HATFIELD-MCCOY RIDE 2021 #Ridgieinvasion day 1 and day 2

 Sunday, April 4, 2021

Arrived a day early...setting up camp before the group gets here.

Took a little tour of the area to get familiar with our location and to check our equipment. We are both using a new Lifetime Trail Maps GPS system. Both have Mobile Radios and I have a Garmin In-Reach Satellite SOS System to test.

First thing Christine notices is Cable lines run thru the valley and branching off to every house in the hollar. And we still don't have Cable at our house only 5 miles off I-65 Interstate in Bowling Green, Ky. Go figure.

Since it's Easter Sunday we wandered into Matewan just to see what was still there since my last visit here in 2012-13. Found the Mexican joint open so we stopped for lunch. Beautiful day for a casual ride.

Monday, April 5, 2021

The Ridgies showed up last night and are ready to Rock N Roll. These folks drove down from North Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin to ride the Hatfield-McCoy trails with us Hillbillies.

But hey, Jimmy and I drove to South Dakota to ride the Black Hills with them last year.

Great fun loving group of Yanks.

First stop on the list is Matewan. Everyone wants to check out the fine dining for the upcoming week. The Historic Railroad Station is in the background and now houses the Matewan Massacre History Museum. Google Matewan Massacre for details. It's not about the Hatfield McCoy fight.

Seems like the kids always find something interesting at every stop. Looks like Gracie found here a passenger. These Sandbeck girls are a hoot. In fact, the whole Sandbeck family is a hoot.

Next stop is this steep, rocky hill climb. The kids and some drivers walked up but everyone decided to wait until the end of the week to come back and give it a shot. Better to "Bust your Buggie" at the end of the week after you have rode the trails and seen the sights.

And then there is the mudhole.

A Great place to wash the mud off your buggie 

with muddy water.

Oh, but it's so much fun.

I had videos but can't figure how to load them since Google made changes to the Blogger.

Grabbed this shot of an old abandoned mine shaft as we flew by on the buggies.

Can't stop for everything.

Well, I guess this one was just too interesting to pass up. These Yanks don't have this kind of scenery up yonder. They are in love with these hills. Most would come back next week if it wasn't so damn far to drive. Their comment.

We didn't have to teach our fearless leader how to READ a mudhole........he is now self taught. He said he "wondered why there was a high trail and a low trail"...Way to go Carl, makes for a great story.

But Carl is still a good leader, he works hard to find places like Castle Rock.,.naturally Jimmy just had to climb to the top. I made it half way but my freshly broken ankle would not cooperate.

Think I will turn around right here and head back down.

Yeah, It's quite a trek....while favoring one ankle.

More good fast trails, lots of these well-groomed trails over here on the Devil Anse side.

Then it's back by the mud hole again to wash the mud off the buggies with more muddy water.

If'n ya ain't dun it you wouldn't understand.

Day One of the #Ridgieinvasion is in the books. No broken bones, no broken machines.

Day 6 in the Black Hills-day 3 with #Ridgies

 This sumbitch sneaked up on me first thing this morning....just wait and see what the rest of the day holds.

Check back often.

Today’s theme is Redneck Prom.....and the Ridgies are in full costume again. They even ride in these clothes. It’s a hoot.

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Ya gotta love the dogs that came along. I sure miss our Annie, she would of had a blast.

I don’t know many of the names but if this is who I think it is, he is a pretty good wheelman. I came up on him on one of the fastest trails with lots of jumps and slide sections. He was cranking on his newYamaha when he looked in the mirror and seen the Beast on his ass. He turned the wick up and the chase was on. We were both getting air for about a two mile section, I honked a couple times to pass but I guess he didn’t hear my little beep beep horn. The dust was horrible, the worst I’ve rode in since the Mint 400. Hope I didn’t piss em’ off. From watching him Handle that Yamaha, I assume he has some racing experience.

Gonna ride some power line trails for awhile. I told ya, they ride in these silly outfits.

Check out those outfits.

Even the little ones live on the edge...That’s about a 50 foot ledge they are sitting on.

Looking for the big one, there were some good hill climbs along the way.

Jadden Hoffmann of Owatonna, Minnesota brought his 900 RZR to the top, no problem. Him and his sweetheart Nicole Prodoehi are now qualified to come to Tennessee and ride with us.

Jadden and Nicole taking a break from their Hillclimb Challenge.👍

Heading up to Custer Peak

Traffic is very heavy today, but hey, it’s Labor Day Weekend

But the ride up is well worth it.

Our group was about half of what it was yesterday. The dust took out several. It was bad.

The Fire Observatory Station on Custer Peak, 7000+ feet elevation.

Easy does it....that’s a big drop off.

Jadden and Nicole again

Would be easy to spot a fire from here

Now, what could this be about? Well,...it’s time for the initiation. To become a true #Ridgie you must be initiated so Jimmy, myself, and several other newbies stood in the creek for the ceremony.

So a #Ridgie volunteer hits the creek wide open, you know the rest.

I’m the one with both arms up...Bring it on.

And we get soaked....but after a hot, dusty day on the trails it felt pretty good. Now back to camp and fireside party to celebrate a fantastic adventure. Gotta get out of Deadwood early, a Winter Storm Warning has been issued for tomorrow. No shit.....mid 90’s today and up to 6 inches of snow in Deadwood tomorrow night.

But we stuck around and played for a while. It’s 5:00 am...gotta load up and get out of here. More videos later when I get time.

Folks loading up to head home...Rigs of every size and shape..and all good people

And you just don’t come to South Dakota and NOT stop at Wall Drugs to visit the Really Old Friends.

I met this old miner when I rode my Harley out here in 2005. Stopped to say hi again in 2016. And now in 2020. But you know, this old guy hasn’t aged a bit.

Day 5 in the Black Hills riding with the #Ridgies

 Gonna be a hot and dusty day on the trails. Expecting another huge turnout...

All lined up and waiting for the green flag..Last count was 58.

Our “Fearless Leader” for the day.....BATMAN himself. Today is #Ridgies Superhero Day. Check out some more of these wild costumes.

A whole family of Superhero’s....

Pee break..or waiting for 58 buggies to regroup.

Beautiful country

A neat but tight trail.

I’m just chillin’, waiting for the flag to drop.

Move over everybody, the Trump flag is coming thru

One of the drivers rolled his Can Am trying to make room for an oncoming buggie...nobody hurt, just flip it back over and clean up the cooler mess. They had just finished up righting the Can Am.

Shot from the top of Nemo Peak

Breathtaking overlook, complete with American Flag

Another view in different direction

Just trail talk

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Had to get this shot in, Always on the edge.......thanks Jimmy......

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Video of Nemo Peak Overlook.....stunning beauty.  CRANK UP YOUR SOUND

Back in the saddle....off to another pee stop.

Swinging on top of Nemo Peak

Sad story here, you would think this young man did something stupid and got killed.....No, he was here riding the Annual Off-road Rally in 2016 when a storm come up....he was sitting on his four wheeler and a tree fell across him during high winds.

Kids having a good time with dad

Two of our three fearless leaders, great guys...even though they are from Minnesota

I can’t ever seem to catch all three of these Charter Members together

Does it get any better?

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Maybe it does..

Group picture from Nemo.....no, I’m not taking a knee. I had to get “Little Bit” to take the picture so I ended up front and had to get low. Smart move, huh.

Crank up the sound for videos

SORRY, CAN’T LOAD ANY MORE PICTURES TONIGHT...TOO MANY PEOPLE ON THE WIFI.

UP AT 4:30 AM TO GET ‘ER  DONE....ENJOY