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Kudos to all those who made this year's 3FC an awesome ride. The Playa Bonita Resort was an excellent hotel, well staffed, good location and outstanding accomodations. I will definately come back in the winter months.

The ride check-in was well organized and a smooth process. The volunteers had us in and out in a matter of minutes. Check points were amazing. Well staffed and each check in was seamless. Cold water, fruit and snacks at each location. Arrival Monday morning at Deerfoot was well organized from the flagman directing us to the coned parking area, the greeters taking our bags, and the volunteers doing the check-in.

We really enjoyed the complete route. Tucson was a bit of a challenge for us, as I think we hit nearly every red light as we rode through the city. Beartooth was amazing. We didn't see as much wildlife this year as in past rides, but I did nearly hit a horse walking across the road at about 5am Monday morning north of Choteau.

All border crossings were non eventful. We entered Mexico via Mexicali and rode to El Golfo before Puerto Penasco. It was a nice route, good roads, easy to follow route. Crossing back into US was easy. We were at the Chief Mountain border crossing shortly after 7am and there was no wait. In fact, there was no one else around and it was a quick entry.

Not sure how the organizers pulled off the weather this year. No exteme heat, wind or heavy rain. In fact we vrtually had no wind except a light breeze near St Mary and a very light rain/sprinkle the last hour of the ride.

Thanks again to all those involved with putting this ride together. Lets all invite one rider to enter net years' 3FC.

Mike

Yes thanks to all who made this ride so amazing and a HUGE success! Waiting for the next TFC is like a 6 year old waiting for Christmas 🙂 Miles you certainly went way above and beyond with all of you assistance and generosity. Dannie and Barbara Fox an incredible effort from you 2.

To all 3FC18 riders, I just read through the 147 pages of "comments" that were handed in at the end of the Finish Banquet by the riding participants, and it turns out we had a very high rating this year, compared to some more recent years of this event.

Let me address a couple specific things:

To the 3 riders that commented that there was no COFFEE at the Checkpoints, I can assure you that every Checkpoint had COFFEE there, present and accounted for, as I set up each Checkpoint myself, and made sure COFFEE was available. It is unfortunate that those 3 riders were not able to find/see the coffee, but it was there.

A very few riders commented that there was NO soda, candy or cookies....at the Checkpoints.

They are correct, there was NO sodas, candies, or cookies at the Checkpoints. That was MY decision, and done by design. The food items at the Checkpoints this year were designed to be a healthier choice. As previously stated, the food at Checkpoints are NOT intended to be your daily food source, or supply you with a full restaurant meal, or all the junk foods found at any convenience store. They are a snack....and preferably a healthier snack....to offer you nutrition, a cold drink of WATER, or a hot cup of COFFEE, and we had Tea, Hot Chocolate, and even Soups.

To the 3 riders that felt like the Checkpoint in Great Falls (at Big Sky H-D) closed too early on Sunday....closed at 6:00 pm......that checkpoint was open from 7:00 am to 6:00 pm on Sunday...which is 11 hours. It also opened again on Monday morning at 7:00 am.

If a rider cannot make it to any Checkpoint in the "scheduled" time that the Checkpoint is open...that is on them, and not on the failure to keep the Checkpoint open just so that they can make it in 2 hours after the Checkpoint is scheduled to be closed.

221 riders registered for this event. The Checkpoint TIMES were posted months in advance. If only 3 riders complain that the Checkpoint in Great Falls was not open at the time they rolled into town on Sunday, it would appear that was on them, and not on the scheduling of the Open/Close times of the Checkpoints.

All riders need to be responsible for their own riding habits, the speeds that they ride, and the hours they put in the saddle each day.

Considering that employees of Big Sky H-D had to be there at 6:00 am...to open the dealership so that I and Tim (Cannonball) Wanamaker could OPEN the Checkpoint at 7:00 am, and those same employees had to stay there all day until 6:00 pm, when the Checkpoint closed, that made for a 12 hour day for them.

Frankly, I was at every Checkpoint hours before they opened......so what took these 3 riders so long ? 😀 😛 😮

Thanks, Bob...I missed you too 😎

And, I am removing the "Lightning Strike Survivor" from my signature line, because I was told that everybody is sick and tired of me mentioning that I am the poor victim of being struck by lightning...boo hoo...poor me. 🙁

So, suck it, everyone...I will no longer whine and snivel about being struck by lightning while riding a motorcycle at 70 mph, on a major Interstate. The rest of you will have to search far and wide for something more interesting to bore yourselves with. 😛

The 2018 Three Flags Classic was another awesome ride!

The checkpoints were well organized and had plenty to snack on. The checkpoint in Great Falls was a little bit of a challenge to make but we did make it in time. The finish was great with the flag person directing you where to park.

Thanks to Gonzo, Miles, Brian, Dan Fox and all the others for their exceptional efforts to make this happen!

See you next year!