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| Touratech Rally Plain, WA 2014 |
I just attended my first Touratech Rally in Plains, WA and I loved it. The rally went from Thursday to Sunday and a ton of people showed up. It was combined with the Overland Expo Rally, so besides having a ton of dual sports there was a bunch of super cool 4x4 expedition vehicles.
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| My Touratech Mug from our Goodie Bag |
I was very impressed with how organized the event was and how nice the people were. We had a great little campsite but there was no running water and no open campfires. We had known this ahead of time so we were prepared. We brought our little camp stoves, water and food. The rally did have two food trucks and happened to be across from a convenient store and gas station, a hardware store and a Café. So lots was close and easy to get too. They had a ton of bathrooms placed all over and each one had a hand washing station inside and they kept them clean and smelling good (super bonus in my book because we were camped next to two). They also had a cold shower station. It wasn't drinkable water but you could wash in it after riding all day (and boy do you get dirty and dusty). We got goodie bags when we showed up with a cool cup, stickers and two tickets we could redeem for gallon jugs of water. We didn't know it when we checked in but found out later if you brought your new cup down and got there fast enough they would fill it with beer (makes for happy campers after a long day of riding dirt). It was good beer too.
They had arranged a nice group of vendors in the center of the field with a campfire in the middle and vendors surrounding it.
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Vendors and Campers
The vendors were super fabulous and one night a group was making burgers and chips to give away. Another booth had swag (stickers and beer cozies) and free beer. The next night another group did free appetizers and beer. I had not expected to eat and drink for free but it was a bonus. They had some sweet deals and the campfire drawings at night were a blast. We all got new raffle tickets each night and they had fun prizes. I was lucky enough to win a awesome Touratech Tshirt and a $100 gift certificate on the second night. |
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| Wine and Chat with the Dirty Girls |
They also had a dirty girls chat and wine session which I attended. It was such a great group of supportive women who rode on and off road. They had planned some woman only rides and everyone shared there experience level and what kind of bikes they owned. BMW GS seemed to be the bike of choice. I was the only one at the meet and great on a KLR but it was a lot of fun to see so many ladies having fun. The whole rally was very female friendly and I spoke with quite a few woman who were there on their own and planned to attend again.
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| Me at Sepp's Point. |
Some of the things I really liked about the rally were the options to go on guided rides. They had the course available to download on your GPS but at 7pm each night they opened up the rides for people to sign up and go together in groups. They had all kinds of skill levels so you could sign up for what you were comfortable with. I didn't go on any guided rides but we were a group of 5 that did an intermediate ride on Friday and it was challenging but fun and the scenery was so pretty. We ended up on the top of a mountain looking out over a beautiful valley and lake. Then we went into the beautiful town of Leavenworth for lunch and shopping.
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| My trusty riding crew |
On Saturday we did a beginner ride along the white falls river and that was also beautiful scenery and a very relaxed ride on payment, gravel and dirt.
We stopped at all different spots to take photos and the opportunities were endless. We also got see a bit of wildlife and my husband got to see and catch a picture of two fawns and there mom.
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| My husband and I at our campsite |
I really loved this rally. The whole atmosphere was so relaxing and fun. Everyone was so friendly and I chatted with so many strangers that were there just to hang with others who love to ride on and off road. I also got to meet in person the adventurous woman of the North Cascade Ladies Riding group on Facebook. There was of course way more men then woman and the age group was all across the board but in the end we are all just riders who love being on two wheels, with the wind in our hair or shiny heads and our soul flying free.
PS I got to camp with my husband, my father-in-law and two of his friends and I just have to say thanks for making it so fun. They made me laugh and smile for four days. You guys are AWESOME and I am happy to have you as friends now.
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