Last year, it surprised me to see riders registered for the tour from out of state. This year, there are registered riders from 10 states. It's great to see fellow riders from out of state explore Texas on motorcycles.

Three of those riders are from Las Vegas. They are riders 754, 574, and 270 (David, Frank, and Mark). These three friends are retired police officers from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. David grew-up in San Angelo, but has lived much of his life in Las Vegas. This trip is the first time that Frank and Mark have been to the great state of Texas. David mentioned that he wanted his friends to try Texas BBQ, Tex-Mex, and What-A-Burger. After riding in Texas and eating BBQ and Tex-Mex here, I suspect that they will want a return trip to Texas.

They rented three Harleys from EagleRider in Las Vegas (pictured above) for 15 days and headed to Texas for the tour.

They entered Texas in Texline and soon discovered that April in the Texas panhandle can get cold!

Below are a few of the tour stop pictures they have submitted so far. If you run into them at a tour stop, be sure to welcome them to Texas and the tour.

Moto Liberty is one of the great sponsors of the Motorcycle Grand Tour of Texas.  

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On May 15, 2021, they will conduct a drawing of registered riders on the 2021 tour.  The rider whose tour flag number is drawn will win a $1,000 spending spree from Moto Liberty! 

You do not have to have make a stop at Moto Liberty to be in the drawing.  I will provide the owner of Motor Liberty with the flag numbers of all of the registered riders.  She will then draw from those numbers to select the winner.  After she selects the winning flag number, I’ll provide her with the name and contact information for the number drawn. The drawing will take place in the store.

The idea and funding of this drawing was originated by the owner of Moto Liberty. Thank you Audrey for being such a great supporter of the tour!

Rider 190 at Moto Liberty

Mark your calendars. Plans for a Sept 11th weekend event in Kerrville are being developed. This event will benefit Veterans Assistance Dogs of Texas.

Events being considered are:

Stay tuned for info...

The initial block of rooms at the Y.O. Ranch Hotel has sold-out! They have set-aside another 20 rooms at a special rate for the riders on the Motorcycle Grand Tour of Texas. The discount rate is good for nights of September 10th and 11th. These are likely to sell-out soon.

Register now, at the discounted rate, before they book-up the remaining rooms established at the special rate room.

Use the button below to book a reservation and get the discounted rate for the tour riders.

Rider 592 at the Hico Sign

Please a minute to take a very short survey that will help me determine how folks find-out about the tour.

One of the survey takers will be randomly selected to win a free registration for the 2022 tour. The survey will be open until the end of May 2021.

Rider 219 at Kerrville National Cemetery. Please remember, this cemetery is the replacement stop for Stop 40.

Visit the Tour Shop and checkout the great tour gear we have to offer.

On April 17th, Lone Star Rider (Rex Covington) was in an accident in Sweetwater, TX. He was leaving the Sweetwater Bike Rally and Cook-off event when another bike ran into him near Lake Sweetwater. Both riders were thrown from their bikes. Rex was lucky, he only sustained a few scratches and minor road rash. The biker that hit him sustained a broken leg and broken collarbone.

As of today (April 26), Rex is awaiting the police report from the DPS in order to file an insurance claim. He plans to move his bike to Twisted Technology (North Richland Hills, TX). They will evaluate the bike and potentially repair it.

His trailer will be moved to a house in Richland Hills. Once it is moved there, I will post it on the Facebook page and in a future Tour Update newsletter. You will be able to take pictures with his trailer once it is moved there.

The tour riders have been great in supporting his cause. So far, over $1,400 has been donated by 2021 tour riders. These funds go directly to the American Diabetes Association.

He still plans to make his scheduled events. They are:

Below is a link to a video that does a good job of describing Rex's mission and why he had dedicated several years of his life to this cause. His previous trailer is in the video. The news report in the video is from 2018, which tells you how long he has been on his mission. Please checkout the video and consider making a donation. Any amount helps. Tour riders receive points for submitting their receipt to the picture portal.

If you want an opportunity to win a prize, submit receipts (up to 3 per specified sponsor) during the tour.

In accordance with the rules for participation, receipts from specified tour sponsors earn additional points. The receipts must have been issued on or after March 15, 2021.

Be sure that the name of the sponsor or non-profit, date of purchase, and amount of purchase/donation is visible on the pictures of receipts that you submit. Be sure to write your flag number on receipts you submit. If a receipt is to be split by a couple (hotel, food), write both of your flag numbers on the receipt. The split receipt will need to be uploaded twice (once for each participant).

BONUS POINTS – For five (5) bonus points, take one picture of your bike at a tour stop with your tour flag and a copy of Ride Texas magazine. You pick the tour stop location, but only submit one picture. Submitting multiple pictures with the magazine in the picture will not increase the bonus points – just send one. The Ride Texas bonus points selection is right after stop 50 on the drop-down selector in the picture portal. For a list of where you can get an issue of Ride Texas magazine, see this link.

American Diabetes Association (Lone Star Rider's Mission)

To make donations to Lone Star Rider's Fund Raising page for the American Diabetes Association (ADA), submit a picture of the receipt you receive via email from the ADA. When you fill-out the on-line donation form, put your name in the "name recognition box" and in the personal note box, enter a note to state that you are participating in the Motorcycle Grand Tour of Texas.

Riders who make 25 or more of the stops are considered tour finishers and receive a patch identifying them as Tour Finishers.

There are always some riders who make it to all 50 tour stops! Those riders are recognized here and will receive a patch indicating that they are 50 Stop Tour Finishers. If you have made 50 tour stops and I have not yet updated your record, please contact me so I can review your pictures out of sequence.

Here is the list of those who have made all 50 tour stops (as of April 26, 2021):

Please do not reply to this newsletter email. Instead, use the "Contact Tour Director" button, if you have a question. Thank you.

Rider 377 at the Mystery Boat

Registration is now open!

There is no cost to register for the safety forum. It will take place on May 1, 2021 from 8:30 am to noon.

This year's forum will be conducted virtually.

Topics to be presented include: