Here's an opportunity to display some diplomacy with a brief report of the 2026 Datil, New Mexico rall(ies). Son Alex and I visited both, as most everyone did. Derral McDaniel hosted a splendid campground get-together with bike show and brisket, Matt gave away a 750 Ambo, V11 Cali and CX-100. Not being sure exactly what will happen, it seems clear that a core of riders from Texas, NM and Arizona will continue to meet...while we can! Saw some new friends from Iowa (that I'd met at the John Day National) and other far away places. It is enchanting in Datil, and the locals are friendly. The roads!!
Rounding to 750 miles, the trip served to test the redone 1100 Sport we tore down all the way back in 2018, accompanied by the old SP1000 I bought last year for parts. The southwest monsoons have turned the whole area east of Springerville greener than I can remember, the highway lined for miles with purple, yellow, red and blue flowers. We saw some _huge_ elk riding back to our room Saturday night. Largo Motel and cafe highly recommended!
