Memorial Weekend Bike Rally pics

[JimW]

Here's a few pics for you guys. We had alot of fun, but the winds were terrible. We pulled out of Guymon Ok about 1pm no wind. Here are the bikes just a few minutes before we headed out. There was another couple on a bike but they hadn't shown up when the pic was taken. My wife on the Shadow, daughter, Faron on thier Vulcan, and our youngest, Carrie on their Intruder

Next pic was taken when we reached the NM state line. L to R, Son in law Jeremiah, daughter Faron, yours truly and wife, Son in law, Ryan and youngest daughter Carrie, and a couple of thier friends. The wind was just beginning to pick up. By the time we reached Springer NM we were fighting 50 -60mph head winds. Fought those winds for close to 125 miles before we reached our cabin in Cimarron NM.
Cimarron sits at the foot hills of the Sangre de Christos and the bike rally was in Red River which is at 10,000ft up about 40mi. Here we stopped for a short break on our way up.
Heres the view of Eagle nest lake as we topped the ridge coming into Eagle Nest. Eagle Nest is a small tourist town that sits in a wide valley and about 16mi from Red River. The bike population jumped ten fold as we approached the small town.
Here we are in Red River. The town is less than a half mile long and took about 45min to get all the way thru and it wasn't even that busy. By the time we left a couple of hours later there was a line of bikes 3mi long waiting to get into town. The first pic is looking east from the west end of town. My Biker Betty Shadow was a pretty good hit with the crowd also.
Probably saw 20,000 bikes as we headed toward Toas to make the enchanted circle. It was fun but, I'm not sure, I'll go back. Here's a few bike pics.
We stopped by the Rio Grande Gorge so the kids could look over the side of the bridge at the 700ft drop. My wife and I have seen it so many times we just looked thru the vendors scattered along the sides of the road. The winds were terrible the whole time we were there. The mountain passes seemed to double the wind speed and at times would nearly blow us into oncoming traffic. Had to stay on our toes the whole time. The trip home was just as trying with 50 to 60mph side winds for close to 100mi and temps in the flat lands running over 100deg. When we saw a place to get out of the wind we'd stop to gather our wits for a few minutes before heading out again. I'll try to get more pics post asap

[FastDoc]

Great pics thanks for sharing. Beautiful women, bikes, and sunny skies. Is this a wonderful country or what?

[Weldangrind]

Thanks for the great photos. I like how the girls are all smiles, but the guys have game faces on.

[JimW]

Thanks Doc, and yes it's a beautiful country we live in. In all reality, I only wanted a t-shirt so that was my main motive for going lol.

[JimW]

Haha W&G I have no idea why we were so sour looking either? Jeremiah wasn't feeling so well the day we left so, I'll give him that one. He's a new officer with the Guymon PD and worked the graveyard shift the night before we left. He got off at 7am had to go to a safety class at 8am. Got home at 9:30 and got about an hour and a half of sleep before we left.

[2LZ]

That's great JimW! Looks like a an awesome time (except the wind) and you have a wonderful family! Looks like you like to keep it together and have fun as a family unit. Hard to find in this day and age.....and I know what you mean about the bigger ralley's and get-togethers. Back when we were younger...they were a ton of fun. Now Mrs. 2LZ and I get on our bikes and find the uncrowded places to get away.

[JimW]

Thanks 2LZ. You're right we hang together all the time. As a matter of fact, I'm as fond of my son in laws as if they were my own. They're good boys. We've got 4 girls but those 2 go everywhere we go. The other 2 don't have bikes and aren't interested in getting any so I guess they're missing out.

As far as crowds go, I don't have much use for them and never have. As dumb as it sounds, I just wanted a t-shirt so that's exactly what I did besides take a few pics of the bikes. We intended to stop by the Vietnam Vets Memorial in Angle Fire and pay our respects but ran out of time. Should've done that first! I just really didn't think it would take that much time to make the run thru Red River and run the Enchanted Circle. The only thing that really bothered me while there, well.... made me uncomfortable anyway was the bike gangs. The Banditos in particular. They got ran out of Red River and the state a couple of years ago for stopping all traffic into town except thier own. They're growing by leaps and bound right now. I'm not sure how far north they've spread since they were originally from Tx as far as I remember, but I did see a couple with Idaho on thier jackets. I don't look for trouble and rather trouble not look for me if you get my meaning.

[FastDoc]

Aside for the Americade in Lake George, NY I've never been to, or ever intend to go to a bike rally. I like to ride alone, one or two friends with me at the most. I don't need a group to feel safe or comfortable, and I like the quiet, freedom, and mobility that solitude provides.

The Americade, BTW is a rally for tourers. Mostly Gold Wings and the like. Except for critisizing each other's espresso makers there's not a whole lot to worry about at the Americade.

[JimW]

The odd thing is Doc. The Red River rally was started by a small group of Gold Wingers back in the 80s. It doesn't take long for the rest to move in on a good thing. I've never understood why they take over everything? We all talked it over back in Feb and decided it would be an interesting experience to go see what one was like. My only goal was a T and mission accomplished!

Like you, I'd much rather just ride with my family or friends, or by myself if I need to, and I do at times like the solitude and freedom. I don't really give a rats tailend about being a group of anything with a name. Like my bike says the three amigos, the road, my ride, and me. My wife and I both have maxi scoots, a Yam Majesty 400 and a Turista 300 and at times we load our stuff on em and go no particular place, just away.

[SpudRider]

You have a beautiful family, Jim. Thank you for sharing the ride report, and the wonderful photos!

Spud

[2LZ]

Originally Posted by FastDoc

Aside for the Americade in Lake George, NY I've never been to, or ever intend to go to a bike rally. I like to ride alone, one or two friends with me at the most.

Just my .02 but we've been to a bunch of bike ralley's....and still go to Street Vibes in Reno....if we need to buy something. The serious upside is vendors are there almost throwing things away. I had a friend who got new Metzlers put on, right there...."Buy one, get one free". At more than 100.00 a tire....that's worth a hot dog, cold beer and wet t-shirt contest!

Mrs. 2LZ still wants to do Sturgis just to say we've been and most of all, I want the "I Rode Mine" patch for my vest. Of course....Yellowstone, Rushmore and all the sites along the way is really what makes the trip worth it. Not watching a bunch of wacky folks do wacky things.
All of our friends have been, multiple times, including my mom and aunt have been....but Mrs 2LZ and I could never get the time off work at the same time to put the trip together. Hopefully someday....and I hope we can visit a few nice CBer's along the way!

It's what you want and enjoy. Like I said earlier, 95% of the time....it's just Mrs 2LZ and I going our own way. Maybe a friend or two.....but once in a Blue Moon, we end up at a ride for a good cause or something, sponsored by a club. The 'clubs' don't bug me. I still know folks from old, who affiliate and, at least here in the PRK....they prefer to fly under the legal radar. They keep their politics to themselves, for the most part.

[JimW]

Thanks Spud!! My family has always been #1 in my book.

As far as "will I ever go to another rally?" I can't give a positive yes or no. As far as "clubs" go. I've been around many but never a part of them. Personally, I've never had a beef with any of them. My wife on the other hand has seen what they can be capable of. I'll keep the "club" name out of this. About 3 months before she and I got together she worked for a Toot and Totum conv. store in Amarillo Tx. That would've been in early part of 1981. She was working the night shift when a man pulled up to get gas. Well dress and driving a nice car minding his own business. Suddenly 10 or so bikes pulled in and surrounded the guy and proceeded to beat him mercilessly. One of them headed for the door but my wife manged to get to the door before he did and locked it then hit the emergency button. Now come on, does it really take 10 or more to beat a single man nearly to death?

Getting back to the rally, I talked to alot of bikers while there. Some were rough looking but no colors or patches. They were darn nice folks and I'm sure any of them would gladly lend a hand. Some were upper mid class folks that haul thier h-ds on trailers to where ever, get them out, dress in full leather and go cut loose for a weekend of fun. The folks mentioned likely make up 99%. It's the 1%ers they so affectionatly refer to themselvse that make me uneasy.