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The Little festival that could
2002, "off year" rally

    Harley Davidson has thrown some spectacular rallies. There are the yearly bashes at Sturges, and then there are the amazing homecoming rallies at Milwaukee, every few years. The 90th was spectacular, the 95th was even more so, and the 100th is looking to be unbelievable. These huge festivals dominate the lakefront, the downtown area, the east side of Milwaukee, and take over the Summerfest grounds. I have photographed these blowouts, and they have their own pages, paying special attention to the parade of bikes down Milwaukee's main drag.
    Though these spectacular events occur every few years, drawing great crowds of people, there are other, smaller rallies on the "off" years. In contrast to the huge celebrations which seem to dominate the city, these smaller gatherings often go nearly unnoticed.
Getting There
A ride down at the lake. There is a several mile long drive along the lake, and the entire lakefront area hs been turned into a park. This is a favorite place for the locals to gather during the summer. 
Crowds of motorcycles, and cars pack the lake front, seeking entry to the grounds.
Getting There:
You CAN get there from here. A bunch of riders cruise the lake before checking out the grounds.
Pulling alongside the lagoon. The Milwaukee lakefront park begins just to the east of the downtown area, and stretches west for several miles. Lake Michigan itself is a block behind the riders.
Waiting to get out onto Lake Drive
Heading up towards the lake. The reunion activities were centered on a large park area bounded on two sides by Lake Michigan. 
Getting into the parking area
Right this way 
Bike and boats. A number of sailboat masts are visible, just past one of the many areas full of parked Harleys.
Large fields full of bikes can be seen off in the distance. This is ordinarily just a large open field in the middle of the park. What better welcome could there be?
More reunion riders being directed into the parking areas. The apartment buildings of the East side of Milwaukee can be seen in the background.
One of the little park roads bounding the lake. It is crowded with parked vehicles, mostly motorcycles.
Right this way folks. Riders being directed to the vacant parking areas. Though this was one of the little reunions, thousands were still expected to attend. Insuring that everyone had a place to park, meant keeping things organized so that none of the space in the parking areas was wasted.
Helping to move things along. Welcome to the rally, right this way please.
Field of dreams. Motorcycles fill one of the many open areas near the lake front. A hazy view of the city can be seen above the park areas. 
Old friends, or perhaps strangers meeting for the first time. The area is a sort of an informal motorcycle show where people show of their bikes, and discuss important matters (where do we eat?).

 
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