Elmer Symons Benefit ride 01/26-28 Muenster, Texas

[ArkansasXC]

1:44 AM February 1st 2007

I sit in reflection on a year past in the annals of my mind. Adventures past, people met, friends made and ultimately about friends lost. As I reflect I realize that in the past year, I have met more of the best people on this planet, than I have ever met in my previous 33 years of existance. The funny thing is, all of this is due to the purchase of one simple machine and joining one of the worlds most awesome websites. The people here are truelly and without a doubt some of the best there are. I have had the priviledge of meeting no fewer than 50 KTMtalkers and have been equally impressed with each and everyone of them. I have made friends that will be around for a lifetime. Some will pass and some will continue on but all will be with us until our own end and beyond as the cycle of existance continues in the windows of time. We may not recognize each others new forms but surely we will be there together as eternity rolls on.

JGas, Skyler Church, Vernon Church, Glenda Church, Myosin, SRVPoet, Christie Poe, Fletch450EXC, JEB, SteelyDan, Roostn520, Mike Carpenter, LifeIsGooOd, Dawg, Bryce, JBodine, Lust450, RockSmoker, Forest, Neal Pearson, Grady, Brian250, Jennifer, Bryan Henson, Elmer Symons, Proxy, JWDuffin, Hemibee, MoPower, BuzzardFlatsJim, MXER616, MotoHead250, ArFlatLander, MJHill, MChester, OzmoEXC, EminemGasGas, Barclay, KTMObsession, KTM400STEVE, Tatonka, Gman897, AnTWare, Lyndon, Eric, The300Club, KTMObsessed, GoCatGo, Danielle Ballard, Greg Ballard, Zach Ballard, Scott Warren, Justin Warren, KTMSwade, Gman897, Hokie, BruceLeeJones2, Heath Lybrand, Randy Lybrand, Paige Lybrand, FastJack, TennesseeSandMan. I consider all of you as my friends and you will remain in my thoughts and memories always.

As I sit and write this report I feel a certain heaviness in my heart but also a deep degree of respect and joy fill my soul. The heaviness I am feeling, I know is due to the loss of a friend. The respect is for a hero and Mentor and the joy is for all of the friends that have been made, eternal memories and good times spent with great people.

As most of you know, the world was struck with a mighty blow, on January 9 2007, when the legend known as Elmer Symons fell on the fourth leg of the Dakar Rally. A shockwave was sent around the globe as news of the tragedy spread. Hearts were crushed, dreams destroyed, families and friends mourned. A great outcry of sorrow was cast towards the Heavens. The Angels heard the cry, opened their arms and prepared to receive back one of their own. Almost as soon as the news was spread, people were starting to organize around the globe to show an outpouring of love for the Family and Friends of Elmer.


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[ArkansasXC]

This is where my Report comes in.

Flashback....January 9th 8:47AM

The phone rings. I answer to hear my friend Scott Warren on the other end. Scott says "Did you hear the news?". I say "no...what news?". There is a pause on the other end and I wonder what it could be. Scott replies after a deep breath "Elmer is Dead." More silence. I am in total shock and disbelief. "WHAT! NO! NO WAY! Are you serious?" Scott pauses again and says "Yes, Im very serious." Immediately, my heart is filled with sadness. I want to turn my head to the heavens, and let out a mighty roar "ELLLLMERRRR!" I want the world, the heavens and the universe to feel the pain of losing the gift that was lent to us for such a short amount of time. I continue to speak with Scott, I need more information. The news is so shocking that I just cant get a grasp on it.. I spoke with Scott for a few more moents trying to decern what had actually transpired. I told Scott that I would call him back and I jumped to the computer and started trying to find out what had actually happened. The news was minimal and I spent a while searching and searching for more pertinant information. After a while of looking I thought that I had better start calling people so they didnt have to find out about the horrible loss via the internet. Throughout the morning and most of the day, I was on the phone with all of the people, from Arkansas, that had met Elmer at the seminar, as well as Bryan Henson. The reaction was pretty much the same for everyone. It was one of complete disbelief, total shock and deep heartfelt remorse for the loss of Elmer.

Several days went by and I was in a daze. I wanted to do something but just didnt know what I could do to help. I started trying to gather all of the pictures of Elmer that I could in an effort to create a memorial video. I was in the process of doing so when I was contacted by Bruce Vermeulen with RiderDown.Org. After a little while of speaking he recommended that I could hold a benefit ride to help Elmers family. That very day I started planning and posting about a benefit ride for Elmer. Within 1-2 days, people were signing on from around the net and offering their help and support for the event. It wasnt long before the thing started taking on a life of its own with some of the sponsors signing on simply because they had read the post about the benefit and wanted to help. Many other sponsors, through contact, had offered many items in support of the event as well. Others offered use of their personal items and their time. It had become a community effort and things were coming together. The effort of organizing the event took some of the stress of Elmers death of me as I wasnt thinking about it 24/7. I was pre-occupied now with organizing.

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[ArkansasXC]

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[ArkansasXC]

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[ArkansasXC]

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[ArkansasXC]

For two weeks, things were as hectic as I care to have them. I was on the phone more than I ever have been in my life. Hitting 14 websites daily to update sponsor and attendee lists as well as other fundraiser news, contacting and replying with sponsors, etc...etc...etc... During this two weeks I had contacted Bryan Henson and he had decided he was going to make the 900 mile, one way, trip to come to Arkansas, ride down and back with us crazy Arkies. He didnt know what he was getting himself into, Im sure, but it didnt take him long to figure it out! We crazy mang! :hihi: Anyways, the plans were set and I was to pick Bryan up at the airport Thursday morning at 10:45. We would take the RV down to get new tires for it, pack up and get ready to head out early Friday morning. JGas was to come over Thursday night as well so we could be packed and ready by 5:00AM. Along the way we were to meet up with ArFlatLander and Motohead250 AKA Spewy , I'll get to the "Spewy" part later. Skyler, Vernon, Glenda, Danielle, Zach, Gregh and EminemGasGas would meet us there late Friday or early Saturday. This was the Arkansas crew. Grady, Brian250, Jennifer, LifeIsGoo0d, Lust450, Proxy, SRVpoet, and Christie would be waiting for us once we arrived at Red River Motorcycle Trails. Saturday would see the arrival of Hemibee, his son Alex, BuzzardFlatsJim, One of his sons(name?), Mike Carpenter, KTMObsessed, Dean, Theresa from TWT.com, Firstman from TWT, Bandit 33, Pit, Antware from ADVrider.com along with friends Lyndon and Eric. There are definately some poeples names that are missing from this list. We were scattered across the park with some people staying at the pavilion and others staying elsewhere in the park. If I missed your name, shoot me a PM and I will get you on the list.

With that said, Thursday morning came and it was time to go get Bryan. I wasnt able to get a replacement camera until late Thursday night, so no pics of Bryan arrival. Anyways, I got to the airport at 10:40, Bryans flight was to arrive at 10:45 so I was right on time. I went in and stood there waiting for Bryan. I stood there for about 15 minutes or so and went back down to take a second look at the baggage area to see if he was there. No Bryan so I go back up and continue to wait...........and wait...........and wait.......and wait. Finally I got tired of standing there so I went and was watching the flight arrivals and departures. I noticed that I wasnt seeing his flight number and was wondering what was going on. Just about that time, 11:40, I looked over and saw Bryan come from the opposite direction that he should have been coming from. He had been there the entire time, waiting in an obscure part of the airport. I never thought to look for him where he was. With that we had our greeting and hit the road. We were hungry so I took him to a local pizza joint for the best Calzones anywhere around Arkansas. He was going to need the nourishment cause I was about to put him to work! We spent the remainder of the day running around with the RV and gathering our remaining needed supplies. Finally everything was ready, JGas arrived and we lkoaded everything up. By then it was 1:00AM or so and time for bed!

Friday morning comes, Im up acting as the alarm clock and snapping pics! We check the fluids in the RV, make certain we have what we need, take a few pics and hit the road for Muenster!

JGas loading up...Come on Gaston! Its cold out here! :hihi: Did I mention it was freezing while we were loading up?
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Loaded!
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JGas making sure we have everything loaded
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JEFF!!! WAKE UP!!!
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After hearing me wake Jeff up, Bryan let me know real quick that he was already awake!
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The "deer" was mesmerized by the lights!
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Checking the fluids on the mothership and letting her warm up...
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Figuring out how to work JGas' camera
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Awake and ready to roll...
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JEFF............................ WAKE UP!!!
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[ArkansasXC]

Tres Amigos!! Andelay!
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One more group pic and then Brummm brum brum....we're off! After weeks of planning, I was ready to get on the road, headed towards the BIG payoff...A few days with some great folks, at a great park, remembering and raising funds for a superior indivuduals cause, riding, raising hell and having loads of fun. We were on the road by 5:30 AM and we picked up a couple of "lost sheep" along the way. We decided to take them in and let them get in on the fun. Actually, we met up with ArFlatLander and Motohead250, to be known as Spewy from here on. :hihi: We make a stop to fill up the Road whale and snap a few pics for posterity.

ArFlatLander, yeah....he's cool....
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Spewy :poof: ...Other than the smell, he's ALRIGHT!
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Bryan, Spewy :poof: and ArFlatLander...Out for trouble....
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JGas trying to figure out how that new fangled camera contraption works...theres no duct tape or zip ties on it so it took a while...
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Bryan laughing at who knows what. He's prone to loud outbursts of uncontrollable laughter! Especially where 1/2 downies are concerned....dont ask!
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The trip out took us a little longer than planned and we stopped more frequently than we actually wanted to. After many many hours of driving, Remembering Elmer, acting like madmen and just having fun in general, we were there, standing before the mighty gates of RedRiver Motorcycle Trails. Standing at those gates again brought back alot of memories for Jgas, Bryan and I. We were all a little emotional to be there again without Elmer but happy that we were there together to honor our lost friend. We couldnt help but wish that Elmer was there with us again.

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After we signed in and drove through the second gate, someone noticed a flat tire on JGas trailer and it was time for a little F-A-F. Good ole Fix-A-Flat. Luckily, we had made the entire way before having this problem. I was itching to get down to the Pavillion where I knew my old friends were waiting. I was anxious to see them all again, catch up on things and remember our past ride. This flat tire was taking too long to fix for me! Come on fix-a-flat!

ArFlatLander knows how to fix a flat...
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How many Arkies does it take to use a can of Fix-A-Flat? Apparently 3 if they have a SC guy telling them how its done.
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We're here!
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[ArkansasXC]

Once we manage to place ourselves at the pavillion, it was time to reunite with familiar friends and faces also to place some faces to some very familiar names. I had already met everyone that was there except for the infamous "LifeIsGoo0d". We had spoken on several occasions and were supposed to meet at the Elmer Symons Seminar and then at LMS but both had fallen through. LifeIsGoo0d was quite a nice guy. No less than I had expected after speaking with him and sending pm's back and forth here on KTMtalk. I was more than pleased to finally meet him.

JGas and Christie reunite with a hug....awwww
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Left to right...Jgas, SRVpoet behind LifeisGoo0d, LifeIsGoo0d, Christie Poe, Spewy, ArFlatLander and Bryan Henson
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Heeeeeres Grady!
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Lust450 came over from their camp to say hello...
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After a long drive and a late arrival, even though we wanted to very badly, we didnt ride on Friday. We spent the remainder of the daylight hours getting setup and unloaded. After all of the work was done, it was finally time to relax. None too soon either as I was about to burst with anxiety. I needed to unwind and ArFladtLander had just the thing to help. A keg of Sam Adams Boston Lager! Tap that baby and break out the cups! Im ready to consume copious amounts of adult beverages!

ArFlatLander, Grady behind JGas, JGas, LifeIsGoo0d and SRVpoet...
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Night Life...LifeIsGoo0d, SRVpoet, Christie, Bryan, Spewy
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Christie! Say Cheese!
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Christie throwin out the right hook! Terry look out!
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Our little group sat around, enjoyed some good conversation, plenty of "adult beverage" and a nice hot fire. Im not certain of the time but I think it was around 7-8:00PM when Proxy showed up. Lust450 and his buddy Darrell came over to hang out not long after Proxy showed up. The laughing got louder and more frequent as the night went on. I only had 1.5 hours sleep the previous night and hadnt been able to sleep on the way down. I was the living dead by this point but there was no way that I was going to be the first man down!

Lust450, Proxy, LifeIsGoo0d and Bryan
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Even though Christie wasnt partaking of the adult beverages, she was patient with us those of us that had...
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[ArkansasXC]

It was starting to get cold and people were getting hungry so Christie whipped up a batch of her famous chili. After who knows how many beers and a few hours of freeezing, the chili hit the spot. The savages were full, happy and not near as restless as they had been up to this point. A plump belly and a full beer sure has a way of putting a smile on a mans face! While we were enjoying ourselves we noticed that we had some uninvited company...a big male Lab had wondered up and made himself right at home. He would end up staying with us the entire time we were at RRMT and would become the official mascot of the ride. He was quite a good dog. We ended up naming him Elmee. He guarded and watched our camp. Barking at several vehicles that passed and watching them to make certain that they went away.

After a good bit of bone chilling cold, we HAD to get a fire going so ArFlatlander snapped to and got it together in a hurry. It wasnt long before he had some heat coming from that wood! As usual we were up very late, talking, laughing etc. Around 12:00AM or so EminemGasGas showed up and was ready to join the small party.

SRVpoet looks like he's ready for a fight! He gave me his "mean" face for this pic as he sets up to cook some chili....
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Spewy :poof: and the Lab warming up by the small fire. I MUST have been slipping cause that fire was pathetic! No where near my standards!
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Proxy setting up camp. I dont think so Jason! There will be no one freezing in a tent if I have anything to say about it...
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Proxy....Blinded by the light...Or maybe it was just the bling on my bike...
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Fire!
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Ye Ole 250...The absolute Machiavelli of Motorcycles...Sporting the 747 in honor of Elmee....
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EminemGasGas....
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Proxy and Brian250....
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Grady and his Daughter Jennifer....
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[Gatlin5]

What a wonderful reflection of an awesome person and event that touched so many lives. Elmer is surely smiling down upon you all!

God Bless you Elmer!!

Great Job, Arkansas!