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Life is Good in the Desert

What a great picture! A bunch of Shady Characters in a Shady Place! Sure wish I could have been there.
 
That copyright thing is sad. I mean, if we like the song we might go buy a copy on I-Tunes or something. If we can't hear it though, we won't even consider the purchase! DOH!
 
Maybe this will work, watch how Scott makes it look like so easy...not only did I not see him go down, but I don't even think he put his feet on the ground all weekend!

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Yes, life is good in the desert. Really loved the riding out there and meeting up with many of you. Thanks Richard for doing such a great job of organizing the event! Looking forward to doing it again! Here are a few pics of me and my pops bashin around the desert.

Obligatory beverage stop while in town.
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Rider meetup on day 1. Coffee and company was good!
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The White Buffalo in its native habitat.
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Me and dad, riding together for over 40 years.
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Coming out of BBSP
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GS Pilot's view
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Where the pavement ends and the *** kickin begins!
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Deep sand on North County road was a handful on the White Buffalo.
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Hot Springs and dip in the river felt great.
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These two bikes have seen a lot together.
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Hotel in Lajitas was great, will be back.
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Breakfast view wasn't too bad.
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Crappy iPhone photo doesn't do it justice, but sunrise/sunset in the desert are unfreakin believable. Can't even begin to talk about the stars...
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Step 3 find a place to park.

MudMissle says " you can't park there" Izz says "but this way I won't need a kickstand to work on my bike."

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Here's some supporting video for Izz's water crossing. It's got a bit of a dirty ending...:rofl:

 
Life is Good in the Desert - King Kong Hill

"Just when you think it can't get any better you arrive at King Kong Hill."

In our last episode the Magnificent Six had just successfully traversed the dangerous and challenging Javelin Road only to be confronted with the horror of King Kong Hill.

Completely uninspiring, not awesome in any way photograph of the start of King Kong Hill. It's always much steeper and harder than any photograph shows. Yes, I hiked to the top to get this picture. Yes, I was winded when I got up there.
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King Kong Hill? What's that, you ask? Here's the story. There is another road in the Big Bend region known as Chispa Road. The first riders to ride that particular road reported that it had a very steep, difficult hill that they dubbed Gorilla Hill. That's the rule - if you ride it first, you get to name it.

In March 2009 Big Bend Ranch State Park (aka The Ranch) finally opened the roads in the park to motorcyclists. About 20 minutes later Uncle, my buddy Shawn, and I jumped on our bikes and headed toward The Ranch as fast as we could, intent on riding those roads. To my knowledge we are the first motorcyclists to legally ride the Rancherias Loop. Of course, we had no idea at the time that the then unnamed King Kong Hill was patiently waiting for us.

Since Shawn was a dual sport newbie and was on a borrowed bike, we sent him up the hill first. With a lot of wheel spinning and cursing, he made it over the top.
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Before anxiety got the best of him, Uncle dumped the clutch and took off after Shawn like a scalded monkey.
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But, alas, Uncle doesn't weigh enough. He lost traction and then lost momentum, never to regain it. Down went the bike and Uncle.
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Eventually, Shawn walked down the hill and between the two of them they managed to get the bike up and over the hill. It was ugly but they got it done.
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Once all 3 of us were over the top of the hill, Uncle claimed naming rights (since he was the one who fell). He said that if the hill on Chispa Rd was Gorilla Hill then this hill must be King Kong Hill. And so it is, to this day.

Hey, Shawn. How do you feel about King Kong Hill?
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Now the Magnificent Six were at the base of King Kong Hill ready to bend it to our will.

But first, we had to get the stuck rider off the hill. GollyGwiz's dad's White Buffalo (BWM GS) was stuck on the steepest part of the hill.
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With me pushing and him riding, we managed to get the buffalo moving and, eventually, over the top. Now it was Big A's turn. Make that 690 show what it can do, Big A.
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And, just like that, he was over the top. Made it look easy too. Good job, Big A.

Mark was up next on the Kawsuki KR-Z400.
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He had to deploy his outriggers but he made it.
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Mad Max Jeff was ready for his turn.
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Luckily, he had fully functional outriggers too that he was able to deploy in his quest for the apex.
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Go, Jeff, Go!
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geez... do y'll carry morphine? for pain just in case...
 
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Three down (or up, in this case), three to go. Chris started his valiant run for the top.
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But, alas, he doesn't weigh enough either, lost traction, and down he went.
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The other riders quickly came to his aid and in short order he and the bike were over the top.
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Not to be outdone, the mighty KLR was up next, ridden by Kevin P.
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He was doing quite well until he lost traction and momentum.
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Kevin came up with a different strategy to conquer the hill. He got his bike turned around, rode back to the bottom of the hill, executed a u-turn, and nailed the throttle for a 2nd attempt.
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With a little work he successfully made it over the top.

That left one - the Italian Supermodel Husky TE610. Don't be fooled though - it's only a Supermodel on the outside. On the inside beats the heart of a true dual sport champion motorcycle. With style and aplomb, I sprinted up the hill on my mighty steed. Of course, in a sense of fairness I handed off my camera to one of the riders hanging around the top of the hill in order to immortalize this moment.
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And over the top I went. Thank God for outriggers. :)
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Veni, Vidi, Vici. We came. We saw. We conquered. The Magnificent Six plus 2 standing on the top of King Kong Hill.
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And that, my friends, is how we spent Day 1 of the Around the Bend rally.
 
Richard those are some awesome pictures, I think I may have to borrow a couple of them.:clap::clap::clap:
 
Richard those are some awesome pictures, I think I may have to borrow a couple of them.:clap::clap::clap:

Thank you for the compliment. Help yourself to any of the pics. It was my pleasure to take them.

Here's the link to all the pics I took during this year's Around the Bend - http://www.richgibbensphotography.c...aroundthebend/16006585_KyNAz#1200793195_DEmmN

Any and all are welcome to the pictures. You can order prints directly from that site or you can download them to your computer.
 
Also what most people don't know is to what extent Richard goes to get the great shots that he takes. After the close up shot of me coming up King Kong hill, he had to scramble for his life, because I almost ran over him coming up over the top. So thank you Richard for risking life and limb to get these great shots, They are appreciated!!!!:clap::clap::clap::clap:
 
Muy bueno! Great photography, great writing, and dirty movies! Now that the RR is going I've gotta get off my butt and clean up some shots. I have video of the White and Red Buffalos as well...
 
Very cool shots of King Kong hill and a lot of determined efforts to make the top! I think the line on the right is a bit more difficult now! Very cool to hear the story of how it was dubbed King Kong hill!
 
Trusty Steed
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Jim takes target practice
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Charles in Charge?
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Visualizing King Kong Hill
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Ooooh that feels good!
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Wheres my rider?
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