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Four Corners Motorcycle Rally revving up for next weekend

Los Lonely Boys, bike giveaways top list of 65 events

The Four Corners Motorcycle Rally is next Thursday through Sunday, with a full slate of concerts and events at Sky Ute Event Center, Sky Ute Casino, and around the region.

This will be the rally's 24th year, rally owner Johnny Valdez told volunteers at a meeting Sunday.

Biker bull riding has been one of the rally's signature events, along with biker field events, custom bike show, stunt riders, the beer tent, concerts, and the zip line ride over the rally grounds.

Also on tap are motocross, tattoo contests, arm wrestling, and wet T-shirt contests.

The adults-only events don't start until evening.

Thursday admission to the event center is free, with a 6 p.m. barbecue for locals, staff, volunteers, sponsors, and VIP ticket holders.

The Town of Ignacio is hosting a biker parade at 10:15 a.m. Friday. The biker parade in Durango will be 11 a.m. Sunday.

Headliner band Los Lonely Boys will play Friday at 10 p.m. Playing earlier on Friday will be the Ben Marshall Band and Third Time Charmed.

Saturday bands are AOR, Ralph Dinosaur, and Rockin' Dopsie and the Zydeco Twisters. Sunday bands are Battlefield Gray, Third Time Charmed, and Rockin' Dopsie.

Winners of a battle of the bands contest at the Billygoat Saloon will play late night sets.

There are organized rides to Vallecito and Silverton and a Friday ride to honor veterans.

The rally also is giving away three motorcycles over the weekend: one Harley Davidson and two Indians. Valdez is an Indian fancier. Sky Ute Casino also is giving away three bikes, one each on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The full list of events is in pocket guides that have been distributed around the area, on signs that will be posted at the event center, and at www.fourcornersmotorcyclerally.com.

The schedule can be downloaded onto smart phones.

The rally also is on Facebook. The rally guide also lists events in Durango and, starting this weekend, at the Hideaway Grill at Vallecito.

Valdez's first year of running the rally last year was hampered by heavy rain. "We had one of the worst drenching rains in history. It was crazy, but it was fun. Everybody helped each other out. There wasn't a huge number of people, but it was quite a bit," he said.

"This year, if the weather is decent, there should be around 3,000 more people" than last year.

Some prospective attenders who live in the area check the weather the day before and decide whether to come, he said. Advance online ticket sales are ahead of last year.

Valdez stressed that volunteers are essential to make the rally happen. "If we don't have all of you to help, we can't hire enough people to make it happen. Our community isn't big enough, and our pockets aren't deep enough."

More volunteers are always welcome, he said. "This is all about people getting together to have a good time," Valdez said.

The rally began as the non-profit Iron Horse Motorcycle Rally. For several years in the 2000s, it was taken over as a for-profit operation until the operators got into a financial dispute with the Southern Ute Indian Tribe over the use of the events center.

In 2006, the Ignacio Chamber of Commerce took over the rally, organizing it on short notice to keep the event alive after the previous owner announced its cancellation. It was called Ignacio Bike Week.

Sky Ute Event Center was not available until contract lawsuits were settled between the tribe and the former private operators. Until then, all the events and vendors were in downtown Ignacio.

It was a struggle moving activities and vendors back to the Event Center and charging admission after several years of free activities downtown.

In spring 2015, Valdez bought the rally from the chamber with a goal to bring attendance back to its heyday before the previous for-profit operators took over. It's now the Four Corners Motorcycle Rally, still based at Sky Ute Event Center. "A couple years ago, this (rally) was going away," he said.

"The chamber was going to let it go. ... This is about all the Four Corners. It's about all of us and our communities."

Valdez distinguished between a rally with a full slate of biker events and what he calls "a biker street fair."

He told volunteers, "Anybody can put on a street fair. Almost all of those in New Mexico are gone or going away. The reason isn't the people. It's that they try to do everything for free. We tried that. We went from 40,000 to 50,000 people (in the late 1990s and early 2000s) to around 1,500 people."

Admission at the events center is $15 per person per day or $40 for the weekend and includes the concerts.