In the beginning ...

This ride started for me about 18 months ago when it became painfully apparent that there would not be enough $$ to make the trip LAST year.

To say that I was looking forward to the ride would be an understatement. I have not been able to make it to Big Bend since my annual December Grassy Banks visit, so I was jonesing for some riding.

The last few months have been consumed with laying out and building trails at Escondido Draw Recreational Area and opportunities to enjoy two wheels have been few and far between. Couple that with a dead DR and I was frustrated.

So ...

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Loaded up and trailer in tow, I headed southwest with a target of meeting up with Matt and Mark somewhere along I-10. They were heading west on I-10 out of southeast Louisiana and we planned on laying our heads down at Deer Camp at EDRA at some point late in the evening.

Timely communications lead me to navigate south out of San Angelo and drop in at the Sutton County Steakhouse for our impending rendevous.

I got in a quick nap and awoke as they pulled into the parking lot. It had only been a few months since Matt and I had seen each other, but I had not seen Mark since DirtWeek back in 2005. Mark filled me in with how Dawn and the kids are getting along over chick fried steaks with mounds of mashed potatoes ... sorry, no photo ... I forgot! It had been too long and I look forward to sharing the road with them!

Dinner behind us, we slipped into Deer Camp about 10:00PM and we were soon sawing logs ...

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Dawn came early! Dang, I am still not used to Standard Time!

Fortified with coffee, I gave Matt and Mark the nickle tour of EDRA showing them the various trail segments that are either complete or planned. Properly wowed by what they found at the park, we headed westward towards our cabin at Study Butte.

Lunch was at Bien Venidos in Fort Stockton ... again, no photo ... this is not turning into a pattern.

After a couple of other stops for supplies, we headed out towards Alpine. As the jumping off point for Big Bend, Alpine always heralds the promise of the desert to me. Seeing the Sul Ross logo on the mountain always quickens my pulse.

Highway 118 southbound out of Alpine is always a beautiful drive and within a few hours of leaving Fort Stockton, we found ourselves in Study Butte at the Chisos Mining Company Motel. Soon cabin 14 became home for the next 4 days and we were unloading machinery and supplies.

A cold convinced me that I had indeed arrived!

Soon hunger took command and the Starlight Theater became the focus of our travels.

Stumbling into the darkness, we caught up with friends and acquaintances from other rides and other lives.





The menu had a number of new items, but my favorite was still present and accounted for!



Pork Medallions with a Chipotle Raspberry Reduction Sauce ... yum!!!

Back in a bit ...

Friday, November 7, 2008

Early to rise ... remember my issues with daylight savings time?

Waking up to take a whiz, I noticed that the clock said 6:30AM ... I was wide awake, had been for a while and Mark and Matt were still sawing logs.

Quietly dressing, I figured on going to the Fina Station for coffee and breakfast. That would allow me to download all the spam that had collected in my inbox during two days of being off line. Mark awoke as I left and I told him I would be back in a bit ...

Well ...

As soon as I fired up my truck, I realized the mistake ... the alarm had not been reset to standard time ... it was 5:30AM, 30 minutes until the Fina even opened and I was only 5 minutes away. Rather than tuck my tail between my legs, I headed on down to the motel determined to log on a go ahead and clean up the email.

The lights came on in the restaurant, 1,100 offers went in the circular file and I answered one legitimate email ... all by 6:15AM. That made breakfast a pleasure!

Two Scrambled Eggs, Bacon, Hashbrowns, Toast and Coffee is always a great way to start the morning and knowing that an impending dirt ride was in the offing made it even better.

Back at the cabin, Matt and Mark were slurping down the coffee I left brewing. Soon, like kids bundling up to play in the snow, we wrapped ourselves in protective gear, ready to do battle with the rocks and sand of West Texas.

Steve T, Charlie and Terry would be joining us on our excursion today, as would Keith, whom we had met the previous evening. I had seen Keith ride TAR, so I knew he could make his XRR fly.

Bundled up against the morning chill, everyone topped off their tanks at the Fina and we slipped northward on 118, clipping of the South County / North County Road system as it was scheduled for the Saturday TDS loop. Terlingua Ranch Road came into view and we headed east into the sun.

The junction of Cedar Springs Ranch Road came up and we stripped to fighting weight, storing jackets and such as this was the end of asphalt for a while.

Eastward, leaving contrails of dust we fled civilization and raced into the suspended past of Big Bend National Park.

The roads were fun, but the sand was deep ... very deep. My DR was having a time, floating about as we slid between the hedgerows of mesquite and other unidentified thorny plants reaching out to grab us.

Stopping to allow the group to gather back up, I marveled at the quietness of the scene. Only the sound of approaching motors could be heard over the whisper of the winds.

US 385 dictated a quick run to Persimmion Gap for entrance permits to the park. While there, I realized that Steve, Terry and Charlie had turned south instead of north. Mounting up, I hoped to find them at the junction of US385 and Dagger Flats Road ...

Heading south, we adhered to the posted speed limit as the park has had some problems with bikes of late and I didn’t want to give them any more ammunition. It was a long 15 mile ride and upon arrival, we did not find Steve and the gang. With hopes up, we headed east towards Old Ore Road and soon we found ourselves southbound on a road I can almost ride in my sleep. The desert was alive with plants and actually overgrown in places.

Vistas tugged at my senses and finally we stopped for a few minutes in an area full of bittersweet memories. The most beautiful part of Old Ore Road, this is also where Stevie had his accident in 2005 that resulted in his death. That days still haunts my memories and no ride down Old Ore will ever be made again with reflection on the loss.





Old Ore came and went with no signs of our lost brothers, so south we turned towards Rio Grande Village for fuel and food.



The prefab sandwich was easily forgotten, so forgive me for not photographing it.

The River Road was next up and there was some question as to whether or not it was open all the way to Castellon. Time would tell ...

Back in a bit ...

Lets go! What is the hold up Tony? J/K. Great read and nice photos. Even though that trip in 05 had its nightmare, there were profound moments in that ride. I do want to go back. Sounds like you got the DR sorted out. Carry on Mister.

Pondering our chances to be able to ride across the entire length of the River Road, I took the fork often less traveled and followed the River Road south from the intersection with Glen Springs Road.

I figured if the River Road was closed at some point we would just double back onto Black Gap and then follow Glen Springs Road north to the slab.

Slipping westward across the bottom of the park, Keith Mark and Matt all followed my dust cloud across the park. One of the advantages of being the routemeister is that I usually had clear area to ride in!

About 2~3 miles past the Talley Cutoff, the road was blocked. At that point we kicked into plan B and headed up Black Gap Road. Not near the adventure heading northbound, Black Gap still presented some challenges to us. Mark had his straps for his tank bags break on one long climb and we were forced to shift the load to my bike. Not to worry ... what is 5 pounds to bike that teeters between pleasantly plump and portly ... the worst that could happenis she could be accused of being HDD aka Heavy Duty Delux!

The hill where Mark lost his load ...


Don’t jump!!!


Action shots ...

Keith


Mark


Matt

Mark off loaded his bags to my bike and we were soon on our way.

Do my bags make her look fat?


Some random scenery shots while I waited ...

Soon we were on the asphalt and heading back to Study Butte ... into the setting sun ...

Arrival at Study Butte brought cold beer and dreams of dinner.

Dinner was at Long Draw Pizza and boy was it great! We got the Grumpy and it was yummy. Sorry no photos though!

Tale of the Tape: 176 miles, most of which was dirt.

Back in a bit with Day one of the Terlingua Dual Sport Ride aka Burl’s Ride

I'm typing as fast as I can

I learned a lot about the DR over the weekend ... she is very particular to fuel is one thing. We finally drained my tank entirely and Mark ran it in his XR400.

Super made her purr ... until she took a nap! Boy, did we all learn something then ... but that is later in the report.

There was an XT600 there ... almost as old as your's

I miss getting out. Now that she is running again, we need to hit some dirt. Maybe after the Christmas rush ...

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Well, the bedside clock got reset before we hit the sack! No one was going to mess with my sleep patterns for the balance of my stay.

Man, it was chilly when we arose ... heck ... it was downright cold to this thin skinned Texan. Of course ... if it is below 60F, it is too cold in my book.

Up early, I headed over to Kathy’s for a Chorizo Burrito and coffee. Arriving about 6:30AM, I found the place hopping and Greasemonkey busy tending the fire. Familiar faces filled with smiles were everywhere. Kathy was busy and I asked her if there was anything I could do to help. The next thing I knew, I was inside relighting the pilot on her deep fryer, which has gone out at just the wrong time!





Soon, Steve gathered us about his stage, which happened to be the rear of his pickup. People were razzing him for being is shorts and he retorted words made famous by Burl ... y’all shut up and listen!

Soon, we were teaming up and heading out. Although many of the people present were there for the first time, there were no newbies for me to lead, so Keith, Matt, Mark and I decided to head out on our own.

There was only one problem ...

None of us had a roll chart ... what the heck ... we would just head out ... try and find the few survey flags and enjoy ourselves. I know most of the roads in the area and had ridden all but one many times ...

It was easy to ride actually as Steve had filled me in regarding the general route. Time after time, we rolled through intersections and passed groups scratching their heads as to which direction to go.

Like a machine, we just kept moving ... all the way to the Terlingua Creek Crossing on North County Road anyway. Approaching the creek, I shifted left to avoid someone taking a photo and picked the worst line I could have taken as I exited the creek.

Well, pigs may fly on occasion, but floating is deep sand is another matter. El Petrolero augured in like a worm into an apple ... or like that Mars lander when they confused the location of the decimal point ... of course if they had used Imperial Units maybe they would have noticed the problem ...

But, I digress ...

This led to me realizing that maybe the gremlins that had been living in my carb had been awoken by the sudden stop. Trying to start her proved to be a rather large challenge and we all decided it was break time anyway!

Soon, she sputtered to life indicating that she had been severely flooded while napping ... Clue Number One

Sorry, no photos were taken, so under the by-laws of motorcycling ... so ... it never happened!

Well, back on the road, we hurried on, chasing dust clouds that lead to lunch. Heading into Terlingua Ranch, we were treated to a new road that I have not ever had the pleasure of riding. Lake Ament Road has been considered off limits for a long time and frankly, it should continue that way ... but that is just me. In any case, the road would upwards into the ranch, following topo lines around mountains as the road meandered southeast towards the main road that lead into the ranch office and lodge area.

We stopped for fuel at the gas stop just as Chris arrived to tell them they were in the wrong place!

Onward towards Marathon ... now this is familiar ... oops, how did I forget that S curve? Wow, I tore out into the pucker bushes like I knew what I was doing and what happened but everyone followed me!

Reversing course at the entrance to the park, we ran backwards the same section we ran yesterday. Fun, Fun, Fun!!! Cedar Springs Ranch Road crept into view on my GPS and a quick turn to the left and we soon connected up to the asphalt.

Remember the flagging?

I knew we needed to turn left, but I didn’t have a clue where.

So, as it turned out, the 5th or 6th left turn was the first one to have flagging ... so we turned there.

Whoop ... we were golden!

A quick jaunt across the flats and we came out on 118 just north of the North County Road. Slipping southward, we noticed an unnerving sight. Phil Conner was making revenue for Brewster County ... writing tickets. Duh, at least the bikes should “look” legal! Like the application said ... “street legal bikes”!

Phil checked us out as we rolled by, but we were all legal, so we waved and motored on.

Back at the creek crossing, my bad juju had left me and I made the crossing in an uneventful, but not boring manner ... that tank still had 4 gallons of gas in it and that is a lot of weight to fight in the sand when going slow.

Anyway, the road back was familiar as we had ridden much of it on the way north. We passed the sweeps at an intersection dealing with a flat tire and soon we showed up in Terlingua for lunch.

So ...

I finally took my camera out of my pocket!

The row of bikes ... that is Keith removing his jacket


Lunch Stop!


Gladys