Amarillo ride report, first of many...

[craig_enid]

VioletSP and I head out at 4 AM for the big ride at McKenzie.
Just outside of Okeene, Okla., we experience a blowout on the trailer. After a trip back to Okeene to get a wrench that fits the trailer lugs, we go back out to the trailer and get the spare put on. Find that one of the lugs has disapeared into the Oklahoma prairie. Another trip back to Okeene to get another lug nut. While installing, notice too much heat in the hub....
Pull off the hub and a handfull of smoking bearing fall onto the main street in Okeene....
Helpfull owners of the Okeene CarQuest parts store direct me in the task of removing the inner bearing race that has spun on the spindle.
Look at the flat tire in the light of day and discover the wheel had locked up and burned the tire through to cause the flat....
Helpfull workers at the Okeene CarQuest parts store proceed to center-punch the hub so that the race will properly seat in the hub.
Am told the rig MAY make it back to Enid..... it does.
Spend Saturday afternoon scooping dog dropping, cleaning gutters and raking leaves.....
It doesn't get any better than this!!!

 

[Jeff Gilbert]

That's too bad Craig. I'm glad you made it back but sorry you didn't make it to McKensie. something just wasn't in the cards for me to make this trip, Swift had his reasons and now you. I hope the next time we plan this trip it's a little smoother. Don't work too hard around the house.

 

[BSWIFT]

Craig, maybe I ought to repack my trailer bearings today. ;)   Sorry to hear the bad news.  Are you going to ride today?

 

[craig_enid]

I'm winterizing everything I can, gonna have to wait till after this first freeze to get back on the bike....
If you get out, ride a little extra, for me. ;)

 

[Enduro_Nut]

Sorry to here about that, nothing worse than getting psyched with no place to go!

 

[VioletSP]

Its 4 am in the morning... but i'm alright.

I roll out of bed and am ready by 4:15 when i stumble to the car *thankfully dad always drives before 8 am*

good news! mom's coming! but now we have to wait for her to get ready. so i stumble back inside to the couch to wait.

4:30 mom's not going

4:35 mom's coming!

4:45 we're on the road without mom.

6 am I waken to a very scary sound coming from the trailer. I convince myself that its not an alien invasion and open my eyes and look at my dad just in time to hear him say in a confident voice... "well that's not good" thank you for you that technical analysis...

6:15 am I hurry into the O'keene stop and go to beg for a lug wrench. After being stared at like I'm a state school escapee for about 2 minutes I am informed that the parts store down the road. *what the hey? who needs parts at 6 am in the morning in O'keene America?* I do.

7 am roll into O'keene on a quick fix and pull up to the parts shop. I collapse in front seat and let the masters do their work.

8:30 am I awake and look out the back window to that we have become the town project this morning, attracting the attention of the store owner, his son, his wife, the tow truck guy, and two random guys who have nothing better to do this fine morning. I am spotted by the shop owners wife and hustled inside for heating, coffee, and tv while the men work on the wheel.

9 am back on the road again... for home. too bad. but on the plus side I do get to sleep in my dorm bed instead of the passport that night. theres not much of a difference but enough to be the silver lining to a dreary day of no riding.

the moral- if you want to know anything about bearings go to O'keene America.

 

[justql]

Amazing all the post made about this trip by people who didn't even make it there. :p

It was another good trip. Q2 was on his TTR for the first time and rode the first loop with the adults. He shocked me with the amount of efforet he put into it. He attcked hills like they were nothing, even though on most of them he ended up looking like a rider climbing the widowmaker. He never gave up, even when he sent it off a cliff.

the second loop for him and I was with Scott and Toby and Gene. We rode a good loop with Q2 gaining more confidence. He was happy when he made it up a hill the others didn't. Wre rode 47 miles Saturday, on some tough trails for a TTR. He was doing much better and got his confidence back.

This morning we rode a loop with Lorin, Kathy,Butch and Bundu. Q2 had an absolute ball. He loved following Bundu. He thought Bundu picked some great lines and stayed right on his tail. He thought todays loop was the best of the trip. It was teh same as the second loop of the day before but he thought he was a pro level rider because he was hanging with the lead bike. He doesn't know Bundu was taking it easy for all of us.(and I'mnot telling him.)

The trip was great as usually. Don and Derek(dwreck) were great to have as traveling partners. it was good to meet Toby and Scott. Derek(trailryder42) and Bundu did a good job guiding us around. The food was great again.

Thanks to all who helped retrieve Q2's bike during his cliff trip and also on the retrieval during it's mechanical failure. Great people. Thanks again.
Thanks also for giving him so many supportive comments. I appreciate it. This was the first ride that I stayed with him the whole time. Great experience for him and I. :thumb:

 

[tx246]

long post with no organization to it.............. i print the thread containing directions and head out to amarillo. i make pretty good time and get there about 10:45. problem is i cant find anybody else. i sit in the "RV" area for 15 min before i start looking. i get this sick feeling because i hadnt read the post since wed and thought that this ride had been scrapped. finally, i find butch's trailer and i settle in my cot for the night. ive been asleep for about an hour and i hear this lack,lack,lack of justins diesel as he circles the camp like some kind of indian attack. i hear them set up and i drift off to sleep. i get the 7:45 wake up call for breakfast at the marina. we are 8 min late and the drn crew has scarfed all of the food. the good lady makes eggs for us as fast as she can. i look up and down the table and see lots of familiar faces and some new ones too. trailyrider, danman who i saw all week long at dirtweek but didnt really get to talk to him, a nice couple from woodlawn co., tim (local), larry, allen, and calcaneas(sp?), newbies toby and son. all of these were new and of course the regular heartland spode crew. after we eat, its back to camp and get the gear on. i havent ridden seriously since july due to injury and have been looking forward to this for months. first event was the poker run. very cool loop in which every lap i succeeded in getting very uncool cards. thanks to those who laid out the loop. we gathered at camp and dwreck had a great hand and won the 12 bucks. i had the worst hand and surprise.......i got a tshirt. by the way it does fit as long as the wife wont wash it in hot water (calc). we all fall in line with trailyrider42 and he serves as trail guide expert. the terrain was awesome.....reminded me of a miniature bryce canyon, ut and mesa verde, co. lots of up and downs, challenging hill climbs, rocks, hardpack, bits of sugar sand, bermed corners galore and everything in between. the best part is we didnt really have to share the place with anybody. there might of been 17 bikes total on the whole place and 13 belonged to us. we rode hard all day. Q2s little ttr laid down on us at the base of a very large uphill. just quit runnin'. we pulled and pushed to the top and proceeded to do surgery on the trail. diagnosis was too much fuel and fuel fouled the plug. get back to camp and get needed equipment and brought pro ttr pilot to ride the bike back. she was getting all nostalgic over the ttr because she had owned one before and really liked it. boy, was she disappointed after the new plug was put in and it still ran like crap. she nursed it home though where careful inspection found the pilot jet about to fall out. the ttr started first kick. little tweak on the gas gas had justin feeling better too. 5 of us headed out late in the day for one last loop before calling it quits. oh, i almost forgot. on the first loop we are on a ridge waiting for some of the others when i see the nose of the ttr come around a cedar tree a little too fast. Q2 makes a great call and bails off the back of his new bike to save himself. the bike falls off the ridge and we look like the bike catchers at the "widowmaker hillclimb". i told Q2 if he was going to do that again to wait for us to get our cameras out. with some effort, we get the bike up on the trail and get on with it. all the while trailryder42 is helping everybody out and pretty much the consumate host. saturday night found us whooped and looking for food. we found it at the marina and ate till i was about to pop. we retire to justins rv to hear the thrashing that ou gives texas tech. some cold brews make it even better. i work my way out to the campfire and get in some more conversation with bundu, danman, and person8. it was a perfect night in november i tell ya. we watch the last of the wood go up and call it a night. sunday morning is cold but i pass on breakfast to breakout my mountain bike. dont ask me why when i can ride a motorcycle because i dont know. i rode the poker run loop while they went and ate. it was fast and felt good. but like any good mtb trail, you gotta climb to get to the downhill. by the time i got back to camp, i was pumping some heat. we gassed/geared up the bikes and again fell in line with trailryder42. this group was a faster paced group and we made good time. he took us up some technical stuff and by "history rock" where lots of people over the yrs had left there mark. i think he said the oldest date he had found was 1842. cool stuff. we ride another big loop and i call it done. im loaded up and say my goodbyes. like all spode rides i really dont want to leave. get home wash up bikes and unload truck. enter this reply and go to bed.

ps. craig........we were worried but glad it wasnt serious

 

[Danman]

Craig, everyone was wondering what happened to you and Violet. <Paul Harvey voice on> and now we know the rest of the story <Paul Harvey voice off> Sorry you could not make it.

I got there later than anticipated because of a problem at work, so I did not get any riding in on Friday. Lorin, Kathy, and Oldmaiconut were already there as was Trailryder42, his buddy Tim, and Bundu. I changed my air filter and talked with some of the guys that could only make it on Friday (Sorry I can’t remember your names) before retiring to the campfire with a few daddy pops. The Friday guys split after a while. Bundu, TR42, and I headed to the cabin for dinner. On the way to the cabin we bumped into CJrider and CSL. Since they were in the cabin they followed us back. Person8 showed up just after dinner and after getting settled in we headed back to the fire and conversed for a while. . After we headed up to the cabin after OMN, Lorin and Kathy went to sleep.

After some sleep, we headed over for some Breakfast (Jeanette whipped up a great Buffet with the works). Some had rolled later in the night. TX246, JustQL and son (Quent), OKKXer, Dwreck, Tangell and son, and Calcaneous and his Brother. They’re maybe some that I missed, sorry. After a great breakfast it was on to suit up and hit the trails. Bundu and I did a lap on the poker run. Shortly after that we did a parade lap in which we all got a card. Then three more laps with a card and one at the end of the last lap. Dwreck must have cheated because some how he won the prize (a buck entry fee from every one). Maybe had few cards up his sleeve. TX246 came in last and won the T-shirt prize, a giveaway DW02 T-shirt that did not fit Calcaneous donated by him, thank man! The loser did not wash our bikes. That’s OK cuz we’ll just take a rain check for a wash a DW03 ;)

After the poker run we all pretty much went on a ride and little JustQL gave us a scare :eek: I’ll let them go into that. There was a lot of good trail done throughout the day, and some of us split off. The Trailryder42 is an awesome trail boss and took us on some good stuff, little cliffs and scenic hill climbs and creeks. A few highlights were seeing CJrider on the little KX chugging up the hills ( a new pipe, low altitude and some jetting makes more power :yeehaw: ), the steep pucker down hill, and that fast quad trail with CSL prodding trailryder42 to go faster. It was hoot sliding around the corners and into the berms. They seemed endless, just on after the other, up the hills and down. We just all seemed to be “in the grove”. All of use were riding pretty close together. I know I sure sucked a lot Dwreck’s dust and roost. After riding it was off for a hot shower and some dinner. MMMMMMM –brisket. It hit the spot. A few cut out for home after dinner. We talked in the cabin for a little bit and all of us headed down to the fire except Cjrider. She was tired. We started a fire (slowly). JustQL and most of the Heartland Spode crew were hunkered down in the Heartland Spode wagon listened to OU spank Tech :( . We talked around the fire for a while. How did the subject of flatulence come up? Neither Elk or Twinspar were present :confused: After most everyone had gone in TX246, Bundu, Person8, and I pretty much watched the last bit of wood burn. It was off to the bunk for some shuteye.

After sleeping till the last possible minute, it was to the buffet (8:00 am sharp). The cold front did not move in. Then it was off the trails. A few of us headed out and we did the cool canyon trail with the drop offs by the cliffs (by history rock) that some did not do on Sat. After a quick pit stop we headed out for some more trail. Cool down hills and climbs. I biffed it on a good steep up hill. It was pretty vertical ledge at the top with just a little more hill left after that. I caught some air off the vertical lip and let off the gas a little to soon. The front end can down and I hit the face with my front wheelie. It pitched me off the bike. We both landed on top of the hill. After CSL, Trailryder, and I wrestled the beast back on two wheels. I went to bump start it at the bottom of the hill and did not know that they put it in neutral. Doh!!!! Much kicking at the bottom of the hill. After we got it going it was brisk ride back to camp. The wind was picking up and it was colder than when we left.

Lorin and Kathy, OMN, and TX246 were gone when we got back. – Sorry we did not get to say bye – So see ya next time!

After a while we waited for Bundu and CJrider to get back to camp. We all headed back to the Cabin and packed up and said our goodbyes.

It was a great ride. I met some new friends and saw some old ones.

Does it get any better?

 

[DWreck]

Hmmm, you guys didn't leave me a lot to talk about. This was my first time to ride this kind of terrain and I enjoyed every minute of it. Trailryder 42 was an excellent guide and I quickly learned to trust his judgement on the terrain that he took us through. I learned a lot about the capabilities of both me and my bike and feel that I am a better more rounded rider as a result of this trip. This was my first time to go somewhere in Justins rig and was very thankful to get to sleep inside with a heater. I felt like a factory rider as I hid inside Saturday night while the game was on the radio, "No autographs please!" Yes, the food was awesome. I enjoyed seeing everyone that I have met in the past and enjoyed meeting some new faces. Those of you who didn't make it, we missed you but it sounds as though everyone had a legitimate reason for not being there so there's always a next time.

 

[tangell]

My son and I followed Justql, Q2, Dwreck and OKKXer from Stillwater and rolled in about midnight Friday night. Pitched the tent in the dark, plugged in the space heater, slept like babies and awoke to a clear blue sky, cool calm air, and a hot breakfast with all the fixins - boy did that hit the spot. Met lots of new friendly people.

Back from breakfast and ready to ride. It was a real treat being able to ride to and from the camp let me tell you. We could take breaks whenever we wanted with easy access to our snacks and such. We're newbies so we wanted to take it easy. We didn't feel up to the poker run yet so we went on a relaxing ride with Butch, Lorin and Kathy. We rode a challenging trail that started off with a real neat creek crossing and the path we took dead ended (for us anyway) at a rock only Lorin and Butch were qualified to climb. We backtracked and had more fun. I didn't expect all of the ups and downs and rocks and hills these trails offered, man it was fun.

Later, Scott and I ventured out on our own and found all kinds of great trails including a couple of open bowl areas with lots of good hills and jumps. I dumped it pretty hard on one trail but no permanent damage. Eventually, we ended up back across the creek again and just about bit off more than we could chew on a few trails before we finally met almost everyone else at a real cool waterfall. They told us the easy way to get out from there so we didn't have to go back the tough way we came.

After that we hooked up with Justql, Q2 and another rider whose name I've now forgotten (sorry) and had a great time. I dumped it pretty hard again on that ride, but this I did on purpose because I was in front of Q2 and I felt it would help his confidence to see an older person look like an idiot.

Scott and I rode hard all day and we were sore and exhausted. We both felt that we gained a tremendous amount of experience, and that our skills were noticeably better by the end of the day because we had not yet been on terrain that challenging. We both did things we didn't know we could do, what a rush!

We knew we couldn't take another day of it so we packed up, had a tremendous dinner with the gang, and headed home. The weather was fantastic, the terrain exceeded my wildest expectations, my son and I got to spend some great time together and we met some great new people. Thanks again to TR42 for putting the ride together.

All in all, we're down for another trip like this anytime!

Toby

 

[pbajeff]

From one of the "forgotten friday guys" - :confused:

We could only make it for Friday. First time there for the 3 of us. We were all very impressed with the trails. Cant believe that place is only 80 miles from me and I had never been there - can`t wait to go back and be able to spend more time.

Glad to meet the ones of you that I did.

 

[BunduBasher]

What a great way to spend a weekend, a dirty one at that.

I managed to get out of work at noon on Friday, gave TrailRyder42 a call in the morning and got to ride with him, picked up my bike, and then back to his place to load firewood, and pick up the camper. Just before we leave I suggest to Derek that he leave the camper, as there was an extra space in the cabin - a suggestion which Derek I think came to regret. he got to share a room, and I snored so loud the walls shook.

Get to the lake at about 2:30pm Friday, and set about marking the poker run. This kept me, Derek and Tim busy till we ran out of tape. Lorin, Butch and Cathi arrived early, and got a little look at some of the trails, and ended up riding the poker run trail backwards ! (with us still on it ..)

On the way back to camp we run into a slightly lost CJRider and CSL coming in, Derek spends a few minutes explaining to them where the ATV camp ground is, before we realize they are staying in the cabin with us :) We also pick up Larry (Person8) as well. Friday night we did our own dinners, and met at the campsite for a campfire later, BS'd about beans and such for a few hours and headed back to the cabin. We discover we share a room with a mouse, and Derek gets no REM sleep for all the snoring.

Thankfully we stay next to the cafe, wake up to a beautiful morning, no wind, blue skies, and a terrific hearty breakfast at the cafe. We just about finish the food before the crew from the campsite arrive. They have to wait for seconds !!

The first trail of the day is quite a challenge, especially for the not so experienced in the group. QT junior is really brave and attempts everything thrown at him, his new bike gets a few well deserved scratches along the way. I come around a bend just in time to see person8 drop his bike almost into a cactus and over a ledge, and at the same time see QT jr wiping out on a steep climb across the gully. Person8's Sony camera goes bouncing down the trail, fortunately no damage to the riders or camera. Unfortunately Larry's KTM damages a return throttle cable and he is left with a sticking throttle. He decides to leave the group and head back to camp alone, the last thing I see is Larry heading for the cliffs, so I head out, leave the group ride, and take Larry back to camp. A 520 with stuck throttle in the ruts looks like no fun. We get back to camp, strip the cable, and the bike runs fine with just the pull cable.

I then take Lorin, and Butch out on a great loop, which takes us up some great hills, dips and loops, up to some white rocky cliffs overlooking the canyon land - we are on the same loop which gave QT jr the ride of his life. We end up riding some really snotty hills, rutted downhill's, and tricky switchbacks - go too fast and you can get into some real trouble. The Pampera hits reserve and we head back to camp. I have to refill when we get back and ride down to the Cafe and forget that my choke is on. Arrive there as the bike runs out of fuel and foul a plug. Spend half an hour trying to get the gas pump to work, only to find that the bike won't start. Luckily for me DanMan is there having a late lunch, and he hauls my bike back to camp. luckily for me, JustQL has a few boxes of spark plugs and get the bike going as soon as a new plug is fitted. Justin and co have just returned from their epic trail ride of the day and are busy working in the TTR.

By the time I am done, the crew has hit the trail again, and I take Larry out on a loop around the lake. This time we take it nice and steady and enjoy a scenic ride through some great twists and turns which pass around and over the cliffs which border the lake - stop at the rock face gully for a break and head on over to the waterfall which overlooks a swimming hole. We then head on back to camp. Later I head out with CSL and CJRider on a real fun loop with lots of fast twists and turns, and get back to camp quite exhilarated. That's it for day one, and I am quite done in, have a fantastic dinner at the marina, spend a few more hours BS'ing at the campfire, and then call it a day.

Sunday is another great day, we roll out of bed around 8am, and 60 seconds later sit down for breakfast. I take lorin, Cathi, Butch, QT jr, and JustQL, on a reverse loop of the lake ride, QT jr does great, and so does Cathi. I am sure they will both remember this weekend for a long time to come.

We get back to camp just as TrailRyder42 is about to take Dan and CSL on one of the tougher rides. I signal to Derek that I will be joining them, and CJRider signals to me that she is riding with me. I wait for her to refuel and turn around to find the others gone. I hear from CJ later that they were talking about a really tough trail, and she had no plans on riding it. We decide to do a final ride together, and I take CJ up the White Cliffs trail. We start on an easy section which takes us through some great scenic canyon lands, and then turn up the cliff trail. CJ does really well, until the final run up to the cliffs, The KX100 tosses her off twice before she makes it up. On the trail back another snotty climb with loose rock and rutted ledges stop the KX and we have to push the bike out. The trail back to camp is a hoot with lots of twist and turns with sandy berms. Some of the riders just love this stuff.

That's it for the day, and we pack up and get on out of there. This was one of the best rides/weekends I have had in a long time. We had great weather, the food was the best, and nobody got hurt.

You haven't had a spodefest, til you've had a heartland Spodefest at lake Mackenzie :)

 

[CJ Rider]

‘Made it home safe, sore, and sound. HUGE THANKS to TrailRider42 and BunduBasher for organizing/leading!!!

Ride report from a short but long-winded perspective:

FRIDAY: Put a cardboard cutout of myself in my chair at work and snuck out the back door early. Got pulled over only once by the cops on the way to Texas. Wandered aimlessly lost around the lake until TR42, BB, and DanMan found us. Bantered around the campfire and met everyone, but it was too dark to actually see who they were.

SATURDAY: Arrived early to breakfast and ate all the food before the rest of the TX/OK crew got there. Met everyone again in the daylight and they looked much different because they weren’t wearing their fuzzy Russian hat and such. We all geared up for the ride I couldn’t recognize anyone except for DWreck because his name was on his chest protector. The Poker Run got us all warmed up for the local terrain; great idea!

TR42 lead the wild bunch over ledges, through streams, around awesome corners (my fav), and on some REALLY FUN terrain. ‘Ate a lot of dust. Sometimes I’d watch a guy biff and feel the need to biff in the very same spot, while at other moments I picked my own biff spot. Then, we all watched in amazement as the young Q2 outperformed us all by nailing that superman-heart attack right in the middle of the trail. If it weren’t for that rock gnome grabbing the tire of his trusty TTR and dragging it off the cliff, he would have nailed the landing too. Ah, to be young and unafraid to try stunts like that!

Lorin, Lorin-BetterHalf, Russian hat guy, and I tried to find the picturesque waterfall for our next ride. However, we discovered halfway into the ride that we’re all directionally challenged and we never did find the waterfall. It happens. BunduBasher lead the next ride and he just seemed to know that the corners were my fav because we hit ‘em all; thanks Bundu!

SUNDAY: For the first ride, I asked TR42 repeat his last loop from Saturday that I missed just to see if I could do it. He agreed and lead that loop minus the REALLY steep hill. Well, I wasn’t totally up for that kind of challenge, but I rode as much of it as I could. There was something about looking over a ledge at the very small landing platform requiring a sharp turn at the bottom before you head over the cliff that made me chicken out. Ah well; someday; or not. All I have to say is that TR42 is quite the maniac for trying THAT one out the first time!

Anyhow, after surviving that loop I could see the look in the eyes of the wild bunch; they wanted more peril! Therefore, I bailed on the wild bunch and talked BunduBasher into leading another ride, which he so graciously did; thanks! However for this ride, Bundu added a bit-o hillclimb action. After a few gnarly biffs, we both conclude that the Pampera IS better for technical hillclimbs than the KX, but also that it’s ALL great fun!!!

‘Said goodbye and hit a scenic canyon hike before arriving Amarillo. The BunduBasher-BetterHalf was so kind as to host TR42, CSL, and me for dinner once we got into town. HUGE THANKS to the BB-BetterHalf!!!

MONDAY: ‘Rode the sandy whoops at Canadian River in preparation for RENO and then drove home to snow and freezing temperatures. What a fun weekend ya’ll; HUGE THANKS and really great to meet ya'll!!! :thumb:

 

[BunduBasher]

Glad to see you made it home safely Jen, how was the river ride ?

 

[Trailryder42]

Glad to hear everyone made it home safe. There's not much else to tell that hasn't already been covered.
Thanks to TimV. and Bundu for helping with the poker loop. Bundu said he dreamed Friday night a way to route the end of the loop so as not back track over the start. Would someone tell me how you dream ANYTHING while rattling the walls? We reroute the loop Sat. morn. and all is a go. TX246 beat me out of the worst hand prize with a pair of 8's. I had 9's.

We take a short break then we get a group together for the first ride. Riders of all skill levels. I'm trying to think of some trail that everyone can do but MacKenzie has a way of throwing a difficult section at you here and there, even on the easy trails. Rather than sit there in the road and procrastinate, I head off figuring if anyone has a problem, there are plenty of us to help the less experienced. I applaud those that bailed on some of the stuff that they were uncomfortable with rather than push yourself into a potentially bad situation. I'm unaware of everyones abilities so relied on everyone to make the call for themselves. Still, I know some of you pushed yourself to the max. DWreck among them. And Q2 was quite the trooper. After making one of the most awesome, save your butt, bails I've ever seen, he continued on, and with a poorly running bike at that.
I missed alot of the carnage that happened towards the rear of the pack being trail leader. Alot of it I hadn't heard about until these ride reports.
Saturday was a long day with lots of riding and I was a tired motorscooter that night when I hit the rack. I figured, I gotta do something to get some rest without feeling like I'm trying to sleep on top of the San Andreas Fault. I made some makeshift earplugs out of toilet paper and stuffed those in my ears.
Sunday morn. the coldfront was still miles away and we had cool temps with sunshine. Thanks to TimV., and Bundu for for acting as trailguides for those various groups looking for something less, in CJs words, MANIACAL. For the last ride Sunday, Danman asked me about a trail I took them on last year that is back to back sections of tricky, deep G-outs, loose hill climbs with very little run and 1 particularly steep hill that has a kicker near the top that launches you straight up, then upon landing, still have to motor up the last 3 feet to an abrupt downhill on the other side. Don't believe it was part of the ride last year.
There was a time there on one downhill I thought I was probably gonna get someone hurt as I watched Will, DWreck, OKKXER, TimV. and Danman hurl themselves like lemmings over the edge after me. Much to my relief they all pulled it out and made miraculous saves. What a great weekend.
Thanks and Kudos go to Jeannette for hosting out meals. Brisket was the order of the night Saturday but once DWreck saw the beans and cornbread, well, I can only surmise that it wasn't the bike that propelled him over that cliff after me Sunday.
Was sorry to hear of Craigs troubles on the way to the fest but was glad to hear they made it back home ok. We missed y'all.
I'm editing the pictures I took during the weekend and getting them posted so everyone can see them. TimV. got some great shots too. I'll have a link to them up soon.
Thanks to all for coming and hope to see you again soon.

 

[Danman]

Thanks to all the that helped out with the set up guiding and sweeping. It was a truely great weekend! :)

 

[Trailryder42]

Here's a pic link of pictures taken during the fest. Several were taken by TimV.
http://photos.yahoo.com/trailryder42

 

[OldMaiconut]

Russian hat guy...... :| It's a Sargent Preston, durnit! I for one am a big fan of the Lake Mackenzie terrian. For some reason Lorin is not happy unless he is banging himself through a bunch of trees like a pinball. I like the more open stuff my self. I was a lot more sure of myself this year having been actively back into dirt biking for over a year. On the last trip I was a little intimidated by some of the hillclimbs and downhills. This trip it was all pure fun. This was the first long rides I had done on my new YZ 250. I still like my 426, but it sure was neat to be able to clamp down with my ankles and bunny hop to the side to change a line. Lorin and Cathy were good traveling mates and camp pards, although Lorin tended to be somewhat aromatic at times. It was a fun trip, and I'm in for any Lake Makenzie trips in the future1 Thanks Derek and Alan for the trail leading and arrangements. See ya next time.

 

[OKKX'er]

This was my first foray into the TX panhandle and I thoroughly enjoyed the change of pace terrain.&nbsp; Like CJRider said, the corners were GREAT! The dirt is this light gray color, packed hard on the main trails.&nbsp; All the corners have this tiny little berm, but it's totally solid.&nbsp; All this adds up to a corner that you can slide into sooo easily, but then you hit the berm and it turns you and somehow there's traction and you roll on the gas and feel like joe pro! Repeat 1,000 times and you have your daily dose of thrills.&nbsp; And it's only early afternoon! We got lucky on this one, folks, sunshine, 60's, and zero wind.The food, the friends (old and new), and the guides were as good as everyone wrote.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Whenever I see a small KX now, I will smile thinking of Jen's chuckling as she rides. :thumb:&nbsp; This was a fun enthusiastic bunch to ride with.&nbsp;&nbsp;

 

[pbajeff]

Would the guy that went on this that rides the Pampera shoot me an e-mail. Have some questions about it.
Was hoping to catch you Friday, but we had to leave before ya`ll made it in.
Thanks, Jeff

[email protected]

 

[Jeff Gilbert]

Originally posted by pbajeff
Would the guy that went on this that rides the Pampera shoot me an e-mail. [email protected]

That'd be Bundu the Basher, he rides those "weird bikes. :p

 

[Lorin]

I guess it is time for me to chip in. First, I will start off saying that the weather cooperated much more this time than in March. Good temps, and good conditions all around. This was a really good trip for Kathi and myself, as she was able to log quite a few miles on terrain that she had not experienced before. She found that she could climb hills well, and managed to go all weekend without any problems whatsoever (other than dreaming about more hills everytime she closed her eyes). A Big thanks to Derek (tr42) and Alan for showing us the way around, and another thanks to the Russian hat guy for letting us bunk in his trailer and discuss politics yet again (we will get those world problems addressed). Great trip, with some good riding for everyone in attendance.

 

[BunduBasher]

pbajeff, just sent you an email, fire back any questions you may have, also do a search here at DRN for info in the Pamp.

Lorin, sorry Cathi did not get a chance to ride the Pamp, maybe next time then !

 

[Trailryder42]

Boy, can we call it or what. We had the fest the weekend before Thanksgiving and on Dec. 3rd we get 4+ inches of snow. I think we lucked out.