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Hello to all! This year we will be returning to the Microtel in Franklin NC for the 1st Spring Memorial Ride. (Formerly known as the Texasmac Memorial Ride) The dates are May 18-21 2017. Rates are as follows Thursday 75$, Friday and Saturday 85$, and Sunday 69$. Please note that unlike previous years, the hotel will not be holding a set number of rooms. As of this week there were 41 available. In order to get the special rate please make sure you identify yourself as a VFRD member! THE CUT OFF IS APRIL 19th! All I've worked out so far is the hotel. Please keep checking back as I do intend to set up an Eventbrite registration in order to allow folks to register and pay for shirts, food, and beer. Hope to see you all there!! -PRB

Hey all, I am taking over the SWAG gathering for this years Tmac. That's right, it's time to pilfer your closet, raid your employers storage room, beg your friends, local business, and dealers for SWAG items! This is a long standing tradition and I am hoping we can keep it alive. Spare parts, farkles, bottles of adult beverages, riding gear, that dusty old VFR in the garage you don't ride anymore, its all fair game. Word on the street is Timmy is finally ready to give up his prized tiger striped bikini. CornerCarver will model it for the winner since Yoshi wont be here this year. There's three options to get your SWAG items to the Saturday night show. 1. Bring it with you 2. Mail it to Benjamin Ealy 4184 Plantation Drive, Morganton NC in time for it to arrive by Monday May 23rd. 3. Send it ahead to the Microtel (Microtel Inn & Suites, 81 Allman Drive, Franklin, NC 28734), marked to the attention of Kevin Bailey - VFRD TMAC Event. Thanks for playing folks. See you at the big dance. -PRB

Post up your favorite quotes from TexasMac 2015; One of mine is an exchange between Donna and Kimbal at the end of a run across the Cherohala... Before the ride across Kimball says "we are taking it easy today, I'm thinking we do a 60 mph run across." Once landed on the other side Donna replies "I see 80 is the new 60."

I figured we should keep this conversion on its own thread. So, if any of you are willing to share a room or looking for somebody to board with, this thread would be the place for it. I already have my room booked with checking in on the 28th Thursday and checking out on the 31st Sunday. Is there any brave soul who dares to room with me? Oyama

Here are some basics ride guidlines for everyone attending the TexasMac. 1. Read and use "The PACE". This is the type of riding we expect at the Tmac. Hanging off is OK(mostly faster groups). (from Sebs recent post) The pace is posted here 2. Every rider should start with a FULL Tank of Gas. Fill up prior to showing up to the Ride Meeting/ breakfast Friday & Saturday mornings! Not gas up afterward its best to gas up at the end of the day then you dont have to worry about it in the morning! 3. Top off your fuel at every fuel stop No matter if it's only a gallon or two everyone! Stops are based on the group needs and distance between fuel stops, having to make an extra stop because some clown doesn't follow the guidelines is a very Bad thing. 4. Never pull off/ turn around/leave your group without telling someone. Signal somebody in your group what you are doing and why! Each group should never loose a member for any reason, communicate your needs and make sure your entire group stays together. 5. Do Not tail-gate other riders, there are thousands of blind turns in this area and the last thing we need is to have a rider make a great panic stop to avoid something only to be run over by the rider behind him! Leave a safe margin, but do not lag to far behind either. 6. When passing a car try not to piss them off or scare them , there are many of our friends also needing to pass this cage. Please try to respect everyone else out on the road, our sport depends on it. There will always be the one crazy cage driver, be careful and get around/away from them as quickly as possible. 7. Passing: Do NOT go just because the rider in front of you goes!!! size up every pass yourself for how much open road you can see, how much time you have, how much distance is availible to pass, do it safely and quickly. Dont make a pass that would be considered "close"!!! Passing cages will most likely be the most dangerous part of our event, please be cautious. It is not a race to pass cagers! 8. Pegs up at 9:00 am both days, please be fueled up, fed and be there early enough to get assigned to a ride group before 9am. 9. Never cross the centerline except to pass. If you have to cross/cut corners to maintain your pace, you are going faster than your skill level. If you can't stay in your lane your riding over your head! SLOW Down!!! Staying right of the line adds a significant challenge to most roads and is mandatory for sport riding's future. Don't crowd the centerline Always expect an oncoming car with two wheels in your lane. Maybe more to come. :blink:

If you have Texasmac photos and you are a current vfrd member I set up a general album for everybody attending to use, the software I upgraded to allows this new feature anybody who is a member has access to upload there. Texasmac Global public album Here here are a few samples I uploaded myself

Tmac's over sad face. \ I have to say I think we pulled off what might just have been the BEST TexasMac every! Fantastic weather, roads, people and I think a very successful first time ever Dinner & Awards Banquet! I just rolled in after 1300 miles of some of the best twisties the South has to offer with the Biggest Grin on my face. Yes I was exhausted with the all the stress and planning needed to pull off a Tmac, but once Saturdays ride groups all showed up and including one beat up Canadian I could finally breath a sigh of relief and enjoy it all. A BIG thanks to all the volunteers and other members help to make it all happen and of course all of the attendees that make this such a great event! I actually didn't get to take many photos, but did get a few which I will post up later. Please Post up your Tmac photos, stories & thoughts here. Thanks again everyone! BR PS I did hit 83,000 miles one the way home today and not a single hitch out of my bike all week! I love my VFR! OK a few pics I did manage. The ride over to the Tmac Leading HS, Dutchintaceptor, Lee2002 & Favadave, we stopped at a fav old factory for a foto opp. Bob and the CEO(HS) Nicole & who cares! Just kiddin, Glenn! On Fridays ride we stopped at the gas station near Suches @ 180 and saw this 86 VFR that was all original! Last remaining Viffer! When I rolled out of the Franklin motel today my trusty 02 was the last bike in the lot. Great time folks!

Welcome to the official 2011 TexasMac Memorial Ride thread. The event will run May 19th thru May 22nd, 2011. This is the 8th Annual T-Mac. Event HQ/Motel This year we will return to the Franklin Motel in Franklin, NC it will be event HQ and starting point. http://www.thefranklinmotel.com/ Please see Event Registration below and sign-up also when you book a room. I have all the Motel's 51 rooms reserved for VFRD and these rooms will be held for us only until April 15th when all non-reserved rooms will be released for anyone else to rent. Ask for the VFRD/Kevin Bailey reserved rooms. Our rates for this event are $50/night for singles and $55/night for doubles and $80/night for the large doubles w/king & double. Please contact the Franklin Motel (800-433-5507) and reserve your room(s) with a credit card in order to hold them for our event. I would love to have the entire place just for the T-Mac, but doubt we will have that many attenders to do so. Beer is allowed at the Motel, but as there is no large indoor meeting room the Pool area is the only other area we can hang out as a group. Bottles/glass are NOT allowed in the Pool area, please respect this one rule!!! Event Registration Again this year we are using Eventbrite On-line registration for this years T-Mac. Here's the link: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/1160796975 Please add your VFRD member name to your Paypal payment note, thanks. There is a registration fee that includes an event T-shirt and helps to cover other incidental cost of maps and such for the event. It will ask for you shirt size, preferred Ride Group, days you plan to attend and emergency contact and info so we know what medication you might need and have someone to contact in case of any problem. On that note it's also advisable to carry emergency contact info on you for the same reason, I like the helmet info packets best myself. Also with Ride group selection being private you might be less likely to let ego choose your group and I suggest you drop down one level to start with, then move up or down as needed through out the event. You can now order extra T-Shirts on-line also. Group Dinner- This is new this year and we will have everyone together Saturday night for a group dinner, it will be a catered meal at the motel. This is also a chance to hand out any awards or door prizes with everyone in attendance. Right now I have $12 meal Tickets available for purchase in registration. Group rides I may only have ride groups organized with Lead/Sweep teams for the Relaxed/Scenic ride groups this year and just let all Int. & Advanced riders organize their own groups. Let me know your thoughts here! We will have group rides/routes planned for Friday & Saturday that will include both long and short versions so riders can decide just how far they what to ride. Thursday & Sunday will not have any official ride or route planned, just days to acclimate to the area and do whatever you like. As mentioned we will have long (aprox 250 mile) and short routes (aprox 150 mile) each day and each group will have a Lead/Sweep team to guide/control/maintain a SAFE group ride . We'll have at least 3 ride group categories, Relaxed(newer riders),Scenic(Int/slow)& Intermediate(Int/fast) groups. The idea here is Not to let Ego choose your ride group. We want everyone to have a fun and safe time while participating in this event and controlling how groups are run is the biggest factor in a successful and safe event. This is not a Competition or Race and our Lead riders will lead for the entire group, not a "your on your own" attitude. Safety and fun will be the focus of all group rides, the idea is for everyone to make it home safely and share what a great time they had at the T-Mac. Not who's the fastest rider. Please keep the ego's at home. - Routes will be posted sometime next spring and will include GPS and hard maps of each days ride. - Lead/Sweep teams will be picked from volunteers I choose that have the attitude I'm looking for which is Group oriented not self and you do not need to be a star rider, super fast or live in the area to be a good team member. I'll start a different thread for that over the next few weeks and will get into more detail then. - Group size - I hope to have enough quality Lead/sweep teams to keep group sizes small as smaller groups sizes make everything easier and safer. Preferably 6-8 riders per. Basic Ride Groups: Scenic: Beginner/newer riders & riders who never go over the posted limits, have little to no twisty experience and are in no hurry to get anywhere. Group stops often for pics/rest/talk. Relaxed:(Int/slow) Experienced riders, but little twisty experience. Confident in skills except newer to Heavy Mtn Twisties. PACE is Speed limit +/- 5-10 mph. Fun, Safe & consistent PACE. Shorter Loops(150/200 mile) because heavy twisty routes cause fatigue to set in MUCH Faster than normal. Time for extra miles if desired. Intermediate:(Int/fast) Experienced TWISTY/Mtn riders and or track day experience, confident with non-stop twisties and the endurance to handle them on longer routes(usually 300+ miles) Ride PACE avg. of 10-20 mph over. Note on group selection: This area is unmatched in twisties both in volume, duration and technical level compared to 90% of the rest of the country and if you don't ride in similar terrine in that other 10% of the country YOU WILL NOT BE READY FOR WHAT YOU'LL ENCOUNTER HERE ! These twisties there are endless providing little chance to rest and fatigue sets in very quickly. Fatigue multiplies the chance of crashing by 10 fold especially in this area where the turn you just screwed up is only half as hard as the one your now entering from the wrong side of the road. Even the slightest mistake is compounded by the extremely technical nature of these roads that provide little to No room for error! Please do not take group selection lightly, your life may depend on it! I can not express that fact enough! We place a lot of importance and responsibility in the roll of our Lead/Sweep Teams and our desire for them to focus on GROUP safety as it's a very important aspect of this events success. But No matter how dedicated out Teams are, we can not control the choices each attendee makes and the effect these have on the entire Event. :unsure: Each rider coming to this event also plays a hug roll in it's success buy choosing a proper and safe ride group for them. If you are an Intermediate rider in most of the country you will be a Relaxed level rider in this part of the country, please don't let ego pick your ride group! This is the single biggest and most important decision you will make when attending the T-Mac, it will play the biggest role in the fun and safety of everyone involved. Please do your part and focus on the Fun factor along with Not loosing sight of the fact that this is a Memorial Ride for the first VFRD member to loose his life! Thanks Pre-Ride Meetings We try to have pre-ride meetings each morning before the days ride at breakfast(TBA). The days ride is covered along with maps handed out to anyone that doesn't already have one, the group is then broken down into ride groups with Lead/Sweep teams for each. If there is a planned group lunch stop it will also be discussed. Ride Rules Please read rules at this link. http://www.vfrdiscus...showtopic=32096 We also ride the PACE, read link: http://www.vfrdiscus...=0 Ride area This area has some of the best roads this country has to offer with great pavement, beautiful scenery and tons of twisties. But all of these great twisties can also be a hazard for riders who don't get to ride great twisties often and even for skilled riders who loose focus. It's a great area, but can also be hazardous. Be careful and don't ride over your head. Please add your VFRD member name to your Paypal payment note, thanks. Event History For some members who have no idea what the TexasMac ride is here are some details, Texasmac was a member here who was from *you guessed it* Texas who met Baileyrock and some others for a ride into the Tennesse/North Carolina Smoky mountains to ride the famous Deals Gap. He passed away in a bizarre accident when his bike went off the road and ended up on top of him. He was the first member at VFRD to pass away - it was a shock to many of us, and to those who where with him they decided to honor him with an annual ride to the same spot of the accident, where there is a cross placed in his name. Baileyrock has taken it upon himself to organize this event for the last seven years and each year it gets bigger and better, always with safety in mind so that what happened to Texasmac doesn't happen to another member. BTW the picture at the top of this thread is the actual Cross Raising for TexasMac Event of April, 2004 which is what the T-Mac anniversary is based on. Bruce Williams aka TexasMac was Lost Dec. 27th, 2003 riding with Baileyrock(Kevin) and Hot Rodder(Ray). Note: I was told that some newer riders have some worries about not being a good enough rider to attend this event and I want to dispel that fear. We will have at least one(more if needed) beginner/new rider group with a qualified (for this group) Leader who will maintain a Scenic/Relaxed pace that the entire group can easily maintain. These groups will also run shorter routes so that's there's no pressure to keep up with the entire event and also to prevent fatigue from setting in. Every group will have both a Lead rider and a Sweeper who tags along behind their group to make sure no one gets lost or left behind and will be there (first to scene) if there's a problem. Please PM me with any concerns or needs. On the other side of that, there will also be some faster Paced groups for experienced riders and everything in between. We'll most likely have Scenic/Relaxed/ Int. groups. Thanks! No refunds after April 15th. BR

Well BR and I looked at every Texasmac route over the last 7 years and found we had a really good choice of routes going to pretty much all directions, some scenic, some short, some medium but we decided on a wider range of milage and destinations this year and included one of Talldrinkofwaters routes for a change of route, we used 2 routes from last year that nobody rode because of the weather so they are still fairly new and then a couple of old standbys. I made a Garmin file I will attach with version 2, version 3, and a gpx file you can convert for other gps units - then along with that a mix of bing maps and google maps. I have not decided which is better for embedding but I have more experience with google maps - I wont embed any at this time cause it will really slow down the page with SIX ROUTES so they will just be links you can click to see the maps. Route One: the Cross Run - the run up to the Texasmac cross and back, shortest route of them all and really it is what the whole thing is about to honor the first member of vfrd lost. 120 miles total Route Two: The Gap Cherehola run - 210 miles with the great road out of Franklin to 28, Deals Gap, Tellico Plains, the Cherehola and then topping it all off with Wayah Bend road to the hotel very technical in places. Route Three: The Blue Ridge Parkway Loop - 168 miles mostly scenic and relaxed pace but some technical aspects Route Four: GA/NC tire burner - pretty much the longest route of them all 350 miles of North Georgia and North Carolina with all the best parts, and all day affair no doubt only for the stout rider fast to intermediate Route Five: North Georgia - the best roads in Northern Georgia 200 miles and some very challenging roads half day to all day depending on the pace Route Six: TallDrink 200 - heading east into three states for some of the better roads in North Carolina Local Favorites plenty of twisties for those of you who have not been east yet on a Texasmac ride Tmac2011v3.gdb Tmac2011v2.gdb Tmac2011gpx.gpx

Since I've been asked in person, and PMed about the exact location of the Texas Mac Memorial Cross when members haven't been able to locate it while riding on Hwy 28, I measured it last Friday.......... Coming from the Deals Gap Store on Hwy 28: 9.8 miles on your right Going toward the Deals Gap store on Hwy 28: 22.6 miles on your left It looks like this: Hope this helps with locating it next time you are riding the area and don't get to attend T-Mac...........

Put your Tmac photos here

Welcome to the official 2010 TexasMac Memorial Ride thread. The event will run May 20th thru May 23rd, 2010. This is the 7th Annual T-Mac. Event HQ/Motel This year we will return to the Franklin Motel in Franklin, NC it will be event HQ and starting point. http://www.thefranklinmotel.com/ Please see Event Registration below and sign-up also when you book a room. I have all the Motel's 51 rooms reserved for VFRD and these rooms will be held for us only until April 15th when all non-reserved rooms will be released for anyone else to rent. Ask for the VFRD/Kevin Bailey reserved rooms. Our rates for this event are $50/night for singles and $55/night for doubles and $60/night for the large doubles w/king & double. Please contact the Franklin Motel (800-433-5507) and reserve your room(s) with a credit card in order to hold them for our event. I would love to have the entire place just for the T-Mac, but doubt we will have that many attenders to do so. Beer is allowed at the Motel, but as there is no large indoor meeting room the Pool area is the only other area we can hang out as a group. Bottles/glass are NOT allowed in the Pool area, please respect this one rule!!! Event Registration Again this year we are using Eventbrite On-line registration for this years T-Mac. Here's the link: http://texasmac2010.eventbrite.com Please add your VFRD member name to your Paypal payment note, thanks. There is a registration fee that includes an event T-shirt and helps to cover other incidental cost of maps and such for the event. It will ask for you shirt size, preferred Ride Group, days you plan to attend and emergency contact and info so we know what medication you might need and have someone to contact in case of any problem. On that note it's also advisable to carry emergency contact info on you for the same reason, I like the helmet info packets best myself. Also with Ride group selection being private you might be less likely to let ego choose your group and I suggest you drop down one level to start with, then move up or down as needed through out the event. You can now order extra T-Shirts on-line also. Group rides I may only have ride groups organized with Lead/Sweep teams for the Relaxed/Scenic ride groups this year and just let all Int. & Advanced riders organize their own groups. Let me know your thoughts here! We will have group rides/routes planned for Friday & Saturday that will include both long and short versions so riders can decide just how far they what to ride. Thursday & Sunday will not have any official ride or route planned, just days to acclimate to the area and do whatever you like. As mentioned we will have long (aprox 250 mile) and short routes (aprox 150 mile) each day and each group will have a Lead/Sweep team to guide/control/maintain a SAFE group ride . We'll have at least 3 ride group categories, Relaxed(newer riders),Scenic(Int/slow)& Intermediate(Int/fast) groups. The idea here is Not to let Ego choose your ride group. We want everyone to have a fun and safe time while participating in this event and controlling how groups are run is the biggest factor in a successful and safe event. This is not a Competition or Race and our Lead riders will lead for the entire group, not a "your one your own" attitude. Safety and fun will be the focus of all group rides, the idea is for everyone to make it home safely and share what a great time they had at the T-Mac. Not who's the fastest rider. Please keep the ego's at home (I have enough for everyone) - Routes will be posted sometime next spring and will include GPS and hard maps of each days ride. - Lead/Sweep teams will be picked from volunteers I choose that have the attitude I'm looking for which is Group oriented not self and you do not need to be a star rider, super fast or live in the area to be a good team member. I'll start a different thread for that over the next few weeks and will get into more detail then. - Group size - I hope to have enough quality Lead/sweep teams to keep group sizes small as smaller groups sizes make everything easier and safer. Preferably 6-8 riders per. Basic Ride Groups: Scenic: Beginner/newer riders & riders who never go over the posted limits, have little to no twisty experience and are in no hurry to get anywhere. Group stops often for pics/rest/talk. Relaxed:(Int/slow) Experienced riders, but little twisty experience. Confident in skills except newer to Heavy Mtn Twisties. PACE is Speed limit +/- 5-10 mph. Fun, Safe & consistent PACE. Shorter Loops(150/200 mile) because heavy twisty routes cause fatigue to set in MUCH Faster than normal. Time for extra miles if desired. Intermediate:(Int/fast) Experienced TWISTY/Mtn riders and or track day experience, confident with non-stop twisties and the endurance to handle them on longer routes(usually 300+ miles) Ride PACE avg. of 10-20 mph over. Note on group selection: This area is unmatched in twisties both in volume, duration and technical level compared to 90% of the rest of the country and if you don't ride in similar terrine in that other 10% of the country YOU WILL NOT BE READY FOR WHAT YOU'LL ENCOUNTER HERE ! These twisties there are endless providing little chance to rest and fatigue sets in very quickly. Fatigue multiplies the chance of crashing by 10 fold especially in this area where the turn you just screwed up is only half as hard as the one your now entering from the wrong side of the road. Even the slightest mistake is compounded by the extremely technical nature of these roads that provide little to No room for error! Please do not take group selection lightly, your life may depend on it! I can not express that fact enough! We place a lot of importance and responsibility in the roll of our Lead/Sweep Teams and our desire for them to focus on GROUP safety as it's a very important aspect of this events success. But No matter how dedicated out Teams are, we can not control the choices each attendee makes and the effect these have on the entire Event. :fing02: Each rider coming to this event also plays a hug roll in it's success buy choosing a proper and safe ride group for them. If you are an Intermediate rider in most of the country you will be a Relaxed level rider in this part of the country, please don't let ego pick your ride group! This is the single biggest and most important decision you will make when attending the T-Mac, it will play the biggest role in the fun and safety of everyone involved. Please do your part and focus on the Fun factor along with Not loosing sight of the fact that this is a Memorial Ride for the first VFRD member to loose his life! Thanks Pre-Ride Meetings We try to have pre-ride meetings each morning before the days ride at breakfast(TBA). The days ride is covered along with maps handed out to anyone that doesn't already have one, the group is then broken down into ride groups with Lead/Sweep teams for each. If there is a planned group lunch stop it will also be discussed. Ride Rules Please read rules at this link. http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=32096 We also ride the PACE, read link: http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=32055&pid=385787&st=0entry385787 Ride area This area has some of the best roads this country has to offer with great pavement, beautiful scenery and tons of twisties. But all of these great twisties can also be a hazard for riders who don't get to ride great twisties often and even for skilled riders who loose focus. It's a great area, but can also be hazardous. Be careful and don't ride over your head. Please add your VFRD member name to your Paypal payment note, thanks. Event History For some members who have no idea what the TexasMac ride is here are some details, Texasmac was a member here who was from *you guessed it* Texas who met Baileyrock and some others for a ride into the Tennesse/North Carolina Smoky mountains to ride the famous Deals Gap. He passed away in a bizarre accident when his bike went off the road and ended up on top of him. He was the first member at VFRD to pass away - it was a shock to many of us, and to those who where with him they decided to honor him with an annual ride to the same spot of the accident, where there is a cross placed in his name. Baileyrock has taken it upon himself to organize this event for the last five years and each year it gets bigger and better, always with safety in mind so that what happened to Texasmac doesn't happen to another member. BTW the picture at the top of this thread is the actual Cross Raising for TexasMac Event of April, 2004 which is what the T-Mac anniversary is based on. Bruce Williams aka TexasMac was Lost Dec. 27th, 2003 riding with Baileyrock(Kevin) and Hot Rodder(Ray). Note: I was told that some newer riders have some worries about not being a good enough rider to attend this event and I want to dispel that fear. We will have at least one(more if needed) beginner/new rider group with a qualified (for this group) Leader who will maintain a Scenic/Relaxed pace that the entire group can easily maintain. These groups will also run shorter routes so that's there's no pressure to keep up with the entire event and also to prevent fatigue from setting in. Every group will have both a Lead rider and a Sweeper who tags along behind their group to make sure no one gets lost or left behind and will be there (first to scene) if there's a problem. Please PM me with any concerns or needs. On the other side of that, there will also be some faster Paced groups for experienced riders and everything in between. We'll most likely have Scenic/Relaxed/ Int. slow/ Int. quick/ & Advanced groups. Thanks! No refunds after April 15th. BR