Paris to Decatur (TX) Rally

[racerxr650r]

I almost forgot. You guys on this site will appreciate this. Most people look at me crazy when I try to explain it.

I've been a fan of the Paris to Dakar rally for 20 years now. Kinda weird for a boy from Texas. Anyway, I even built a Paris-Dakar replica a few years ago just for fun. I didn't cost much. I had bought an old XT500 for a few hundred bucks and collected most of the parts from ebay and fabricated everything else.

I had planned to do my own Paris (Tx) to Decatur (Tx) rally. But never talked any friends or family into doing it with me. I guess they never saw the humor in the ride.

I still have the parts to put the bike back together. However, it is in motocross trim right now for the TVRC series here in North Texas.

[Tourmeister]

I love it! Got a route? Sweet looking machine! You'd probably have to make it a clocked/navigation style event to keel the speeds down though :roll:

[Photojojo]

I'm up for a for fun Paris to Decatur raly.

[Bandit33]

Sounds like fun.....I would be up for a fun type rally. I also have been a big fan of the Dakar race since the mid 80s.

Don

[Photojojo]

Looking at my Ride Tejas that has the Texas foriegn cities featured I started thinking it might be easier to do a Paris to Athens. In that area it might even be possible to do it mostly on dirt roads.

[racerxr650r]

This idea seems to have struck a chord. I like the response.

I agree Paris to Decatur isn't my first choice for end points on a fun DS route. It's hard to layout a route between the two that sticks to just dirt roads. I have always ridden on DOT dirt tires so I'm not a big fan of pavement, too many of those big 4 wheeled things.

But the similarity in the names to Paris-Dakar make it a natural for the first annual New Year's ride. Subsequent rides could start in different towns and always end in Decatur (or the LBJ grasslands). That's another thing the ride should start on New Years Day.

As far as "Rally", I had envisioned it being more of a navigation test than a timed event. There would be a roadbook to navigate from and waypoints along the way. At each waypoint, riders would document a description of the location (probably an interesting roadsign). It would be more fun to ride the rally without GPS.

Just my thoughts.

[Hood Ornament]

Sounds like fun to me. :rider:

[Photojojo]

As far as "Rally", I had envisioned it being more of a navigation test than a timed event. There would be a roadbook to navigate from and waypoints along the way. At each waypoint, riders would document a description of the location (probably an interesting roadsign). It would be more fun to ride the rally without GPS.

Just my thoughts.

This is sounding better and better by the post. Sounds like a need for some scouting to be done in the areas. Is there anybody from Paris that can get us started on dirt roads in the area? We did some Fannin county roads on new years day that would be good for that portion. I know some Grayson county roads that would work as well.

[Bandit33]

I agree, we need to look into this, perhaps do some preliminary riding of the roads out there. Sounds just like what we need around here; a low key dual-sport rally, with whatever weather that January throws at us. I am up for riding those roads.
By the way, that XT500 looks good, have recently thought about getting a XT500 or 550 from that era. I see them all the time on Ebay.

Don

[Sleepy Weasel]

I agree, we need to look into this, perhaps do some preliminary riding of the roads out there.


Yes... this may call for a couple of pre-runs... :rider:

[fallendown]

I second the notion for going old school! NO GPS, some body's gonna have to frisk Mr Friday....Some where in Paris they have a course for rally cars, I'm not sure if it was sanctioned by the SCCA folks, but it looked like a really good gravel course they had layed out. Hmmm, now we need a venus to mars run......

[Photojojo]

Ok I know where Venus is. Where's Mars?

[kurt]

Ok I know where Venus is. Where's Mars?

:shame:

[fallendown]

Ok I know where Venus is. Where's Mars?


Link to the rally
http://www.mikestrawbridge.com/paris_again.htm:eek2:

Mars isnt officially a town I guess, but a community. Should I give it up, or let everyone dig for a while to find it?

eh well, I'm no fun, but it would be a good one to try to actually find!!!:trust:

http://www.rootsweb.com/~txvanzan/marscomm.htm

[fallendown]

:shame:

Were you thinking what I was thinking? "Mars, yeah, it's just this side of uranus."

ooops, can you do 5th grade jokes here?

[racerxr650r]

By the way, that XT500 looks good, have recently thought about getting a XT500 or 550 from that era. I see them all the time on Ebay.

Don

Thanks. I am proud of my cheap little project. The bike is currently in the middle of it's second transformation to vintage motocross bike. Plan is to keep all of the parts so I can swap back and forth. Who knows, Vintage dirt-tracker and vintage road racer may be in the future.

My brother has a XT550, in fact it is parked in my garage right now. The 550 has a great motor, smooth with plenty of power, and crappy suspension. But, I would suggest buying a XT500. A lot more parts out there for the 500, suspension can be upgraded easier, and dual-shock is just downright cooler on an old bike. The bike can be a little buzzy at highway speeds, but you don't want to ride an old dirt bike on the highway anyway.

[DANNYROTH]

In East Texas we have a Moscow and Damascus (Polk Co.), Sebastapol (Trinity Co.), Geneva (Sabine Co.), Palestine (Anderson Co,) and Carthage (Panola Co.). With those previously mentioned, this could turn into a pseudo international series.

[Sleepy Weasel]

It would be more fun to ride the rally without GPS.

Sez you... I grew up where you knew your location and heading based on real landmarks, mountains, canyons, the whole darn ocean. Everything around here looks like "some flat spot."
:giveup:

[Tourmeister]

Maybe instead of Paris-Decatur, it could be a round the world rally ;-)

[racerxr650r]

Maybe instead of Paris-Decatur, it could be a round the world rally ;-)

Easy suggestion from the seat of a R1150GS ;-) However, my flat butt on a skimpy XR650R seat for a full East Texas tour would leave me hurting for a week. My brother makes fun of me for riding "Dakar" style at times. Little does he know, I'm usually standing to cool off my backside.

Offroad gripper seats and long DS rides on flat roads are a bad combo.:trust:

[Tourmeister]

If all goes well, the GS will have a new home after his weekend. I am now riding a KLR 650... with a Corbin seat and highway pegs :mrgreen:

[Teeds]

Everything you guys have come up with are only a county or two apart ...

How about Paris to Iraan? :rider: Of course it would have to be a two day rally.

Silly folks ... A GPS will only tell you where you are, not where you are going! That is what maps are for.

[Sleepy Weasel]

Everything you guys have come up with are only a county or two apart ...

How about Paris to Iraan? :rider: Of course it would have to be a two day rally.

Silly folks ... A GPS will only tell you where you are, not where you are going! That is what maps are for.


Silly Teeds... My GPS HAS a map, and I tell IT where I'm going.
:mrgreen:

[Teeds]

Silly Teeds... My GPS HAS a map, and I tell IT where I'm going.
:mrgreen:

Now see, maybe that is where we differ. I hate the nagging little sucker telling me how far I am off a route, so I never use a route.

I have been accused of being "off route" for most of my life though. :-P

[Hairsmith]

Years ago we did some hair & hound runs. Or lime bag runs. at every intersection where you might turn, there is a lime bag 1/4 of a mile down the correct road is another lime bag.
A rider starts every 2min. and has to do the ride at an average MPH.
Did one that we ran a 48MPH average, I had to whop on my R90/6 to hold to that. And that was way before GPS existed. Most of those I did were about 100 mile rides. Just more ideas and what can be done.
It all sounds like fun.

[Bandit33]

GPS.......I don't need a GPS to tell me I am lost; I usually already know it......

Never realized how many foreign cities we have in Texas.

Doing this rally in Jan. will be fun, but maybe we need to do a "practice" rally sooner than that.

Don

[ColGoodnight]

..Or lime bag runs. at every intersection where you might turn, there is a lime bag 1/4 of a mile down the correct road is another lime bag...
Can you imagine post-9/11, riding around throwing down bags of white powder in the road?

Tom

[Hairsmith]

Can you imagine post-9/11, riding around throwing down bags of white powder in the road?

Tom


Man I did not even think of that.:eek2:

The world in which we live.:giveup:

It is getting harder and harder to have any fun.:yawn:

But hear in the back woods I don't think any one would notice or care.
Even back then we stayed on back roads away from people and LEO. Just safer that way.

[John Bennett]

This sounds like a cool idea!

Cool name. Since I don't currently have a DS bike, I would like to be one of the officals in this Rally.

Look at the cool Decatur courthouse...

http://www.decaturtx.org/images/courthouseforhistory.jpg

[Sleepy Weasel]

Now see, maybe that is where we differ. I hate the nagging little sucker telling me how far I am off a route, so I never use a route.

I have been accused of being "off route" for most of my life though. :-P

Most of the time I'm too lazy to actually program a set route. Instead I'll have a destination point and tell it to find me the fastest way there. It works pretty well for Pie Runs because I can wander around all I like and it keeps adjusting, suggesting a direct route and ETA so if I suddenly realize I'm going to be late for something, I can quit messing around and head straight for my destination.

Most of the time, I just use it to tell me what intersection I'm really at, since there are too darned many without signs around here.

[bushwhacker]

I do not generally do routes eityer, but if I really want to stick to a particular route, I generally stick a directional waypoint at each intersection I want to turn.

-

[XR650Rocketman]

This whole idea has got me a little excited....Something new is just what we need right now....I'm a little confused about "doing this in January" though, isn't that next year now.
Me and the old XR650R are ready to go, just about anywhere....Ah....Got to love that tall, soft seat!!!!!

Oh yeah...I forgot....We don't need no stinking GPS....Well not since I lost mine out in West Texas in December anyway...

[racerxr650r]

Well, January 1st was just a suggestion since the race this event "emulates" historically starts on Jan 1st. In reality, it should be done whenever someone has the time to layout a 1 maybe 2 day route, create a roadbook, and talk's more than a couple of friends to ride the route. Setting more restrictions than that would limit the chances of this ever happening.

I actually started this thread confiding a funny story but this seems to be collecting a little momentum. So feel free to propose another time or location. I think Paris to Decatur is actually one of the worse locations in the state to try and put this together. There are lots of better places. West Texas, Hill Country, Palo Duro Canyon area, Sam Houston National forest area, Sabine/Angelina NF area, or Central Texas around Calvert along the Brazos river valley (to maximize participation).

The only requirement I ask is that we ride enough crappy dirt roads or better yet trails to have a fun day exploring and seeing parts of Texas I have never seen before.

BTW, its great to find a bunch of guys/gals that like to pick one or two points on a map and look for the crummiest most out of the way roads to link them together. I guess I'm not the only one.

[Tourmeister]

:tab I like to pick a destination on the GPS and then tell it to avoid paved roads to get me there. This is the lazy way to explore :mrgreen: But it does get me down some roads I might not have the time to find if I were out just kicking around. Doesn't really matter to me how I get to the roads as long as I get to them!

:tab Regarding the road surfaces, East Texas seems to have more dirt/sand as opposed to gravel/rock. Also, the county roads tend to be unpaved more than in the West. I suspect this is because a cheapo paving on soft ground won't last real long; whereas, on the hard rocky ground cheap paving will last a pretty good while and is thus more cost effective.

[Photojojo]

All of Grayson county is pretty much the big whiterock gravel. It gets redone fairly often to so you end up with deep gravel at times. When we went out to Fannin county it seemed to be a smaller gravel and a little more dirt and sand than here. I would think it would be pretty consistant in any a given county since the counties maintain the roads.

[gotdurt]

Ooh, sounds like fun. How about 'Paris-Dalhart'? That would be a bit more epic :mrgreen: Actually, Paris-Dakar tends to go al over the place before ending in Dakar, so we could loop through OK or even CA for that matter... well maybe not, but we could make the route go where-ever and just end in Decatur...

[Photojojo]

I'm kind of liking the world tour thing. A multi day tour around the world. Starting, staying, and ending in Texas. :mrgreen:

[Bandit33]

I wound up riding the DRZ up to the LBJ National Grasslands north of Decatur yesterday. Some great dirt/gravel roads all over that area, really enjoyed it. Looked like some nice camping areas there. Got so involved with discovering the different roads, that I did not head out till almost dark, got a little sorta lost, kinda,....anyway finally wound up in Decatur which I had never been to. Remember thinking "so this is where the rally might end". Finally got on 380 and got back to more familiar roads and got home well after dark...

Anyway this rally could be interesting.

Don

[Photojojo]

Just killin some time, nothing official

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d128/oldbmw/paris-decatur.jpg

[Bandit33]

I really like the cowboy hat on the "Dakar" logo. Looks good.

Don

[Tourmeister]

I LOVE it!! hehe.

[Sleepy Weasel]

I really like the cowboy hat on the "Dakar" logo. Looks good.

Don


+1


:flip:

[racerxr650r]

Just killin some time, nothing official

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d128/oldbmw/paris-decatur.jpg


Way cool. I love it. I want the first T-shirt printed. :-)

[fallendown]

Thats great....good job Chris!

[Photojojo]

Thanks everybody. I wouldn't expect a t-shirt with that design due to the fact that it's pretty lo-res. Not to mention the possible copywright infringement stuff.

[Teeds]

Thanks everybody. I wouldn't expect a t-shirt with that design due to the fact that it's pretty lo-res. Not to mention the possible copywright infringement stuff.

Change the logo to have a bandana and suspenders ... what could they say ... could they even find us.

I love it, I want one as well.

[Teeds]

Thinking of towns/communities to visit ...

Paris
Decatur

of course, but depending on your level of interest, and keeping with the visit the states and the world (while never leaving Texas) theme there is ...

Abilene
Amherst
Amsterdam
Anchorage
Athens
Atlanta
Augusta
Bakersfield
Barstow
Belgrade
Bend
Bethlehem
Biloxi
Berlin
Boise
Bruni
Buffalo
Bunker Hill
Burlington
Caesar
Camden
Canaan
Canton
Carlsbad
Carthage
Charleston
Clarksville
Concord
Durango
Eden
Edinburg
Egypt
Florence
Four Corners
Freeport
Israel
Italy
Jackson
Jamestown
La Joya
Lake Worth
Lansing
Leesburg
Lexington
Liverpool
London
Los Angeles
Mecca
Mexico
Miami
Moline
Naples
New London
New York
Newark
Nome
Norfolk
Oklahoma
Palo Alto
Pittsburg
Raleigh
Reno
Rhome
Riverside
Rock Island
San Diego
Santa Fe
Santa Monica
Saratoga
Scotland
Scranton
Shangri La
Shenandoah
Shiloh
Silverton
Smyrna
South Bend
Springfield
Vanderbilt
Walden
Washington
West Point
Westminister
William Penn
Woodlawn
and
Woodstock

I haven’t gone into orbit yet, we could include ...

Mars
Mercury
Venus
and
Pluto

and we could never leave out Utopia

and Zummo, if only because it is the last town on the index.

And that is only using the index of the Roads of Texas!

I'm sure I have missed some (many?) ... :giveup:

[Gilk51]

ancient cites: Troy

Hey, don't forget Paradise - everyone wants to go there... :lol2:

Movie themes?
Tarzan and probably others...

[Tourmeister]

Remember, we don't really have a full two weeks to devote to the ride ;-) We were thinking a weekend.

[Big Bandit]

You missed Iraan. I know it has an extra a, but close enough for me.

[DANNYROTH]

I'm working on a route to take from Moscow to Geneva, by way of Louisiana. I don't have it down to where I have the mileage calculated, but it's a mixture of super slab (US59), gravel, dirt, mud, forest service roads, Farm-Market, Recreational, and private roads, as well as a piece of El Camino Real (21). In addition, I'm sure pleanty of loose junkyard dogs along the way.

A few of the high points will be jack Station, Camden, Lily Island, Palestine, Chester, Colmesneil, Rockland, Scrappin Valley, Yellow Pine, Milam, Hemphill, and San Augustine

[Tourmeister]

You East Texas guys need to get busy riding and researching ;-)

[gocatgo]

Since I live not too far south of Decatur, I'd be happy to scout out some roads in the Decatur and LBJ Grasslands area.:rider:

[VFRJohn]

...LBJ Grasslands area...

Hmm... Do you reckon ol' Lyndon is buried out there somewhere??

Assuming a weekend event, what kind of lodging would be everybody's preference?

Camping
Motel
Riders' homes
Ride all night (don't need no steenking lodging...)

Won't we need fuel trucks, mechanics, impound areas, hospital tents, surgical teams, etc? :eat:

[VFRJohn]

Given the number of potential areas suggested so far...

How about making the Rally route connect some of those areas, broken into (say) half-day stages. Then, anyone could join up and ride any portion of the route they choose.

A lot of us might be more likely to pick up the 2 or 3 stages closest to home. That way, everyone (or leastwise half of everyone) wouldn't have to ride halfway across the state and back to participate.

Nor commit to a whole month to do the entire route. (Well, ok, a whole weekend... ;-) )

[Photojojo]

I would think the whole thing, Paris to Decatur, could be done in one day.

Of course it woudl take longer to go around the world

[racerxr650r]

Everyones opinion on how long it would take to do a Paris-Decatur rally inspired me to do some research. First off, I knew this is not a one day ride. Of course, it could be if you are making the trip on every highway or boring stretch of road between the two, but that is not the idea. It is an attempt to find every interesting (on the back of a DS bike) dirt road between Paris and Decatur.

So, I laid out a route that I did several years ago between Gainesville and Decatur. This is likely just 1/3 of the full route. It came to a total of more than 150 miles. Almost all fun dirt road. If you assume 35 mph average on dirt roads with all the stops included, that comes to 4 point something hours. So the whole ride could be pushing 13 hours on the road and gassing bikes. With cool places to stop and eat lunch and an interesting stop for a overnight camp, this would make for a nice weekend ride. Knobbies required.

Btw, I don't know much about the back roads between Sherman and Paris. If someone wants to volunteer a route and do some scouting, this "project" could use the help. Remember keep the route to yourself. The idea is to create a roadbook for the riders to navigate from. No one sees the roadbook until the first day of the ride.

[Photojojo]

I think it could be done in a looong day of hard riding. Course if it's done by roadbook it would be up to each individual in how they rode it. You get the book Friday night, then you can start whenever you wanted after 7:00 a.m. Saturday morning.

Course it would probably take me three days to do it.

[VFRJohn]

Ok - good data!
Let's use your ratio for the rest of the route, just as a first estimate.
150 mi dirt = 38 mi as the buzzard flies gives a bit less than 4 dirt/buzzard.
So,
Paris - Sherman = 60 buzzard -> 235 dirt =~ 7 hours
Sherman - Gainesville = 31 buzzard -> 120 dirt =~ 4 hours
Gainesville - Decatur = 38 buzzard -> 150 dirt =~ 4 hours

So, one day might be possible. (Very long, tiring day!)

Two long, tiring days might be more realistic! :flip:

I'll help work on the Sherman-Gainesville stage.

John

[Photojojo]

The way I see it as far as route goes, It would start in Lamar county, go to Fannin County, Grayson County, Cooke oounty. Then you could either continue west maybe all the way to Montague county, better roads I think, and drop down south to Wise county and Decatur. Or from Cooke county you could make your way straight down possibly through Denton county a little and over to Montague.

I've ridden bunches in Grayson, some in Fannin, Denton and Cooke. I think Grayson, and Denton will be the least exciting because it's mostly graded rock roads because of higher populations.

[Photojojo]

Hey VFRJohn. When you wanna start scouting? There's not much gravel west of Sherman, but I know some good off the beaten path roads that way. From there South of Sherman may be the best bet if you want to hit gravel then maybe North up towards Haggerman. The North part of Cooke county around the river should be some nice stuff.

Funny, I was thinking 15 hours as a rough estimate.

[VFRJohn]

U bet! Let's get this thing going...

I'll PM you & we can start setting up a "work" day! :rider:

[XR650Rocketman]

This is sounding like a lot of fun....Not sure what I can do to help here in Williamson County....What month could we do this?....Could I suggest June, it should be plenty hot enough by then and we don't have anything else planned right now...

I'll get out my maps and start trying to follow along.....

I'd like to round up a bunch of D/S guys and have some fun with this.....

Steve

[Teeds]

We really need to overnight somewhere

[racerxr650r]

My personal preference is a full first day of riding dirt roads, a night of camping, a morning of riding true offroad, and a short ride on dirt roads to complete the ride.

I could scout out a 10+ mile offroad loop that will be passable on DS XR's and KLR's if you don't mind some trees and rocks.

- John

[Tourmeister]

:tab John, you need to take the lead on this as organizer :thumb: Someone has to make the executive decisions. Have some folks that help contribute stuff, a support staff if you will. If someone does not take the lead, decisions will not be made and it will eventually either fade away or get so overblown as to be not worth the effort. I'd suggest using the old retired guys as your support staff, they seem to have a LOT of free time :nana:









:duck:

[racerxr650r]

I got the Gainesville to Decatur portion figured out, we have a volunteer for the Sherman/Denison to Gainsville portion. We just need a volunteer to help with a route from Paris to Sherman/Denison area.

BTW, I have located the perfect starting location. I'll share at least this much about the ride to tease everyone.

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/attract/TXPAReiffel.html

Also, here is a great example of a road book for an event like this. It could be easily recreated using MS excel or something like that.

http://www.tinypic.com/view/?pic=oi8weu

Later,
John

My motorcycle collective includes (I'm the warehouse for all the bikes in the extended family.)
2002 XR650R
1978 XT500
1999 XR400
2000 XR200
2000 Zuma
1983 XT550

[Tourmeister]

HA! I love it!! That is a great starting point! See! You are on top of things, a natural leader :-P Man, creating those roadbook stats looks like a LOT of work!!

[racerxr650r]

OK, enough talking let's start scouting roads and documenting the route.

VFRJohn, oldbmw, or anyone else that wants to volunteer please PM me. We need to formally split up the route, agree upon connector locations for the routes, and discuss what route information needs to be collected to create the roadbook/rollchart.

Optimally 3 to 4 of us can divide this up and make it happen. The rest can enjoy the fruit of our effort, if anyone is crazy enough to follow us.

Scott, can you setup a poll (thread) to get a headcount of people willing to spend a weekend on a goofy adventure across North Texas ?

Since we are planning on camping, this should be ridden this Spring or Fall. Obviously on a weekend that maximizes participation.

Later,
John

[Tourmeister]

:tab The poll is a waste of time, trust me ;-) People will get all excited about it, claim that nothing could keep them from missing it, and then as the time approaches they vanish. Been there done that plenty of times. On the other hand, there are people that will never say a word and then show up ready to ride at the last minute, often many more than you expected. Your best bet is to plan it with as little expenditure of your money and time as possible so that if people pull a no show, you are not shafted. You might require that folks register to participate by some deadline, even if there is no fee. If they fail to register, they get no roll chart or anything else.

:tab For now I will just bump this into the General Getting Dirty section so it is not regionally focused. Maybe do a poll as we get more specific info and a date.

[jhansen]

For those of us who are DS impaired:tears: a pavement Paris to Decatur is also possible. I did a mapquest of the city pair and this is what came back.

1: Start out going EAST on CLARKSVILLE ST / US-271 BR S / US-82 BR E toward S CHURCH ST. <0.1 miles Map

2: Turn LEFT onto 2ND ST SE / S CHURCH ST. <0.1 miles Map

3: Turn LEFT onto US-271 BR N / US-82 BR W / LAMAR AVE. Continue to follow US-82 BR W. 2.6 miles Map

4: US-82 BR W becomes US-82 W. 92.1 miles Map

5: Merge onto I-35 S / US-77 S toward DENTON. 0.9 miles Map

6: Take EXIT 496B toward FM-51 / CALIFORNIA ST / DECATUR. 0.1 miles Map

7: Turn SLIGHT LEFT onto I-35 S. 0.2 miles Map

8: Turn RIGHT onto W CALIFORNIA ST / FM 51 W. Continue to follow FM 51 W. 37.8 miles Map

9: Stay STRAIGHT to go onto N CATES ST. <0.1 miles Map

10: Turn RIGHT onto E MAIN ST. 0.1 miles Map

11: End at Decatur, TX US Map

Total Est. Time: 2 hours, 49 minutes Total Est. Distance: 134.27 miles

the map that came back shows lots of smaller roads going all over the place so something could be made up to make it longer, but I figure there will be places for pie research. that two hours and 49 minutes would most likely turn into four or five hours.:eat:

just a suggestion.

[Photojojo]

:tab John, you need to take the lead on this as organizer :thumb:

Yep, we need a leader.

pm sent.

[Teeds]

Yep, we need a leader.

pm sent.

John gets my vote in both the primary and the general election.

We probably will not even need Box 13, Alice Texas to push this vote over the top.

[Photojojo]

It should hands down be John (racerxr650r). :bigokay:

After all, it was his idea. :clap:

[DANNYROTH]

This is cool. I wish it was closer to me, or I had the time to travel, so I could see how folks that know what they're doing prepare for activities like this!
I hope to have a way to easily transport the XR by next week so I can extend my range a bit.

[mcrider]

I'd suggest using the old retired guys as your support staff, they seem to have a LOT of free time

John,
I'm retired & have the time. I'd be glad to coordinate & make the route chart; I already have an excel spreadsheet template I use for enduros.

Maybe I'll be riding by then. The doctor said a another couple of months last Monday. He says older bone heal slow, & I though I was 25. :mrgreen:

[XR650Rocketman]

Well this would be great.....We nominate John to be the leader and let Chris volunteer to do the paper work.....
The only thing we need to do is time the ride for when Chris has his doctor's OK to get back in the saddle....I mean we couldn't let him do all that work and then have to miss the ride.....That wouldn't be right.....

Chris how's my suggestion of a June ride sound to you and your Doc?

So "Leader John" What can I volunteer "Teeds" to do for this ride.....Oh yeah and me too!!!

Steve

[XR650Rocketman]

:tab I'd suggest using the old retired guys as your support staff, they seem to have a LOT of free time :nana::duck:

Chris I'm so glad you stepped up to volunteer here....I had a feeling Scott was under the misguided notion that I was retired there for a moment....I do resemble the "Old" but not the "Retired"....Of course he may have had somebody else in mind here....but I'll not name names.....

Steve

[Teeds]

So "Leader John" What can I volunteer "Teeds" to do for this ride

:rofl: :rofl:

[mcrider]

Any weekend in June, but the 1st one sounds good to me. I have a STORM race to help put on 6-3/4.

[racerxr650r]

OK, I am formally taking the lead on this. I have contacted a couple of you by email that have volunteered. I still need someone who is familar/willing to help layout and document the route from Paris to the Sherman/Dennison area. PM or email me.

I like Chris' suggestion for the date. That will give us some time to prepare and hopefully it will still be cool enough to camp. So we should all assume this will go off on the first weekend in June unless someone posts a compelling reason to change this.

Regards,
John

[XR650Rocketman]

John....I think you misread Chris's post.....He's busy the first weekend in June....all others are open.....

Thanks for taking the lead here.....Let me know what help you need....

steve

[mcrider]

Any weekend in June, but the 1st one sounds good to me. I have a STORM race to help put on 6-3/4.

John, guess I should have said that better. Any weekend in June except the 1st one.

[racerxr650r]

Oops, my bad.

Ok, Let's do this on the second weekend in June.

Anyone have an airconditioned tent I can borrow in June ? It has to fit on the back of an XR650R :-)

I will post more info soon. I will try to setup a web page to provide info. This thread is getting a little long.

[Teeds]

Anyone have an airconditioned tent I can borrow in June ? It has to fit on the back of an XR650R :-)

Do we really have to camp? :giveup:

What about some air conditioned cabins on Lake Texoma?

Eisenhower State Park has screened shelters.

Big Mineral Camp in Gordonville has fully equipped cabins (whatever that means) - http://www.bigmineral.com

Cedar Bayou Marina in Goedonville has a motel - http://www.cedarbayou.com

Cedar Mills Marina in Gordonville has cottages - http://www.cedarmills.com

There are others. Check out http://www.laketexomaonline.com/

My back will like me better in the morning.

[mcrider]

+1 Tom Bodet

[Tourmeister]

The sooner before Aug 14th the better for me ;-) I have a feeling that after that date, I won't be doing much riding for a while... :tears: I'll have my hands full doing Daddy doody :mrgreen:

[XR650Rocketman]

I'll be much happier if we plan on staying out of Tents....A full days riding is enough roughing it for me any day......If "Tom" can leave a light on for us at the Motel 6 it'll be fine with me....

Steve

[racerxr650r]

OK, point well taken.

We will set it up so camping or hotel can be choosen by the individual riders. Not sure If there will be cabin options, I will look into that. We will list hotel options for the overnight when more detailed route info is determined. It is already in the works.

BTW, I agree that Lake Murray is a great option. I like the cabins up there and I'm a big fan of the offroad area. So if it doesn't show up in this years edition of the Paris-Decatur, it is certain to be in a future edition of the "You Name It"-Decatur ride. I have enough ideas for at least 3 or 4 editions of this ride already.

Later,
John

[racerxr650r]

Oops, I just looked back at Teed's comments. He mentioned Lake Texhoma not Lake Murray.

I agree with Lake Texhoma as well. In fact, some of your suggestions are being considered and at least one is new to me. We will seriously consider these.

More details to come :-)

Thanks,
John

[Cagiva 549]

+1 on the motel , playing in the dirt in June with no shower is not an option . Second weekend in June is ADV ride in the hill country , dont know how many people that will effect but I am one of them. SEYA

[Teeds]

Oops, I just looked back at Teed's comments. He mentioned Lake Texhoma not Lake Murray.

John et al ... I am cool with either. There are some really nice cabins on the Oklahoma side of Texhoma as well, but I didn't think I would need to carry my passport as we were not going to leave Texas. I have one and everything is current, so it is OK (pun intended :mrgreen: ) if we do.

The links I posted were the cabin opportunities I could find on the Texas side of the lake. Clearly, someone should visit the places to see if they would be appropriate places to stop.

How quickly are we trying to pull this info together? I have talked to a friend about riding the Chaparral Trail in a few weekends (assuming the weather is good) and we could scout out some dirt on the way back from Paris. I was planning on posting the ride when we got closer to the dates. Anyone is welcome to tag along.

[Bandit33]

Wow, I had not checked this thread for a few days, and there has been all kinds of interest; this is great. Sounds like the Gainesville to Decatur section has been covered, but if any more help is needed, let me know. I have been riding a lot of that area lately. Just rode a lot up there yesterday (Sunday). Also, I would be up for a ride on the Chaparral Trail; have been wanting to ride that. Let me know if I can set anything up for the rally.

Don

[irondawg]

I just stumbled on to this post. Wow!! This sounds really cool. Except for the date. Kids will be out of school by then and that means more cages on the road. Have y'all considered doing this in May? It'd be a little cooler with less cages on the road.

Edit: Oh yeah...like Cagiva 549 said. I'm kinda involved in a ADV gathering with Duncan that weekend...so I'm out if it's the 2nd weekend in June.

[Photojojo]

I don't think it will be much of a problem on the majority of the roads we'll be on. :rider:

[XR650Rocketman]

Irondawg.....Glad to see you're catching up here......Sounds like more fun to me.....

Steve

[irondawg]

Irondawg.....Glad to see you're catching up here......Sounds like more fun to me.....

Steve

Works been a bit crazy plus we're finalizing immigration for L. What a pain.

[DANNYROTH]

BUMP. We can't let this one die.

As soon as I get a free weekend and at least two other riders to join me, we are going to get the Moscow to Geneva route scouted out. One stretch, on the Rock Island road, is reportedly impassible within two days after a rain, guess we'll see how our "depth divination" tool works.

We also will need to get our papers and shots in order since we will be crossing at least one international border (Louisiana) on the route I have charted.

[exrtguy]

:rofl: This sounds like big fun. Will be watching this thread.

[FirstMan]

I would love to join in on this as well. Hopefully buy then I will not be a complete newbie on a dual sport.

[Voltar]

I would love to join in on this as well. Hopefully buy then I will not be a complete newbie on a dual sport.

I don't know the exact route, but I would bet that unimproved gravel roads would be the biggest challege. You are up for it!

[Mudshark]

Oops, I just looked back at Teed's comments. He mentioned Lake Texhoma not Lake Murray.

I agree with Lake Texhoma as well. In fact, some of your suggestions are being considered and at least one is new to me. We will seriously consider these.

More details to come :-)

Thanks,
John

Guys... count me in. This sounds like way too much fun to pass up.
If you need any anything, just ask. I'll help with whatever I can.
Just my 5c worth.... a shower and a cool beer after a hard days ride
sounds good... so maybe cabins / motels would be a good idea....... or I could
get my wife to ride a chuck wagon and just follow us till we stop. :trust:

[Hop]

This sounds like a lot of fun. Another option for a place to stay is the cabins and bunkhouse at Bonham State Park. I know a lot of the dirt roads in that area since I live on one. Also I can check into what is available at the Lake Fannin wilderness area. They were working to redo some of the cabins and get the area open again. It is a very nice area. I don't currently have dual sport but I can pretty much take my MZ Scorpion anywhere I need so I might be interested.

[Plane Dr]

I like the sounds of this as well it sounds like a blast. Can I hit the second annual incarnation though? My family has me chained to the house this year. I can do knobs, dual sport, or hooligan, I speak all 3 fluently. Well between falls that is.

[Mudshark]

I like the sounds of this as well it sounds like a blast. Can I hit the second annual incarnation though? My family has me chained to the house this year. I can do knobs, dual sport, or hooligan, I speak all 3 fluently. Well between falls that is.

hehe! sounds like you'll fit right in :rider:

[Joeker]

way in!!!!!!!

[Goat Trail Green]

Oops, my bad.

Ok, Let's do this on the second weekend in June.

Anyone have an airconditioned tent I can borrow in June ? It has to fit on the back of an XR650R :-)

I will post more info soon. I will try to setup a web page to provide info. This thread is getting a little long.


Thanks

this sounds like a good time. If i get my XL running I can volunteer some time during the week if anyone else has that kind of time off..

Mike Green -- Billyji

[ilv2wheels]

This sounds great, and far enough in the future for a total DS noob to develop enough skills to actually enjoy myself (and pay off my health ins. deductible). :-)

[Goat Trail Green]

Well I didnt get the xl 600 running but I bought a 2001 ATK 605 es/ds and will be off the 1st,2nd,3rd and 4th of May. Anyone off and want to do some scouting. We will need to know what is needed....

Mike Green -- Billyji

[mcrider]

What/Where are you going to scout?

[Goat Trail Green]

What/Where are you going to scout?

Sorry I guess I wasnt clear.......
I live in Dallas and have those days off. I am open to scouting whatever needs to be done or whatever anyone wants to scout. I am looking for guidance and a partner in crime......!!!!

shoot me an email i will my cell number

Mike Green -- billyji

[Sleepy Weasel]

Thanks

this sounds like a good time. If i get my XL running I can volunteer some time during the week if anyone else has that kind of time off..

Mike Green -- Billyji

Holy crap, Batman... I had to double check to see if I was on a bike forum or a Jeep forum.

Good to see you, Mike, even though I doubt I could pick you out of a lineup anymore.

[Goat Trail Green]

Holy crap, Batman... I had to double check to see if I was on a bike forum or a Jeep forum.

Good to see you, Mike, even though I doubt I could pick you out of a lineup anymore.


LOL

I have been lurking since 2005 when I bought a 2001 KTM 200. Then I jumped and bought a non running 1986 xl 600 and 3 days later an ATK 605 ES/DS. Then I found this post I cannot wait.
Next time I go Calyton 4 wheeling I will scout a couple places to take a group up Dual sporting.... Krum creek to the caves back down flag pole hill and maybe wild wood down rock creek out to k trail Mckinley rock and back. I know Okdual sport runs the same weekened ocotber trailfest goes on. I might be able to get Rudy to lets us run good ole Green Acres a bit.....

thanks for the welcome !!!!

Mike Green -- Billyji

[Sleepy Weasel]

LOL

I have been lurking since 2005 when I bought a 2001 KTM 200. Then I jumped and bought a non running 1986 xl 600 and 3 days later an ATK 605 ES/DS. Then I found this post I cannot wait.
Next time I go Calyton 4 wheeling I will scout a couple places to take a group up Dual sporting.... Krum creek to the caves back down flag pole hill and maybe wild wood down rock creek out to k trail Mckinley rock and back. I know Okdual sport runs the same weekened ocotber trailfest goes on. I might be able to get Rudy to lets us run good ole Green Acres a bit.....

thanks for the welcome !!!!

Mike Green -- Billyji

I was just informed that I had missed a couple of DS runs to Clayton already, though I guess I had missed the announcement on one of them. Got new tires going on today so I don't have to tough it out on Trailwings anymore.

[Goat Trail Green]

Cool

I am pumped they do some Clayton runs. i thought it was just the OK group. Maybe I can lend a hand...
congrats on the tires....

OK back to Paris to Decatur run !!!

Mike

[txgryph]

So what happened to Racer?

Is this going anywhere?

Don't know that my Wee-Strom would be up to it but I've got a car and a trailer and would be willing to help with support if needed.

2nd weekend in June is out for me as well.

[griffin515]

can get from denton to decatur on the dirt do it all the time.............will look further east'

Griffin