2023 LOP Rallye Recap

The 39th LOP Rallye was held on September 29 – October 1st, 2023. This was the first event at our new location, Yellow Rose Canyon, near Mount Enterprise, TX. I’m happy to report that it was a big success, and feedback has been very positive.

Yellow Rose Canyon is a large facility and there was plenty of space for everything we had planned for the Rallye. We used “The Crater” for the bike show and field events. The Crater is a very cool, natural amphitheater which some say was formed by a meteor impact. The events worked well down there, although it was difficult for anyone without something to ride to get down, and especially back up again, so we’ll be looking at options for future events – e.g. providing golf cart rides up and down the hill.

The weather was warm, but thankfully not as hot as earlier in the summer. It did get cooler and more comfortable in the evenings.

The bike show had an excellent assortment of beautiful machines on display, and the field events were a blast as usual.
We moved out of The Crater and up the hill to the space in front of the bar and restaurant for the awards ceremony, where it was a bit cooler, and easier for everyone to get to. Thanks to all those who carried the canopies up to the awards ceremony for extra shade.

The Sunday morning ride was to Henderson and back with a stop for breakfast. The rules were relaxed this year, with the ride being open to all, not just bikes which had appeared in the bike show.
There was plenty of fun and socializing in the evenings, made even better with the on-site bar and restaurant, provided by Yellow Rose Canyon.

All in all, the event went very well, especially considering we were at a new venue, but it would not have been possible without lots of help from lots of club members. I’ve listed some people below for special thanks, in no particular order:

George Tuttle for the bike show analysis, preparing the bike show books, and for doing a great job (as always) of keeping the ntnoa.org website up-to-date and looking good.

Ryan Ambrose for preparing and running the bike show (with assistance from Steve Webster). Also, thanks to Randy Bauer and his group for counting the votes, and selling the 50/50 tickets.

Scooter Jay McCurry for setting up and running the field events, with expert commentary, music and sound effects from Jay Tynes. Jay also organized this year’s Rallye graphic.
Chris Parry for lots of things, but in particular MCing the awards ceremony and for organizing and leading the Sunday morning ride.

Jane West for preparing and organizing numerous items for the rally, including the T-shirts. I’m delighted to report that we sold them all, and did not have a bunch of shirts left over. Thanks also to Jane for taking care of the all-important Rallye finances, and the club finances in general (a vital function!).

Richard Asprey for providing trucks and trailers to get all the gear to and from the Rallye location. Also thanks to Alton Gillespie and Jay McCurry who took care of the driving.

Penny Martin for keeping track of the RV reservations.

Also, thanks to a number of individuals who pitched in during the rally to set things up, load and unload trailers, and generally help out. I haven’t named you all individually, but without your help the event could not have been successful.

As most of you should know by now, we will be returning to Yellow Rose Canyon next year for the 40th Anniversary Rallye. Hope to see you there!

Richard Bowman