Flagstaff, Arizona in May can be a strange place. Frostbite or sun blisters? You can get both on any given day. Spring weather be damned, because spring in Flagstaff means Overland Expo West – the place for anyone with a hankering for overlanding.
What is overlanding? We are glad you asked, we had to check as well. Google says, “overlanding is self-reliant overland travel to remote destinations where the journey is the principal goal.”
Holy crap, we have been doing this for years, but never had such a cool term for it! So, overlanding is camping off of your motorcycle, 4x4, UTV, bicycle or other mechanical means of transportation. The inclusion and welcoming of all forms of vehicles is what makes the Overland Expo so dang rad. Most events are segregated by form of transportation, just ADV motorcycles, or just 4x4s, that sort of thing. Well, we here at REVER, go both ways... I mean, we dig any vehicles that take us out into the hinterlands allowing us to take in amazing sights, test our skills, and enjoy our vehicles, regardless of how many wheels. Why limit yourself to just one type of adventure?
Overland Expo West is celebrating 10 years in 2019 and the event is truly hitting a stride. Held at Fort Tuthill County Park, just outside of Flagstaff, AZ, we could not imagine a better location. The buildings are arranged in a vintage military fashion, feeling almost like a movie set. For the Overland Expo, this serves as the core of the show, with vendors, proving grounds, classes, seminars, demos, and more spreading out from that point. From vehicles of all sorts, to camping gadgets galore, it is truly amazing.
For REVER’s part, we produced a few elements. The Overland Expo West Challenge provided a great excuse for people to discover the Flagstaff area. Forty points spread within a 100 mile radius of Fort Tuthill, inspired overlanders racked up over 67,000 miles on and in all types of vehicles. Top five spots visited? Slide Rock, West Fork, Horsemen Lodge, Cameron Trading Post, Jerome, AZ. Thanks to SENA and BMW Motorrad for helping to make the Challenge happen. REVER’s own, Justin Bradshaw, hosted a couple Route Planning 101 classes to full houses and presented the California BDR film on Friday evening to a very enthusiastic audience.
Our favorite part? Getting to go for a ride with REVER users as part of the BMW Motorrad/REVER Meetup at Mormon Lake on Saturday morning. With morning temperatures in the forties, some chose to stay snuggled in their beds, but the rest of us had an epic time. Mormon Lodge had hot coffee and a great breakfast allowing us to kick tires and share stories. With Bellies full, some riders took a more direct route back to base, while about a dozen of us enjoyed a bit longer ride. This ride consisted of fire roads over to Munds Park, then the incredibly scenic Schnebly Hill Road to the heart of Sedona, ending with the twists of 89A, and back up to Fort Tuthill.
<iframe src="https://a.rever.co/embed/rides/1286642" width="700" height="700"></iframe>
Saturday concluded with the REVER Moto Party: a couple hundred of our closest friends enjoying microbrews, tacos, the musical stylings of E&O Medicine Show, and even some loud-mouth spewing out raffle numbers and prizes.
In all, this was a great way to spend a weekend in May. Make plans to attend next year, or if 12 months are just too long to wait, put October 11-13 on your calendar and start planning your route to Arrington, Virgina for the Overland Expo East.
Learn more here: https://www.overlandexpo.com/east
.png)
