TAR History
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TAR History |
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11/26/08 |
How the Texas Adventure Ride came to beMy name is Richard Gibbens and I plan and organize the Texas Adventure Ride. Here's the story on how this event came to be. During Easter weekend of 2006 two friends and I did a 3 day adventure ride from Austin to Langtry, TX and back and simply had a phenomenal trip. Bullhead Road Old Truck on the way to Pandale
Pandale River Scenic view from Hwy 349 in west Texas
After reading my ride report, a dual sport riding friend suggested I should make this trip into an annual event. That sounded like a pretty good idea considering how much fun the three of us had during the trip and all the great paved and non-paved roads in the Texas hill country and west Texas. However, I could see that a 3 day tour could get a little tough, logistically speaking, if a lot of riders attended. I discussed the idea with Uncle and he suggested a rally instead of a tour. We decided that a 3 day dual sport rally would be much easier to organize and yet provide just as much fun and adventure as a tour. A rally, headquartered in Junction, TX would allow us to ride the same dual sport roads my friends and I rode during our Easter trip, while also being logistically easy to organize with a single location as ride headquarters. I started working on the plan for this ride and figured out that April seemed to be a really good month to have the rally. April isn't full of holidays, it’s not hunting season, and the weather that time of year is usually pleasantly warm but not yet scorching hot. Junction, TX is an ideal location for the rally. Its location provides easy access to lots of great dual sport riding, it is a large enough town that it provides all the necessary resources for a rally (motels, restaurants, and other services) without being too large or full of other vehicles, it’s not so far away from east and north Texas that riders from that area can’t realistically make the drive in one day or less, and it’s not overrun with tourists driving up prices or clogging the motels, restaurants, and roads. Most important of all there are some excellent motorcycling roads in the Texas hill country and west Texas. In addition to being famous for its twisties, the Texas hill country also offers some excellent dual sport roads. West Texas is no slouch in the roads category either, offering miles and miles of wonderful paved and unpaved roads and remote & scenic terrain. Based on my riding experience in this area I was able to put together 12 different routes that include the top roads in the area so there is no shortage of dual sport riding opportunities. In short, this part of Texas provides the motorcyclist with great motorcycling roads, more riding opportunities than can be ridden in 3 days, and its not so far away as to require multiple travel days just to get there. The First Texas Adventure Ride Once we had figured out all that stuff above, Uncle and I sat down and planned out the annual first Texas Adventure Ride for April 2007. I wrote the ride guide, had a graphic artist design a t-shirt, set up a web site, and started spreading the word. Having never organized a dual sport adventure rally, I really had no clue as to how many riders might attend the first year. I told a friend that I guessed a total of 15-20 riders would attend. Instead, the dual sport adventure community responded very favorably and 125 riders attended the first year. 125 dual sport riders made quite an impression on the city of Junction. A good impression, that is. The local businesses were clearly happy we were there and several members of the city council sought me out to let me know they were pleased we had chosen Junction to base out of and asked how they could help the rally in the future. We discussed it at length and came up with a few idea that the city was glad to take on. Junction continues to be fully supportive of TAR. The Second Texas Adventure Ride That first year was really a lot of fun and Uncle and I got a lot of positive feedback from the riders who attended. So, in April 2008 we did it again with the 2nd annual TAR. 225 riders attended the 2nd year, making TAR the largest dual sport rally in Texas. The Future What does the future hold for TAR? I don't claim to be able to predict the future, but, for now, as long as the dual sport community continues to support this event I plan on continuing to organize it. You know me now, but who the heck is Uncle?"Uncle" is my Uncle Roger Hazelwood. In addition to being a fine motorcyclist and a heck of a guy, Uncle is the reason I am a motorcyclist today. Way back when, about the time I was 12 years old or so, my family went to visit my grandparents in Oklahoma. Uncle was there too and he borrowed two dirt bikes from a buddy of his that had them for sale. We spent several days riding those dirt bikes all over the place and I absolutely loved it. My sisters and I bugged my dad to no end to buy those bikes and he finally gave in. We loaded them up and hauled them back to Texas with us. I’ve loved riding motorcycles ever since. Thanks, Uncle. In recent years, Uncle and I have ridden together many times. He was the primary influence on me taking up dual sport riding. So, in honor of my Uncle Roger I dedicate this annual event to him.
Uncle & Wee-Strom
Uncle taking a break
Well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. If you haven't attended TAR yet, I invite you to do so. And I'd love to hear your feedback - good, bad, or indifferent - especially if you have a workable idea that will help improve TAR. See you in Junction in April.
This site was last updated 11/26/08 |
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