While attending the International Council of BMW Clubs meeting in Germany, I had the opportunity to meet the President and Executive Director of the BMW Car Club of America (BMW CCA). During our conversation, they graciously invited us to attend their annual National Rally—which, as luck would have it, was being held right in our home state of Wisconsin at the legendary Road America in Elkhart Lake. 

We couldn’t pass up the chance to connect with our four-wheeled BMW counterparts. The event turned out to be a fantastic experience filled with great food, friendly people, and plenty of opportunities to build bridges between the car and motorcycle communities. We set up a BMW Motorcycle Owners of America (BMWMOA) booth at the Cars & Coffee car show, where we met dozens of enthusiastic BMW owners. To our surprise, some of them already owned motorcycles or were seriously considering getting one. Several members even rode their bikes to the event, while others proudly shared photos of their BMW motorcycles—past and present—on their phones. 

The atmosphere was vibrant, with a shared passion for performance, engineering, and the BMW brand tying everyone together. One of the highlights was the chance to take a few sunset laps around the famous Road America track—a truly unforgettable experience. I also donated to the BMW CCA Foundation, which came with a once-in-a-lifetime thrill: a few high-speed laps as a passenger with a professional driver, hitting 158 mph on the front stretch! 

The BMW CCA National Rally differs from our BMWMOA National Rally in that everything is à la carte—the basic registration covers entry, and participants can choose from a variety of add-on experiences such as meals, culinary classes, go-kart sessions, performance driving, training, and track time.

Overall, it was an incredible weekend and a wonderful opportunity to strengthen ties between BMW car and motorcycle enthusiasts. And just to clarify—we proudly paid for everything ourselves!