Seattle: Insanity or Monkey Run?
Posted by DamnMonkeySteve from gatekeeper.viair.com (12.110.76.18) on Thursday, February 21, 2002 at 3:19PM :
So... South Bay Mario and a few others have told me they were thinking
about coming up for a Seattle rally this summer, and I've been asked
which would be better, Insanity or the Monkey Run. I wrote up a response
the other day, but the BBS ate it, so I'm gonna try again.
Let me preface this by saying that I am a Monkey, so naturally it would
make sense for me to endorse the Monkey rally. I'm also a pretty honest
guy. I don't try to suck people into my own agenda and I don't try to
turn people away from those I dislike. Take that for what it's worth. I
would also like to say that while I prefer one over the other, both of
these rallies are great... just for different reasons and for different
people. So, while I prefer one over the other, I will not publicly say
that anyone shouldn't attend either.
Now then... the answer to the question of which one is better depends on
what you're into. If you are looking for a city rally, with a lot of
bikes (about a hundred), an itinerary, concerts, a couple of different
rides, scooter shows, awards, raffles, and all that typical city rally stuff,
then Insanity is where it's at.
However, if you want a nice LONG ride through some beautiful, scenic
country out to the San Juan islands of Washington to a nice camp site,
where you can hunker down for the night, drink, party, bullshit, and do
whatever else you like to do at a campout, then you want the Monkey Run.
As for me... I went to each of these rallies this past summer. At the
time, I was a member of the Vespa Club of Seattle (who puts on Insanity)
and I was not a Monkey. I had a thousand times more fun on the Monkey
Run. I'm a camping rally kind of guy. I like a LONG ride with a final
destination where we can all get down without worrying about getting on
our bikes all drunk so we can get to the the next meeting on the
itinerary. I like getting out of the city. In fact, getting out of town
is a big part of what the word "rally" means to me. And I like partying
out of sight and earshot of the authorities. Finally, I prefer paying a
few bucks for camp site, food, beer, and whatnot to paying $20 or more
for a "rally pack" containing a bunch of stuff I may or may not use over
the weekend.
So, having been to both of these, I can tell you here's what to expect:
At Insanity, you will have an itinerary which may or may not change over
the course of the weekend. You can go to as many or as few of the events
and rides as you want. There will be a lot of bikes. A lot of the bikes
will be real pretty and they will make you say "oooh" and "ahhh". People
probably will not actually ride those bikes, but they will look pretty.
There will be probably three or more rides, one of which some might
consider long (20 miles or so). There will be concerts, tickets to which
will be included in your rally pack. There will probably be a party at
someone's house on Sunday.
The Monkey Run will be a lot smaller. This year there were only about 10
bikes, and they were all Monkey bikes. Expect less bikes than at
Insanity and don't expect people to bust out their "show bikes".
Friday night will probably be our traditional outing at the Wing Dome
for the best chicken wings ever, most likely followed by visits to a
local bar or two. Saturday, we'll meet for breakfast and we will depart
on a LONG ride to the camp site. We'll set up camp, eat good food, drink
good beer, and spend all night doing your typical camping rally stuff -
talking and acting stupid and whatnot. Junior will make balloon animals,
Chris will probably make some great food, and I might even make another
meat sculpture of Andy's head in honor of his birthday. We will all eat
the head. Sunday we'll all take the long trip back to Seattle together.
When you go home, you'll tell people what rally you went to, and not as
many people will know what you're talking about, but you'll have made
some great new friends.
So basically, Insanity is sort of like Scooter Rage, while the Monkey
Run is a lot like a much smaller scale Tucson-Nogales, without the
belligerent skinheads kicking over tents, and without people riding
bikes through the fire.
Again, I'm not saying that you should skip either rally, but if you must
choose only one, then my recommendation is the Monkey Run. It's a lot of
fun, the people are all great, and camping is fun.
Finally, if anyone wants to come up (or down) for the Monkey Run from
out of town, I can promise you that we will do everything we can to find
you a free place to stay for as long as you need it.
Seattle people - PLEASE don't take this as a dig at Insanity. I am
absolutely not trying to dis Insanity, or ruin it, or get people to not
go on it. I'd love to see a zillion people show up in July for Insanity.
But, more than that, I'd like to see the Monkey Run get a LOT more play.
The Monkeys would especially like to invite other Seattle scooterists
come out for this great weekend.
Insanity 15 - July 5-7. Vespa Club of Seattle
Monkey Run 5 - Aug 16-18. The Emerald City Flying Monkeys, Email for info
If anyone would like more information on either of these rallies and
what goes on at each, drop me a line and I'll be happy to answer as best
I can. Also, you can probably get better information about Insanity by
contacting Rich Newland (Sugarbear) or any Vespa Club of Seattle member.
Just go to their site and click "members".
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