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TARA: Texas Adventure Ride, April 20-23, 2017, Junction, TX

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Riders,

The 2017 Texas Adventure Ride will be held April 20-23 in Junction, TX. All riders are invited to attend.

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The Texas Adventure Ride is a 4 day, dual sport adventure ride and rally occurring annually on the 3rd weekend of April in Junction, TX and offers an opportunity to enjoy the great dual sport riding in the Texas hill country. All riders are invited to attend.

Lodging – You will be staying in Junction, TX for three nights (Thursday - Friday - Saturday nights). Each rider must make their own lodging accommodations. Ride headquarters is the Best Western hotel, right off Main Street in Junction. A hot breakfast buffet is included with the cost of your room.

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Best Western Hotel
244 Dos Rios Drive
Junction, TX 76849
325-446-3700

In the event that the Best Western gets sold out, there is a Roadway Inn next door. Their rooms are a little less expensive than the Best Western but do not include breakfast. If you stay at the Roadway you can eat breakfast at the Best Western for a few dollars.

Make your reservations early. April is the busiest month of the year in the hill country and the properties in Junction often sell out. Even if you aren't sure if you will be able to attend make your reservation now - you can always cancel if needed.

Ride Organization- Each day riders select where they want to ride that day. We have taken the liberty of providing recommended routes for both Friday and Saturday - routes that we believe include the finest dual sport and paved roads in the hill country - but riders are free to choose to ride wherever they want.

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Riders meeting: If you want to ride with other riders, there is a riders meeting each morning in the parking lot of the Best Western. The riders’ meeting is your opportunity to find a group to ride with. The most experienced rider present should take charge, conduct a safety briefing, and facilitate riders organizing into groups.

Daily Schedule:
Thursday
6 –8 pm: Arrive, motel check in, informal rider social gathering at the front of the Best Western

Friday
6:00 – 8:00 a.m., breakfast buffet, Best Western Hotel
8:00 – 8:30 a.m., Riders Meeting, Best Western parking lot
8:30 – 6:00 p.m., Ride
6:00 - 7:30 p.m., dinner at Isaak's Restaurant
8:00 – 10 p.m., informal rider social, Best Western parking lot

Saturday
6:00 – 8:00 a.m., breakfast buffet, Best Western Hotel
8:00 – 8:30 a.m., Riders Meeting, Best Western parking lot
8:30 – 6:00 p.m., Ride
6:00 - 7:30 p.m., dinner at Cooper's BBQ
8:00 – 10 p.m., informal rider social, Best Western parking lot

Sunday: End of event

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Pre-Planned Routes: We provide suggested routes for both Friday and Saturday. These routes consist of both pavement and dirt, but the emphasis is riding as much dirt as possible. Each day's route is about 250 miles long and will take most or all of the day to complete. There are gas stations along both routes but your motorcycle should have at least a 120 mile range to avoid running out of gas between stops. Both routes pass through several towns, allowing the opportunity to buy snacks and lunch during the ride. Download the gps routes and tracks here.

Note that day 2 includes the famed (and feared) James River crossing. We have provided a bypass route for those who don't want to attempt the very slick (but very fun) low water crossing of the James River.

MAPS- No paper maps are provided for this event but the pre-planned routes are available for download for use with your GPS. Each rider should bring his/her own map and a GPS. Due to the extensive amount of area covered in the recommended routes, there is no single paper map that covers all the recommended roads. The best paper map that we know of is the Roads of Texas Atlas, published by Mapsco. The Road of Texas atlas contains every road in the pre-planned routes and is a much better paper map source than any others that we are aware of. We strongly urge you to purchase copy of The Roads of Texas atlas (even if you have a GPS.) It is available on-line and at most major bookstores or online. (Note – don’t confuse the Roads of Texas Atlas by Mapsco with other atlases. The Mapsco atlas is the best atlas we have been able to find. By the way, we have no affiliation with Mapsco, we just think their atlas is the best map source for this event.)

We recommend studying the routes before hand and then bringing the appropriate pages from the Roads of Texas Atlas with you as a backup/reference.

GPS – The pre-planned routes are available for download in .gpx format.

Bike Type – Any dual sport or adventure type bike should be suitable for this event. Only public roads are include in the pre-planned routes; there is no public off-road riding in the hill country. While there are no off-road areas, the dual sport roads in the area range from well maintained gravel to un-maintained, rutted dirt. Any dual sport / adventure bike is likely capable of navigating the routes but rider skill will also play a role in determining if a rider can successfully navigate the various obstacles that will be encountered. Riders should use their best judgment as to whether a particular section of road is suitable for their individual riding skills.

Finally, there are a lot of fun, paved roads in the hill country so that road bikes and/or cruisers have lots of riding opportunities. However the pre-planned routes contain lots of dirt roads and are not likely a good choice for road bikes or cruisers.

Who is in charge? This ride happens every year. Some years we will have a TARA member act as the event organizer and he/she will be in charge of the logistics of the ride. He/she will run the riders meeting, schedule meals (make reservations with the local restaurant for a group meal), and may provide door prizes or a commemorative item such as a t-shirt or drinking glass. When there is an event organizer, there will be a charge to attend the rally. (We are currently looking for an organizer for this years ride - in case you want to volunteer.)

In other years, when there is not an event organizer, then the ride/rally will still happen, but it will happen as a "non-event" event. In other words, it will still be on the 3rd weekend in April, everyone is invited to attend, but no one person is in charge. With no one in charge, there won't be a charge to attend - just show up and ride. You will still have the great camaraderie of the dual sport adventure community and will enjoy the best riding in the hill country; there just won't be any extra goodies.

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Want to help out? We always need help organizing these events. If you are willing to help, please contact us.
 
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Re: TARA: Texas Adventure Ride, April 13-16, 2017, Junction, TX

I planned to go until I realized the ride is Easter weekend. Too many family gatherings then. If it was another weekend I would go.
 
Re: TARA: Texas Adventure Ride, April 13-16, 2017, Junction, TX

on the calendar (in pencil for now, lol)
 
Re: TARA: Texas Adventure Ride, April 13-16, 2017, Junction, TX

Interested, but I'm not sure if I'll be in town. I'll have to update whether I can go or not closer to the event.
 
Re: TARA: Texas Adventure Ride, April 13-16, 2017, Junction, TX

I've missed the Junction TAR rides, did them each year for a while (until they were discontinued) so glad to see it back in Junction. BUT Easter weekend is not going to work for me, sorry to say.
 
Re: TARA: Texas Adventure Ride, April 13-16, 2017, Junction, TX

...BUT Easter weekend is not going to work for me, sorry to say.

To all riders,

My apologies - I failed to consider Easter when I scheduled TAR. As such, I am moving the date to one week later. TAR will be April 20 - 23, 2017. I apologize again for the mistake and any issues this may have caused.

Cheers,

Rich
 
Re: TARA: Texas Adventure Ride, April 13-16, 2017, Junction, TX

Gina, may we borrow your pencil?
 
Re: TARA: Texas Adventure Ride, April 13-16, 2017, Junction, TX

To all riders,

My apologies - I failed to consider Easter when I scheduled TAR. As such, I am moving the date to one week later. TAR will be April 20 - 23, 2017. I apologize again for the mistake and any issues this may have caused.

Cheers,

Rich

Thanks!
 
Plentiful roads for big bikes as well[emoji106][emoji4]


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Those going to Moto GP can preside Thur Fri and go to GP Sat-Sun


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Thanks for the date change, Richard!

Now it looks like a definite maybe for Team 250.
Updated today to a definite probable. Room is booked, trailer (yes, trailer; too far to road ride late Thursday pm) is sourced.
 
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We called the best Western and they said there is no information on TARA information for that week end. We made reservations anyway as it works good for that area. Has there been a change in locations?
 
We called the best Western and they said there is no information on TARA information for that week end. We made reservations anyway as it works good for that area. Has there been a change in locations?

I spoke with Donna, the general manager of the Best Western, today and let her know that we would be there the weekend of April 20-23.

She has some rooms available for all 3 nights, but not many. If you want to stay at the Best Western, make your reservations right now.

For everyone else, there are still rooms available next door at the Roadway.

Finally, if both of these properties get booked, there are multiple other locally owned motels in town. I've personally stayed at the Lazy T and The Hills motels and would stay at either again.
 
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