Overland Expo West 2019

A time to see good friends .... and make some business!

During the last few years, I have been heavily involved with Kalaber Creations and Ural Motorcycles to bring the lovely Russian sidecar motorcycles to the Overland Expo West. The ones we all love to see around and steals you a smile.  Well, this year wasn't the exception, however, the difference this year were all the modifications I have made to my Tico (4Runner) during the last year. A detailed post will be dedicated to this topic.

This is Mark Tetreau, owner of Kalaber Creations, Inc.  Mark is the Ural dealer that brings the bikes to the expo in partnership with Ural HQ.  He also manufactures off-road accessories for the soviet bikes.  If you go to the Expo, you have seen him goofing around in one of his Urals, I'm sure.

Before I my Trip to Costa Rica in April of this year, I finally sucked it up and got my motorcycle endorsement.  Mark got me a nice surprise as "congrats"; a label with the Costa Rican flag and my nick name (Tico)  on the Ural's front fender.

This is Valerie, she was representing Urals and Kalaber Creations at the "cool ride" contest.  She was one of the 8 finalists out of hundreds of pictures submitted.  The contest is hosted and managed by Overland Expo and it takes place online for voting and then in downtown Flagstaff with a parade of the final 8.

Funny story.  My brother from another mother; Pablo with ADV Magazine got evicted from where he sat up camp.  So, I came over to the rescue with one of our Urals and started the move of his stuff to our camp area.  Good times!

A deserved refreshment after a dusty and windy day.  That's all!

Our booth/camp.  We ended up with more than 20 Urals in there.  Some owned by customers, by Kalaber Creations and Ural HQ.  It was crazy!  I don't remember seeing that many colors, models and modified Urals in one spot before!  

The "Girls Ride".  A tradition started by Carla King (absent this year) as the bike rider and Kalaber Creations as the bike provide it.  The girls ride consist on Carla riding around the expo, picking up woman to ride on the bike with her.  Every year the amount of girls on it increases by one.  This year, the final count was 20 passing the 2018 record of 19.  Good job Alison for filling in for Carla!

Cuban Beans; by Pablo.  This is another tradition created over the years at the expo.  Pablo's famous Cuban beans.  They are truly Cuban, in fact, the recipe is from Pablo's mom!  The process is long, is almost like a ritual, it takes about 5 hours to have them done.  The wait is definitely worth it.  Best part is, I get to hangout with Pablo, listening old school salsa music and drinking beer.  Or coke while I'm working. :)

This year, Mark built a food/drinks station using a Ural frame (no engine on it) and an old Chinese sidecar.  The sidecar was heavily modify to fit a medium size grill and it's propane tank, a cooler with cold drinks and two OXX coffee makers.  On Saturday, those burgers and hot dogs sold very quickly. (they were free)  They were delicious!

I also had the opportunity to show off my culinary skills (almost none).  Mexican chorizo and eggs for breakfast. The best part of Sunday's breakfast is that you are encouraged to share your food with anybody.  A great opportunity to meet cool people.

A selfie with the most iconic Ural on every Overland Expo West; the camo one with the OX.20XX sign on the front fender.  You might have seen it on many videos and pictures all over the internet.  This bike has been designated to Anthony Sicola, an OX staff member for many years now.  If you ever see it, don't miss the opportunity to get a selfie with it!

Ok so, I was sleeping in my car.  I was camping in there alone, so no big deal.  However, we got a bit of snow after midnight on Sunday.  It was cold sleeping in there despite my two cloth layers, sleeping bag (rated for 30 degrees) and couple of blankets.  It was all good!

 

This video shows the drastic change of weather I experienced while driving from the expo in Flagstaff, AZ, to Tucson, AZ.

Whether you go to the Overland Expo for fun, business or shopping, one thing is for sure, you will meet cool people and want to come back again.  I cannot wait until OXW20!

Overland Expo is Pura Vida!