Motorcycle Explorer November 2016 Issue 14 | Page 63
Dan and two other dudes were just rolling in from an
afternoon off-road with 50+ MPH winds and sand so
thick in the sky that the sun was little more than a
glow in the brown glow. Meanwhile BMW
Ambassador Bob Sancken tugged off his helmet and
coughed out some sort of sandy sludge, Bob
"Waldo" Ganser commented
"It's like a sand blaster out there," yelled Bob
"Waldo" Ganser.
"Kurtz! What are you doing here? Are you going to
announce at MMM this year?" yelled Lt. Dan.
After swapping a couple stories from the day, and
figuring out who knew whom from my last visit to
TX, we put together a plan for an afternoon ride the
next day.
Dan is a fun host for this sort of ride... He has this
Tennessee drawl that gives you the impression that
he woke up about three minutes ago or has a flask of
"jack" in his hip pocket.
If you are looking for a mid-winter dual-sport ride
get in touch with Dan for a bike to rent and
suggestions on where to ride. A couple weeks after
my visit Dan organized a ride up the river rd to
Presidio, crossed into MX (Mexico) and returned on
the south side of the Rio Grande to Boquillas, just
across from Big Bend. You can't do a vehicle
crossing from Boquillas, so it's an in-and-out day trip
to MX with lots of desert. This would be a great ride
for him to develop into an overnight package by next
year!
If Dan's not available then find Waldo. He is
Donna and I started that morning at the Chili Pepper spending his winters prowling the trails and
Cafe and then headed to Roger and Wanda's place
mountains around Terlingua and Big Bend. Try to
for intros. 1:00pm nears so we headed back to the
keep him moving... his stories take almost as much
resort so I could suit up for the ride. Dan had a
time as the ride itself. The tracker map shown here
Yamaha DR-something waiting for me and we did up is our ride traced with the Backwoods Navigator app
the rental agreement. Waldo and Ambassador Bob
in my smart phone. Great tool for planning or
Sancken arrived so we headed out the back of the
storing your adventure. Needs no cell signal!
Big Bend Resort toward Indian Head Mountain and
50 miles of sand and gravel.
If you think you will need contact information for
these guys, or for anyone in the area, you're thinking
Dan usually just offers the rentals and not a guide
too hard... Terlingua is reported to have a population
service, but it wasn't a busy week so he led us on his of about 800 during the busy season... You can ask
Blue 800GS and we caught a few pics of the team as any waitress for anyone, using their nickname if you
we headed further to the Valley of the Moon. The
know it, and they will tell you how to find your target
photos t ell the story... (Sorry, my G650GS Sertao
person, and just may go for their cell phone to
didn't get to come along on vacation.)
connect you on the spot.