Crossbar Ranch Poker Run

[BSWIFT]

There was a very low turnout due to a race at Cooperland but what a good ride. DWreck, OKKX'r, Graig_enid, TX246, and I showed up for some riding. The north loop of Crossbar is cool. Very technical and challenging. A few places were not marked really well but we really didn't have a hard time following the course. Everyone took the lead from time to time and we had a good pace. Alex, a friend of TX246 had a bad spill on his KDX. We weren't sure if he was going to make it out on his own but he did. He had another spill shortly after the first one and he was struggling. I told him to relax and catch his breath. He did real well after that but he was hurting and it was easy to see.
There are some great accents and decents at Crossbar. Dirt is scarce but there was enough to make it dusty at times. One particular hill gave you no run at it. The rock covered climb had loose and well placed big rocks as random as it gets. All you could do is get some speed, pick a line and keep truckin'. Good, bad, or otherwise you had to hold your line and keep movin. The off camber stuff was tricky at times but nothing to bad in dry conditions. It would likely be a different story if it had been wet.
Speaking of wet, I took a dip in one of the creeks. Not really sure how it happened but eventhough the temperature was 80 degrees, the water wasn't. A definite fun time.

 

[tx246]

Anytime I get the chance to catch up with the Heartland Spodes, I do it. It is always a good time/ride. As Swift said Alex was taking frequent soil samples on Sat afternoons loop. After the third get off, he settled down and finished off the day like a trooper. Alex is only 14 and does a great job on the KDX. As a matter of fact, we hit the North Loop Sunday morning and did the 24 mile loop stopping only twice and that was only for a min or two each time. We averaged 14.1 which was great considering the technical nature of the place. We ended up riding the South trail with late arrival JMD and a lap on the grass track for good measure. Brought the daily total to 38miles.

Saturday night was a feast for forty and there was maybe 20 to eat it all. Brad (ranch manager) did a great job. Those who participated in the poker run raised 200 for a worthwhile charity and had some nice stuff to pick from if they had the right cards. I think we were all hoping for some 21 inch innertubes for CraigEnids ailing front. Camp fire was fun/interesting to say the least.

Thanks fellas for letting me take a spin on those KTMs!!

 

[craig_enid]

Crossbar, wonderful place to ride! I've done 2 enduros at the place, this was my first play ride at the site.
Thanks to Mary for coming along and taking care of the camp. :)
Brad does a great job of promoting the place, and keeping a close watch out for any way to make it a good experience for the visitors.
Great cause (Blue Star Mothers) that Brad, et-al. put time and effort into supporting.
Other than a lot of good riding, a couple of memorable things were....
1) seeing Gene, again.... always enjoyable
2) seeing Kirk, again.... and his new family
3) scenic turnout, in the middle of some nasty uphill/downhill sections. I went from 100% focus on the next 10' of trail to 100% focus on a fantastic -miles wide- vista across the land.
4) Alex, jumping back up and motoring on down the trail... he's a rider!
5) I did miss not being able to experience Bswifts accommodations, (even with some horrifically humorous memories of a similar situation... maybe JustQL will come out of retirement to join us on the next one? :nod: )
6) too much chicken, brisket and fixings to eat!

Looking forward to the next get together, there! :cool:

 

[mx547]

DWreck, OKKX'r, Graig_enid, TX246, and I showed up for some riding.

who is this new guy?

sounds like fun. thanks for the invite, guys (sarcasm).

 

[DWreck]

who is this new guy?

Some quack that is running greased tennis balls in his front wheel after a rash of flats. Sorry "Graig", I had to tell.

Jay you would LOVE the trails at Davis with your suspension set up for moto. I was backing off the compression on my Gasser.

JMD could have left his rattlesnake back at Muenster. Brian and I didn't really need that, but I did enjoy riding his 08 450XCFW. I just wish he could have made it earlier so that we could have ridden with us instead of the group with the Quad.

Toy haulers are nice, especially when they are owned by someone else. (No Butch I didn't do anything to the toilet in case you are reading this ride report)

Gene, it was good to see you again. Hope we can ride the INT this December.

I have to give another plug for Brad Black and the job he does at Crossbar. He really knocked himself out making it a great weekend for us. I wish there would have been more people, must have been a bad weekend as far as scheduling goes. A lot of good food went to waste as we didn't have enough bellies to hide it even with Swift being there.

 

[tx246]

I wondered when the "snake" would be found. So who jumped the highest?