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East Texas Monster Mash 500 - Jan 2nd-4th, 2026

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Ya’ll missed a great ride…


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Looks like a real fun time, but heard there were some problems too? Please let us know as I know a friend or two that were on this ride, and hope they are ok.
 
We made it home a bit after 7:00pm. I can't believe how tired and sore I am... all over... Getting old kind of sucks :-|

Two people had an incident. Both are okay and home safe. I will let them share their own stories.

The weatherman was WRONG :roll: I am finally warm for the first time all weekend 🥶

The riding was fantastic. I can't believe I've never gotten out to that area to ride before. I am hesitant to share the routes because I don't want it getting over ridden. This afternoon while we were stopped at a tiny single pump gas station in the middle of nowhere. While there a local Deputy asked me if we had been out on a particular road yesterday... :wary: It would appear that he got a call about 8-10 dirt bikes. He did not say what the complaint was. I assured him it was not us. I don't think he was convinced. We were not being crazy so I am not sure what the complaint might have been if it was us :shrug: IF someone was upset about 10 bikes in the area, imagine what it might be like if a lot more bikes than that start coming through the area on a regular basis, like if an East Texas BDR ever gets put together! Could get ugly... :ponder: Might be inevitable :shrug:
 
Really great ride w great people. Scott, thanks a ton for putting it together. I had no idea how great the riding was in East TX and all the rolling hills was a pleasant surprise. Great trip…Thanks
 
I don't think they were always on public roads :rofl:That's why it's a scouting ride though.
 
According to EVERY publicly available government map, we WERE on public roads at all times. There may be something going on with some land owners wanting to keep people off a road, unless some deal was made between the land owners and the Forest Service that is not public. I am kind of thinking about calling the Ranger office in that district to check on the status of that particular road. IF it is still an active FS road, then it is illegal in most cases to put a locked gate across it. In our case, we came up to the gate from the inside and the guy on the outside was quite put out about it. He assumed we came through a locked gate on the other end and would not listen when I told him we DID NOT come through ANY gates and there were NO signs for no trespassing. Me apologizing if we made a mistake and insisting that we had no intention of knowingly trespassing fell on deaf ears. He did at least unlock the gate and let us out.

woodsguy said:
If public roads, what's big deal.
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Same deal as what has been going on out at Big Bend/Terlingua and the Hill Country. People move to rural places to get away from everyone. When people start showing up, they get upset about it, regardless of whether or not the visitors are on public roads. They don't like the noise, dust, and sometimes eyes... :wary: So they do what they think they can get away with to discourage people from visiting their areas. It is bad enough people have strung wires and made other traps on trails for riders. Imagine if they start doing that on county and forest service roads!

There is no easy solution to the problem. In most of the places I ride, there aren't a lot of riders hitting those roads on a regular basis. Imagine if a BDR is created and published to the general public. It is not just motorcycles either. A LOT of jeepers and overlanders have discovered that adventure riders share routes and they use them as well. The East Texas 450 has been picked up by many Jeeper/overlander types of clubs now. I routinely see posts on FB from them because the algorithm thinks I need to see them for some reason.

So I am torn. I love to share fun routes because I want other people to enjoy them as well. However, I know very well that it does not take very many inconsiderate people to ruin things for everyone. I always try to chill out when around homes and save the fun stuff for places where there is no one around (that I can see...). I know there are a LOT of riders that treat the roads like a racetrack, just like the street rider guys. It is fun, but it makes the general public look down on all of us. It seems to always happen any where that gets popular :shrug:
 
Years ago on the ETX450, @Rydah and a few others made a left turn from one dirt road that T’d into another. I stopped to wait for the next rider to make sure they knew which way to go. A few showed up and one said he’d wait for the next group. As we turned left, a guy walked out of the woods holding up his hand for us to stop. He did have a hard hat, safety vest, and a two way radio. He said he had tried to stop the others, but they just rode by. He asked if we were part of a hunting lease or had permission from some logging company (can’t remember the name). I explained we were just out riding and nothing else. He said the road was private and we were trespassing. I explained we never went through a gate, nor were there any signs or markings we passed to indicate that. He said the others that rode through were going to run into a locked gate at the end of the road. I asked him if we could follow them to let them know. He tried calling someone on the radio, but couldn’t get an answer so he he said ok. About 30 yards before the paved road, there was a locked gate across the road but nothing on either side to prevent riding around to get to the highway.

I don’t understand how it was a private road. The road that T’d into it had an actual official CR (whatever the number was) sign. The intersection was large, well maintained, and looked like an 18 wheeler could easily make the turn. No signs or markings indicating it was private. It wasn’t during hunting season so we couldn’t have been disturbing anyone’s hunt.
 
Well hearing all the stories about how great it was is a bummer for me. I was one of the incidents. Made it 1 hour into day one and caught my back wheel in a rut on a simple dirt road while not paying attention...went sideways, tried to correct but couldn't save the tank slapper and ended up doing my first RUD (Rapid Unscheduled Dismount) at speed. The subsequent tuck and roll followed a rather abrupt impact on my right shoulder and right knee which ultimately ended my weekend. Many thanks to ETRider for following me back to the truck and getting the bike back on the hitchmount. Couldn't have done it without you bro. That was a long drive back to Mansfield...Mostly cussing myself for a stupid mistake and ruining what appears to have been a great opportunity to ride with some cool folks. I'll heal up and see you next time.
 
No need to beat yourself up. Stuff happens, and best to have a little oopsie and not end up with long term injuries or worse.


Regarding people being upset about others using public roadways… there’s a road near me where somebody keeps putting a “road closed” / “dead end” (seen both) sign in the ditch at the intersection that it connects to. You can drive down it just fine. Some people just hate that they have to share this planet with others.
 
Other than Ride4Pie's RUD... I had a blast with a great group. After making sure bro could get back to civilization to make sure nothing was too out of place, I got back on the track solo trying to catch up with the group, I didn't have any luck finding the group but had a nice solo ride all day Saturday without having to eat any dust and was probably within minutes of the group most of the afternoon based on comparing stories that evening. Got to ride with the group on Sunday and really enjoyed the interaction and riding. Thanks Scott for putting the tracks together... I know it takes some time... and for letting us come along to scout the area.
I'm enjoying the heck out of the new to me CRF450L... thanks Rydah... wish you could have made the trip with us.
A few pics to add to the story.
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It may be a few days before I can even start trying to get together a ride report. I have been swamped with work since getting back and have done nothing but work from the time I wake up until I go to bed. Didn't even help Daniel unload the bikes and barely had five minutes to meet his not-girlfriend that he brought by the house for the first time :-P The congestion garbage that started Thursday night is now in full swing! I have been working with tissues shoved up my nose all day :giveup:
 
danco302 said:
I think the young guy needs a bigger screen
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That screen is on the 450. Daniel's KTM 690 Enduro is behind that. He didn't even have a GPS ;-) There was an "old" guy on the 450 :lol2:
 
Yeah... the "screen" on the 450L was a literal last minute add to play with DMD2. I had an older, rugged android tablet we use for surveying from work that could run the DMD2 app and decided to give it a test run. The "screen" came with a cheap Adventure Spec mini fairing setup that will be changed out... but thought it might give a bit of protection from the elements. I kind of like the DMD2 capabilities but that tablet is too big for serious off road.
 
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