BikerTrash Biker Retreats in Bandera

As you know from reading www.BikerTrash.com and www.LoneStarBiker.com lately, our staff has been exploring the Texas Hill Country searching for great rides. We have also been looking for the best place to have a huge biker party and we found it.

Earlier this month we spent several days in Bandera and fell in love with the place. From a riding standpoint, it's a lot like Sturgis only the hills are smaller. Every road you take, in or out of the City, features winding turns, switchbacks and beautiful views. Bikers from the nearby Austin and San Antonio areas flock there every weekend to enjoy the great roads, super entertainment and lack of traffic.

The City itself offers great bars, restaurants and lots of fun places to shop. A must stop for me is at the Bandera General Store for a milkshake. This is not your typical fast food milk shake but a genuine handmade-on-the-spot shake or malt made with real ice cream. Forget your diet and enjoy!

This last weekend I was fortunate. Our Editor sent me back to Bandera to finalize a deal with the Twin Elm Ranch for our upcoming Biker Retreats.

From Housotn the I-10 route took just over 4 hours. The trip home was via Hwy 90 the ride was even more enjoyable and it took about the same amount of time!

Riding into Bandera my first view was a beautiful blonde riding a longhorn bull. This was a special weekend for Bandera - Memorial Day - and the town was hoppin'. The PRCA Rodeo was in town at Mansfield Park along with a huge Carnival and every bar and resort was filled to the brim with guests ready to party. All the bars in town had live entertainment and the streets were filled with vendor booths selling all sorts of arts, crafts and other cowboy items. I turned on to Main street just as the Rodeo Parade was ending and horse and buggies were everywhere along with hundreds of riders on horseback and yes, dozens of motorcycles. It was really fun to ride through town and have everybody wave to you like you were part of the Parade!

Route 16 heads East out of Bandera and it is only a couple of miles before I made another left onto Hwy 470. Almost immediately there was a sign for Twin Elm Guest Ranch - my home for the weekend.

As I rode ½ mile to the Ranch entrance it was amazing how many horses and riders were camped at the Rodeo Arena for Twin Elm. Later I learned that the "Bandera Regulars", a Trail Riding Club, were there for the weekend. (More on this crazy bunch later in this article.)

At the Ranch office I parked next to a perfectly restored covered wagon and was greeted by several ranch dogs and the waves of a couple of the ranch hands. After shutting off my engine I was immediately aware of the peace and quiet of this magnificent 350-acre ranch. Kids were splashing in the swimming pool, swinging on the rope horse and playing with the dogs. Some of the guests were just returning from an afternoon trail ride on horseback. Others were lounging in the Game room shooting pool and reading. There was laughter and the caress of a gentle breeze swishing between the twin elm trees in front of the office. In the office Bridgette Hearnsberger was sitting on the couch chatting with a guest. Bridgette and her husband Kerry operate the Twin Elm for the Anderson family who just happened to be there for the weekend.

Managing this huge Ranch is truly a family affair. Kerry and Bridgette have been married five years and between them they have eight kids. A couple of their kids work at the ranch and Bridgette's Dad and Mom (both retired) were at the Ranch for an extended stay and working very hard to help out. It seemed that Kerry and Bridgette went out of their way to make me feel comfortable but after spending three days with them I realized that it is just the way they treat everyone who visits the Ranch. They are just genuinely nice people.

The Hearnsbergers run a staff of wranglers who take care of the ranch and manage the 20 quarter-horses, peacocks, cows and one cool jack ass that resides there. It was obvious that they loved their animals. The horses were all perfectly groomed and in great health. Kerry explained that the health and maintenance of the animals were the responsibility of a couple named Buck and Sonny - a couple of real characters. Buck and Sonny are a boyfriend/girlfriend team that really know their animals. Buck is a tall, strong cowboy with wrangling in his blood. His cowboy hat was so old and unique that I wanted to interview him just about his hat but he stayed too busy with the several hundred guests that weekend to sit still that long. Sonny is a real doll! She is a registered nurse who retired just so she could stay near horses. She could out-ride, out-rope, out-brand and out-shoot every man on the ranch and still maintain her femininity and country charm.

Sonny kept us intrigued all weekend with stories of trail rides and other western adventures. Saturday night we all sat around the campfire, swapped stories, roasted marshmallows and yours truly even entertained the guests with a few songs on the trusty camp guitar. The Ranch threw a dance for the Bandera Regulars at the same time and all had a great time.

Most people think that bikers and cowboys don't mix but it was just the opposite. Like a bunch of bikers the Bandera Regulars accepted me at face value and made me feel welcome in their midst. The Regulars are a Trail Riding club and they like to get together to ride and get rowdy - sounds like a biker club. Maybe a trail ride is just a biker rally with poop! I felt welcome in every camp and they were just as interested in meeting a biker as I was in meeting them.

The Twin Elm Guest Ranch has been offering western style family vacations since 1939. They offer daily, weekly and family rates that are surprisingly low for everything there is to do. The Ranch is nestled along the beautiful Medina River so tubing is the main sport besides the horses and it is provided free with your room rental. Every Friday night the Ranch presents a first class Rodeo in its own Rodeo Arena that is as popular with the locals as with the guests. Every morning starts with the ringing of the chow bell and each one of the three meals (all you can eat) served daily proved delicious. The cook is a charming old Mexican gentleman named Ricky who seemed to show up everywhere at the Ranch. The dining hall was old west comfortable and clean as a whistle! After a meal one could walk across the sidewalk to the game room to shoot pool, watch TV, read from the western library or just relax. After a long day in the saddle (on a bike or a horse) a swim in their large swimming pool felt great! By then I was too tired to walk the short distance down to the River to swim. The accommodations at the Ranch are really special. Every room sleeps at least four and some sleep up to eight making them perfect for the family or group vacation. While they appear to be cowboy rustic, they are very modern. All of the air- conditioned rooms have bathrooms with showers and are spotlessly clean. The maid visits daily in her golf-cart with horse heads on it. It's quite the sight! Each of the rooms is named after a famous cowboy and is decorated with memorophilia of that cowboy. I stayed in the Hoss Cartwright room. He was always one of my favorite TV Cowboys and the decor brought back memories of watching the show.

All of these amenities coupled with the friendly staff make the Twin Elm Guest Ranch the best place in Bandera to host our first series of Lone Star Biker Retreats.

The 2002 dates for the Lone Star Biker Retreats in Bandera are:

Register for the retreat in advance for only $15. Registration includes a hill country poker run, a self-guided hill country tour, field events, river tubing with transportation and free camping on the river - tent or RV (no hookups) and even a "tour" of the Bandera Bars. Kids under 12 are free!

Registration at the Retreat is $20.

You can bring your own food and drinks - please no glass bottles - or buy from our Chuck wagon.

Don't like to camp? Rent an air-conditioned room $130 for two nights or $75 for one night. All cabins sleep 4 - some even sleep 8 people.

Horse back riding is $20 for an hour and your are escorted by a wrangler - these guys will show you a good time but remember they depend heavily on tips.

Admission to the Twin Elms Friday night Rodeo is only $4.

Saturday night there will be a big dance and bar-b-que with live music for only $10 food and non-alcoholic beverages included.

Availability of Rooms and horses is very limited. Only 17 rooms are left to rent (we took the rest). The Ranch features 20 horses and you must reserve your horseback time at the same time you book your reservation. Please reserve your Saturday night dance and dinner tickets in advance also. We must plan ahead for the amount of food to cook. If you plan to rent a room or attend the Saturday night Dance, reservations must be received by July 19th.

There is plenty of camping space along the river. You can pay your activity fee at the gate but we prefer to reserve in advance. Camping spaces will be first come, first served and will not be assigned by our staff.

If you can't make the first retreat, plan now for the second Lone Star Biker Retreat the 20-21, or the third retreat October 25-27.

Register for the Biker Retreat at our Lone Star Biker website.

To make room reservations for the Retreat at their website or call toll-free 888-567-3049.

Whether or not you come to the retreat, plan a trip to the Twin Elm Ranch soon. Use the same web site and phone numbers for reservations. Regular rates are a little higher but still worth it. You and your friends and family will have a blast and meet some unique and very nice people. Don't forget to pet "Coon". He loves it!

Ron