RA at Biltmore Estate!

Asheville, North Carolina
June 7 – 10, 2007

You can sense it when you turn onto the drive that enters the estate: this is a place that transcends time and space. The stone archway marks the place where the noise of the city is left behind, your senses take in the beauty of the woods and time stands still. The drive meanders through dense wood with explosions of foliage and flowers and the occasional deer can be seen just at the periphery of your sight. Just when your mind is accustomed to the woods, the drive opens up into a vast field and depending on the time of year, crops can be seen growing. As you continue to follow this road you again enter woods and follow it and as it winds around, your sight is drawn to the right. And you can't stop staring…

The famed Biltmore House, built in the late 1800's, commandeers your attention and you will hard pressed to look away. But look away you must and continue down the winding driveway through the gardens, past the Bass Pond and as you round the curve to the right a broad field opens up hugging the river that winds through the estate.

Welcome to Rally Central, the site of the 35th Annual BMW RA International Rally. Tents with flags fluttering like the days of old, when a traveling fair would spring up in a field by a river, the RA will revive this olden tradition much like the days when the Biltmore House was built. Tents will be pitched, the smell of food will waft through the grounds, voices raised in greetings, the hum of motors, the sounds of nature…….all isolated in 8,000 acres of some of the most beautiful landscapes east of the Mississippi.

For the first time in Biltmore Estate's history, they will allow a group of folks to hold a rally on the estate, camp and stay on the premises. The BMW Riders Association is pleased to be that group of folks. Three wonderful days to tour the Biltmore House, the gardens, the winery and so much more in addition to the normal rally fare. And then there's the riding: western North Carolina's mountains and valleys, pavement and dirt roads and a little thing called the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The city of Asheville also welcomes rally goers to their eclectic city. Wander the streets of downtown with shops tucked away in some of the most unusual spaces. Where on Friday nights, drummers follow some sort of inner calling to meet at a park and drum for hours to calibrate the heartbeat of the city. There is something for everyone here and you will not get tired or bored.

Mark your calendars, get out your maps and plan your trip to a place where time stands still. This will be a rally unlike any other.

Weather statistics for June in Asheville: ( Details)

Images copyright 2005 The Biltmore Company, all rights reserved.