The British Singles Ride (BSR)

By Bev Bowen

This annual event went on for 24 years, and while it was not designed as a "Vincent" event, it did significantly involve Vincent motorcycles and it happened in Texas; hence, we include it with our Texas History of Vincent Motorcycling. It is also important to note that the ride was initiated and continually run by the Vincent Man Allan Johncock, who also founded the Lone Star Section of The Vincent - HRD Owners Club.

This event began as a vacation idea of Allan's, who then resided and worked within the Houston sprawl. Owner of numerous, mostly British motorcycles, to include Vincents, and especially enjoying riding single cylinder vintage British bikes, he imagined the fun of riding in West Texas, on good, scenic, lonely roads for days on end. So, he did it. His wife Debbie was along, following the route with a chase truck/trailer and of course all the luggage, beverages, snacks, etc. This was in September 1994. At first, they did the rides by themselves.

The route wandered through the western section of The Texas Hill Country into the Big Bend area, and each night they stayed in different towns, finally wandering back to Houston after about a week. After a couple years of this, the audacity of such a trip caught on with some of Allan's like-minded friends, so others joined in by inviting themselves or Allan asking them. The ride got its name and it evolved, morphing into a ride that became known amongst not only Texan enthusiasts, but also with worldwide riders. Participants varied as once-only riders or more/less regulars, and included Vincent Owners Club members, as well as other clubs' members, an internationally known motorcycle journalist, ladies, restoration experts, and others from other states and countries. The Johncocks made the run in September the first couple of years, then October, then November, but then settled on early October as the ideal time.

After a few years, Allan and Debbie moved to Vanderpool, Texas in the heart of The Hill Country, and while fine-tuning the comfort of a lovely ranch they call Wallaby Downs - Allan is a native Aussie and now a naturalized citizen of the USA - they set up the impressive Lone Star Motorcycle Museum and ACE Café, both of which became highly popular with motorcyclists from all over Texas and in fact around the world, given that the area is a popular destination for riders. This was a great place to begin the ride, and became the starting and ending point from then on. The Johncocks would send to prospective riders the ride's itinerary, and folks made their own lodging reservations at recommended locations. At the beginning of the ride, riders ponied up $100.00 to cover the inevitable tire blowout(s) by chase vehicle(s), pay for picnic incidentals, etc., and then were reimbursed for money not spent at the end of the ride. If there was any!

So, from that point on the rides would generally start on a Saturday morning and the first night's stop would be Del Rio on the Mexican border. This was a short "shake down" run and it wasn't unusual for a bike or its rider to literally "shake down" and then both would load in on the chase trailer. Sometimes a bike repair worked, sometimes not. Naturally, in Del Rio, everyone would head across the bridge at night and enjoy a great dinner at a nice restaurant, Ma Crosby's, replete with live Mexican music and DANCING! And then maybe "kick tires" with some of the locals at other "hot" spots. What happened in Mexico stayed in Mexico!

The next day a tough, long ride for both rider and 500 (or smaller) singles to the North Big Bend vicinity. Stops that night were either Marathon or Alpine. These towns are a mile high in altitude and folks would get a "mile high" at happy hour at poolside during the happy hours!

From there, the destination would be Ft. Davis or Marfa, even maybe Balmorrhea, and always at least two nights, split up between two of those towns. By the way, lodging on these rides varied in ambiance, from rustic (sometimes QUITE "rustic") to downright nice, a couple of the places being historic hotels. Well, maybe it's more appropriate to say "all" the places we stayed were "historic" after the BSR crew made themselves known!

Starting in 2003 the trip always involved a "Roll Down" run from the peak at McDonald Observatory. Here, the riders would make sure they had no brake drag and then with engines off, coasted down the mountain, through the observatory campus onto the Ft. Davis Loop highway. One of the non-riders in the group would watch for traffic on the highway and steer traffic clear, but usually traffic no problem - although one rider actually passed a car on the way down - the coasting bike faster than the car! The coasting was about 2 miles, and competition intense to see who would roll the farthest. An award was given each year to the winner, which for many years went to Allan, riding his free rolling, low drag, and slippery 1954 Velocette MSS. The winner then would grab the victory banner and wave it jubilantly up and down the road.

The road between Ft. Davis and McDonald's Observatory on Mt. Locke a huge treat, probably the best motorcycling road in all of Texas, with a good surface, technical turns, and a climb from a mile elevation to the highest paved spot in the State (6,790 feet). One year, the Johncocks arranged for our group a private tour of the observatory. In Ft. Davis we also did The Ft. Davis Scenic Loop, with a stop somewhere along the way for a picnic.

A couple other quality rides out of Ft. Davis was a turn off the Loop to Kent and back, an exciting high speed run through a canyon, and then the highway north out of town to Wild Rose pass and back - more canyon fun along the way and almost as great as the run up and down at Mount Locke.

From Marfa the ride would proceed through extremely rugged remoteness to Shafter, then Presidio, and lunch at one of the Mexican Restaurants, which varied quite a bit in quality and "ambiance." ALWAYS interesting there and we enjoyed exchanging glances and engaging conversation with the always-friendly and curious locals.

Then, on to Lajitas, Terlingua and Study Butte along the fabulous "River Road," another of the BSR highlights, which included a mandatory rest stop on a turnout high above the border river. In Terlingua, a mandatory stop was "The Porch" at the general store, sitting outside on a bench, listening to local musicians (some good and some not-so-good) and watching the locals and travelers watching each other, everyone drinking a beer or two. Sunset at The Porch was very nice - looking at the Chisos Mountains of Big Bend National Park in the distance. Dinner was usually at The Theatre restaurant next-door, featuring good food and live music, or across the road at La Kiva (named from a Hopi Native American word) a really dark place, but fun for the brave, with the food and drinks sometimes quite good and ALWAYS interesting!

On some BSR events, another stop might be up the road from Study Butte, at a REALLY way out motel. One of the best recollections of BSR fun was the time everyone was at The Porch in Terlingua, and reports of an approaching violent storm got everyone's attention. We all gulped our beverage down and started our machines and raced the 40 or so miles to this "rustic' motel. The storm arrived just as everyone was checking in, and then with high winds and lightning the power went out. Yes, for the night. Luckily, the owner/manager was a Mexican woman who also happened to be a GREAT cook. No problem, she used the gas stove/oven and lit lanterns and we ate the real deal Mexican food made from scratch! Total fun! And, good! The lady likely got the biggest tip she ever got, on that particular night! Not so fun was sleeping, as rules there were not to open windows or doors to keep out tarantulas, rattle snakes and scorpions. A few fans were available, but on a hot, humid night, it was tough, fan or no fan.

Leaving those environs, the BSR route proceeded to Big Bend National Park, with overnight at "The Basin" of the huge volcano of The Chisos Mountains and the park's lodging which is actually pretty nice, with a restaurant featuring a great view of "The Window," formed by an eroded volcanic wall revealing the distant scene into Mexico and the Rio Grande Valley. Generally, this locale provided good space in the car park and cooler temperatures to work on bikes. From there we would ride all of the park's paved roads, enjoying great variety in desert beauty. Almost always, we would have a picnic within the park.

The penultimate lodging might either be Alpine or Marathon, depending upon which we had visited on the second night of the tour. From either town, the ride back to Vanderpool was lengthy and often brought on added challenges of wind, heat and/or precipitation. A neat happening of several of the rides was the monarch butterfly migration back to Mexico, which we always encountered just south of Vanderpool. Some of them did not make the trip to Mexico- messy but colorful! Once back at Wallaby Downs, we would load bikes into/on trailers or truck beds, have a celebratory BBQ and then wander toward home the next morning, all the way enjoying reflection back upon the splendid week and thus making the long trek home a lot easier.

For those unfamiliar with Texas, the entire route of the BSR took in some of the best of The Hill Country and all of the best of the Big Bend vicinity. Except in larger towns, traffic never a bother, and so sparse it couldn't really be called "traffic." Winding roadway, mostly good road surface, and elevation changes, sometimes technical. The Big Bend Park area offered lots of good rest stops, such as the La Harmonia Store at Castolon, built originally as a barracks to house U.S. Cavalry in very early 20th Century. Most of us enjoyed ice cream on our visits there. Sadly, it burned down in Spring, 2019. Other main stops were the Visitor Center at Panther Junction, the Rio Grande River at Santa Elena Canyon to the southwest, where we would wade and hike. Boquillas Canyon was popular for picnics and viewing/hiking, and most years Mexican vendors would offer boat rides across the river for tacos and other eats and the spa lovers could ride a short gravel road to the fun Boquillas Hot Springs for a soothing dip, right at the Rio Grande!

All through this BSR there were lots of wild animals to view - deer, javalinas, eagles, and occasional bear and mountain lions. Plant varieties were fascinating, with all kinds of cacti (some flowering), varieties of sage, mesquite, cottonwoods, oaks, and in higher elevations evergreen trees.

Of course, with wide-open Texas space and no traffic, riding along at comfortable speeds for these small machines we could take in magnificent vistas. At night, we had happy hour refreshments at lodging sites, and one in particular - The Marathon Inn - we could pull up a chair or sit on a bench in the courtyard with a blazing fire and gaze at the stars and mountains in the distance.

We all managed to get to know one another if we didn't already, and the variety of machines offered a chance for each to learn quite a bit. Yes, on this long haul over a week's time gave everyone a chance to work on their bikes, cleaning them at night to look for loose nuts/bolts, and perhaps looming problems. A few bikes each year would require riding at least some of the way in the chase trailer, its rider loaded into the truck with the "chase ladies." Each year the list of riders changed, but there were some more/less "regulars," with Allan and Debbie the constants!

Magnetos being sort of infamous with British motorbikes, we could generally count on one "acting up" on a ride. So, the poor rider who had to mess with that, successfully or not, was awarded the "Doug Wood" (the electrical engineer many Brit bike riders would send their magnetos to for refurbishment) award, a "trophy" made of a donkey-faced beer bottle opener on a wooden base shaped to support one of the magneto fixes. Maybe not a coveted award, but fun to look at for the recipient for a year, then returned to Allan for the next "lucky" rider.

Allan started out with requirements for all riders to be on a British single cylinder machine, but while keeping the integrity of the ride to feature that, he "got soft" with good enthusiasts who might be game to learn the ropes and then get their own British Single. Or, he just liked those people! Whatever! They fit right in. So, there were at least a couple Vincent Twins, a Honda or two, a BMW Single, and even an Indian Chief! The Vincent Singles were at least 5 different Comets, four Series C and one Series A The riders who finished would have done about 1,200 miles, altogether, give or take a couple hundred, and even more if they rode from and to home part or all the way.

Most rides had "just enough" in the way of numbers of people. It's a long way to that area for many, and the time involvement made it a real commitment. It was great that Debbie took charge of the chase truck/trailer, and of course she recruited other riders' ladies to join her in the truck cab. And, of course, the ladies brought along with them charm and organizational skills that made things go so smoothly and the picnics were highlights! Bless them, each and all!

Along the way, over the years, the BSR attracted folks at nearly every stop and on the road. Some would join us for happy hours and dinners, and maybe help out when parts fell off. A few would ride a bit with us and perhaps even loan a machine to one of the riders who had exploded theirs.

So, Allan Johncock came up with something great, and then he and Debbie made it something terrific for a significant number of riders for over 20 years. Very, very few motorcyclists have known such a great experience, and to do it repetitively was especially remarkable. The Johncocks found that various reasons/commitments and developments at the ranch and with the museum and their lives were too burdensome for a weeks' long organized event, so they reluctantly closed the book after the 2017 BSR. It was a GREAT RUN!

Will it return in some form? We shall see.