Hemibee
01-30-2007, 12:07 PM
I was thinking of the best way to write this ride report when I thought it might be best to start where it all began. So if you will allow me I will briefly discuss the abbreviated history of what led up to the Elmer Symons Benefit ride. So with out further delay I will start at the beginning.
On April 1, 1959 the life changing event for my parents took place in a truly remarkable little southern town at the Beaufort Naval Hospital in Beaufort, South Carolina. Wait a minute that is ancient history……………………..let’s fast forward to February 11 and 12, 2006. A group of riders from all over came together at Red River Motorcycle Trails to attend a little group ride that became known as First Annual Myosin Meet Muenster Meet,(FAMMMM), you will just have to trust me on the name of the ride or I guess I could answer questions later. Unfortunately I was unable to attend the ride so I had to enjoy the ride from afar by reading their ride reports. Sounded like they had a great time. Well it was thru this ride that several of them got to talking about bringing the ride south to ride the Sam Houston National Forest toward the end of 2006 to ride the home trails of the organizer of FAMMMM. As luck would have it when the date of the ride was set I was once again working and couldn’t attend and then the rains started and we know what that means for Sam, trails closed but there was a last minute back up plan……Muenster. So the ride moved to Muenster and at this point I will grab some of the ride report from that ride to speed this along a little faster…………………..
ArkansasXC’s ride report on KTMTalk from Muenster of how they met Elmer after most of the other ride members had left due to the rains making it to Muenster………
After breakfast we all sat around for a while wishing the rain would go away but after a couple of hours it was apparent that it was not going to stop so people start making a mad dash to get tents and things loaded when it eases up a bit. Proxy and JWDuffin were the first to get loaded up and head out. Next was MikeC, then Roostn520, Forest and Neal hit the road. Grady, Brian250 and MXER held out for a bit longer still with hopes of the rain ending. Once they realized it wasnt going to stop, they loaded up and hit the road with MXER616 in tow. Laughing at the two texans and three Arkies that were silly enough to stay behind. Now...JGas, Skyler, MikeC and I were supposed to be heading off to ride Talimena but decided that we didnt want to ride wet rocky terrain especially since I had smashed my foot the day before in a rutt. I asked the fellas what they wanted to do and they said "STAY AT MUENSTER and ride some more." What the heck, Im game! So SRVpoet, Christie, Jgas, Skyler and I decided to ride out the storm, literally. We were hem hawing around trying to get motivated to ride in this mess when a white van pulls up to the pavilion. We were thinkin who the heck is this when two guys jump out and start to unload.
http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/4064/elmersymonsbiketk4.jpg
Now, I have to back up for one second here to explain that on Friday Big Mike was telling us about an Australian? guy and his buddy that had been training out there for the LMS. Mike said they were awesome riders and that they had gotten to watch them ride on Thursday. Impressive was his word for their riding abilities. Once the first guy spoke, we realized these were the guys that Mike had spoken about. We started to chat and realized that these were indeed the same two people. Come to find out one is from South Africa and the other South Carolina. We learned that the guy from South Africa was Elmer Symons, winner of the RedBull 24HR Iron Man, the first person to qualify for the LMS, Dakar racer for 07, and too many other qualifications to list. The younger guy from SC was Bryan Henson. A top 20 pro level GNCC racer. These guys got unloaded, geared up and asked if we wanted to go riding with them. Are you kidding? OH YEAH WE WANT TO! Then it was a circus act of commotion. EVERYONE was instantly motivated to ride in the mud and rain.
ArXC ready to roll, aint I purty in my trash bag poncho?
http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/7519/christrashbagrw5.jpg
Elmer Symons sisnt too good to wear a trash bag either! GREAT GUY!
http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/17/elmerswingswd5.jpg
And ...we're off with Elmer leading the way. We followed these guys around all day. They were going to hit some skilled areas that would be in LMS. We rode throguh some spots that made me pucker up a few times. I can only imagine how Skyler felt but we didnt care, we were with some super cool folks and very qualified riders. We didnt know where anything was really so Elmer just rode till we found stuff. We would ride down a trail, they would look over and see some sick hill and the next thing you know we are stopped and watching one heck of a show! These guys were fearless and made the nastiest of stuff look like childs play. Terry and JGas tried some of the stuff these guys were doing and both pulled off quite a few good runs themselves. It was entertainment at its best! After watching them climb some sick hills we start to take off and Elmer explains to me that there is a BIG muddy hill coming up so just pin it and go! I come to the bottom, look up and grab all the throttle that I can stand. I think Im going pretty good and I hear someone screaming up behind me..NIING NIIING NIIIIING....Tery goes flying by, startling me and I almost crash. I pull it together, look up just in time to see Terry lay it down to keep from running Skyler over. Skyler had fallen near the top and was blocking then chute leading into the woods. I have to come to a dead stop and wait for them to clear. I think to myself "Im never going to make it". My tires were slick and I was mud skating like nobodies business. Luckily the XC is a Torque machine and It pulls me right on up. We headed over to Joshua and watched these guys proceed to try it in the rain. Just watching them try it scared the devil out of me. They never made it all the way up but it was a heck of a show. Elmer was quite a site flying up that hill with his inflated trash bag on. Both Bryan and Elmer were insane to me. Neither fell on the hill but once they cleared the lip it was impossible for them to gain traction. We sat and watched them there for a good 30 minutes and then it was off to Texas Stadium. Once we get there, Elmer notices this sick crazy line up a rock waterfall thats just down from Texas Stadium. He eyes it up and down and the next thing we know, he takes off up it and is riding his 250XC-W like its a small trials bike. He made it up no problem. Next was Bryan who made it up as well but with slight difficulty. While Bruan was hittin the fall, Jgas and Terry were finding other sick lines of their own and doind a spectacular job of climbimng and descending. It was a sight to behold. After Bryans run up the fall, JGas had to give it a go. Now, JGas doesnt get to see much of anything that looks like that around here and he struggled just a bit but he made it up after breaking his number plate. He picked it up and hurled the thing like a frisby and it took a perfect flight path right down into Terry's hands. Not only did JGas make it up, but he was the only person to ride that line down. Once he sets his mind to something, he's like the terminator, you just cant stop him. Elmer in the mean time had went up a different line over to Texas Stadium and proceeded to ride down the things in the RAIN! WOW! Thats all I could think. After spending a good deal of time there it was getting late and time to scoot.
Elmer’s Red River Wheelie
http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/2451/elmersredriverwheelievb9.jpg
Elmer making it look easy
http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/3559/elmersredriverwheelie2uy8.jpg
Ok so that was the beginning of what led up to this ride. Between the above ride and the accident at Dakar, Elmer met up with Chris and a bunch of other folks for an off-road riding clinic that Chris had set up as a fund raiser to help pay some of the expenses Elmer was facing to go to Dakar.
Now fast forward again to January 27, 2006 and the Elmer Symons Benefit Ride.
Several of the folks arrived on Friday the 26th and then the rest of us started rolling in Saturday morning.
While on the road headed to the ride we pass thru a little community, I think they call it Dallas or something like that. This is a sign we are getting closer.
http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/8549/dallas3iu6.jpg
I hear this area may have a little of the oil field influence to it.
http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/1/dsc02274kl5.jpg
Now we are getting a little excited, we are in the town of Muenster. Didn’t have the camera ready so these were actually taken as we were headed home.
http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/7408/dsc02266sk5.jpg
http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/639/dsc02271hs1.jpg
So now we are headed out of town with the camera ready.
http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/3572/dsc02088hf5.jpg
http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/7075/dsc02090sv7.jpg
Now we are getting real close.
http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/3066/dsc02093kp1.jpg
We have arrived. This picture was from a ride report on KTMTalk by ArkansasXC (Chris)
http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/808/redriverentrancejo9.jpg
I’m not going to say it was turning cold but we are from SOUTH Texas where cold is 10 to 20 degrees warmer. I couldn’t find an old war ship’s Brass Monkey any where to prove it was cold but take my word for it, he was hiding from the cold.
Friends from the web I don’t know yet but fixing to meet them in person. Notice the cloud cover.
http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/6584/25039239qz2.jpg
http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/3117/36163656vl5.jpg
Notice how clean Mopower’s bike (#13) is? Well it won’t stay that way for very long, he rode the snot out of the bike over the weekend. Anyone have any fork seals laying around they don’t need?
http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/9164/80733762dc1.jpg
The famous Joshua Tree. Pictures just don’t do it justice.
http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/2216/61662627br0.jpg
Pictures of the group deciding who was going to give it a try.
http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/1728/10033056xv1.jpg
http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/2559/87824848kq3.jpg
http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/9353/54166586do9.jpg
http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/8964/92071031da7.jpg
http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/7991/10bv6.jpg
Alex decided to run up Joshua Tree to watch from the top when someone finally decided they would give it a try. Chris and Skyler decided to do the same. I think Alex may have wanted to give it a try but they started full baseball practice at school Monday and didn’t want to risk it, plus didn’t want to try it on the 125. Did notice him looking pretty hard at my 450 a couple of times…………..oh well, maybe next time.
http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/1483/alexchrisandskyleratjosia4.jpg
Chris giving directions.
http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/4671/alexskylerandchrisatjosvw0.jpg
Here we go……………….well almost.
http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/1274/almostbs1.jpg
http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/9591/almost2vn2.jpg
http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/1190/dsc02122ev5.jpg
http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/5721/dsc02129mz8.jpg
More talking discussing planning and watching from the bottom.
http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/1959/dsc02134vz6.jpg
http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/3605/dsc02136hk5.jpg
Was Theresa giving the climb a little thought or maybe she was wonder what kind of nuts she had decided to ride with.
http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/4406/dsc02138gh2.jpg
Chris giving a motivational talk.
http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/3475/dsc02141dp4.jpg
Alex decided to take the camera up to get pictures from the start so he ran back up the hill for the following photos
http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/3336/dsc02146cr7.jpg
http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/4578/dsc02143sc2.jpg
http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/6814/dsc02142bt0.jpg
http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/1835/dsc02144ru3.jpg
http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/8769/dsc02151oq8.jpg
http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/1727/dsc02152lo0.jpg
http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/3812/dsc02153ll6.jpg
http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/8162/dsc02158lv3.jpg
I have several more I will try to get posted from some of the other areas and from the raffle drawing that was held Sunday afternoon. I also have videos of several of the riders that made it up Joshua Tree but I don't have them ready to post a link to them as of now so check back often to see the final report. I figure Chris will be adding his report either here or will post in another thread so watch for his also.
On April 1, 1959 the life changing event for my parents took place in a truly remarkable little southern town at the Beaufort Naval Hospital in Beaufort, South Carolina. Wait a minute that is ancient history……………………..let’s fast forward to February 11 and 12, 2006. A group of riders from all over came together at Red River Motorcycle Trails to attend a little group ride that became known as First Annual Myosin Meet Muenster Meet,(FAMMMM), you will just have to trust me on the name of the ride or I guess I could answer questions later. Unfortunately I was unable to attend the ride so I had to enjoy the ride from afar by reading their ride reports. Sounded like they had a great time. Well it was thru this ride that several of them got to talking about bringing the ride south to ride the Sam Houston National Forest toward the end of 2006 to ride the home trails of the organizer of FAMMMM. As luck would have it when the date of the ride was set I was once again working and couldn’t attend and then the rains started and we know what that means for Sam, trails closed but there was a last minute back up plan……Muenster. So the ride moved to Muenster and at this point I will grab some of the ride report from that ride to speed this along a little faster…………………..
ArkansasXC’s ride report on KTMTalk from Muenster of how they met Elmer after most of the other ride members had left due to the rains making it to Muenster………
After breakfast we all sat around for a while wishing the rain would go away but after a couple of hours it was apparent that it was not going to stop so people start making a mad dash to get tents and things loaded when it eases up a bit. Proxy and JWDuffin were the first to get loaded up and head out. Next was MikeC, then Roostn520, Forest and Neal hit the road. Grady, Brian250 and MXER held out for a bit longer still with hopes of the rain ending. Once they realized it wasnt going to stop, they loaded up and hit the road with MXER616 in tow. Laughing at the two texans and three Arkies that were silly enough to stay behind. Now...JGas, Skyler, MikeC and I were supposed to be heading off to ride Talimena but decided that we didnt want to ride wet rocky terrain especially since I had smashed my foot the day before in a rutt. I asked the fellas what they wanted to do and they said "STAY AT MUENSTER and ride some more." What the heck, Im game! So SRVpoet, Christie, Jgas, Skyler and I decided to ride out the storm, literally. We were hem hawing around trying to get motivated to ride in this mess when a white van pulls up to the pavilion. We were thinkin who the heck is this when two guys jump out and start to unload.
http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/4064/elmersymonsbiketk4.jpg
Now, I have to back up for one second here to explain that on Friday Big Mike was telling us about an Australian? guy and his buddy that had been training out there for the LMS. Mike said they were awesome riders and that they had gotten to watch them ride on Thursday. Impressive was his word for their riding abilities. Once the first guy spoke, we realized these were the guys that Mike had spoken about. We started to chat and realized that these were indeed the same two people. Come to find out one is from South Africa and the other South Carolina. We learned that the guy from South Africa was Elmer Symons, winner of the RedBull 24HR Iron Man, the first person to qualify for the LMS, Dakar racer for 07, and too many other qualifications to list. The younger guy from SC was Bryan Henson. A top 20 pro level GNCC racer. These guys got unloaded, geared up and asked if we wanted to go riding with them. Are you kidding? OH YEAH WE WANT TO! Then it was a circus act of commotion. EVERYONE was instantly motivated to ride in the mud and rain.
ArXC ready to roll, aint I purty in my trash bag poncho?
http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/7519/christrashbagrw5.jpg
Elmer Symons sisnt too good to wear a trash bag either! GREAT GUY!
http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/17/elmerswingswd5.jpg
And ...we're off with Elmer leading the way. We followed these guys around all day. They were going to hit some skilled areas that would be in LMS. We rode throguh some spots that made me pucker up a few times. I can only imagine how Skyler felt but we didnt care, we were with some super cool folks and very qualified riders. We didnt know where anything was really so Elmer just rode till we found stuff. We would ride down a trail, they would look over and see some sick hill and the next thing you know we are stopped and watching one heck of a show! These guys were fearless and made the nastiest of stuff look like childs play. Terry and JGas tried some of the stuff these guys were doing and both pulled off quite a few good runs themselves. It was entertainment at its best! After watching them climb some sick hills we start to take off and Elmer explains to me that there is a BIG muddy hill coming up so just pin it and go! I come to the bottom, look up and grab all the throttle that I can stand. I think Im going pretty good and I hear someone screaming up behind me..NIING NIIING NIIIIING....Tery goes flying by, startling me and I almost crash. I pull it together, look up just in time to see Terry lay it down to keep from running Skyler over. Skyler had fallen near the top and was blocking then chute leading into the woods. I have to come to a dead stop and wait for them to clear. I think to myself "Im never going to make it". My tires were slick and I was mud skating like nobodies business. Luckily the XC is a Torque machine and It pulls me right on up. We headed over to Joshua and watched these guys proceed to try it in the rain. Just watching them try it scared the devil out of me. They never made it all the way up but it was a heck of a show. Elmer was quite a site flying up that hill with his inflated trash bag on. Both Bryan and Elmer were insane to me. Neither fell on the hill but once they cleared the lip it was impossible for them to gain traction. We sat and watched them there for a good 30 minutes and then it was off to Texas Stadium. Once we get there, Elmer notices this sick crazy line up a rock waterfall thats just down from Texas Stadium. He eyes it up and down and the next thing we know, he takes off up it and is riding his 250XC-W like its a small trials bike. He made it up no problem. Next was Bryan who made it up as well but with slight difficulty. While Bruan was hittin the fall, Jgas and Terry were finding other sick lines of their own and doind a spectacular job of climbimng and descending. It was a sight to behold. After Bryans run up the fall, JGas had to give it a go. Now, JGas doesnt get to see much of anything that looks like that around here and he struggled just a bit but he made it up after breaking his number plate. He picked it up and hurled the thing like a frisby and it took a perfect flight path right down into Terry's hands. Not only did JGas make it up, but he was the only person to ride that line down. Once he sets his mind to something, he's like the terminator, you just cant stop him. Elmer in the mean time had went up a different line over to Texas Stadium and proceeded to ride down the things in the RAIN! WOW! Thats all I could think. After spending a good deal of time there it was getting late and time to scoot.
Elmer’s Red River Wheelie
http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/2451/elmersredriverwheelievb9.jpg
Elmer making it look easy
http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/3559/elmersredriverwheelie2uy8.jpg
Ok so that was the beginning of what led up to this ride. Between the above ride and the accident at Dakar, Elmer met up with Chris and a bunch of other folks for an off-road riding clinic that Chris had set up as a fund raiser to help pay some of the expenses Elmer was facing to go to Dakar.
Now fast forward again to January 27, 2006 and the Elmer Symons Benefit Ride.
Several of the folks arrived on Friday the 26th and then the rest of us started rolling in Saturday morning.
While on the road headed to the ride we pass thru a little community, I think they call it Dallas or something like that. This is a sign we are getting closer.
http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/8549/dallas3iu6.jpg
I hear this area may have a little of the oil field influence to it.
http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/1/dsc02274kl5.jpg
Now we are getting a little excited, we are in the town of Muenster. Didn’t have the camera ready so these were actually taken as we were headed home.
http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/7408/dsc02266sk5.jpg
http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/639/dsc02271hs1.jpg
So now we are headed out of town with the camera ready.
http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/3572/dsc02088hf5.jpg
http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/7075/dsc02090sv7.jpg
Now we are getting real close.
http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/3066/dsc02093kp1.jpg
We have arrived. This picture was from a ride report on KTMTalk by ArkansasXC (Chris)
http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/808/redriverentrancejo9.jpg
I’m not going to say it was turning cold but we are from SOUTH Texas where cold is 10 to 20 degrees warmer. I couldn’t find an old war ship’s Brass Monkey any where to prove it was cold but take my word for it, he was hiding from the cold.
Friends from the web I don’t know yet but fixing to meet them in person. Notice the cloud cover.
http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/6584/25039239qz2.jpg
http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/3117/36163656vl5.jpg
Notice how clean Mopower’s bike (#13) is? Well it won’t stay that way for very long, he rode the snot out of the bike over the weekend. Anyone have any fork seals laying around they don’t need?
http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/9164/80733762dc1.jpg
The famous Joshua Tree. Pictures just don’t do it justice.
http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/2216/61662627br0.jpg
Pictures of the group deciding who was going to give it a try.
http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/1728/10033056xv1.jpg
http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/2559/87824848kq3.jpg
http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/9353/54166586do9.jpg
http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/8964/92071031da7.jpg
http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/7991/10bv6.jpg
Alex decided to run up Joshua Tree to watch from the top when someone finally decided they would give it a try. Chris and Skyler decided to do the same. I think Alex may have wanted to give it a try but they started full baseball practice at school Monday and didn’t want to risk it, plus didn’t want to try it on the 125. Did notice him looking pretty hard at my 450 a couple of times…………..oh well, maybe next time.
http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/1483/alexchrisandskyleratjosia4.jpg
Chris giving directions.
http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/4671/alexskylerandchrisatjosvw0.jpg
Here we go……………….well almost.
http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/1274/almostbs1.jpg
http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/9591/almost2vn2.jpg
http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/1190/dsc02122ev5.jpg
http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/5721/dsc02129mz8.jpg
More talking discussing planning and watching from the bottom.
http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/1959/dsc02134vz6.jpg
http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/3605/dsc02136hk5.jpg
Was Theresa giving the climb a little thought or maybe she was wonder what kind of nuts she had decided to ride with.
http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/4406/dsc02138gh2.jpg
Chris giving a motivational talk.
http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/3475/dsc02141dp4.jpg
Alex decided to take the camera up to get pictures from the start so he ran back up the hill for the following photos
http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/3336/dsc02146cr7.jpg
http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/4578/dsc02143sc2.jpg
http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/6814/dsc02142bt0.jpg
http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/1835/dsc02144ru3.jpg
http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/8769/dsc02151oq8.jpg
http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/1727/dsc02152lo0.jpg
http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/3812/dsc02153ll6.jpg
http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/8162/dsc02158lv3.jpg
I have several more I will try to get posted from some of the other areas and from the raffle drawing that was held Sunday afternoon. I also have videos of several of the riders that made it up Joshua Tree but I don't have them ready to post a link to them as of now so check back often to see the final report. I figure Chris will be adding his report either here or will post in another thread so watch for his also.