BASH IN THE BUSH II 2007

Last month Thumper, The Prof and I scouted around Truth or Consequences, NM to see if the area was suitable for a rally location to help usher in the tenth anniversary of the Chaingang. What we found was a state where a motorcycle enthusiast can ride and ride roads that make the Tail of The Dragon get tucked between its rear legs. Trails that make Terlingua Ranch look like an acre motocross track someone built out back. Those that made the journey this year will attest to my claim, New Mexico may have some of the best rides in the U.S.A.

From SATX it's a 10 hour truck ride, yes we trailered our bikes. Who wants to ride 650 miles of flat straight interstate 10 across TX? So yes we are trailer queens, and yes we arrived ready to ride the next morning, not tired from the road and wind like our pal TX Editor.

Besides it's more fun riding along in a truck with Professor Pat Pending and the Great White Grackle Hunter.

T or C NM was renamed from "Hot Springs" back some time ago. Something about a gameshow and a contest. It's a 'campy' 'shabby chic' little place with a left wing twist. Main street is full of holistic healing shops, used books stores, with a few cafes and bars thrown in. We learned from speaking to one of the locals that the place used to have 28 houses of ill repute (whore houses), now it just has 23 churches (houses of the holy?). You be the judge which ones cause more problems.

The main attraction for tourists for over 1000 years has been the natural hotsprings that the town was more recently built upon. With many lodgings, from downright cheap and nasty, to affordable and clean, to expensive and fancy there is something for everyone in T or C (except no Starbucks for you CrozB you lilly livered city freek). One of the main reasons I chose this town was for the healing waters. It was sure nice soaking in that 112 degree water after pounding along the back trails in the forest all day long. Some of the attendees were too 'civilized' to make it into soak, what a bunch of weirdos.

All but one of the ralliers stayed at the Charles Motel and Spa. It's a clean place with kitchettes in all the rooms. Nice mattresses and all the free soaks you want are included with the price of the rooms. Massages and such cost more but are also affordable. Don't forget to come with your hair long and get a buzz cut at the onsite barber shop.

clicky for more info

As usual the first evening of arrival is full of anticipation. Meeting old pals face to face in person that you have belittled and cajoled on the internet, wondering if they might just clean your clock for all the funny names you called them from the safety of your home sitting behind the iron curtain that is the world wide web. Luckily only one of us seemed like they might want to pound somebodies face in.

It seems we pounded a bunch of beers, Jagermeister shots (thanks Beem), some kind of fancy pants spiced rum was passed on around too, and I know I ate entirely too little to soak up the alcohol. We were all dragging ass the next morning but still straining the reigns and ready to ride.

As usual nobody had a coherent plan of when, where or what. So we split into groups of two and went on the same loop in opposite directions. This happens completely by chance, but nothing happens by accident......

Beem Dubya, CrozB, BmwGSRider, and DAM (that's me) set out on highway 52. It never fails that when you follow somebody with a route planned on a GPS that you have to do a U turn. No surprise to find out that our yooball came within a few minutes of departure where the road deadended.

Heading out west on track on highway 52 up through Winston, past Cholride, and onto 150 into the Gila National Forest the road begins fairly straight for 20 miles, and as you begin climbing on come the curves. The temperature drops and the altitude climbs as you blaze past wild horses running along beside with no fence in between them and your speeding machine. Exhilarating and frightening at the same time.

Where's the dirt Beem?

Moving through the National Forest we could not go too fast as the road was nicely dusted with gravel. Each curve beckoned the throttle, but at what cost. All of us recognized the danger and took this chance to motor along at a mild velocity and breathe in the the thinning air and magnificent visuals.

CrozB cruizin' past


Black Betty Idles at the lakeside

Beemer Anna snaps a few

Beem astride his pristine 02 that never sees the dirt


Anna, is she standing on sitting?

Let me talk about Anna (BMWGSRIDER) for just a moment. There are always one or two folks who stand out for me when I ride along for a few days with them. Anna is that person from BIB II.

Anna is tiny, maybe stands 4'10" and possibly throws 90 lbs dripping wet in full ATG. For this trip she spooned some TKC's on her red F bike and rode dirt for the first time in her life. Let me say that all you fellows that think they're big brave adventure riders just try taking an Electroglyde offroad and see how you fair, even then the weight to weight ratio of rider to machine probably would not balance. BeemerAnna has bigger balls and more heart than anyone I know when it comes to going for the gusto. First of all she cannot physically pick her bike up if it does fall. Would you ride offroad if that were you? She managed the entire day with this group without even falling off.

As a side note; her bike is factory lowered and she can only touch one tip toe when she stops. Anna you are my hero and most deservedly so, you are an inspiration to me, and women and men all over the globe should be proud to know you. You have the heart of a lion.

CrozB looking for the perfect shot



The road ahead

Our foursome stopped off by a river and started to snap away with our digicams. Then as a nice surprise CrozB broke out some bagel sammiches and passed them around to everyone for a quick repast.

Nice view from the bridge

CrozB got a great shot of us from above

Continuing along after our short break we climbed elevation and broke out of the forest to rejoice in this magnificent vista (click it)

There was about eleven more miles motoring along the dusty park road until we met up with the other four riders. Earlier that morning all rally participants were going to ride as one large group, as in all highly planned events something gets SNAFU'd. The pod that split off was heading in the same loop as we were but from the opposite direction. Comparing notes and stories about road conditions, scenery, points of interest and length of male member while airing up and airing down tires was the usual barrel of laughs.

From this short rendevous we bid our farewells to the other half of the group (counter clockwise persons), mounted up and rode south on 35 to a great local store in Mimbres, one of the few gas stops in the area we rode. Be sure to plan your fill ups out here!

The ladies in the store greeted us on more than one occasion with smiles and some good local information

got spelchek?

Fully fueled up machines and sugared up bellies our little group cracked on southbound 35 and met up with 152.

If you did nothing else but ride back and forth on this you would be happier than a pig in slop all day long. One guy said "Dragon, eat your heart out.... Either go slowly or be a good rider. This road is unforgiving."

In my short experience on the streets and backroads I have not ridden such a great road. It runs up and down over 3000 feet and there are at least 40 miles of hardcore twisties on a good clean road surface. Don't tell anybody, just go ride it for yourself.

Honda Dominator, not something you see every day or even once a decade in America at anyway


No chickenstrips left on that rear

klic above

showing off

The group all made it back to basecamp with no spills, obviously we were not riding hard enough. Again, being Anna's very first dirt ride we were all proud of her. Arriving back in T or C with a couple of hours before dinner to relax was a blessing as most of us were dragging ass from imbibing too heavily the previous evening. A nice half hour soak in the healing mineral waters and I was ready for some chow.

Dinner was scheduled at 8pm out at The Damsite. We handed out door prizes, and collected donations for the local kids. 'Everyones a winna' as we all received at least a few door prizes thanks to donations from the group.

The Prof sez, dig deep

CFS with green chili gravy on the side

Quiet falls on the night as we rest up for the next adventure, this ends day one

Steve Johnson (aka The Prof) is inmate number one of the Chaingang. Without Steves help in organizing none of my rallies would ever be as successful, so thanks Prof. I appreciate you and your friendship.

If I forgot to mention this earlier, we all ride with the Chaingang, and this year the club is celebrating 10 years of spreading orange love, giving, and riding throughout the entire world. With membership just over 2500 we are growing steadily. Our club raises money for childrens charities where ever we hold our own rallies or attend other events around the country. If you have a business, advertise with us. Our website is extremely busy with visitors from all around the world who are looking for information on the BMW F650. We donate a percentage of all proceeds raise by any
means to children in need. Recently we have opened a new section for the G series too, so come by and post up your thoughts and comments, even donate some money for the kids.