In the Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range surrounding the town of Red River, New Mexico approximately 30,018 bikers and trikers shared the roads, wind, sun , rain, hail and fog (at least it did not snow as it did in 2008) for the 27th annual Memorial Day Red River Rally. The small town of Red River (8750 feet above sea level) has been hosting this event for 27 years. It is becoming a popular event to attend because of the hospitality, of the town, citizens, vendors, local business owners and law enforcement (even though their presence was obvious it was in no way overbearing or out of line). Everyone was allowed to have a really good time. The biking community is welcomed with open arms along the 1 mile of food, leather, jewelry, motorcycle accessories, and live music. A weekend of planned events and some really nice riding in the area are all that was needed to make the event successful. Oklahoma’s own Otis Watkins was one of the many musical headliners and played several shows which were spectacular themselves. The focal points of the weekend in Red River seemed to be the local saloons such as The Motherlode, Bull of The Woods and others each offering adult type beverages as well as some pretty good food as well as numerous live bands, best tattoo contest, strong man/woman, longest ponytail, arm wrestling pit, oldest Red River Rally t-shirt, etc. The towns around the enchanted circle (84 miles) which is a route that circles Wheeler peak the highest mountain in New Mexico and travels through the more recognized ski areas of New Mexico including the towns of Red River, Questa, Taos, Eagle Nest, Black Lake and Angel Fire this ride is a really nice combination (twistys, hills, straights, valleys) of riding that can be a challenge to the most experienced rider but can be done at a more leisurely pace to accommodate the most ardent sight seer. Not to miss sights on the enchanted circle ride would be the Rio Grande Gorge bridge, which is a bridge built in 1965 is the fifth highest bridge in the United States spanning 1280 feet across the Gorge and is 650 above the Gorge some of you have seen this bridge in the movies such as Natural Born Killers, Twins, She’s Having a Baby, Terminator with the most recent being Wild Hogs. The Vietnam Veterans National Memorial between Taos and Angel Fire in the Moreno Valley is as spiritual, awe inspiring site as you will see anywhere, and a great honor to our VETS. The field of flags memorial in Questa was also just as beautiful with the mountains in the background. This would be a nice place to ride even without a rally going on but when you go be sure and watch out for the wildlife crossing the highways, antelope, deer, elk, big horn sheep, bears, etc, a short hop of about 543 miles from Oklahoma City to downtown Red River by way of Amarillo.
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Topic: Red River New Mexico Memorial Day (Read 1461 times)