Paul's Power Line Poker Run Writeup, with pics and video

You have some fantastic terrain there Paul. Cool videos and pics as well. Cheers for the write up.  
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And on the fourth stroke....      All hell breaks loose!!!

daggit:
I am sure these are very nice people.   But why do they park those big things in the road side by side during a poker run. There must have been six of them where you crashed.

oh, did I mention how we bikes tend to cover them in mud as we pass them through the puddles, and spray them with rocks and other debris as well?  LOL  They are nice people, and everyone on the ride are my friends, neighbors or family.  They tolerate the bikes, and normally we ride in advance of them so there are no issues.  But when I stopped to video and shoot pictures they caught up to us at each check, so we'd have to pass them all over again...  
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NW Montana
Where the pavement ends and the fun begins  
2005 KTM300exc

thank you kiwi.  Wouldn't it be cool if I could come to your neck of the woods to lay out a run like this?  Or the east coast for that matter...but until that happens we are content to watch each others' videos and look at pictures.  I appreciate the DR forum for this opportunity.    
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NW Montana
Where the pavement ends and the fun begins  
2005 KTM300exc

PaulB14:
thank you kiwi.  Wouldn't it be cool if I could come to your neck of the woods to lay out a run like this?  Or the east coast for that matter...but until that happens we are content to watch each others' videos and look at pictures.  I appreciate the DR forum for this opportunity.  

That would be the coolest thing Paul. It would be fantastic to ride with you.(and a bunch of other people from this forum.)
I have never seen a poker run in this part of the world and am curious as to how they work as it could be a novel sort of ride to organise in the future. I understand that you ride to various checks and pick up a card at each one and whoever has the highest hand wins but I think there may be more to it than that. Such as do you have to navigate or is the course marked and so on  
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And on the fourth stroke....      All hell breaks loose!!!

There are a couple different ways to do it.  Both my brother David and I like to draw maps, and he goes the extra mile to include GPS coordinates for each check.  The map is accompanied by written instructions that describe the main landmarks, intersections and other pertinent data to complete your trek.  This year I didn't have time for a map, so I just typed up written instructions.  I ribbon the trail at all intersections, with orange ribbon, and use blue ribbon to mark the wrong way trails (orange means go, blue means no!).  I had a few places in this years course where I put in "hard" and "easy" routes, so had to make detour signs.  I also like to make humor signs for various places on the trail.  (KTMs down here [arrow pointing off cliff], all others turn left)  

I knew I was going to be having almost 50 riders on the poker run this year so I had to come up with 300 cards (50 cards X 6 checks).  I used three decks cut in half (52 X 3 = 156 cards X 2 = 312 total), and fold and staple each card half.   At each check I hide a tupperware-like container with the 50+ cards in a creative place where normal people would not see them unless they had the instructions.

It takes about two weekends of preperation to lay out and mark a poker run, more sometimes for longer routes or multiple loops.  You also need to figure out the parking/campsite and draw a map to that location to give out in advance of the poker run weekend.  

This is our third year for the power line poker run.  The first year it was just a small group of my friends (about 10 riders).  The 2nd year we had 23 riders show up, and this year it was 41.  It is by word-of-mouth invitation amongst our friends family and riding buddies.  

I had help clearing and marking trail, and also with the clean-up this year.  But I'm still the first to arrive and the last to leave.  As the trail boss you will sacrifice your own agenda in order to be available to everyone.  But you get to do a LOT of riding in the weeks before and the day of the poker run!  
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NW Montana
Where the pavement ends and the fun begins  
2005 KTM300exc

beautiful scenery! How much money did ya end up with?  
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Lancaster, PA
2007 CRF250R
4 Stroke 4 Life!

Thanks for taking the time write all that up Paul. I appreciate your help and will ponder the possibilities of running something like this in the future. Our club has its enduro in three weeks and that is always a fun weekend helping with that. Some of the best rides I have ever done have been invitation rides amongst friends and riding buddies.  
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And on the fourth stroke....      All hell breaks loose!!!