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2014 Around the Bend - a "Super" Ride in Big Bend

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Trail Boss said:
Unfortunately, there won't be an Uncle's rally in 2015.

I was planning on 2015 being the last year that I organized the rally (with hope that someone else would pick up the reins after that). Unfortunately, life is really busy for me, making rally organization too challenging right now. Uncle and I discussed it several times and we decided that 2014 was my last year.
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Many thanks for doing what you've done. The rides I've done with you have been the motorcycle highlights of my life.

Can I organize Uncles this year in your absence?
 
Hooray! We have a brave volunteer. Thanks Richard & Connie for all the time and efforts you have contributed. I am another rider who had never witnessed the Big Bend area. Had you not offered the Desert Challenge ride I likely wouldn't have ever bothered to schedule a trip out there. So thanks once again for enlightening so many riders horizons with your great work. Hey now that your just an ordinary rider, maybe you will have time to just show up & ride with us. As long as there are places to ride dirt in the region, I feel like this ride could & should continue. Plenty of people are clued in on it now, and most of us want to attend again in the future. Maybe it should morph into more of an open rally format with various inmates stepping up to ram rod assorted flavored rides. That could reduce the general work load on the organizers plate. Pick a date and start let's start planning. Since I'm working all thru Feb, I vote for sometime in early March! :trust: -As a dirt loving dual sporter, it would be great if someone could wrangle some access to one of the larger private ranches out there, so we could have uninhibited dirt access & maybe even some real single track options.
 
Trail Boss and Uncle, Thanks for all the work you've done over the years to make the ride happen. Of course I am heartbroken that the ride will not happen in 2015.

I'm sitting here 2 weeks post-op from a cervical fusion and I was starting to get fired up about a trip to Big Bend in February. Something to look forward to! While we won't have Richard or Uncle there's no reason why some of us can't say "Hey guys why don't we meet in Terlingua on February 20, 2014 and go for a ride that weekend?" I won't pretend to have the time or skills to organize a ride myself but if a bunch of us just want to show up with bikes at the same time at the same place and do a little riding there's no harm in that.

My wife has already stated that she wants to go to Lajitas for a long weekend in February.
 
ChrisWFO,

I think the easiest rally to organize is one like you have described. Someone decides they want to have a rally, commits themselves as the organizer, picks a date, and posts an invite on TWT (and elsewhere) with all the details. If it's a "show up and ride" rally with no t-shirts, organized meals, banquets, etc, then the planning and organizing is fairly easy. Attendance will likely be light in comparison to a more organized rally (one that includes t-shirts, banquet, door prizes, etc) but that's not necessarily a bad thing, depending on what you want the rally to be.


My personal opinion is that unless someone else really wants to organize the rally that the group should encourage Shadman to commit before he comes to his senses.

And before his wife finds out that he publicly volunteered. :lol2:
 
http://texasadventure.net/events/around-the-bend/

Richard, I kind of didn't expect you to agree, haha.

Unless someone qualified and capable steps up and wants to do this, I am happy to commit to organizing the 2015 event. Richard already updated the website, (see link above), so I have my work cut out for me. Since November to February is the slow season in my line of work (pest control, of sorts) I should have more free time than most. I'm not sure how my wife and kids will react to a 7 day planning "vacation" in Big Bend over New Year's, but I would guess it will be a fun conversation and add some spice to our relationship. :lol2:

So, how does the pre-preposed date of March 19 - 22 2015 fit everyone's schedule? :-P

Also, I guess I should make a roll call for past and future volunteers. Never having done or seen an adventure challenge or desert challenge, organizing this should prove to be my biggest hurdle. Anyone want in on the madness?

Now off to Amazon.com for a new set of Shinko 244's for my motard...
 
:clap::clap::clap: You are already off to a great start Shadman! :rider:
One thing to consider is that it starts to warm up in March. By the third week in, it could be fairly warm during the day. Not being very experienced in visiting the region, I don't know how soon "warm" days turn to just plain hot, but I know it happens fairly early in the spring.
 
IMHO, March is one of the best months for Big Bend, especially near the end of the month. It can be quite cold in late Feb or early March and the chance of a cold front coming through are very high. Even mid-March can get cold fronts - at the 2014 event we got a cold front during the Adventure Challenge and temps dropped into the 40s. My group ended up stopping in Marfa mid-route to buy cold weather gear...

Conversely, it typically doesn't get and stay hot (90s and above) until sometime in April.
 
Hot coffee was the order of the day by the time we got to Marfa. Some were scrounging for an extra layer. A couple of new buddies said the ride back home to El Paso was downright miserable. No complaints though, I still had a blast.
 
Shadman said:
Unless someone qualified and capable steps up and wants to do this, I am happy to commit to organizing the 2015 event. Richard already updated the website, (see link above), so I have my work cut out for me. Since November to February is the slow season in my line of work (pest control, of sorts) I should have more free time than most. I'm not sure how my wife and kids will react to a 7 day planning "vacation" in Big Bend over New Year's, but I would guess it will be a fun conversation and add some spice to our relationship. :lol2:

So, how does the pre-preposed date of March 19 - 22 2015 fit everyone's schedule? :-P
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Answers
A - You're awesome!
B - I'm in!

:rider:
 
Trail Boss said:
IMHO, March is one of the best months for Big Bend, especially near the end of the month. It can be quite cold in late Feb or early March and the chance of a cold front coming through are very high. Even mid-March can get cold fronts - at the 2014 event we got a cold front during the Adventure Challenge and temps dropped into the 40s. My group ended up stopping in Marfa mid-route to buy cold weather gear...

Conversely, it typically doesn't get and stay hot (90s and above) until sometime in April.
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+1

Last year I left Terlingua Sunday around eight A.M. towards Alpine. Near Alpine I think it was about 34 and raining lightly. CDC followed the same path an hour later and said it was sleeting on the same stretch of road. I had four layers on including my rain suit, Gerbing jacket liner, and gloves. I didn't get comfortable until Fort Stockton. Trail Boss is right about late March being a better time IMHO.
 
Speaking of Marfa.... My high school friend and bad boy of the Lamar Sr. High choir renovated and owns Padre's in Marfa http://padresmarfa.com/ , a 150 yr old live music and dining establishment. I'll have to add his venue to the Adv challenge. Some of you may know him as the front man in bands Banana Blender Surprise, The El Orbits, and entertaining through various house bands at the Continental Club or the Satellite in Houston.

David just got elected as J.P. of Marfa. Whoda thunkit. That means he handles speeding ticket disposition:lol2:

http://bigbendnow.com/2014/10/beebe-seeks-jp-post-as-democratic-candidate/
 
Oh, the wife gave the nod of approval last night. Our planning trip with the family in tow is set for the week of New Years. Woot Woot.
 
Shadman, Thanks for stepping up to fill some pretty big shoes. Missing "Around the Bend" for the last couple years due to injury has been tough. I'll have to let my wife know about the planned dates so she can make reservations at Lajitas for her comfort while I ride.
 
I had planned to get a group rate and room block at Lajitas for the next rally. I met with their sales director last year when we were there.
 
Shadman said:
...Also, I guess I should make a roll call for past and future volunteers. Never having done or seen an adventure challenge or desert challenge, organizing this should prove to be my biggest hurdle. Anyone want in on the madness?..
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Shadman I volunteer myself and JMZ to be in charge of the beer drinkers and hail raisers.

There is a cool little intro to the song.



_
 
SB, I wish I could find my first motorcycle again. If nothing else, to knock it over and cuss it for being so unreliable, LOL.
 
I have a few more unanswered questions and will be soon posting an official ride thread.

For those who went last year, was there a big attendance at the Adventure challenge? Did folks have a good time? Was it challenging? Do folks want to do it again?
 
Shadman,

I can answer the attendance question - attendance was high for both the desert and adventure challenge events. The desert challenge was more popular of the two with about 75 riders signing up to participate. About 40 riders signed up for the Adventure Challenge (half of which did both the desert and adventure challenges). Total rally attendance for 2014 was about 140.
 
Shadman said:
I have a few more unanswered questions and will be soon posting an official ride thread.

For those who went last year, was there a big attendance at the Adventure challenge? Did folks have a good time? Was it challenging? Do folks want to do it again?
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IDK, YES, YES, and YES :rider: :eat: :chug:
 
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