6 million .....US has more people on smaller real estate = 10 times the population density .

My calculations ;  The US has over 2,000% higher number of confirmed cases ... it has over 3,000% higher death rate..... it has 555% lower recovery rate. I think these numbers reflect the influence of population density on the spread of  any virus.

To all my US and Canadian friends ...... be safe, isolate .... stay the snuggle at home !!!! Live to ride another day !

[The Walrus]

I agree with staying the course to May.   

Dawna and I are going on walks almost every evening. (we did this pre-corona too) We've never seen so many people outside playing, walking or biking around as we see now with the lock down. 

Pretty easy to stay 6 feet away from everyone, but it's funny that some people won't even make eye contact or greet you.   

[gordonv]

Mike, a couple of questions.

Do you want me to bring the fire pit to Grand Forks in the trailer? I'm only up for the Thursday night.

Did you want me to bring it back home the next day, or leave you the trailer/pit, and you bring it to your home Sun? (or take it on your extended trip).

[msb]

Mike, a couple of questions.

Do you want me to bring the fire pit to Grand Forks in the trailer? I'm only up for the Thursday night.

Did you want me to bring it back home the next day, or leave you the trailer/pit, and you bring it to your home Sun? (or take it on your extended trip).

If Valhalla happens, Lisa will be driving with her new knee...not riding. She'll be able to take the firepit and bring it home. I don't have a trailer hitch.

[SteveH]

I tried calling Johnny's in Grand Forks to check on their status . They do not answer the phone and we have not received a call back in two days. This was the same response ( or lack thereof) we got when they were flooded last year and not open for business. Also, it appears that Grand Forks may be in danger of flooding again this spring. 

[Madawg]

They had a sister hotel / motel somewhere else. I think Gordonv knows where that is, maybe you can get in touch that way?

This is coming down to the wire. We need to be able to get in touch.

Maddog

[msb]

I'm not sure if the border will even be open in June. Even if Motels are open which it looks like they will be before Valhalla, there will be limitations on how folks gather and such. I'm thinking postponment is in the cards. We should be looking at and making a decision on a late Summer date now... at least we'd have a backup plan decided upon if we do wind up postponing.

We can have a meeting to discuss our options... a summit if you will, of grizzled Valhalla veterans representing the 3 regional groups that first descended upon the Valhalla Inn in New Denver, each not knowing  at the time that the rowdy and close knit group from the Spokane Valley in Eastern WA, their across state rivals... the notorious Vermin gang from the West coast, and the wide-eyed innocents from BC who rarely even saw another Valkyrie on the road let alone know there were one or two or three that could even make up a group ride, would one day all come together to be one big happy family.

Since I'm doing it everyday anyways these days, how about I set up a Zoom meeting with the "Executive", to come up with a plan. We can share a beer virtually, share a few stories and jokes, and maybe even come up with a decision. Heck, maybe Gord can even have the campfire going in the background. Double Heck.... maybe we can just invite everyone and have a big old pre-Valhalla Zoom party 

[Redline +]

I'm thinking postponment is in the cards. We should be looking at and making a decision on a late Summer date now... at least we'd have a backup plan decided upon if we do wind up postponing.

I’ve been conducting back channel communications with an unnamed source North of the International Boundary concerning this very topic. While personally, I don’t agree with many of the actions taken in response to the virus, my unnamed source and I do agree it’s probably best to postpone the Rally. Just waiting for the official word from the Rally organizers, I think that’s you Mike!

Redline

[SteveH]

I’ve been conducting back channel communications with an unnamed source South of the International Boundary concerning this very topic. I'm not about to reveal my contact , but I think cancelling Valhalla and rescheduling it for a later date makes perfect sense. It is doubtful that the border will be open and if it is there will no doubt be restrictions to phase in full access. I'm also concerned that if we are mandated to stay 6 feet apart, that the circle around Gord's fire pit might have to be the size of a baseball diamond. .... and we won't won't be able to watch the gals get loaded at a picnic table while giggling and yelling "more wine".

[SteveH]

Here's the latest from Dr. Bonnie Henry .....

While B.C. has done well in “flattening the curve” and reducing transmissions over the past two months, allowing for the phased-in reduction in restrictions, the risk of a spike in transmissions remains until a vaccine is developed. A “second wave” of cases in the fall is of particular concern.

“Maybe there won't be a second wave, but every other pandemic in recorded history has had at least two waves, some more,” Dr. Henry said.

“Whether the second wave will be more severe than the first, whether there'll be a series of smaller waves, I don't know. I don't think anybody knows ... What I do know is we need to keep putting the pressure on this virus to make sure it doesn't take off and that means we can't expand our circles too much in the coming weeks and months.”


What I take from that is there is an extremely high probability of a second wave of COVID in the fall, and that we are being cautioned to not expand our circles of contact for MONTHS  !

Perhaps we should put the whole Valhalla get together this year on hold ?? What does everyone think??

[gordonv]

No answer also, so I wrote them with some inquiry for a different date, of their choosing, and will await a reply.

Lets see what is available, and go from there. Any delay also gets us closer to the actual time, like being able to freely travel, and the border opening for travel.

[msb]

I like the idea of re-scheduling for early September. It's easy to still cancel if things are not back to some resemblance of normalcy by then. It really depends on the opening of the border, as that will be the last thing they do after everything else looks better. They won't open it if there's still other concerns here in BC or in WA.

Another option...there's a road by the Aldergrove border crossing called Zero Avenue that runs along the border on the Canadian side. On the South side there's a ditch....across that ditch is the good old USA. We can meet up in June or September somewhere along Zero Avenue where there's pull-outs, a nice tree or two, and maybe even  a porta-potty for the gals. The Canucks on the North side of the ditch, and the Yanks on the South side. The Yanks will have to bring their own firepit....we'll put on our Redline Tribute shirts, sit around our respective firepits, and trade lies and sarcastic remarks over a glass of Fireball from across the ditch. We may have to keep an eye on the gals in case one or two drink too much wine and fall in the ditch, or that someone from either side drinks too much Fireball and decides that they'd like to try the other Nationality on for size as a refugee fleeing persecution, and makes a swim for it or tries to jump the ditch on their Valkyrie, but other than that it could be fun

[Madawg]

Give em more ideas Mike, put beans in their ears or sticks up their nose...jump the ditch 

There hasn't been a lot of response to Mike's suggestion on the ZOOM meeting but I like it.

For those that may not know, you don't even need a camera. Mike sets it up, gives us a meeting ID and password. All you have to do is go to www.zoom.us or .ca click join a meeting and plug in the numbers as given...your in.

Maybe a weekend morning, afternoon or evening???? Mike you want to step in here?

Maddog

[msb]

I'm willing. Especially the part about having a virtual cocktail with each other... never know, it might be as close as we all get this year.  Anyone who wants to join in, send me your email in a PM or directly to msboldt@shaw.ca and I'll pick a date and time (Friday or Saturday evening?) and send out the invite.

[SteveH]

Hey, I'm willing to try just about anything. How long before the group chat should I start drinking??

[gordonv]

Another option...there's a road by the Aldergrove border crossing called Zero Avenue that runs along the border on the Canadian side.

We could just do this at Peace Arch Park, we each stay to our own sides of the border. Bring our chairs, set them up along the border on our own sides, and we can pass the Fireball back-forth using a grip stick or something.

[gordonv]

I got an email back from Johnny's.
Only the owner currently working, so he's being a very busy person.

At this time, he's good to go, and there are lots of dates available. I suppose it's either up to us or the government, to start making decisions.

I would suggest we wait till we can have Mike's offered Zoom meeting.

But until we get closer, or until dates are mentioned by the gov, I would suggest we wait before rescheduling. BC is talking of loosening the strings a little next week. I see no reason at this time, that we can not continue with the date at the Motel.

But will the border be open? I think the talk was keeping it closed till July 1. This is because south of most of the provinces, are having trouble. WA is 7x worse than BC right now.

Personally, I would just reschedule for the Sept fall dates, 17-20, and lets stay local a little bit longer. Weather should be mild/cool, and leaves the 28th for Annacortes Oyster Run.

[SteveH]

Margaret and I drove down to Grand forks today and dropped in on Johnny's . They are definitely open and had some rooms rented. He claims to have answered all telephone calls and emails , which of course is BS because I was one of the folks that he did not respond to and still hasn't.   As Gord said, he appears to be on his own. He indicated there were no government restrictions on his operation other than if you arrived in the same car, you were permitted to visit each others room . If you arrived in separate vehicles ( he simply shrugged his shoulders LOL) you are not supposed to visit each others room. He said it is really up to us to decide, since he has no restrictions , and his legal limit is something like 84 guests. ....... the river is seriously high and I estimate it to be about 4-5 feet from reaching the bank . At this point in time very few washrooms are open in any of the normal establishments .... so, bush peeing is pretty much the only reliable option. I would like to put my name in for one of the guys to hold up a privacy towel in front of any of the gals who wants to take a crack at bush peeing  ( no pun intended).

[The Walrus]

I like the idea of the cross border get together along Zero Ave or the Peace Arch.  that would be fun to have a row of Valks (and a few F6's) sitting on Zero and Boundary Ave's handing Fireball across on a stick! 

[icandoitfaster]

People are already using our zero ave idea. Many met on zero ave to chat with family this past Mother's Day. 
https://bc.ctvnews.ca/families-meet-along-0-avenue-to-connect-across-the-border-1.4904645?cache=yesclipId104062

[gordonv]

I like the idea of the cross border get together along Zero Ave or the Peace Arch.  that would be fun to have a row of Valks (and a few F6's) sitting on Zero and Boundary Ave's handing Fireball across on a stick!  

I wonder what border services would say/do if we where to actually do this? Might be a little problem when time to drive away  

There is a section of road, Markworth Rd Blaine, near 244 St Langley, that we could meet and yell across the road.

Oh ya, today's talk about the border opening, it ain't going to happen this month, not till near the end of June. I'm sure this will be firmed up over the next few days.

[icandoitfaster]

I'll be surprised if it opens to tourists before the end of August. Our leaders are idiots!!   

[murraypeart (bandit)]

Well we are half way through May. Any further thoughts on changing the date?

Mike, I will send you an email about the Zoom meeting.