East Texas Dual Sport Ride

To Trailace or who ever put this ride/route together I say thanks for the load of fun I had.

And yes,I was there. Me,John Thompson and Dennis Reed took of before the rest of you guys and tried to ride the 197 miles as fast as possible without killing ourselves.

When we got to Holy Park marina we didn't hang around long......I could hear a warm steak and a cold drink calling my name so we hooked em. When the weather is warmer,this sissy will stay around and bench race some.

And I gotta say,those were some fun roads. I think I took a total of four or five picture so I really aint got much to show except some sore muscles and a little monkey butt.

By the way...........any of you he-men stay and ride Sunday?

First stop of the day,85 miles into the ride. Top off with fuel,head next door for a burger.



Lunch next door at Little Gal's Hamburger joint.



The cheese burger was really good until the last three bites. That's when I found the hair!
Just so you know I'm a pig...........I finished that baby!

Outlaw6Guy said:

First stop of the day,85 miles into the ride. Top off with fuel,head next door for a burger.

Lunch next door at Little Gal's Hamburger joint.

The cheese burger was really good until the last three bites. That's when I found the hair!
Just so you know I'm a pig...........I finished that baby!

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got to love a hairy burger

I was back in Dallas, truck unloaded, showered, and in bed by midnight.

None of the three of us took many pics. Here's one at lunch - JThompson looks pretty fresh.



He returned the favor by getting one of me after I picked up the 690 out of a mudhole. I'm sure he'll post it.

And here is the finish -



As you can see, the weather was great Saturday. It was a great route, and thanks to Trailace for organizing this.

Great riding with Jack & Jthompson. Hope I didn't hold you up too much.

Outlaw6Guy said:

By the way...........any of you he-men stay and ride Sunday?

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**** yeah we did, it was miser... awesome, it was awesome.

Saturday was looking great, chilly with a high sun, it was going to a great day.



After a pep talk from our fearless leader,



we were under way.

We had an early spill from the F800 due to some mud and street tires, but the after a little walking and a little bending we were off again.

It really was a beautiful day.











At night in camp some brews and cigars were had over some stories and a ****** roaring fire!



Pete was the only one still enough to get a good night shot as he enjoyed his cigar.



The next day broke bringing 33 degrees and rain. Aaron made his fashion statement with his makeshift leapord camo chaps (sure hope someone got a pic of that!)

We started off with a mix of fun dirt and road and about 55 miles in we stopped for gas for us little bikes. It was cold! We warmed up over a some drinks, for some reason every thought my hot chocolate and coffee mix gross, but it was really good!



Aaron made sure we didn't stay too warm.........



It was decided to take highway the rest of the way to Moscow. I looked at a psychrometric chart today at work and mine and Aaron's soaked gloves felt like 25 degrees BEFORE wind was taken into account. I had a good trick though, while my right glove was still wet I could rub it on my header and it would cause the water to steam for a bit, keeping my hand warm for a little bit, once the water was gone it just started melting though

All and all it was an awesome ride, I was so glad to get outa the city for a few days!! Thanks Trailace!!!

**These and additional raw images can be taken from**Ride Photo Album

Aw man how could I forget trying to push start Trailace's BMW first thing when he gets there!!

"It was trouble from the get go..."

Saturday looked fantastic! What? Sunday too cold for cameras?
Post up guys we wanna see what good times we missed -

BouncingRadical did a good job on the trip report. So all you get from me is a link to my slide show.

http://rides.webshots.com/slideshow/579488983SzCdEN

I didn't take many photo's on Sunday as my camera was buried under my rain gear. Rob and Rick took quite a few.

Excellent images fellows! Sure looks different than in October.

Simmons1 said:

BouncingRadical did a good job on the trip report. So all you get from me is a link to my slide show.

http://rides.webshots.com/slideshow/579488983SzCdEN

I didn't take many photo's on Sunday as my camera was buried under my rain gear. Rob and Rick took quite a few.

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Toltec said:

I was back in Dallas, truck unloaded, showered, and in bed by midnight.

None of the three of us took many pics. Here's one at lunch - JThompson looks pretty fresh.

He returned the favor by getting one of me after I picked up the 690 out of a mudhole. I'm sure he'll post it.

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Ok Dennis, I wasn't going to post the incredibly bad cell phone pic, but since you asked for it...



see, the pic is so bad you cant even tell that you just had a mudbath, hehe.

We are going to miss you in Big Bend buddy.

Trailace. thank you for posting the route. I needed that, first dirt of 2011 for me. I just wish the weather had cooperated a little more. And thanks to Jack for having the trailer at Holly Park, just in time. Next time we camp!

John

ps. I was one of the wimps who drove home Saturday night and was in my soft, warm, bed 10:30 Saturday night, hehe.

The cool gang.


Pete in a ditch after his highside. Come on Pete we need to see a video.


Pete was having gravity issues on day one.


Rich shows him how it's done.


After this section the roads and the weather were perfect. Stopped in Zavalla for lunch, food was good. Although Cameron and my order was misplaced and it cost us 30 minutes.

Clockwise: Joe, Chuck, Rob, Rich, Raul and Aaron




Even with all the rain we still had to deal with some dust.


The roads after lunch were great.


Cameron, Pete and I camped near the water the other guys wad heated hotel rooms.



After we set up the tents we headed to dinner with the whole group. it was 19 miles by pavement and only 10 miles if we took dirt to Fisherman's Galley in Louisiana.
I went with the chicken fried chicken and it was great.


Clockwise:Pete, Rich, Rob, Joe, Chuck, Aaron, Raul, Joe and Cameron.


It was Joe's birthday so he got some free pie.


Back at camp we had a nice warm fire in our room.


I would say we had a great first day other than Pete's incident. Great weather, great friends and super riding.

Here are the stats for day one.


That completes Day one.

I will complete day2 tomorrow.

Once again thanks to Rick and everyone else for a great weekend. I hope I did not slow you guys down to much.

You can read all about my weekend HERE. You will also find the long awaited video footage there as well

Thanks again and see you all next time.

Cheers,
Pete

The reason I didn't ride Sunday.



This is somewhere out close to Maybank,on 175.
I wanted to get back home before this stuff hit,but as you can see,it didn't happen.

jthompson said:

We are going to miss you in Big Bend buddy.

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Oh, man, yer killin' me.

Keep after it, Pete. I got two words for ya - crash bars.

I'm in Dallas, let's get an 800GS ride going soon.

Day 2
Believe it or not it was a great night for camping nice and cool with a breeze. I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow but was awoken around 430 by rain. The plan for today was to meet at the Holly Park Marina store for breakfast/coffee at 8:00 and try it on the road by 9:00. Since I could not sleep anymore I headed over to the store around 630, a few of the other guys were already there. The people at Holly Park are very nice and the young men who makes the breakfast sandwiches always has a story to tell.


Aaron custom-made rain paints.



We were on the road by 9:30 and it was cold and wet.


Not a lot of pictures today because we never stopped and it was hard to get the camera in and out of my pocket while riding with rain gear on. Here are the only two I took on the dirt in the rain.



One of the bank sign we passed showed 35° but we pushed on. At one point I told everybody we were 5 miles from gas and hot chocolate but it was more like 20. Sorry! When we finally made it to the stump area smaller bikes filled their tanks while the rest of us went inside to warm up. Chuck and Aaron did not have rain gear so they seem to be in the worse condition.

Sitting around drinking hot chocolate and telling stories of the icy rained we just came through.


The bikes were ready to go but we decided to play it safe and run pavement to Moscow.


That was a long cool wet 59 miles but we made it and started loading up to go home.


I did take more pictures on day two but I think the rain caused them to come out blurry. All in all had a great time with some great friends and can't wait to do again. Hopefully the weather will be a little better.

All pics

Rob

Where are your pics?

wr250r said:

Rob

Where are your pics?

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Aaron, you read my mind. I was wondering the same thing.

So sorry, fellers. Got back to multiple family responsibilities, and my computer is acting up as well. Anyway, took the time to stay up late tonight, and get a few together.

As already mentioned, it was a Jekyl and Hyde type of ride. Saturday was absolutely perfect for riding; cool, dry, sunny and near perfect traction (except for a few spots). Started out with the usual gathering and prep at Carter's in Moscow.

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Folks starting to show up

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Joe getting ready

Day started off on the wrong foot however, when our fearless leader couldn't get his bike started. Darn thing just wouldn't turn over, and with no kickstart, pushing was tried next.

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Raul lending a hand

Last resort was to strip it down and try jump starting. After a couple attempts though, the Beemer came back to life. Turns out to be just a worn out battery that had picked this morning to die.

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Cameron with jumper cables to assist

The delay didn't cost us much time though, and we ended up with about a 9AM start. Wasn't long before we were enjoying that great East Texas dirt!

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Cameron on the Honda 230

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Joe on his KTM 450

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Raul on his DR650

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Aaron on one of the Yamaha 250s

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Pete on the Beemer 800

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Rich on the other Yamaha 250

There had been rain earlier in the week, but none in the couple of days preceding the ride, so conditions were just about perfect. No dust early, and the wet sand made for some great traction.

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Unfortunately, it wasn't all great however.

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No harm though, and though he was on a big 800 with just about street tires, Pete did a fine job of keeping pace with the rest of the pack.

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Dirt cruising on the GS with Pete

Of course, it wouldn't be dual sporting if some slab wasn't thrown in, but on a day like this, who cares.

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We didn't take too many breaks along the way, because it was just too gorgeous a riding day to want to stop. Still, every now and then:

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Ten riders in all

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The other memebers of the Clear Lake contingency: Aaron, Joe, Chuck

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The mighty XR! I get teased a lot for having the only kick-start only bike, but the big pig has never let me down.

We arrived at our destination for day one, the Toledo Bend Marina that evening, and after a quick check in, we rode across the TX/LA boarder to the Fisherman Galley. Normally we slab it over there, but Rick was feeling a bit adventurous, so we did it in the dark via dirt. Nice little ride, and saved us some miles on our precious knobbies for sure

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Favorite eating place on the E.TX ride

Some opted for the buffet (pronounced "boofay" this side of the border), but I went for the fried shrimp plate.

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As always, food was great, service was great, and the company was.. well... ugly!

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This guy was a real rider. He actually celebrated his birthday (21st of course) with us on this ride!

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He was properly and generously rewarded by the staff for his sacrifice:

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Happy birthday, Joe!

We rode back to camp with full bellies and great memories so far, and so ended the first day of the 2011 East Texas ride.

Hey, what happened to all my images? I'm using Photobucket, and they were all there last night when I posted. What am I doing wrong?

Looks like a good ole time there fellows.

Wish I was still around to hit them rides...sitting here in the house with 4" on the ground waiting on spring to get here.

Rydah said:

Hey, what happened to all my images? I'm using Photobucket, and they were all there last night when I posted. What am I doing wrong?

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I can see them.