1,800 Motorcyclists = 2 Hours

I've long been skeptical of the "Rolling Thunder" claims to have 50,000 motorcycles participating in their annual Memorial Day ride.  My skepticism is reaffirmed by this alert from the Virginia Department of Transportation, concerning the 1,800 motorcycles which are expected to participate in a 9/11 memorial ceremony this Friday.  The alert says:

The riders are expected to enter Loudoun County from Maryland at 2 p.m. with the
final riders estimated to enter the county between 3:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. The Loudoun
County Sheriff’s Office and the Virginia State Police will be stopping traffic at the
intersections on Route 15 from the Maryland line to the Leesburg town line

 Granted Route 15 from MD to Leesburg is a 2 lane road with a 45 mph speed limit, and the routes Rolling Thunder takes are wider.  Usually the pictures of Rolling Thunder show a double column of motorcycles, so say 2,000 cycles an hour can pass a given point.  That means RT must take 25 hours.

I'm not aware VDOT has ever issued an alert for Rolling Thunder, although to be fair that's not on a workday.