Roll The Bones Rally III - THE AWESOMENESS!

Roll The Bones evicted the demons of all Dual Sport adventure riders by giving the loathsome bark-o-lounger a heat treatment!


Free of the demon within me, I was now primed for a bliss-filled day of riding!


I boldly, and selfishly, struck out alone at 8:30 am to take in a leisurely paced roll-of-the-bones, and within a few miles - the wicked demon of self-doubt struck!
Holy cow, I am alone and have to clear a tricky dirt ramp to get over a bridge!


I walked up, and felt like I was going to have to ride the KLR like a mountain bike across these planks!
Sort of like something you would find in Russia! So, I gathered some steam - and kept my eye on the prize and all was well!


This is when I was wishing my brother could have rolled these bones with me on his XR650R!
His XR could have really stretched its legs, the only limiting factor to speed here is playing Russian Roulette with the multitudes of deer.
I stuck to 50 mph - any faster would just diminish my ability to soak in the beauty of it all.


One of my favorite relics of the area!






I followed Ghost's Dirty Raid the entire day, and it was spectacular!
They are in great shape, go for many miles, have little traffic and there is no urban sprawl.


One of the many spectacular views!
The RTB crew provided excellent tracks, routes and waypoints, that made the ride very easy to navigate.
I thank them for all the time and effort it takes to pull all that data together!


Camping at Circle T was great! Nice flat grass, plenty of room, and even hot showers.






UlyBrad was Good Samaritan and provided truck and trailer support to pickup riders in need of help! *


As ever, it was great to see Mudclod - There is never a dull moment with him!




I was pleased to meet TrashySquid, he's a solid dude - who very generously made me a Starbucks coffee on his camp stove.
Thanks dude! You made my morning.






KLRsys, is a cool cat, and a mechanical wizard. I was amazed at the time, patience and dedication demonstrated by his installation of a Versys motor in his KLR! A ton of problem solving and fabrication went in to this marvel of a bike. I was blown-away by his offer to take it for a ride.
I did some hot laps of the parking lot, and AWESOME does not even begin to describe what it felt like!
Smooth liquid power just flowed! The motor is perfectly tuned with the addition of a Co2 sensor on the header pipe and Power Commander self-adjusting FI system.
I admire the creativity and vision that went into the project! *


ROaDmap led O Matic, TrashySquid and myself on an epic journey South towards Austin! And I really mean EPIC.
ROaDmap showed us roads that were tight twisty smooth, and required extra attention to ride fast. I was pushing the KLR pretty fast, and feeling Karroo and MT 21 tires squirming and slipping under the throttle. It was a real treat to do this - because I had kinda expected I was going to do a rather dull ride home, but instead ROaDmap extended the Roll The Bones a whole extra day for us! O Matic thanks for your company at the rally and into Austin, it was a pleasure seeing you!


A rather interesting home!


GhostRider, ROaDmap, SlowOldGuy, TX James, MudClod, Ulybrad, and all the RTB Crew who made this happen... the Exorcism worked!
Or was it the face plant I made into the glass wall that I thought was the door way to registration.

Cool picture of my 270 miles of dust encrusted bike and tent!!

Great report. That bridge is a little intimidating! Good to see you at the rally.

We also had a fun ride back. Excellent way to cap off a super weekend.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

A couple years ago I had plans to go to the 1st Roll the Bones Rally but things
didn’t quite work out. And last year was just as bad. Well with the end
of the world just around the corner I thought it would be a good time to
make it to my first “Roll the Bones Rally”.

I made it to the Circle T a bit early and it was windy and cold, a sign of things to come.

Since check in was slightly delayed I decided to pitch camp. Harold and Ki showed
up about the time I had my tent up.



In the afternoon, there was a “dirt” rib run to the Loco Coyote over near Glen Rose.



Arrived at the Loco unscathed but a bit dusty (another theme that would
hold through the weekend)



And some of the crowd at the Loco.



It was pretty busy and a few of us had to sit outside in the cool wind.
I ordered the BBQ sandwich as I had been to the Loco before and knew
the ribs and the burger were just to much to finish.

After dinner it was a cold ride slabbing it back to the Circle T.

The evening camp fire was great but it was getting colder and I turned in
Early to get so rest for the ride tomorrow. I woke up about 1:30am freezing
And went and stood by the dwindling camp fire to warm up before heading
Back to the tent. This will be the last time I leave my “zero” degree bag at home.

The next morning I got up as early as I could a had the 4 dollar breakfast burrito and
coffee at the café.

It was still pretty cold and I found a small group to ride with. Two of the guys I had met at
the East TX 450 Harold and Pete, and we picked up two additional riders, George
from Abilene on a WR250, and stelthcfr “Colby” (sp?) from the Dallas area on a DR-650 kicker.

It was hoping it would warm just a bit but it was not to be.

This was our first rest stop on the Mudclod route (running it backwards we found out a few miles into it).



Right after the stop the riding got real good. This area South of Hwy 36
and West of FM 1702 was not the typical gravel roads it almost seemed
like two track through private property. This was a great section of this ride.

We fueled up in Gustine and continued on through the cool morning right
into Hico for lunch at the Koffee Cup. I had a burger and did NOT have any pie.



After lunch and fuel in Hico we heading into the Bosque county section of this ride.
I’ve been across this crossing a few times before but was following and never really
Knew where it was. I know now. The last time I was here water was coming over
and it was pretty slick so if you make it this way, be careful.




A quick look up stream.



The track gets confusing at Hwy 22 and Hwy 6 but if you head down Hwy 6 towards
Waco and take the first county road to the right, you get back on track within a mile or so.

This is another good section of this ride and I have ridden this section quite a few times
being from Waco. In Waco you have Bosque county to the north and Falls county to the
South if you are looking for unpaved roads.

Final gas stop at Cranfills Gap.



We made it to the road closed bridge.



George wanted Pete to get a picture of him on the bridge.



George going back across.



And George riding across.



We stopped off a the city lake in Hamilton and rode some of the
tracks around the lake. Harold, George and I got separated from
Pete and Colby and made the complete circle. During Pete and Colby’s
Attempt Colby picked up something in his rear tire.

We had time and we were almost home so we decided to patch the tire
here. After looking at the hole in the tube and knowing Colby had to slab back
To Dallas on the bike tomorrow, Harold had a spare rear tube he donated to the cause.

We found out we had many tools to make the job easier but the hardest part in breaking the
bead on the existing tire. Harold had a hammer and one of the plastic bead breaker things.
With some soapy water and a ton of elbow grease we finally managed to do the job.

A careful search of the tire found a small piece of bailing wire stuck in the tire. So always check
the tire before installing your new tube. I think if I had been riding solo I might have forgot
this very important step.



We got the new tube installed and slabbed it back to the Circle T searching for the warmth of the camp fire.

A couple of menacing bikes waiting in the dark.



I was a good crowd around the camp fire for the door prizes and the Wounded Warrior
Project raffle that turned into an entertaining auction when two of the prize winners
Donated their prizes for sale to the highest bidder to raise additional money for the
cause.



Ghostrider running the auction.



And the evening’s festivities drew to a close following the ceremonial burning of the
barcalounger.



I had a great time, met some great people and I hope they raised some money
for a great cause.

If the Mayans’ are wrong and we are still here after Dec 21st, I hope to be
lucky enough to ride again next year.

Heh, that pic at the gas station, we were discussing how we could take the group of "image bikers" lol. Flats suck, but I am still so grateful for everyone's help. Harold's the man, had all the tire tools ready to rock, gave me his spare tube, and refused compensation on many occasions. (If anyone has his info so I can get one shipped to him, then he can't refuse ) and Rob loaned me his spare just in case I had any problems on the route home.

Had a blast with everyone on the ride. Got to really push the DR on the city park loop (that is, until the very end when the rear tire got squishy)

The trip home was uneventful, but it was funny seeing the looks on folks faces getting passed above 80 on the Dallas North Tollway by a roadwarrior looking enduro packed to the brim with ratchet straps and bungee cords



edit: "Did you see any aliens?"

There are some great pics here...Please submit to my email if you want to be judged in the best pic and video contest
KosmicKLR...I know you are gonna send me some of those