Ride Report: 2024 Hot Springs Ryder Rally - May 16-18, 2024
I have no idea what's the protocol for posting a ride report, as this was my first Rally, and I wanted to share.
First, the (little) bad, and hopefully constructive criticism for event organizers:
Don't assume we know anything. I was a total newbie! I didn't even know what a poker run was, and I had to Google it when I first saw it mentioned. I didn't know I needed to ask about it and sign up for it, get a sheet etc. I heard that one of the stops was the shop I was headed to the next day, so showed up and asked to how to start, only to be told should have signed up and paid at check in. No big loss really, as we stayed plenty busy, but I liked the idea of trying to participate in my first one!
Now all of the good:
1. The people - the Spyder community is awesome! A special thanks to Roy and Gailyn T. for pulling us into their group and making us feel extra welcome!
2. Hot Springs - what a pretty area! The ride up and down the park's "mountain" was pretty cool. (I have video with my new dashcam that is super cool, but probably only to me, as it makes the turns seem a lot slower and easier than they were in real life).
3. The host hotel - has changed my opinion of La Quintas!
4. SpyderPops - what an amazing shop and crew! I think I exhausted Harvey's patience with my constant add-ons, and he (deservedly) got on to me about talking to Daniel from BajaRon while he was working on my bike. Harvey was even down a tech for the day, but managed to pull off an amazing Saturday, having ice cream, hot dogs, vendors - I think at one point he had a bigger crowd than at the hotel! I hope he forgives and lets me back - as I'm starting the list of mods "for next time".
5. Daniel from BajaRon - unfortunately Ron didn't make it, but Daniel was there, and I took most of his time on Saturday with all of the mods below. What an amazing guy that you can tell loves Spyders and their riders! Having him do my mods is something I will always appreciate!
Speaking of mods:
I went to the rally planning on only replacing the headlights and foglights with LEDs; and getting the BajaRon ultra bar installed.
What I left the rally with:
At SpyderPops:
BajaRon Ultra Sway Bar
LED headlights
LED foglights
Rear top case turn signal and flashing brake light (this was the guy in front of mine's fault for showing me his new one)
Rear trunk shock (noticed when installing the brake light)
PedalBox (noticed the rally sale price, and Harvey offered an amazing deal on labor)
KOTT grills (Originally didn't want chrome, but Harvey talked me into them, and I'm not disappointed. Plus, he invented them, so....)
Shirt for her, Shirt for me
Headband for her
From MerlinsBlood vendor at SpyderPops:
Red front rim covers
From SpyderExtras at hotel:
Front/Rear auto-recording cameras.
Shirt for me (she didn't want one)
We spent some time talking with Steph and Mike from SE, and they are the real deal. Her story about their recent accident and their faith is inspirational!
Oh, ride summary:
My girlfriend "E" recently has developed L5 disc issues and her butt constantly hurts. She was iffy about being able to make the trip right up until the morning of departure. What an amazing trooper she is.
We got up and left about 10:00 Thursday morning, and took the fastest route according to google, which was I-30 from Dallas basically straight into Hot Springs. Rainy and misty the first couple of hours, then we got ahead of it. Basically, just bad enough to make us and the bike filthy. I had to stop to handle a couple of work emergencies as well. It's amazing what you can find for cover from the rain when it's important!
Arrived Thursday about 4:00 and got checked in, went to eat, went for a short ride into town, ate at the little Taste of Hot Springs event, then came back, and basically crashed for the night.
Friday: Got up at 7:00, ate quickly, headed straight to SpyderPops to get in line for the three little mods I originally wanted, assuming we could do poker run and some riding that afternoon. Ended up staying until 4:15 with all the various mods. Went for a little ride to play with the new sway bar, left the Pedalbox in "city" mode, as I had been running ECO mode until it got installed, and Daniel told me not to use ECO mode anymore, as it can throw codes. I noticed a difference just with that change. Went back into town for some shopping and a drink at Diablo's Mexican. Did a little more riding, turned Sport mode on once we hit the highway, but did not notice much difference at 70+, even at WOT. Left sport mode on; and immediately noticed huge differences in "normal riding" responsiveness. Much jumpier off the line, etc. Picked up a couple bottles of wine, went back to the hotel, had a glass or two (after carving the cork out with my pocket-knife), and went to bed.
Saturday: Slept in. Got up, had breakfast at the hotel, went out to see vendors at the hotel. I had heard someone inside the day before talk about the video system SpyderExtras had, so I inquired about that. Steph(anie) told us her very touching story about how they have the same one installed, and how it self-activated and permanently save the video of their accident from March. So, I had them put that on. Waited an hour for my turn, and maybe another hour for the install. Got the top of my head sunburned. (Note to self - always wear a hat.) After they were done, did the Mountain Tower/Dam/Alligator farm route the Rally organizers had provided. Played with the video system and pedalbox a bit. Went back to the hotel to prep for the closing ceremonies dinner.
Closing Ceremonies were at a Distillery, and it was really cool to see all the Spyders with various paint jobs, lights, and mods all in one place. The venue had an electrical problem, which delayed us all for 45 minutes, but everyone just took it in stride and chatted, all in good spirits. (Again, Spyder riders are awesome people!) Dinner was nice. Some of Tommy's jokes were a little too off color for my taste, but overall, the evening was great, with good BBQ, good people, and new friends! Bought a bottle of their Salted Caramel "Moonshine" (70 proof) and headed back to the hotel to play cards with Roy's group until bedtime.
Sunday: went into town to try a bath house, only to find them all full, so we moseyed our way back to Dallas via I-70 through Broken Bow, OK (stopped at a winery and distillery to sample the local wares - shout out to Andy at Fish Tales in HochaTown! (Bought a logo'ed corkscrew for the bike), then on to Paris TX, McKinney, and finally Dallas.
The bike never let me down. I even seemed to get better MPG than normal with the PedalBox installed (and in city mode for the most part) and Eco mode turned off, but I didn't track it or do any math.
I do need to figure out a way to keep my "dashmount" iPhone that I use for GPS from overheating and keep it visible in the direct sun.
I left the MyRoute App recording the whole time. Total distance was 644.86 miles. I'll post the other pics as responses to this in a bit. (Not really a fan of MyRoute App yet for just general GPS guidance. Might be learning curve for me, but found myself using Google Maps much more often, as MRA would constantly give bad directions, route me through a parking lot, etc.)
-Allen
I have no idea what's the protocol for posting a ride report, as this was my first Rally, and I wanted to share.
First, the (little) bad, and hopefully constructive criticism for event organizers:
Don't assume we know anything. I was a total newbie! I didn't even know what a poker run was, and I had to Google it when I first saw it mentioned. I didn't know I needed to ask about it and sign up for it, get a sheet etc. I heard that one of the stops was the shop I was headed to the next day, so showed up and asked to how to start, only to be told should have signed up and paid at check in. No big loss really, as we stayed plenty busy, but I liked the idea of trying to participate in my first one!
Now all of the good:
1. The people - the Spyder community is awesome! A special thanks to Roy and Gailyn T. for pulling us into their group and making us feel extra welcome!
2. Hot Springs - what a pretty area! The ride up and down the park's "mountain" was pretty cool. (I have video with my new dashcam that is super cool, but probably only to me, as it makes the turns seem a lot slower and easier than they were in real life).
3. The host hotel - has changed my opinion of La Quintas!
4. SpyderPops - what an amazing shop and crew! I think I exhausted Harvey's patience with my constant add-ons, and he (deservedly) got on to me about talking to Daniel from BajaRon while he was working on my bike. Harvey was even down a tech for the day, but managed to pull off an amazing Saturday, having ice cream, hot dogs, vendors - I think at one point he had a bigger crowd than at the hotel! I hope he forgives and lets me back - as I'm starting the list of mods "for next time".
5. Daniel from BajaRon - unfortunately Ron didn't make it, but Daniel was there, and I took most of his time on Saturday with all of the mods below. What an amazing guy that you can tell loves Spyders and their riders! Having him do my mods is something I will always appreciate!
Speaking of mods:
I went to the rally planning on only replacing the headlights and foglights with LEDs; and getting the BajaRon ultra bar installed.
What I left the rally with:
At SpyderPops:
BajaRon Ultra Sway Bar
LED headlights
LED foglights
Rear top case turn signal and flashing brake light (this was the guy in front of mine's fault for showing me his new one)
Rear trunk shock (noticed when installing the brake light)
PedalBox (noticed the rally sale price, and Harvey offered an amazing deal on labor)
KOTT grills (Originally didn't want chrome, but Harvey talked me into them, and I'm not disappointed. Plus, he invented them, so....)
Shirt for her, Shirt for me
Headband for her
From MerlinsBlood vendor at SpyderPops:
Red front rim covers
From SpyderExtras at hotel:
Front/Rear auto-recording cameras.
Shirt for me (she didn't want one)
We spent some time talking with Steph and Mike from SE, and they are the real deal. Her story about their recent accident and their faith is inspirational!
Oh, ride summary:
My girlfriend "E" recently has developed L5 disc issues and her butt constantly hurts. She was iffy about being able to make the trip right up until the morning of departure. What an amazing trooper she is.
We got up and left about 10:00 Thursday morning, and took the fastest route according to google, which was I-30 from Dallas basically straight into Hot Springs. Rainy and misty the first couple of hours, then we got ahead of it. Basically, just bad enough to make us and the bike filthy. I had to stop to handle a couple of work emergencies as well. It's amazing what you can find for cover from the rain when it's important!
Arrived Thursday about 4:00 and got checked in, went to eat, went for a short ride into town, ate at the little Taste of Hot Springs event, then came back, and basically crashed for the night.
Friday: Got up at 7:00, ate quickly, headed straight to SpyderPops to get in line for the three little mods I originally wanted, assuming we could do poker run and some riding that afternoon. Ended up staying until 4:15 with all the various mods. Went for a little ride to play with the new sway bar, left the Pedalbox in "city" mode, as I had been running ECO mode until it got installed, and Daniel told me not to use ECO mode anymore, as it can throw codes. I noticed a difference just with that change. Went back into town for some shopping and a drink at Diablo's Mexican. Did a little more riding, turned Sport mode on once we hit the highway, but did not notice much difference at 70+, even at WOT. Left sport mode on; and immediately noticed huge differences in "normal riding" responsiveness. Much jumpier off the line, etc. Picked up a couple bottles of wine, went back to the hotel, had a glass or two (after carving the cork out with my pocket-knife), and went to bed.
Saturday: Slept in. Got up, had breakfast at the hotel, went out to see vendors at the hotel. I had heard someone inside the day before talk about the video system SpyderExtras had, so I inquired about that. Steph(anie) told us her very touching story about how they have the same one installed, and how it self-activated and permanently save the video of their accident from March. So, I had them put that on. Waited an hour for my turn, and maybe another hour for the install. Got the top of my head sunburned. (Note to self - always wear a hat.) After they were done, did the Mountain Tower/Dam/Alligator farm route the Rally organizers had provided. Played with the video system and pedalbox a bit. Went back to the hotel to prep for the closing ceremonies dinner.
Closing Ceremonies were at a Distillery, and it was really cool to see all the Spyders with various paint jobs, lights, and mods all in one place. The venue had an electrical problem, which delayed us all for 45 minutes, but everyone just took it in stride and chatted, all in good spirits. (Again, Spyder riders are awesome people!) Dinner was nice. Some of Tommy's jokes were a little too off color for my taste, but overall, the evening was great, with good BBQ, good people, and new friends! Bought a bottle of their Salted Caramel "Moonshine" (70 proof) and headed back to the hotel to play cards with Roy's group until bedtime.
Sunday: went into town to try a bath house, only to find them all full, so we moseyed our way back to Dallas via I-70 through Broken Bow, OK (stopped at a winery and distillery to sample the local wares - shout out to Andy at Fish Tales in HochaTown! (Bought a logo'ed corkscrew for the bike), then on to Paris TX, McKinney, and finally Dallas.
The bike never let me down. I even seemed to get better MPG than normal with the PedalBox installed (and in city mode for the most part) and Eco mode turned off, but I didn't track it or do any math.
I do need to figure out a way to keep my "dashmount" iPhone that I use for GPS from overheating and keep it visible in the direct sun.
I left the MyRoute App recording the whole time. Total distance was 644.86 miles. I'll post the other pics as responses to this in a bit. (Not really a fan of MyRoute App yet for just general GPS guidance. Might be learning curve for me, but found myself using Google Maps much more often, as MRA would constantly give bad directions, route me through a parking lot, etc.)
-Allen
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hyea:
And sometimes there were even messages from a few (fewer 
) members who couldn't even open the thread where someone had posted more than six (6) pics in any one post!! So it's not all who're having issues; it's not even 'most'; but it is 'some'! :banghead:
