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The Hill Country attracted all kinds of bikes and riders...135 participants in all.
Then I awoke and discovered it was Déjà vu all over again! No, not STAR ’08, but rather how I spent the first weekend in November…in Kerrville, TX…at the 2009 Texas Hill Country Rally.
After weeks of assembling all the handouts, designing and ordering the T-shirts, lining up door prizes, and of course fielding calls from vendors wanting to attend our rally to sell do-rags and tattoos, it was finally time to ship our boxes to Kerrville so we could ride our motorcycles down an not have to trailer .
As rally organizers, Preston Juvenal and I rode down a day early on Thursday to prepare to set up on Friday morning. Relieved that our shipment of supplies and T-shirts had arrived safely, we setup the registration area and headed out to Llano for lunch at Cooper’s BBQ. After lunch we ran into Moose Parrish and his riding partner Rick Watts in the Cooper’s parking lot. I told Moose the BBQ was all you can eat, and then watched his eyes light up. Then I told him they weigh your meat to calculate your tab, and watched the smile on his face disappear. But he later reported the BBQ was excellent.Preston and I then headed back to Kerrville for the official start of the 2009 Texas Hill Country rally.
THC Rally Registration Opens
Friday afternoon kicked off with rider check-in and late registration opening at 4 PM. Robert Easterling and Mayda Wells manned (is “manned” politically correct if a woman does most of the work?) the registration desk, with Susan McCullough in charge of rally T-shirt sales. Michael Snyder, TX State Director, manned the MAP desk, but he had no takers. Glad everyone had a friend to ride with.
Texas Highway maps and Google maps of area ride routes were provided as well as Garmin digital files, courtesy of Choon Gan. We also provided suggested restaurants on the ride and the contact info for a local towing service, both designed to carry in your wallet. I don’t think the towing service was utilized, but I know the restaurants were well used on Saturday!
Preston hosted a rider meeting in the hotel lobby bar, spreading around his newly acquired wisdom since becoming one of Texas’ most recent MSF certified instructors. Since Saturday was the first day of deer season in Texas, everyone was advised to beware of the critters and not to ride at night.
Start your Hill Country Engines
Saturday morning found clear skies, cool early morning temps, no rain, and everyone was ready to hit the roads. But wait…what about breakfast? Most riders started their day at Destination Cycles, dining on breakfast burritos and coffee, which has become a tradition at the rally.
Right turn ahead fellas'
After breakfast, some riders hit the “3 Twisted Sister” roads; 335,336, & 337, while others headed for Luckenbach, where “Everybody’s Somebody”. Still others were off to Llano, where Cooper’s BBQ is sure to please all, or Holy Smoke BBQ in Camp Wood, where the pulled pork is served with garlicky guacamole, (which sounds strange), but is actually quite tasty.
Professional photographers from www.TXMotofoto.com were out on FM337 snapping shots that make us all look so good. Those pictures were then up for sale on their website in either digital or print form.
There was one incident that does need to be reported. Maybe even investigated. A group of about eight MSTA riders, “Sport Touring” riders as they call themselves, were passed by a Harley Trike. The entire group. Now I know it wasn’t the fault of Choon Gan’s leadership, but still….a Harley Trike?? Come on now! But we passed another one back, so I guess we got even!
Saturday afternoon’s entertainment was provided by Bob Kee of Destination Cycles, where he had arranged for two trials demo’s by Team Mizel. If you aren’t familiar with the name, Google them. Pretty amazing young men and what they can do on a 125 gas-gas.
The service department at Destination Cycles, the local Yamaha & Suzuki dealer, had also blocked off appointments to the public for the entire day Saturday to serve MSTA riders attending the rally. And I know of a least two MSTA members who rode home on new FJR’s. Both raved about the way they were treated in the purchase process by Bob Kee and his staff.
Dog Maddocks, shown here at Destination Cycles, worked the Ride for Kids raffle with wife Mary Jane.
The report from the road was no crashes, but one rider, George Gaenslen of Houston, did suffer a deer strike which destroyed one saddle bag on his Gold Wing while the bike stayed upright. Texas DPS Trooper Sanchez was working his usual spot on 337, and I believe Cary McAllister now knows Officer Sanchez’s badge number. So I’m guessing it’s off to driving school for Cary. Legend has it Officer Sanchez once ticketed his own mother.
As folks gathered for the banquet, Dog and Mary Jane Maddocks circulated the lobby selling 50-50 tickets, with half the proceeds going to “Ride For Kids”, while Chuck Davis sold Texas Hill Country 2009 stickers to raise money for the Dan Clark Fund.
Before dinner, we recognized all former Texas Hill Country rally organizers who were in attendance; Bob Mizner, Tim Vipond, and Jim Poulos, and gave them their just reward. First place in the serving line. We then sat down to a banquet dinner where 145 folks dined on roast beef, turkey, mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables, salads, and finished off with peach cobbler topped with whip cream.
We then recognized 20 new members, all the first time ever rally attendees, and all folks from out of state.
Preston had spent months soliciting door prizes from various vendors, and now it was time to award them. These included, but were not limited to, one track day, one rider school, and a free weekend stay at the Y.O. Resort & Hotel. The MSTA Gear Box also unloaded the remaining HSTA branded gear and was distributed to anyone wanting freebees.
STAR 2008 Motorcycle Merchant Bob and Sarah Kees at Destination Cycles had a trials bike show waiting for MSTA Hill Country riders in the afternoon.
Grant Hellinger from CA paid for his trip by winning half the 50-50 loot, which was $256, with a like amount going to the “Ride for Kids” foundation. I think Grant mostly collected a lot of his own money back as he had to dig through the wad of tickets he purchased to produce the winning ticket.
We had riders from 16 states attend our event, including our club President Dave “Brick” Brickner from NC; former club President and Indiana State Director Moose Parrish; and STAReview editor Chuck Davis from IL. Don Clark rode his SV650 from Watsonville, CA, and Dan Thomas rode in from Port Angles, WA, about 2,880 miles, to pick up his award for riding the longest distance. We just call it the Dan Thomas award now.
The out of state rider attendance breakdown was as follows:
FL-8, IL-5, OK-3, IN-3, CA-3, NC-2, and 1 each from AZ, NM, IA, CO, LA, MO, WA, NV, OH, and NE.
We had 135 registered riders and guests for our event; largest crowd since I have hosted this rally. Was it due to the name change…or perhaps the great Texas roads…or the reputation of what a great rally this has grown in to in 16 years…or…could it have been the weather? Probably some combination of all of those.
While the rally organizer usually doesn’t usually do the write-up about the event, I thought I would take this opportunity to thank Bob Kee of Destination Cycles, all of our door prize sponsors, and all who attended, especially those from out of state, and especially the new members. I hope we made a good and lasting impression on all of you. And most importantly, all the volunteers who help me make this happen. It’s like a puzzle, it takes all the pieces to make it complete, and every piece is equally important!
And I’m thinking a tattoo would make Mike Gilliland the complete motorcyclist!
Now….Let’s Ride!
Ken Bowen
2009 Texas Hill Country Rally Host
Ken Bowen, riding the "Kwik Kraut" is the Hill Country Rally Host, sharing duties with Preston Juvenal. (photo by TXMOTOFOTO.com)
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