How the West Was Won - 2015

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Monday October 26, 2015 · 8:59 PM PDT

2015/10/26 · 20:59

Pushing fast through the New Mexico desert, the FJR1300 making it's own music beneath me as Cracklin' Rosie is beamed into my crash helmet from space, I am forced to wonder ... Does it get any better than this?

Those thoughts, that experience, happened during my return from New Mexico. I had spent 32 of the previous 48 hours taking part in the motorcycle rally known as the "How the West Was Won".

What follows is an account of the few lows, and very many highs of that event.

twigg

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Tuesday May 05, 2015 · 5:01 PM PDT

2015/05/05 · 17:01

When we left our intrepid hero he was somewhere in darkest Texas, asleep at a Loves gas station. The day is long, and the night short. Yesterday he covered one thousand and fifty miles in a variety of climactic conditions during twenty hours of riding.

The previous day had gone very well right up until the last few hours, when fog, rain and hail had descended to cause a two hour delay, and cause him, more than once, to question his sanity.

There is a strange ... pointlessness to these events. No one but the rider knows what resources are brought to bear to complete one in a timely manner, and no one but the rider and a few other, equally crazy people, cares very much.

It's in the sphere of personal challenge. It's not really a competition against the other participants. For me it is all about can I plan this thing, and can I then make it happen.

If I do that better than the others I will win. If not, someone else will win and I'm good with that.

twigg for Nitfig

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Monday May 04, 2015 · 7:42 AM PDT

2015/05/04 · 07:42

In many areas of human pursuit, that which gladdens our hearts and fills our spirits with joy can also bring the greatest of sadness, often when least expected. This was the case for my wife and I when we learned, last December, of the tragic death of Reagan Walters (above).

Reagan died in a motorcycle accident. She was out with her husband Brian, riding her new motorcycle, and doing what she loved to do. That it was her last outing will remain an enduring reminder that we practise a pastime that carries some inherent risks. I am left thinking that there is a risk/reward curve and we simply place ourselves on it at a point we feel comfortable. Nonetheless the risk remains and tragedy can be as close as the next bend in the road.

Reagan was cherished, not least by Brian who was also joint Rally Master for the Heart of Texas Rally 2015. The event this year was dedicated to her memory, and she will remain in our memories long after the trophies are awarded and the riders have gone home.

Let's Ride with Reagan through 54 hours of Texas!

twigg for Nitfig

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Wednesday July 30, 2014 · 5:01 PM PDT

2014/07/30 · 17:01

My readers here are veterans of my motorcycling Ride Reports, but for those unfamiliar with the format, a brief explanation.

I belong to a group of motorcyclists who specialize in Safe, Long Distance Motorcycling. As part of that community I enter Long Distance Rallies. The format is a scavenger hunt, the difference is the scale.

There are no prizes for being the first back to the finish. Only a combination of meticulous preparation, flawless execution and the ability to sit on a motorcycle for many hours will get the job done.

Even then the only prize is the respect of your fellow riders, but that is a prize beyond the dreams of avarice.

This event was hosted by a first-time Rally Master whose main advantage was the backdrop of Colorado in which to organise a thirty two hour event. There would be no points available for rest stops on this one, all the points were on the road ... we would have to ride to earn every one.

What happened next is below the orange roadkill.

twigg for Nitfig

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Thursday May 01, 2014 · 6:00 PM PDT

2014/05/01 · 18:00

Before dawn on a warm and clear Texas morning, several dozen motorcyclists left their chosen starting points. They each had but a single ambition; be in Georgetown, TX, before six pm with more points than the other riders. For those who like to read the end before the substance, I arrived with more points than all but two.

Those two, Rex LeGalley and Brain Walters, managed feats that day that I hadn't even considered possible. Not by mortals anyway. But Rex and Brian are not mortal, they are Iron Butt Rally veterans with high finishing places. The company was, as they say, a select group.

Before we get to Georgetown there is the small matter of twelve hours traveling through some of the best country on offer, so let's go for a ride.

twigg for Nitfig

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Friday October 25, 2013 · 6:03 PM PDT

2013/10/25 · 18:03

$Arriving in Dallas - attrib. Richard Swim$ It was cold and dark when thirty motorcycles gathered at a gas station on the Texas side of the border, in Texarkana.

The men and women piloting these bikes, machines honed for efficiency and prepared to be ridden for many hours, were a quiet, concentrating bunch. They went about their business with a studied purpose, belying the apparently relaxed and friendly atmosphere.

At six am we, and thirty five others similarly gathered across three other locations, would ride into the early morning darkness. Most would not see each other again until Dallas, some thirty six hours, and up to fifteen hundred miles later.

Until that moment, pictured on the right, I was just a number. The Big Tex Rally was about to begin, and I was number 67.

twigg

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Thursday October 24, 2013 · 6:01 PM PDT

2013/10/24 · 18:01

$Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug$ "Prada 'Marfa'" is a piece of installation art. It is on a deserted highway in Texas, close to Marfa, TX and the Mexico border. The structure was built at a cost of $80 000 and is designed to be allowed to degrade and crumble with the ravages of time.

It's sole purpose is to demonstrate the return from modernity to the earth from which it was created. Prada gave their blessing, and stock, for the store.

I was there because it was a bonus location worth 1405 points in the Big Tex Rally, a thirty six hour motorcycle rally entirely within the state of Texas.

From the start I was determined to make a significant assault on this rally. Despite my motorcycle inhabiting the territory known as the "Hopeless" Class, in previous rallies it has acquitted itself decently well, and surprised more than a few folk. This time the rally was a little longer, a little tougher, and I was determined to find out just what it could and couldn't do.

Incidentally, "it's the rider not the bike" is an old homily which was going to be put to the test too.

In the end it was a mixed result. For reasons that will become clear I decided not to finish, yet what I did accomplish, what I learned and what I will share that others may benefit too made this a truly worthwhile endeavour.

Let's jump the orange roadkill and go for a ride through Texas!

twigg for Nitfig

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Tuesday April 30, 2013 · 9:37 PM PDT

2013/04/30 · 21:37

The picture on the right is a city sign. It is not special, it is pretty much the same as many thousands of similar signs across the country. Tarpley, TX, is just another small community in central Texas. I can state confidently that decent Americans live there. They work, play and live their lives just as you, I and many millions of others do. It is completely unremarkable.

What is special about Tarpley, at least to me, is that I rode my motorcycle two thousand miles last weekend to get that picture.

That is clearly a statement that requires some explanation, at least to those who have not read these Diaries before; so let's jump the orange roadkill and find out more.

twigg for Nitfig

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Friday March 29, 2013 · 6:05 PM PDT

2013/03/29 · 18:05

In the Heart of Texas they gather. Motorcyclists from all over the country congregate to embark upon a twelve hour scavenger hunt ending in Brady. The pace is more "Fast and Furious" than "Slow Boat to China", aided not a little by the seventy miles per hour speed limits on the Texas cart tracks. It is an unrelenting twelve hours with no room for error. If you make a mistake in your planning, or execution, you will be beaten by those who don't. In longer rallies there is time to, well, rally; but not in the Heart of Texas.

This year, James Stovall (Rally Master) added a twist. For extra points, and just for the bragging rights, he set up an additional "Unique" bonus. You could earn Certificates from Leather through Diamond Level, by riding from 500 miles, to 1500 miles one way and in twenty four hours or less, to the bonus location. Once there you had to photograph the bonus and mail or text that picture to James within thirty minutes. An end receipt could follow later.

This challenge, and one additional six hour task, had to be completed no later than about ten days before the rally proper, and within about twelve hours of each other. I'll say right here that I didn't take the second part of the challenge for reasons that will become clear. The Title is a hint!

twigg for Nitfig

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Tuesday September 25, 2012 · 12:59 AM PDT

2012/09/25 · 00:59

In what is becoming a tradition, this Diary is another Long Distance Motorcycle Ride Report.

For the build up to this ride, and to get an overview of the route taken, please go here.

I have written a number of these reports, and they are all available in my Diary List for anyone interested in glancing through them. Usually I describe the route, talk about locations visited and try to give a flavor of what it is like to take part in these events.

twigg for Nitfig

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Friday September 21, 2012 · 8:48 PM PDT

2012/09/21 · 20:48

Today is the last day of summer. Appropriately it managed to reach 94F here in north east Oklahoma.

I don't know what folk generally do to celebrate the first day of Fall, but I spent last year on a Motorcycle Rally, and this year am doing the same.

Details, for those interested, lie beneath the orange roadkill.

twigg for Nitfig

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Monday August 06, 2012 · 7:01 PM PDT

2012/08/06 · 19:01

For the last couple of years, Jodie, my loving wife, has watched as I set off on motorcycle rides covering several States.

This time she was coming too!

I have ridden through Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma while she remained at home. She followed me on SPOT*, and got regular texts, calls and photo-messages, but until this weekend our longest joint ride was to the Talemina Scenic Byway; a trip of little more than four hundred miles.

By the standards I generally set, that was just a "ride before lunch".

This type of journey is not for everyone, but this weekend, it was just what we wanted.

For me, this was going to be a bit different too. Off came the auxiliary gas tank and cooler, on went things that would make her more comfortable in predicted temperatures in excess of 110F.

The journey was a long one, and keeping hydrated and as cool as possible would be the factors that determined success or total wipeout.

*In the SPOT link, set the history to "ALL" and hit "GO"

Let's wheelie over the orange bump in the road ...

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How the West Was Won - 2015

Riding with Reagan - Part II

Riding With Reagan - Part I

"You May be Right, I May be Crazy ..."

"Keep it Straight, and Keep it Eighty"

"Out in Luckenbach, Texas, Ain't nobody feelin' no pain"

"Steve went to Prada, and all I got was a lousy photograph" - Jodie

South Padre Island ... or Bust!

Twenty Four Hours, 1500 Miles, a Road Sign and Toothache!

Autumn Equinox 2012 - Dallas or Bust!

Autumn Equinox

"I am in Awe of my Wife" - Jodie picked the Title!