Rally recap 3/12/2015:
Well I barely escaped Big Bend. I almost became a permanent resident living in a bus in Rio Grande Village. But after 300 miles of parts and fluid gathering on a 250cc bike we got the old beast to Terlingua and up to the El Dorado. Another 2 days of occasional wrenching and intelligence gathering and we were at 50% and managed to lope back to Houston at a painful 50 MPH cruise. It only took 17 hours and we arrived at 4:30 AM last night, so here I am back at work as planned. Uuuugh.
The good news is tee shirts are being printed, trophies are being crafted, food is being prepared, Terlingua is expecting us, my bikes are left out there ready to ride, and most everything is cooking along. The desert is extremely wet, wildflowers are everywhere, whole mountainsides are covered with bluebonnets.
We have 85 confirmed and 15 tentative riders, plus tag-alongs. 32 Desert Challenge, 26 Adventure Challenge, and 17 Dos y Dos riders.
The big questions I keep seeing are
1. Mapping / gps / tracks: I will be emailing tracks tonight hopefully by Midnight. Dos Y Dos needs modifications. With the recent rains the trails are rough and on my 230F I had a difficult time with Black Gap. It took about 1:15 at advanced pace to run from Mariscal Mine up to concrete thru Black Gap. I am thinking this route will break most any Dos Y Dos competitor on Dos Y Dos specific equipment. As such, I am modifying the route for all but the most skilled and hearty to go to the mine and back via river road. Black Gap to Glen Springs should only be attempted by skilled riders, intermediate / advanced on reliable equipment.
2. Camping / lodging. There seemed to be no shortage of camping available, even this first weekend of spring break. Showers are available at multiple places in the Ghost Town vicinity for a small fee. There is plenty of dirt available in the rear lot of the host hotel, The El Dorado, AKA the High Sierra (the name of the bar in the center of the hotel).
3. Check in: We will have a table set up under the patio in front of the host hotel mid morning on Thursday. We'll have sign in sheets, wristbands for meals, stickers for challenge participants, guidebooks, tee shirts, and friendly advice, to some degree. We will man this check in station noon until Midnight so everyone has ample time to check in, eat dinner (6 - 9 fajita buffet), grab a beverage, etc.
More to come...
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