Gnarly Routes Texas Tour

U Lazy S Ranch, Post, Texas April 4-8

Wet dirt, wildflowers, and temperate weather were the highlights at this year's Gnarly Routes Texas Tour! Three days of epic riding with extremely varied conditions kept the riding ever-changing each day!

We had three riders come in from the East Coast looking to explore, and have a mindless riding getaway! They chose to ride two KTM 350 EXC-F’s and one KTM 250 XCW-TPI. Everyone opted to run the Rekluse Radius CX auto clutch, which was a blessing for them and us on the trail!

New for 2019, all participants receive a free set of FLY Racing gear, of their choice! So everyone was looking fresh and dialed in for our first day!

Gnarly Routes also partnered with Michelin tires and Solid Performance suspension for the new year of adventure. These were the right moves for us, and we were excited to hear the participants opinions from their first ride!

All of our bikes were outfitted with new StarCross 5 tires, (soft front/medium rear) and the suspension was not only sprung for each riders weight, but Solid Performance has re-valved both shock and fork with their trail setting.

Just after the initial break-in and warm up for the ride on Day 1, you could tell everyone was blown away and meshed well with their bikes!

We took off on one of the private ranches most popular trails, called “whole hog.” This trail is super flowy and lets everyone get into their own rhythm and find a pace that was comfortable for them. Fun and flowy as it may be, there is still plenty to be wary about in the rugged terrain! The mesquite trees will grab you and rip your arms off your handlebars if you aren’t careful, and the cactus is lurking and waiting for you to blow a corner or take a soil sample.

The group was doing awesome riding! This was our first experience having a father and son join us for a ride, and that was cool to see. The son hadn’t ridden in 2 years and couldn’t believe how easy the bike was to ride and was absolutely owning the trail!

The U Lazy S Ranch is notorious for having some crazy terrain that is comparable to the planet Mars. The ground changes from sandy washes to baby bowling balls in just minutes.

We stayed predominately on the south side of the property riding in some technical river beds and fun sand washes with plans to save a loop on the north side of the property for the next day.

However, a massive storm rolled into Post, TX the first night bringing over 1.5 inches of rain. Practically unheard of for this time of the year! So an adjustment to the schedule was made, and we made tracks over to Fluvanna, TX to ride at the Circle Bar Ranch! This area received less rain and would be better for the second day of riding.

The riding on day 2 was a big mix up from the first day! We went from dry slick to wet slick! The morning kept everyone on their toes as we were all surfing through the corners and even splashing out some puddles early on.

Massive windmills on the property gave you the perspective of size, and it was incredibly cool to look out over some amazing vistas, where you could see for miles!

While riding around one exposed rim, we all stopped to take a break and were fortunate enough to see a group of 50 plus aoudad sheep climbing up some vertical walls like Cody Webb!

As the day progressed, the ground began to tack up more and more until we had nearly perfect traction! We even had the luxury of riding a natural style Moto track after lunch! It was super fun to hold it wide and let the bikes scream!

The final day we ventured back to our original riding location and couldn’t be more excited. The moisture had settled, and conditions were going to be nothing short of pure greatness!

No one wanted to stop after the first trail! It was too good, and we had to keep going!

The lower areas were popping off with vibrant colors, and the wildlife was stirring like they were happy it was Spring! We rode miles and miles of singletrack lined with yellow daisies and crossed fields full of purple buffalo clover. Even the greens of the junipers and mesquites were more vibrant than ever!

We all made it through unscathed after three days of riding and were happy to chill out at base camp and cook burgers and shoot the shit that afternoon. Watching the sun go down and laughing about all the fun stories made throughout the weekend was as fun as the riding itself.