It's been quite some time since my last post on the blog. April really didn't see much "fun" riding as there were other things in life that were taking up my time. None the less, in between work and other commitments I've been getting ready for my Iron Butt Bun Burner Gold ride. For those not in the know, that's 1500 miles in 24 hours or less.
I managed to get my new Russell Day Long seat yesterday thanks to the help of folks there expediting the build and shipping it out 2nd day UPS. The seat is instrumental to the ride as my Rick Mayer seat just hasn't met my expectations. Other new additions to the bike in preparation for this ride were a Valentine One radar detector and SPOT Satellite tracker. And of coure this past weekend I changed the oil as it was time for my 30K service. During that routine maintenance I checked everything I could to make sure I didn't have mechanical problems on this ride.
Preparing for this ride has meant preparing my body for the ride. For the past week I've avoided caffeine and alcohol. By last Thursday I noticed I wasn't getting as sleepy in the afternoons as I usually do. I could definitely feel a more even energy level through out the day. I've also made sure to get plenty of rest this week. I call it putting sleep in the sleep bank.
This morning my day started like a normal Tuesday, get up and go walking. I skipped my bow flex workout and had breakfast. A quick check of my inbox and a little last minute packing. Then it was time to get back to bed and take a nap. It was more like laying in bed and watching the History channel but it was rest and that's what I was looking for. When 10am came around my alarm went off and I grabbed a shower and started getting dressed. Everything was going as planned. Once I was ready I walked into the garage to make last minute checks on the bike. First problem...
When I turned on the key, my installed accessories did not power up. I turned off the key and tried it again. Still nothing. Worry was starting to creap in, was my trip about to be scrapped over some silly electrical issue? I unpacked everything and began troubleshooting. I have a delay circuit installed that keeps my accessories on for 20 minutes after the key is turned off. It's not supposed to give me problems so it's tucked deeply up in the tail section and requires removing the top case and side case mounts to gain access. Once all that was removed I tapped on the onboard relay and I heard the magical click. Things turned on and I was back on track after putting things together again.
Since I wanted to leave at noon, I decided to get Reagan and my lawn guy Ryan to sign my start witness form. With that done it was time to get on the bike, say good bye and go get my start receipt. All the planning was done, the only thing left was to ride the first 1500 miles of the trip before noon the next day...
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Sunday BBQ: Hard 8 in Stephenville
Since it was Sunday and I didn't need to get back home from the DFW area until the afternoon I took a longer route home. This gave me a chance to ride with my 3Day Route Safety buddy, Chuck, and it let me try out some good Q.
We left his house about 8:30 and headed to I-820 around Ft. Worth. The plan was to go around to HWY 377 toward Granbury. Once in Grandbury we detoured and took in some fun roads worth mentioning. FM 4 from Granbury to Lipan is great. The speed limit is 70 and the corner signs range from 60 to 65mph.
This is one of those roads where you could "blow the carbon out" and have fun. Of course, I don't know what the normal LEO status is. From Lipan take FM1189 south. This road has some fun twisties as well although the road surface isn't as good. It sort of reminded me of riding in the hill country. Eventually you'll come to a junction with FM1188, take that west to continue the fun until you reach HWY 108. Take it south to Stephenville and park in the Hawg Pen at Hard 8 BBQ on HWY 67.
Now about the Q. Hard Eight BBQ is some dang good eating. They cook on brick pits as folks in Central Texas. They have a large variety of meats and you order it outside right next to one of the pits. I ordered some brisket and a pork rib then carried my tray inside to get my tea and beans. Beans, Bread and Jalapeños are free at Hard 8. The atmosphere is typical Texas BBQ joint. The brisket is fall apart tender. You simply have to pick it up with your fingers and put it in your mouth. Don't mess with the sauce as it's a little too heavy and hides the great taste of the meat. This is meat that deserves to be eaten by itself. The pork spare rib was good and had a lemon pepper rub on it which complimented the smoky flavor nicely. The pinto beans, mmmm the beans, they were good. The large slices of bacon turned me off a little but I just picked them out. It looked as if they had just taken a package of sliced bacon and cut it in 2 and then tossed it in the pot. The bean gravy was a little thin but well flavored. This BBQ place will have to go in my custom POI database for good eating places.
After the food was enjoyed and Chuck and I had visited a little more we decided it was time to head out. He was going back up 377 and I was heading down HWY 281 toward Waco. According to the GPS I had about 275 miles to get to the house, a full stomach and 3/4 tank of gas. I could make it home in 1 stop. So at 12:20pm I point the bike south and head out. 281 to 6 to 290 to 362 to I10 to 99 to 90A and I made it home by 5pm with 409 miles on the odometer for the day and 775 miles for the weekend.
One notable part of the trip home was the town of Bremond. More specifically the pitiful excuse of a gas station in the town. There's only the Citgo that I could find and with 5 miles left on the tank according to the computer I wasn't going to ride around a lot. That was a good thing as I put 5.25 gallons in my 5.2 gallon tank. This station is on the corner of 46 and 14, you can't miss it as there's a blinking light there. The pumps aren't digital and have the old analogue spools in them with only even numbers labeled in the penny spot. Well after filling up I walked inside to pay and use the restroom. When I inquired where the restrooms were I was told they didn't have public restrooms. I laughed and thought it was a joke and the lady responded with an attitude and assured me they didn't have a public restroom. So apparently Bremond is stuck somewhere in the 1970's. Thankfully they were there and open as I had really pushed my range a few miles further than I should have but it would have been nice to have a restroom.
We left his house about 8:30 and headed to I-820 around Ft. Worth. The plan was to go around to HWY 377 toward Granbury. Once in Grandbury we detoured and took in some fun roads worth mentioning. FM 4 from Granbury to Lipan is great. The speed limit is 70 and the corner signs range from 60 to 65mph.
This is one of those roads where you could "blow the carbon out" and have fun. Of course, I don't know what the normal LEO status is. From Lipan take FM1189 south. This road has some fun twisties as well although the road surface isn't as good. It sort of reminded me of riding in the hill country. Eventually you'll come to a junction with FM1188, take that west to continue the fun until you reach HWY 108. Take it south to Stephenville and park in the Hawg Pen at Hard 8 BBQ on HWY 67.Now about the Q. Hard Eight BBQ is some dang good eating. They cook on brick pits as folks in Central Texas. They have a large variety of meats and you order it outside right next to one of the pits. I ordered some brisket and a pork rib then carried my tray inside to get my tea and beans. Beans, Bread and Jalapeños are free at Hard 8. The atmosphere is typical Texas BBQ joint. The brisket is fall apart tender. You simply have to pick it up with your fingers and put it in your mouth. Don't mess with the sauce as it's a little too heavy and hides the great taste of the meat. This is meat that deserves to be eaten by itself. The pork spare rib was good and had a lemon pepper rub on it which complimented the smoky flavor nicely. The pinto beans, mmmm the beans, they were good. The large slices of bacon turned me off a little but I just picked them out. It looked as if they had just taken a package of sliced bacon and cut it in 2 and then tossed it in the pot. The bean gravy was a little thin but well flavored. This BBQ place will have to go in my custom POI database for good eating places.
After the food was enjoyed and Chuck and I had visited a little more we decided it was time to head out. He was going back up 377 and I was heading down HWY 281 toward Waco. According to the GPS I had about 275 miles to get to the house, a full stomach and 3/4 tank of gas. I could make it home in 1 stop. So at 12:20pm I point the bike south and head out. 281 to 6 to 290 to 362 to I10 to 99 to 90A and I made it home by 5pm with 409 miles on the odometer for the day and 775 miles for the weekend.
One notable part of the trip home was the town of Bremond. More specifically the pitiful excuse of a gas station in the town. There's only the Citgo that I could find and with 5 miles left on the tank according to the computer I wasn't going to ride around a lot. That was a good thing as I put 5.25 gallons in my 5.2 gallon tank. This station is on the corner of 46 and 14, you can't miss it as there's a blinking light there. The pumps aren't digital and have the old analogue spools in them with only even numbers labeled in the penny spot. Well after filling up I walked inside to pay and use the restroom. When I inquired where the restrooms were I was told they didn't have public restrooms. I laughed and thought it was a joke and the lady responded with an attitude and assured me they didn't have a public restroom. So apparently Bremond is stuck somewhere in the 1970's. Thankfully they were there and open as I had really pushed my range a few miles further than I should have but it would have been nice to have a restroom.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Riding Workshop
As an avid rider and motorcycle coach I'm always looking for ways to become better, faster and smoother. The better I get on a bike, the more fun I have, the lower the "pucker" factor is when the road gets zesty and the better I can coach my students. While searching for better winter gloves earlier in the year I came across Lee Parks Total Control Advanced Riding Clinic. The only problem I had was they didn't offer classes in Texas much less Houston. So I signed up for his mailing list in hopes that maybe he'd offer a class in Texas someday. A week later I received his newsletter showing 3 classes in Texas with the last one in Dallas. Wooohooo! I've got friends in Dallas so I'd have a place to sleep.
I spoke to Lee about the curriculum and then went out and bought the book. It was an easy read and after finishing it I started seeing things I was doing wrong. Such as my suspension which had way too much preload dialed in. I knew my cornering needed help and started trying to implement the techniques in the book but without supervision I wasn't making drastic improvements. The class would change that...
The class started at 8am in a parking lot at the Texas Motor Speedway. Looking around I noticed the markings of an MSF BRC and ERC range. So I can only assume someone holds classes there at some time. The temp was just below 50 degrees and the wind was blowing thus creating a nice wind chill. I regretted leaving my liner back in Colleyville. We all did introductions and it was interesting to see the range and experience of riders in the class between the 10 students. Our instructors were Dace and Pilot. Dace was into LD riding, track days and teaching. She had ridden in from Daytona on her ST1300. Pilot was in charge of a WERA race team that was up for rookie of the year and had that military feel about him. Once the house keeping stuff was out of the way, we got started.
For the first part we did classroom, the only problem was they had not been able to secure an actual indoor space so our room was the wide open space of the parking lot. It actually made things pretty easy I thought. Dace pulls out a large set of bound laminated pages and begins with the low tech slide show. I immediately started hearing stuff out of the book. We talked about traction and safety gear and how our minds work. I liked her soft but firm sell on wearing gear. While I wear all my gear I'm always looking for ways to help encourage others. Then it was time to get on the bikes and scrub in the tires to get them up to temp...
This is where it felt a little different from MSF classes because Pilot didn't seem like he was reading from a set of range cards. He simply told us what we were about to do and then had Dace ride a "bad" demo where he pointed out all the incorrect things followed by a "good" demo which clearly showed what we were to emulate. Before we got on the bikes Dace had a little bit to tell us and then we were split up, 5 on each "pad". We'd stay on our side of the range for the duration with the same 5 students.
I could describe each exercise and what it was like but I'm not going to. Because if I did you might form an opinion about the course without seeing the whole picture. Or by telling you step by step what I learned it might take some of the surprise and fun out of it for you as a student.
My goal for the class was to improve my cornering skills. Before the class it was some what easy for me to drag my pegs on the GS, especially when practicing techniques in parking lots. What I wanted out of the class though was to get smoother in the corners which would build my confidence and improve my riding enjoyment in the twisties. This class allowed me to learn the techniques to accomplish that goal. Now lots of practice will make it the norm.
I had 2 great moments in the class toward the end. We had been putting together the 10 steps to the cornering technique and this final exercise sort of put it all together. We had 2 40 foot circles spaced 20 feet apart. The path of travel basically created a figure 8. Look on page 85 of the book under "Transitions" for the layout.
I entered into the right hand circle and the peg began to drag but it was steady and I was hanging off the bike on the inside. As I came around to the transition cones I felt the back tire begin to spin, I could hear Pilot saying something like "pin it! pin in!" and I just stayed on the throttle. I didn't even have the desire to roll off. A fraction of a second later the bike hooked up as I was bringing the bike up right before letting it "flop" into the left corner. The rear wheel spun a few more times while going through the exercise and not once did I have the desire to roll off the throttle.
The second great moment also happened in that same exercise. The last time through Pilot had us raise our left hand and wave at him while we going around the right corner. I was the last one in line and had time to think about it, and let my creative mind figure out all the ways I could go to the hospital. It was then that I thought back to the beginning of the class and told myself "I can handle this". Once in the corner and leaned over, I raised my left hand and started waving. I figured I'd wave with authority and let things fall where they would. Well nothing fell and I was able to transition to the left turn easily once getting my hand back on the grip. The second lap around I started laughing and messed up the corner but I did it one handed.
At the beginning of the day if someone had told me I'd be spinning the rear tire in a corner under control or hanging off the bike with one hand in the air I definitely would have stressed over the course. But the curriculum takes a building block approach so while my moments were special to me, they were actually things I had been prepared for during the class.
Bottom line, take the class. That twitchy feeling you get from the front end of the bike in a corner... you'll figure out why it's happening while you are in the class.
I spoke to Lee about the curriculum and then went out and bought the book. It was an easy read and after finishing it I started seeing things I was doing wrong. Such as my suspension which had way too much preload dialed in. I knew my cornering needed help and started trying to implement the techniques in the book but without supervision I wasn't making drastic improvements. The class would change that...
The class started at 8am in a parking lot at the Texas Motor Speedway. Looking around I noticed the markings of an MSF BRC and ERC range. So I can only assume someone holds classes there at some time. The temp was just below 50 degrees and the wind was blowing thus creating a nice wind chill. I regretted leaving my liner back in Colleyville. We all did introductions and it was interesting to see the range and experience of riders in the class between the 10 students. Our instructors were Dace and Pilot. Dace was into LD riding, track days and teaching. She had ridden in from Daytona on her ST1300. Pilot was in charge of a WERA race team that was up for rookie of the year and had that military feel about him. Once the house keeping stuff was out of the way, we got started.
For the first part we did classroom, the only problem was they had not been able to secure an actual indoor space so our room was the wide open space of the parking lot. It actually made things pretty easy I thought. Dace pulls out a large set of bound laminated pages and begins with the low tech slide show. I immediately started hearing stuff out of the book. We talked about traction and safety gear and how our minds work. I liked her soft but firm sell on wearing gear. While I wear all my gear I'm always looking for ways to help encourage others. Then it was time to get on the bikes and scrub in the tires to get them up to temp...
This is where it felt a little different from MSF classes because Pilot didn't seem like he was reading from a set of range cards. He simply told us what we were about to do and then had Dace ride a "bad" demo where he pointed out all the incorrect things followed by a "good" demo which clearly showed what we were to emulate. Before we got on the bikes Dace had a little bit to tell us and then we were split up, 5 on each "pad". We'd stay on our side of the range for the duration with the same 5 students.
I could describe each exercise and what it was like but I'm not going to. Because if I did you might form an opinion about the course without seeing the whole picture. Or by telling you step by step what I learned it might take some of the surprise and fun out of it for you as a student.
My goal for the class was to improve my cornering skills. Before the class it was some what easy for me to drag my pegs on the GS, especially when practicing techniques in parking lots. What I wanted out of the class though was to get smoother in the corners which would build my confidence and improve my riding enjoyment in the twisties. This class allowed me to learn the techniques to accomplish that goal. Now lots of practice will make it the norm.
I had 2 great moments in the class toward the end. We had been putting together the 10 steps to the cornering technique and this final exercise sort of put it all together. We had 2 40 foot circles spaced 20 feet apart. The path of travel basically created a figure 8. Look on page 85 of the book under "Transitions" for the layout.
I entered into the right hand circle and the peg began to drag but it was steady and I was hanging off the bike on the inside. As I came around to the transition cones I felt the back tire begin to spin, I could hear Pilot saying something like "pin it! pin in!" and I just stayed on the throttle. I didn't even have the desire to roll off. A fraction of a second later the bike hooked up as I was bringing the bike up right before letting it "flop" into the left corner. The rear wheel spun a few more times while going through the exercise and not once did I have the desire to roll off the throttle.
The second great moment also happened in that same exercise. The last time through Pilot had us raise our left hand and wave at him while we going around the right corner. I was the last one in line and had time to think about it, and let my creative mind figure out all the ways I could go to the hospital. It was then that I thought back to the beginning of the class and told myself "I can handle this". Once in the corner and leaned over, I raised my left hand and started waving. I figured I'd wave with authority and let things fall where they would. Well nothing fell and I was able to transition to the left turn easily once getting my hand back on the grip. The second lap around I started laughing and messed up the corner but I did it one handed.
At the beginning of the day if someone had told me I'd be spinning the rear tire in a corner under control or hanging off the bike with one hand in the air I definitely would have stressed over the course. But the curriculum takes a building block approach so while my moments were special to me, they were actually things I had been prepared for during the class.
Bottom line, take the class. That twitchy feeling you get from the front end of the bike in a corner... you'll figure out why it's happening while you are in the class.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Friday BBQ run: Woody's Smoke House in Centerville
So this Friday offered me the chance to stop at an old favorite to get some good Q and jerky. I was heading to Fort Worth to attend a riding workshop, so of course I stop off at exit 164 of I-45. That's right, I know the exit number.
At noon I was sitting on the bike making last minute checks before pulling out. I was right on time to get to my destination near Fort Worth by 6pm. I headed west on Alt-90 to 99 where I turned north. At FM1093 I turned left to go to Fulshear. A right on FM359 had me going north again. Once in Brookshire I decided to take FM 362 for some reason, the GPS did not like this and kept trying to route me back to 359 so finally at FM 529 I turned left and headed over to pickup 359 and continue north.
In the back of my mind I knew there was a reason why I wanted to go up 362 and when I got to Hempstead I realized what it was. The GPS was routing me up HWY 6. At this point though it wasn't worth the hassle to track east to 362. My goal was to pick up FM3090 on my way to Centerville. So I stayed on 6 until Navasota where I turned right onto FM3090. After the fun of the twisties the road ended at FM244 so I turned left. When I got to Iola the GPS wanted to route me through the high school parking lot so I stayed on 244 until I reached HWY 39. A left turn onto 39 and I was once again on my way. Along this stretch of the trip is when something happened...
I'm happily riding along when all of sudden I hear a metallic knocking sound coming from below in the engine area. Oh oh.... At first I thought maybe I was running out of gas very early but the bike had power. Then I squeezed in the clutch and rev'd the engine a few times. Nope, the noise wasn't related to RPMs so it probably wasn't in the engine. When I slowed down the knocking would become less frequent, speed up and the knocking sped up. OK, so I started looking for a driveway or somewhere to pull over. A little ways up the road I found a good spot and pulled over. Upon inspection I realized the front bolt of the skid plate had fallen out and then the front rubber bushing separated so it was flapping in the breeze. A wrench in my tool box made quick work of the situation and I was ready to go again. There was a nice guy who stopped to ask if I was OK. I like the friendly-ness of country folk.
Upon arriving in Normangee I turned right onto HWY OSR (Old San Antonio Road), this took me on a more north-easterly track toward Centerville. When FM 2485 came up I turned left to run parallel with I-45 a few miles away. Unfortunately when I got to FM 977 the GPS decided I should go east toward I-45 so I followed. When I got to Leona I decided to fill up at the Exxon since it wasn't crowded and really easy to get in and out. I ended up getting on I-45 at exit 157. Seven miles later I was pulling into Woody's smoke house.
Woody's has a store on both sides of the freeway so it's easy to get on and off regardless of your direction. I went to the north bound store which is the original I believe. They were crowded which was probably due to spring break. I picked out some long beef sticks, smoked cheddar cheese and pork jerky. Then I headed to the bar-b-q counter. Since it was almost 3 o'clock I didn't want to eat too much but I wanted some bar-b-q. I ordered a freshly made sliced beef sandwich, no sauce. I then got a small bowl of sauce and some beans. Iced tea is free with a Q purchase, so I had some tea.
The Q is consistent at Woody's. The meat falls apart when lightly tugged on but stays together when you pick it up. The flavor is nicely smoky without being over powering. It's good with and without sauce. The sauce compliments the meat so you can enjoy both. The beans are tasty although I wouldn't say they are exceptional just good.
With a full stomach, I stored my purchases on the bike and continued north on I-45. In Ennis I took 287 toward Fort Worth. The first stretch of 287 was a little slow since it's a 2 lane road with plenty of large trucks on it. But once I got to where the road opens to 4 lanes it was smooth sailing. The loop around Midlothian has been completed so there's no longer a slow down there. I finally turned right onto hwy 360 which the GPS wasn't so happy with it. It wanted to take me all the way around Ft. Worth to get to Colleyville. When I got to HWY 183 I decided the GPS might know better so I let it lead me west onto HWY 183 at 5 o'clock. Nope bad move as traffic was completely stopped. So much for my handy XM traffic service.
I got off the freeway and took North Industrial Blvd to Harwood Road where I turned left. Past HWY 121 and then right on Central Drive. Left on Cheek Sparger Road and then right on Bedford Road. Then I was in Colleyville and ready to see my friend and his couch. It was a good day's ride.
At noon I was sitting on the bike making last minute checks before pulling out. I was right on time to get to my destination near Fort Worth by 6pm. I headed west on Alt-90 to 99 where I turned north. At FM1093 I turned left to go to Fulshear. A right on FM359 had me going north again. Once in Brookshire I decided to take FM 362 for some reason, the GPS did not like this and kept trying to route me back to 359 so finally at FM 529 I turned left and headed over to pickup 359 and continue north.
In the back of my mind I knew there was a reason why I wanted to go up 362 and when I got to Hempstead I realized what it was. The GPS was routing me up HWY 6. At this point though it wasn't worth the hassle to track east to 362. My goal was to pick up FM3090 on my way to Centerville. So I stayed on 6 until Navasota where I turned right onto FM3090. After the fun of the twisties the road ended at FM244 so I turned left. When I got to Iola the GPS wanted to route me through the high school parking lot so I stayed on 244 until I reached HWY 39. A left turn onto 39 and I was once again on my way. Along this stretch of the trip is when something happened...
I'm happily riding along when all of sudden I hear a metallic knocking sound coming from below in the engine area. Oh oh.... At first I thought maybe I was running out of gas very early but the bike had power. Then I squeezed in the clutch and rev'd the engine a few times. Nope, the noise wasn't related to RPMs so it probably wasn't in the engine. When I slowed down the knocking would become less frequent, speed up and the knocking sped up. OK, so I started looking for a driveway or somewhere to pull over. A little ways up the road I found a good spot and pulled over. Upon inspection I realized the front bolt of the skid plate had fallen out and then the front rubber bushing separated so it was flapping in the breeze. A wrench in my tool box made quick work of the situation and I was ready to go again. There was a nice guy who stopped to ask if I was OK. I like the friendly-ness of country folk.
Upon arriving in Normangee I turned right onto HWY OSR (Old San Antonio Road), this took me on a more north-easterly track toward Centerville. When FM 2485 came up I turned left to run parallel with I-45 a few miles away. Unfortunately when I got to FM 977 the GPS decided I should go east toward I-45 so I followed. When I got to Leona I decided to fill up at the Exxon since it wasn't crowded and really easy to get in and out. I ended up getting on I-45 at exit 157. Seven miles later I was pulling into Woody's smoke house.
Woody's has a store on both sides of the freeway so it's easy to get on and off regardless of your direction. I went to the north bound store which is the original I believe. They were crowded which was probably due to spring break. I picked out some long beef sticks, smoked cheddar cheese and pork jerky. Then I headed to the bar-b-q counter. Since it was almost 3 o'clock I didn't want to eat too much but I wanted some bar-b-q. I ordered a freshly made sliced beef sandwich, no sauce. I then got a small bowl of sauce and some beans. Iced tea is free with a Q purchase, so I had some tea.
The Q is consistent at Woody's. The meat falls apart when lightly tugged on but stays together when you pick it up. The flavor is nicely smoky without being over powering. It's good with and without sauce. The sauce compliments the meat so you can enjoy both. The beans are tasty although I wouldn't say they are exceptional just good.
With a full stomach, I stored my purchases on the bike and continued north on I-45. In Ennis I took 287 toward Fort Worth. The first stretch of 287 was a little slow since it's a 2 lane road with plenty of large trucks on it. But once I got to where the road opens to 4 lanes it was smooth sailing. The loop around Midlothian has been completed so there's no longer a slow down there. I finally turned right onto hwy 360 which the GPS wasn't so happy with it. It wanted to take me all the way around Ft. Worth to get to Colleyville. When I got to HWY 183 I decided the GPS might know better so I let it lead me west onto HWY 183 at 5 o'clock. Nope bad move as traffic was completely stopped. So much for my handy XM traffic service.
I got off the freeway and took North Industrial Blvd to Harwood Road where I turned left. Past HWY 121 and then right on Central Drive. Left on Cheek Sparger Road and then right on Bedford Road. Then I was in Colleyville and ready to see my friend and his couch. It was a good day's ride.
Friday, March 7, 2008
Eating at the Naked Rib on it's last Friday
Before I forget, I got my bike back from the dealership last Saturday. It took a few hours to rerun the wires but I got it all back together and went riding with Reagan following Sunday morning breakfast with the Fort Bend Riders.
My Friday BBQ Run:
So this week things are sort of back to normal since I have my scooter back, I'm in town and the weather seems to be cooperating. So it's perfect for a Friday BBQ run.
This week's trip was a short one as I had a teleconference at 1:30 that I needed to be on. So since time was short I thought a nearby place would be great, and besides I've been intrigued with a little shack in Manvel, TX called the Naked Rib. many times they would put their blushing pig sign out by the road to attract passers by. And I guess it worked on me although it's taken years for me to finally go there for BBQ.
I sent out invites to two riding buddies to see if anyone wanted to come along. John took me up on my offer after his trip to Abilene didn't happen. Dan had other things on his plate for the day. So at 11am John came by the house and off we went. Down HWY 59 to FM762, then we headed south on 762 to FM1462 where we headed east. I had forgotten how fun the curves were on 762. After passing through Rosharon and going under HWY 288 we turned north on Brister Rd (CR 121). We followed this road to CR 67 where we turned right and continued north. Eventually we came to HWY 6 and turned left. Just about a mile or so down on the right was the Naked Rib. I was happy to see trucks outside which meant they were open.
Normally I like to order 1/4lb of sliced brisket and a side of beans. Well today I thought I'd splurge and get their sliced beef plate with two sides. I had beans and cole slaw. I'm pretty sure the cole slaw was from Sysco but that's cool because I like their cole slaw. The beans were pretty good. The brisket though wasn't so great. It seemed to be cooked just about right but it was dry. Normally I'd guess that it dried out on the steam table but I saw the lady unwrap the whole brisket and slice my serving from it. So it was a little disappointing but good. They cook their briskets in an old Oyler pit which is cool. I had heard stories of cooking on one but never seen one up close. So after lunch I started poking around and looking at it. Since the fire was out I opened it up and looked inside. It was well seasoned. When you're looking at someone's pit you're going to get attention and sure enough the lady came over to talk to me. It turns out tomorrow is their last day, and they are throwing a big party. Afterwards they'll close for a month and do some remodeling that the new owners have planned. From what she said it sounds like it's going to lose it's old BBQ shack feeling for a more sports bar look and feel.
After a little conversation it was time to scoot on home. The ride home was short and pretty much straight back down Hwy 6. I did take a detour at Lake Olympia and went down Oilfield Road and went through the fancy neighborhoods of Sugar Land. I got back to the house just at 1:30. A great but short BBQ ride, and I was able to join my conference call in time.
The route
My Friday BBQ Run:So this week things are sort of back to normal since I have my scooter back, I'm in town and the weather seems to be cooperating. So it's perfect for a Friday BBQ run.
This week's trip was a short one as I had a teleconference at 1:30 that I needed to be on. So since time was short I thought a nearby place would be great, and besides I've been intrigued with a little shack in Manvel, TX called the Naked Rib. many times they would put their blushing pig sign out by the road to attract passers by. And I guess it worked on me although it's taken years for me to finally go there for BBQ.
I sent out invites to two riding buddies to see if anyone wanted to come along. John took me up on my offer after his trip to Abilene didn't happen. Dan had other things on his plate for the day. So at 11am John came by the house and off we went. Down HWY 59 to FM762, then we headed south on 762 to FM1462 where we headed east. I had forgotten how fun the curves were on 762. After passing through Rosharon and going under HWY 288 we turned north on Brister Rd (CR 121). We followed this road to CR 67 where we turned right and continued north. Eventually we came to HWY 6 and turned left. Just about a mile or so down on the right was the Naked Rib. I was happy to see trucks outside which meant they were open.
Normally I like to order 1/4lb of sliced brisket and a side of beans. Well today I thought I'd splurge and get their sliced beef plate with two sides. I had beans and cole slaw. I'm pretty sure the cole slaw was from Sysco but that's cool because I like their cole slaw. The beans were pretty good. The brisket though wasn't so great. It seemed to be cooked just about right but it was dry. Normally I'd guess that it dried out on the steam table but I saw the lady unwrap the whole brisket and slice my serving from it. So it was a little disappointing but good. They cook their briskets in an old Oyler pit which is cool. I had heard stories of cooking on one but never seen one up close. So after lunch I started poking around and looking at it. Since the fire was out I opened it up and looked inside. It was well seasoned. When you're looking at someone's pit you're going to get attention and sure enough the lady came over to talk to me. It turns out tomorrow is their last day, and they are throwing a big party. Afterwards they'll close for a month and do some remodeling that the new owners have planned. From what she said it sounds like it's going to lose it's old BBQ shack feeling for a more sports bar look and feel.
After a little conversation it was time to scoot on home. The ride home was short and pretty much straight back down Hwy 6. I did take a detour at Lake Olympia and went down Oilfield Road and went through the fancy neighborhoods of Sugar Land. I got back to the house just at 1:30. A great but short BBQ ride, and I was able to join my conference call in time.
The route
Sunday, February 24, 2008
A Harley for the weekend
So this weekend was my birthday but my beloved GS was in the shop. What was I going to do????
Simple really, I'd rent a bike. So I emailed my program manager where I teach motorcycle safety and asked what bikes were available. Tonya wrote back to say she had an Ultra Classic, an ElectraGlide and a Deluxe. Since I wanted to take Reagan with me for some of the riding, comfort was my first priority. From my experience in the Riders Edge Instructor training, I knew the Deluxe didn't really fit me so I figured the E-glide or Ultra would fit the bill.
Friday evening I had Reagan take me up there to pick up the bike. We ended up taking the Ultra as someone had just rented the Electra Glide only minutes before. Since both bikes are similar in comfort I was fine with the Ultra. I figured my Hi-Viz yellow jacket along with Reagan's pink jacket and chaps would help with visibility on the black and chrome bike. "Sign here, and here, and here. Initial here and sign here" and I was done. I had Harley Davidson's premiere touring bike for the weekend. The only thing I didn't have was J&M cables to interface our helmets into the 7 pin audio system. Oh well, it had a radio with speakers.
Over dinner Reagan and I put together a route that would be fun and flexible. We'd have breakfast in Fayetteville (TX) and ride over to Livingston to say "hi" to my parents and then work our way back. There were two rules, no freeways and when we got tired we'd head home. Reagan also invited our Harley friends Robert and Missy to come along as well. Missy was feeling under the weather after her business trip but Robert came along since I had a Harley for the weekend, I think he just wanted to make sure I wasn't kidding him.
Saturday:
We started the day early. "Side stands up at 7:15" was the plan. I wanted to take a nice leisurely pace from our house to Brookshire where we were meeting Robert. We even managed to pull out of the drive way a few minutes early and headed down 90A toward Richmond. Since I had the time I wanted to take FM 359 to Fulshear, then 1093 to Simonton then north on FM 1489 into Brookshire. This wasn't the most direct route but it gave us some twisties to sort things out with me, the bike and Reagan. Things went well and we got there a good 30 minutes early. Only problem, we were both a little cold. We warmed up inside with a cup of hot coco.
Once Robert arrived there were normal pleasantries and he still couldn't believe I was on Harley. When we got down the road a bit, he pulled up next to me at a stop sign and said "You can close those vents for warmth". Huh? What vents? At the end of 1458 we pulled over in a park and he showed me how the lower vents worked. Nice.... Then we were back on the road going, now a little warmer.
Through Sealy and then onto FM1094 to New Ulm. Southwest on FM 109 to Frelsburg and then FM 1291 into Fayetteville. 1291 is one of my favorite local roads as it's got plenty of sharp 30mph turns on it to really get you moving the bike around. Of course being on an 800 pound Harley changed my speeds through the corners a little. Reagan reminded me that I was leaning a little too much every time a floorboard touched in a corner. :)
Once in Fayetteville we stopped at Orsak's Cafe for breakfast and conversation. Robert mentioned that my bike looked a little low in the rear so we adjusted the suspension. At the same time Robert noticed that his front brake reservoir was loose from the installation of his satellite radio that morning so he tightened it up. I got a lesson in saddlebag and seat removal. It's not as easy as my GS but not to bad either. With things adjusted and tightened it was time to go. Reagan seemed OK so we headed toward Bellville via FM 159 east on our way to Livingston.
Robert took the lead going to Belleville and Reagan and I sat back and enjoyed the scenery. As we entered into Belleville traffic was a little busy and at one point I had to do a quick stop when it was unclear what a motorcycle cop was doing regarding traffic control. I think he was just holding up traffic in the other direction to get all his fellow riders out of
a gas station. There had to be at least 40 of them, too many for a group ride in my opinion. When we stopped at the next light I looked back to check on Reagan and she was ready for a stop so we pulled over in the Dollar General parking lot at the corner of 36 and 159. We sat around for a little while talking and drinking water. Robert even snapped a picture of us on the twin Harleys with Reagan sitting on Robert's bike. After the break it was decided that we'd head home and do the rest of the ride another day. So we take 529 out of Belleville toward FM359.
We stopped again in Brookshire at the Flying J to fill up as the Harley doesn't quite have the range on it that my GS does. A little water, a little conversation and back on the bikes we got. Down to Fulshear and then east on FM 1093 to HWY 99. At that point we waved goodbye to Robert and headed south. An idiot decided he wanted to pull out in front of us but a quick decrease in speed and lane position change caused him to rethink his choice.
We arrived home a short while later with 180 miles on the odometer for the day's trip. Not bad for Reagan's first big ride as a passenger. I was thinking about going inside for a bit and then heading back out but I decided that a nap sounded better so I put the bike up for the day and went inside. Oh the nap was nice as was the mexican food that night.
Sunday:
Just like most Sundays when we are in town and don't have other commitments Reagan and I went to breakfast with some of my riding buddies. Reagan had things to do for the day so I was going to ride alone. I had plans to finish my Livingston route as it seemed like a great route to try out the Ultra. Again, no freeways was the plan. After breakfast John and Dan agreed to follow me for awhile. I didn't have the GPS with me and I really hadn't looked at a map to determine the best way to go. I just knew I wanted to get back to FM 159 to go east.
So we left breakfast in Richmond/Rosenberg and headed up HWY 36 toward Belleville. Remember, I didn't have the GPS and hadn't studied a map. The fog was thick and it made things slow going until we got to Sealy. There we filled up and took a quick post-breakfast break. The sun came out while we were there and the fog dissipated. So we continued up 36 to Belleville and then turned east on FM 159. Now I was back on my planned route.
When we got to Hempstead I turned north on FM1488 and headed toward Magnolia. As we got to the light in Magnolia I suddenly realized I didn't have anti-lock brakes when I had a short rear wheel skid as the light quickly changed to red. That was about as zesty as the ride got for the day though. Through Magnolia and up to FM 149. Heading north on FM 149 was a little slow due to traffic but it was nice to be able to look around and see the scenery. Once we got to Montgomery it seemed most people turned off so we were able to liven the pace through the forest. Then it was FM 1791 into Huntsville for another break.
Leaving Huntsville on HWY 190 I didn't really need a map. The closer we got to Livingston the more I knew the roads from personal experience. When we got through Onalaska I decided to take the back way into my parents house to see how things had changed around the lake. A right turn onto FM 3126, then a brief jog down FM 2457 before resuming FM 3126 and finally turning onto FM1988 by my old house. We pulled into the neighborhood and I thought about how loud the Harley sounded and then laughed because it probably wasn't even close to the little YZ80 I used to run up and down these roads on as a kid.
After a brief visit the plan was to go to Bar-B-Q in Goodrich. Well it seems they were closed so we turned around and went back up FM 1988 to Livingston to Bodacious. It's not my first choice but my parents rave about it. Only problem, they were closed too. Hmmm 2 BBQ places closed on Sunday. I wondered if this is a conspiracy. So back down FM 1988 to FM 3278. As a local I knew that road had been opened up years ago despite the fact that maps, GPSes, and even Google still shows it as not a through way. The plan was to go to Coldspring where we'd surely find BBQ. I just sort of followed the signs to Coldspring and went down FM 222 where we came upon a trail ride in progress. Again I thought to myself, "oh great I'm on a loud bike". The last thing I wanted to do was spook a horse and have to wrestle with an 800 pound bike and a large horse. As I saw it I was going to lose period.
Once past the trail ride, incident free I might add, we turned left on 150 to Coldspring. My fuel light had come on so food and fuel were on the agenda. Riding through town I didn't see any place for BBQ. I asked John if he knew of a place and he didn't. At the Exxon I went inside and asked where I could find BBQ. They told me back up the road about a mile and a half. So we back tracked only to find another BBQ place closed on Sunday. At this point I gave up and we had lunch at the cafe in downtown Coldspring.
After a tasty home style meal we were back on the bikes and headed home. The plan was simple, 150 west to New Waverly where we'd pick up FM 1375 back into the Sam Houston Forest. With a full stomach I was glad to have cruise control as the ride wasn't overly exciting through this stretch. Once we turned south on FM 149 though it was a little better as we had those fun sweepers but traffic was greater so it was more of a casual ride. Again this gave me time to enjoy the scenery.
Now we were basically back tracking along FM 1488 to 105. However we turned south on FM 362 and headed for Brookshire. We stopped in Brookshire for the last break of the day and to talk about where we would parts ways. Dan would stay with us through Fulshear and turn off onto 359. John and I were taking FM1093 to HWY 99 down to 90A.
When I pulled into the driveway the odometer said 16,199. When I picked up the bike on Friday it said 15,560. So Sunday was an easy 400 mile day thanks to my lack of mapping skills. But then again I never claimed to be the most efficient router.
Thoughts about the bike:
Putting the image and lifestyle of a Harley Davidson motorcycle aside, I can understand why some people like them. At cruising speeds the bike runs nice and vibrations aren't bad. It's actually soothing. With 15,000 miles on the bike the seat had been broken in pretty well and I found it nice and comfortable for all day riding. Unfortunately the seat had gotten wet at some point recently and was weeping the entire time so my left thigh would get damp when I got off the bike. In colder weather that would be a problem.
I liked the radio, especially the auto volume control. It was nice because you could rock out while going down the road but it was quiet when you came to a stop. If I had had my cable for the helmet audio that wouldn't have been as important I suspect.
The storage space on the bike is incredible. It's spacious to say the least. It would be easy to pack for a long weekend with 2 people.
The windshield was too tall for me and was a real problem in the fog. If this were a personal bike that would get changed out pretty quickly.
Cruise control was nice. One a bike that's made for eating up miles instead of carving through the twisties I think cruise control is great. It's use was simple and easy. Especially after I discovered that rolling off the throttle disengaged the cruise.
My only complaint was the range on the fuel tank. For a top of the line touring bike, I'd like to see a longer range. It seemed as though I had to start looking for fuel around the 140 mile mark with plenty to spare but still far less than my GS which I think is even border line on the short side with a range of 200 ~ 240.
Simple really, I'd rent a bike. So I emailed my program manager where I teach motorcycle safety and asked what bikes were available. Tonya wrote back to say she had an Ultra Classic, an ElectraGlide and a Deluxe. Since I wanted to take Reagan with me for some of the riding, comfort was my first priority. From my experience in the Riders Edge Instructor training, I knew the Deluxe didn't really fit me so I figured the E-glide or Ultra would fit the bill.
Friday evening I had Reagan take me up there to pick up the bike. We ended up taking the Ultra as someone had just rented the Electra Glide only minutes before. Since both bikes are similar in comfort I was fine with the Ultra. I figured my Hi-Viz yellow jacket along with Reagan's pink jacket and chaps would help with visibility on the black and chrome bike. "Sign here, and here, and here. Initial here and sign here" and I was done. I had Harley Davidson's premiere touring bike for the weekend. The only thing I didn't have was J&M cables to interface our helmets into the 7 pin audio system. Oh well, it had a radio with speakers.
Over dinner Reagan and I put together a route that would be fun and flexible. We'd have breakfast in Fayetteville (TX) and ride over to Livingston to say "hi" to my parents and then work our way back. There were two rules, no freeways and when we got tired we'd head home. Reagan also invited our Harley friends Robert and Missy to come along as well. Missy was feeling under the weather after her business trip but Robert came along since I had a Harley for the weekend, I think he just wanted to make sure I wasn't kidding him.
Saturday:
We started the day early. "Side stands up at 7:15" was the plan. I wanted to take a nice leisurely pace from our house to Brookshire where we were meeting Robert. We even managed to pull out of the drive way a few minutes early and headed down 90A toward Richmond. Since I had the time I wanted to take FM 359 to Fulshear, then 1093 to Simonton then north on FM 1489 into Brookshire. This wasn't the most direct route but it gave us some twisties to sort things out with me, the bike and Reagan. Things went well and we got there a good 30 minutes early. Only problem, we were both a little cold. We warmed up inside with a cup of hot coco.
Once Robert arrived there were normal pleasantries and he still couldn't believe I was on Harley. When we got down the road a bit, he pulled up next to me at a stop sign and said "You can close those vents for warmth". Huh? What vents? At the end of 1458 we pulled over in a park and he showed me how the lower vents worked. Nice.... Then we were back on the road going, now a little warmer.
Through Sealy and then onto FM1094 to New Ulm. Southwest on FM 109 to Frelsburg and then FM 1291 into Fayetteville. 1291 is one of my favorite local roads as it's got plenty of sharp 30mph turns on it to really get you moving the bike around. Of course being on an 800 pound Harley changed my speeds through the corners a little. Reagan reminded me that I was leaning a little too much every time a floorboard touched in a corner. :)
Once in Fayetteville we stopped at Orsak's Cafe for breakfast and conversation. Robert mentioned that my bike looked a little low in the rear so we adjusted the suspension. At the same time Robert noticed that his front brake reservoir was loose from the installation of his satellite radio that morning so he tightened it up. I got a lesson in saddlebag and seat removal. It's not as easy as my GS but not to bad either. With things adjusted and tightened it was time to go. Reagan seemed OK so we headed toward Bellville via FM 159 east on our way to Livingston.Robert took the lead going to Belleville and Reagan and I sat back and enjoyed the scenery. As we entered into Belleville traffic was a little busy and at one point I had to do a quick stop when it was unclear what a motorcycle cop was doing regarding traffic control. I think he was just holding up traffic in the other direction to get all his fellow riders out of
a gas station. There had to be at least 40 of them, too many for a group ride in my opinion. When we stopped at the next light I looked back to check on Reagan and she was ready for a stop so we pulled over in the Dollar General parking lot at the corner of 36 and 159. We sat around for a little while talking and drinking water. Robert even snapped a picture of us on the twin Harleys with Reagan sitting on Robert's bike. After the break it was decided that we'd head home and do the rest of the ride another day. So we take 529 out of Belleville toward FM359.We stopped again in Brookshire at the Flying J to fill up as the Harley doesn't quite have the range on it that my GS does. A little water, a little conversation and back on the bikes we got. Down to Fulshear and then east on FM 1093 to HWY 99. At that point we waved goodbye to Robert and headed south. An idiot decided he wanted to pull out in front of us but a quick decrease in speed and lane position change caused him to rethink his choice.
We arrived home a short while later with 180 miles on the odometer for the day's trip. Not bad for Reagan's first big ride as a passenger. I was thinking about going inside for a bit and then heading back out but I decided that a nap sounded better so I put the bike up for the day and went inside. Oh the nap was nice as was the mexican food that night.
Sunday:
Just like most Sundays when we are in town and don't have other commitments Reagan and I went to breakfast with some of my riding buddies. Reagan had things to do for the day so I was going to ride alone. I had plans to finish my Livingston route as it seemed like a great route to try out the Ultra. Again, no freeways was the plan. After breakfast John and Dan agreed to follow me for awhile. I didn't have the GPS with me and I really hadn't looked at a map to determine the best way to go. I just knew I wanted to get back to FM 159 to go east.
So we left breakfast in Richmond/Rosenberg and headed up HWY 36 toward Belleville. Remember, I didn't have the GPS and hadn't studied a map. The fog was thick and it made things slow going until we got to Sealy. There we filled up and took a quick post-breakfast break. The sun came out while we were there and the fog dissipated. So we continued up 36 to Belleville and then turned east on FM 159. Now I was back on my planned route.
When we got to Hempstead I turned north on FM1488 and headed toward Magnolia. As we got to the light in Magnolia I suddenly realized I didn't have anti-lock brakes when I had a short rear wheel skid as the light quickly changed to red. That was about as zesty as the ride got for the day though. Through Magnolia and up to FM 149. Heading north on FM 149 was a little slow due to traffic but it was nice to be able to look around and see the scenery. Once we got to Montgomery it seemed most people turned off so we were able to liven the pace through the forest. Then it was FM 1791 into Huntsville for another break.
Leaving Huntsville on HWY 190 I didn't really need a map. The closer we got to Livingston the more I knew the roads from personal experience. When we got through Onalaska I decided to take the back way into my parents house to see how things had changed around the lake. A right turn onto FM 3126, then a brief jog down FM 2457 before resuming FM 3126 and finally turning onto FM1988 by my old house. We pulled into the neighborhood and I thought about how loud the Harley sounded and then laughed because it probably wasn't even close to the little YZ80 I used to run up and down these roads on as a kid.
After a brief visit the plan was to go to Bar-B-Q in Goodrich. Well it seems they were closed so we turned around and went back up FM 1988 to Livingston to Bodacious. It's not my first choice but my parents rave about it. Only problem, they were closed too. Hmmm 2 BBQ places closed on Sunday. I wondered if this is a conspiracy. So back down FM 1988 to FM 3278. As a local I knew that road had been opened up years ago despite the fact that maps, GPSes, and even Google still shows it as not a through way. The plan was to go to Coldspring where we'd surely find BBQ. I just sort of followed the signs to Coldspring and went down FM 222 where we came upon a trail ride in progress. Again I thought to myself, "oh great I'm on a loud bike". The last thing I wanted to do was spook a horse and have to wrestle with an 800 pound bike and a large horse. As I saw it I was going to lose period.
Once past the trail ride, incident free I might add, we turned left on 150 to Coldspring. My fuel light had come on so food and fuel were on the agenda. Riding through town I didn't see any place for BBQ. I asked John if he knew of a place and he didn't. At the Exxon I went inside and asked where I could find BBQ. They told me back up the road about a mile and a half. So we back tracked only to find another BBQ place closed on Sunday. At this point I gave up and we had lunch at the cafe in downtown Coldspring.
After a tasty home style meal we were back on the bikes and headed home. The plan was simple, 150 west to New Waverly where we'd pick up FM 1375 back into the Sam Houston Forest. With a full stomach I was glad to have cruise control as the ride wasn't overly exciting through this stretch. Once we turned south on FM 149 though it was a little better as we had those fun sweepers but traffic was greater so it was more of a casual ride. Again this gave me time to enjoy the scenery.
Now we were basically back tracking along FM 1488 to 105. However we turned south on FM 362 and headed for Brookshire. We stopped in Brookshire for the last break of the day and to talk about where we would parts ways. Dan would stay with us through Fulshear and turn off onto 359. John and I were taking FM1093 to HWY 99 down to 90A.
When I pulled into the driveway the odometer said 16,199. When I picked up the bike on Friday it said 15,560. So Sunday was an easy 400 mile day thanks to my lack of mapping skills. But then again I never claimed to be the most efficient router.
Thoughts about the bike:
Putting the image and lifestyle of a Harley Davidson motorcycle aside, I can understand why some people like them. At cruising speeds the bike runs nice and vibrations aren't bad. It's actually soothing. With 15,000 miles on the bike the seat had been broken in pretty well and I found it nice and comfortable for all day riding. Unfortunately the seat had gotten wet at some point recently and was weeping the entire time so my left thigh would get damp when I got off the bike. In colder weather that would be a problem.
I liked the radio, especially the auto volume control. It was nice because you could rock out while going down the road but it was quiet when you came to a stop. If I had had my cable for the helmet audio that wouldn't have been as important I suspect.
The storage space on the bike is incredible. It's spacious to say the least. It would be easy to pack for a long weekend with 2 people.
The windshield was too tall for me and was a real problem in the fog. If this were a personal bike that would get changed out pretty quickly.
Cruise control was nice. One a bike that's made for eating up miles instead of carving through the twisties I think cruise control is great. It's use was simple and easy. Especially after I discovered that rolling off the throttle disengaged the cruise.
My only complaint was the range on the fuel tank. For a top of the line touring bike, I'd like to see a longer range. It seemed as though I had to start looking for fuel around the 140 mile mark with plenty to spare but still far less than my GS which I think is even border line on the short side with a range of 200 ~ 240.
Friday, February 22, 2008
Gonna be some time next week...
that's what Chris, the service guy at Wild West, said when I called to check on my bike. So much for "you'll have it this weekend" and "we want to exceed your expectations".
Last week I dropped my bike off to have some warranty work done on it. I've known for a while that it would probably take some time once it was in the shop, but that doesn't make things feel any better. Especially since this weekend is supposed to be gorgeous with highs in the 70's and no chance of rain.
I guess it's gonna be more time with the little Savage...
Last week I dropped my bike off to have some warranty work done on it. I've known for a while that it would probably take some time once it was in the shop, but that doesn't make things feel any better. Especially since this weekend is supposed to be gorgeous with highs in the 70's and no chance of rain.
I guess it's gonna be more time with the little Savage...
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Getting a new clutch
Last week I dropped the GS off at Wild West BMW in Katy for some warranty work to fix an oil leak. In the mean time I've been riding the Suzuki Savage which is fun but it's not my BMW.
Today I called Dan to find out how things were going. It turns out that he had to order a new clutch as well because it was damaged by the leak. There was gear oil on the clutch disc. So that's one less thing I'll have to replace on the bike for the next few years. Wooohooo!
Hopefully I'll have the bike for this weekend as it's supposed to be nice out and it's my birthday so I'll have an excuse :)
Today I called Dan to find out how things were going. It turns out that he had to order a new clutch as well because it was damaged by the leak. There was gear oil on the clutch disc. So that's one less thing I'll have to replace on the bike for the next few years. Wooohooo!
Hopefully I'll have the bike for this weekend as it's supposed to be nice out and it's my birthday so I'll have an excuse :)
Friday, February 15, 2008
BBQ run to Alvin on the Savage
So the BMW is in the shop but that doesn't mean I don't have two wheels to ride to a BBQ lunch. Today's ride was pretty short and straight. I was going to meet two of my riding buddies in Alvin after they finished dropping off a bike that needed some work.
The route was straight. As in straight down highway 6 from Sugar Land to Alvin. The little Suzuki Savage 650 ran great. I'm hoping to run a few tanks of gas through it before I get my bike back next week. I think it just needs to be used instead of sitting in the garage.
BBQ at Joe's in Alvin seems to be a local favorite. I was there at lunch time and the parking lot was full of people. I opted for their small plate which had 1 meat, beans, cole slaw and potato salad for $7.95. The beans were good and the meat had a nice smoky taste to it. I didn't think the brisket had been cooked long enough though. It didn't easily pull apart with my fingers. Good BBQ in my opinion should pull a part easily in your hands, of course when it's over cooked it will fall apart on the plate which makes for tasty chopped beef sandwiches but a little difficult to eat as sliced.
Along the way I saw a BBQ place in Manvel called the Naked Spare Rib. I think I'll put it on my list of places to check out. I'm not a fan of just running down highway 6 for BBQ so maybe I can go down toward Richmond and take FM 762 to FM 1462 over to Alvin or cut up 288 from 1462. Either way I can do something better than just HWY 6 there and back.
Note about my Rick Mayer custom seat:
This evening Rick called me after I left another voice mail on his machine. He seemed genuinely interested in helping to resolve my problem with the seat. I described the pain to him and suggested possibly flattening the seat to reduce cupping and to carve a groove in the middle to help alleviate the pressure on my tail bone. Rick explained that flattening the seat would only put more pressure on my tail bone. After we discussed miles ridden in the seat, around 9000 by my estimates, he finally said he didn't think there was anything he could do for me and that I just had a problem with the seat. Then he offered to put my seat back to stock and refund my money, minus $150 for the leather shell though. I find it sort of odd that he deducts $150 when the leather upgrade only cost me $100. I may just sell it on ebay or advrider.com and go on. He did agree to refund my money though so he's alright in my book, if not a little difficult to contact.
The route was straight. As in straight down highway 6 from Sugar Land to Alvin. The little Suzuki Savage 650 ran great. I'm hoping to run a few tanks of gas through it before I get my bike back next week. I think it just needs to be used instead of sitting in the garage.
BBQ at Joe's in Alvin seems to be a local favorite. I was there at lunch time and the parking lot was full of people. I opted for their small plate which had 1 meat, beans, cole slaw and potato salad for $7.95. The beans were good and the meat had a nice smoky taste to it. I didn't think the brisket had been cooked long enough though. It didn't easily pull apart with my fingers. Good BBQ in my opinion should pull a part easily in your hands, of course when it's over cooked it will fall apart on the plate which makes for tasty chopped beef sandwiches but a little difficult to eat as sliced.
Along the way I saw a BBQ place in Manvel called the Naked Spare Rib. I think I'll put it on my list of places to check out. I'm not a fan of just running down highway 6 for BBQ so maybe I can go down toward Richmond and take FM 762 to FM 1462 over to Alvin or cut up 288 from 1462. Either way I can do something better than just HWY 6 there and back.
Note about my Rick Mayer custom seat:
This evening Rick called me after I left another voice mail on his machine. He seemed genuinely interested in helping to resolve my problem with the seat. I described the pain to him and suggested possibly flattening the seat to reduce cupping and to carve a groove in the middle to help alleviate the pressure on my tail bone. Rick explained that flattening the seat would only put more pressure on my tail bone. After we discussed miles ridden in the seat, around 9000 by my estimates, he finally said he didn't think there was anything he could do for me and that I just had a problem with the seat. Then he offered to put my seat back to stock and refund my money, minus $150 for the leather shell though. I find it sort of odd that he deducts $150 when the leather upgrade only cost me $100. I may just sell it on ebay or advrider.com and go on. He did agree to refund my money though so he's alright in my book, if not a little difficult to contact.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Waiting for another new seat
For those who know me, I 've tried to make it very clear that I'm not happy with my Rick Mayer custom seat. It's an absolute torture device causing discomfort in the first 30 miles and pain within the first 100. Last week I finally acquired another stock seat to use while I sent my RMC seat in for adjustment. So I called Rick to discuss what needed to be done. The only problem, nobody was there. So I left a voicemail saying I needed a seat adjustment and to please call me to discuss.
Well it's been a week and no returned phone call. I've called a few times through out the week to try and "catch him" but no luck. They simply aren't answering the phone. I say "they" because I know for a fact that it's not just Rick working in a little shack all by himself. His sister works with him and others. So for whatever reason they've left the answering machine on and not bothered to return calls for a week. Not the best customer service.
Since the trip out to Ft. Davis in January I've been regretting more and more the purchase of the RMC seat. At times I sort of feel like one of those people in a V-8 commercial that bonk themselves on the head saying "I could've had a V-8". In my case it's "I've could've had a Russel" as in a Russell Day Long seat. To make matters worse, I saw a post on ADVRider.com showing a beautiful seat for my bike from RDL. So I started inquiring as to the wait time, costs, etc... As is my nature, my inquiries were via email. Heather responded and was very helpful. Initially she said the soonest I could get a seat built was April 18th. But she went on to explain their warranty. They believe in their production process so much so they will adjust the seat two times within 18 months of purchase and if the seat still doesn't fit me they will put the seat back to factory and refund my money. Contrast that to RMC's "guarantee" and you start to see the difference.
Tuesday I made the commitment and faxed in my order for a "Day Long" seat with a rider backrest. The seat was specified as a S-3 Dual (both rider and pillion) leather top and vinyl sides with the half moon stitching pattern. I chose the stitching pattern because it seemed to fit the bike best and was the most water resistant. It also didn't look like something you'd see on a 70's chopper. This time I'm getting the pillion seat done so Reagan will have a more comfortable place to sit when we go to Gillette for the rally in July. Hopefully a seat like the one in this picture will be on my bike before I head to Memphis in May for a training convention. I am really hoping to knock out my SS2000 on the way up.
Today I got the call and was told my production date is April 25th. She told me I could send in my pictures along with my seat or I could send the pictures via email and if I was able to send the seat in a little early that would help. You can bet I'll send it in early.
Here's to hoping the RDL is all I dreamed for in a seat on my LD adventure steed.
Well it's been a week and no returned phone call. I've called a few times through out the week to try and "catch him" but no luck. They simply aren't answering the phone. I say "they" because I know for a fact that it's not just Rick working in a little shack all by himself. His sister works with him and others. So for whatever reason they've left the answering machine on and not bothered to return calls for a week. Not the best customer service.
Since the trip out to Ft. Davis in January I've been regretting more and more the purchase of the RMC seat. At times I sort of feel like one of those people in a V-8 commercial that bonk themselves on the head saying "I could've had a V-8". In my case it's "I've could've had a Russel" as in a Russell Day Long seat. To make matters worse, I saw a post on ADVRider.com showing a beautiful seat for my bike from RDL. So I started inquiring as to the wait time, costs, etc... As is my nature, my inquiries were via email. Heather responded and was very helpful. Initially she said the soonest I could get a seat built was April 18th. But she went on to explain their warranty. They believe in their production process so much so they will adjust the seat two times within 18 months of purchase and if the seat still doesn't fit me they will put the seat back to factory and refund my money. Contrast that to RMC's "guarantee" and you start to see the difference.
Tuesday I made the commitment and faxed in my order for a "Day Long" seat with a rider backrest. The seat was specified as a S-3 Dual (both rider and pillion) leather top and vinyl sides with the half moon stitching pattern. I chose the stitching pattern because it seemed to fit the bike best and was the most water resistant. It also didn't look like something you'd see on a 70's chopper. This time I'm getting the pillion seat done so Reagan will have a more comfortable place to sit when we go to Gillette for the rally in July. Hopefully a seat like the one in this picture will be on my bike before I head to Memphis in May for a training convention. I am really hoping to knock out my SS2000 on the way up.Today I got the call and was told my production date is April 25th. She told me I could send in my pictures along with my seat or I could send the pictures via email and if I was able to send the seat in a little early that would help. You can bet I'll send it in early.
Here's to hoping the RDL is all I dreamed for in a seat on my LD adventure steed.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Dropped off the GS for warranty repair
Last week I decided I'd go ahead and bite the bullet. For the past 13,000 miles or so I've noticed a small oil leak between the engine and transmission. From reading posts on advrider.com it looked as though it was a rear main seal going out. Since this month is kind of slow on the riding calendar I thought I'd take it in.
So today I dropped it off at Wild West in Katy and Dan said I should have it back by next weekend. He also said he couldn't even look at it until this weekend but wanted me to leave it with him none the less. I'm not complaining, since buying the bike in June '07 I've put over 16,500 miles on it. Assuming I get it back this month I'll definitely be over 22,000 for the first year of ownership. And that's assuming I don't knock out any iron butt rides before June.
Hmmm, I think it's time to get Reagan's Savage tuned up and running....
So today I dropped it off at Wild West in Katy and Dan said I should have it back by next weekend. He also said he couldn't even look at it until this weekend but wanted me to leave it with him none the less. I'm not complaining, since buying the bike in June '07 I've put over 16,500 miles on it. Assuming I get it back this month I'll definitely be over 22,000 for the first year of ownership. And that's assuming I don't knock out any iron butt rides before June.
Hmmm, I think it's time to get Reagan's Savage tuned up and running....
Saturday, February 2, 2008
2 up on the GS today
After months of suttle opportunities and the installation of J&M speakers in Reagan's helmet, she got on the back of the bike. She was a little hesitant at first but a trooper none the less.
The ride was short and began with an easy pace to get the feel of things. We went to "the other side of the tracks" behind the old sugar factory and then moved across hiway 6. Left on Old Richmond road and down by Kevin and Charlene's place. As we neared FM 1464 I asked if she wanted to try a short run on 99, this would see how the bike did at speed. She agreed so we made a left on FM 1464 and headed to the Grand Parkway. When we got to the Parkway, I made a right and began to accelerate. The bike was smooth and Reagan seemed pretty comfortable.
When we got up to Harlem road, we made a right and then another right onto Madden road. The plan was to swing by John and Lydia's if they were cleaning the trike. The sharp left and sharp right on Madden went well. We crossed 1464 onto Boss Gaston road, turmed right on Richmond Gaines road. I wanted to take West Airport instead of Voss due to the construction. We crossed Burney road and continued to Eldridge. A few more turns and we pulled into John and Lydia's "pool hall" where John pretty much had the trike washed up.
We sat around for a while telling stories and talking. As the sun was going down the temperature felt like it was getting colder. I was happy to put on the riding jacket to go home. Once on the bike, I noticed Reagan was shivering. Apparently she was cold from the time we got off the bike. A couple of miles down Alt-90 and we were pulling into the driveway. A fun short ride accomplished.
Next time we'll take a longer ride out somewhere to eat a tasty lunch, maybe bar-b-que in Eagle Lake, Pattison or maybe Neumans in Belleville. So many options for a short day ride.
The GS is a great bike for 2 up riding. It handled the extra passenger without issue. A few tweaks of the pillion seating area and she'll be set.
The ride was short and began with an easy pace to get the feel of things. We went to "the other side of the tracks" behind the old sugar factory and then moved across hiway 6. Left on Old Richmond road and down by Kevin and Charlene's place. As we neared FM 1464 I asked if she wanted to try a short run on 99, this would see how the bike did at speed. She agreed so we made a left on FM 1464 and headed to the Grand Parkway. When we got to the Parkway, I made a right and began to accelerate. The bike was smooth and Reagan seemed pretty comfortable.
When we got up to Harlem road, we made a right and then another right onto Madden road. The plan was to swing by John and Lydia's if they were cleaning the trike. The sharp left and sharp right on Madden went well. We crossed 1464 onto Boss Gaston road, turmed right on Richmond Gaines road. I wanted to take West Airport instead of Voss due to the construction. We crossed Burney road and continued to Eldridge. A few more turns and we pulled into John and Lydia's "pool hall" where John pretty much had the trike washed up.
We sat around for a while telling stories and talking. As the sun was going down the temperature felt like it was getting colder. I was happy to put on the riding jacket to go home. Once on the bike, I noticed Reagan was shivering. Apparently she was cold from the time we got off the bike. A couple of miles down Alt-90 and we were pulling into the driveway. A fun short ride accomplished.
Next time we'll take a longer ride out somewhere to eat a tasty lunch, maybe bar-b-que in Eagle Lake, Pattison or maybe Neumans in Belleville. So many options for a short day ride.
The GS is a great bike for 2 up riding. It handled the extra passenger without issue. A few tweaks of the pillion seating area and she'll be set.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Big Bend Freeze Out 2008 in Review
We left out early on Friday morning before dark and I pulled into my driveway on Monday evening after dark having added another 1,837 miles to the odometer. What happened between that time is what I've written below.
First off, it was my plan to use the audio blog feature of Utterz to blog about the trip verbally instead of with written text. I also didn't expect to have Internet access when I got out to Ft. Davis. It turns out I type a little better than I talk so I don't think I'll be using Utterz in this manner again.
Friday:
I got over to John's about 4:10am, and we left promptly at 4:15. Once headed down 90A I realized I had forgotten my wallet so I radio to Fred and John and turned around. I'd catch up with them in Brookshire. A quick dash into the house and I had my wallet, then back on the bike and through the yard I went (I would hear about driving through the yard later). I pulled into the Flyin' J about 40 minutes later with plenty of time before we had to depart. On the way over it was misting and I had on my Lee Parks Design PCI gloves. Since I had coated them the night before with mink oil I wasn't worried about them in a light mist (big mistake).
We got on the road just after 5:30 with 5 of us on bikes and 3 bikes on trailers. As we were leaving I thought about putting on my Aerostitch covers but decides against it. Ooops! Riding west on I-10 from Brookshire isn't terribly exciting but it was the beginning of the trip, it was raining, it was cold, my electrics were working, and I was headed to west Texas.
By the time we reached Lulling my hands seemed really cold and I thought the left heated grip had malfunctioned. Great, I'd have to ride the entire weekend without my heated grips. When we reached Seguin we filled up at the Exxon next to the Kettle grill. My left hand was so cold it felt like someone had smashed my fingers. When I took my hand out of the glove and touched the grip I realized my grips were working but the gloves had failed me miserably.
Breakfast at the Kettle grill was interesting. The food was good but my plate came out last as asking for eggs over hard, really hard, was a challenge for the cook. But I had time to warm up while I was inside and my hands began to feel normal again. When I examined my fancy gloves I realized they were completely soaked and would not be of any use to me for the rest of the day. Luckily I had brought extra pairs of gloves. So I used my Joe Rocket Drytech gloves that I had bought 2 years ago on a special closeout for $30. These ended up being my cold weather gloves for the weekend.
Once we got through San Antonio the rain seemed to disappear and we were left with cloudy skies and cool temps (in the low 40s). With the electric gear on and dry gloves I was comfortable and enjoying the ride. We rode west from San Antonio stopping every 100 miles or so. Just taking it easy and enjoying the scenery. When we stopped in Sanderson to fill up there was some concern about getting up the road quickly and getting to our motel before dark. We were in serious deer country now.
We arrived in Fort Davis before dark and checked into our motel rooms. Once everybody arrived (some stopped along the way for stuff) it was time to find dinner which we did at the local drug store. Food was good.
Saturday:
"Side stands up at 7:30am" that was the plan decided upon the night before. Well by 7am, everyone was out at their bikes getting ready. The plan was simple, ride down 118 to Study Butte, ride the river road (FM 170) up to Presidio, eat lunch and then continue on 170 to Candelaria, turn around and ride back to Presidio, then head up 67 through Marfa and take just outside of Ft. Davis we'd take Hiway 166 west to do the Davis Mountain loop. According to Mapsource, this would be a 419 mile trip. I was pumped.
We ate breakfast at the Drugstore in Ft. Davis but it didn't open until 8am so we stood around for awhile. After breakfast we took off on 118 as we had planned. I don't think we got 10 miles out of town before a deer jumped out in front of Gary who was in the lead. Hello! I was awake now.
When we got to Alpine, we caught up with Fred who had left ahead of us to fuel up in Alpine. We got caught by a train and Fred was asking where Doug was. Apparently Doug was the last one out of breakfast and he hadn't caught up. Later in the day we'd discover that he had started to run the planned route backwards heading toward Marfa. Doug would catch up with us down the road in Study Butte.
Since Fred and Gary didn't know where Doug was they decided to turn around and go look for him along the route. The rest of us continued on down 118. We stopped in Study Butte to gas up, as Presidio was the next gas stop 70 miles away. This is where we met up with Doug. Once everyone had gassed we took off on FM 170. Wow! what a road. Of course in the back of my mind I heard Fred's warning, "if you crash on the river road we won't call an ambulance, we'll just call for a body bag because it's gonna take a while to get help." With that warning in mind, I set my speed accordingly. My decision was to limit myself to no more than "double over" warning signs and not over the posted speed limit.
Along the river road we stopped at a scenic over look to take pictures. Mike convinced me to walk down the hill a little ways to get a picture on the other side. He said "I'll give you your money back if you aren't happy". Well the picture was nice but the walk back up the hill SUCKED! After everyone got finished with pictures and the group had collected from Study Butte we suited up and continued on the River Road toward Presidio. Just a couple miles down the road we caught up with Gary and Fred who were coming from Presidio. So everyone turned around and we met back up at the scenic overlook. After some discussion it was decided that we'd continue along FM170 to Presidio for lunch, but Fred and Gary were heading to Lajitas for lunch.
Wow! The river road was fun. Once we got going after leaving the over look Randy and I ended up riding together. We kept the pace at my predetermined speeds and had a good time. Only once did a corner give me a little "pucker factor" when it started decreasing it's radius and seemed to go on forever.
We fueled up in Presidio and then went over to El Alamo for mexican food. It was after 2pm when we all finished and paid the bill. Fred and Gary had shone up as there wasn't any food in Lajitas. John, Fred, Gary and Doug decided they were done for the day and were heading back to the motel. Randy and I weren't really ready to call it quits and neither was Andy on his K1200GT. So the 3 of us decided we'd take our own route back. Since it was already after 2pm and it was a good 45 minutes in each direction to get to Candelaria and back, we opted to do that another day. The plan was to ride up 67 through Marfa and go to Ft. Davis, then we'd do the Davis mountain loop. We made good time going up Hiway 67.
Once in Ft. Davis we took 118 west and headed into the Davis mountains. Andy in front, then Randy and me in the rear. A few miles up the way, and many turns into the ride, we came upon 5 deer in the road. Actually 3 in the road and 2 in the ditch alongside. Once we stopped they got out of the way, but this was our reminder that deer were present! We continued on and took a break at the McDonald Observatory to check it out briefly.
After a quick stop we decided to continue along the loop and hoped to return to the observatory that even for an astronomy program. Heading west on 118 the road got narrower and rougher but it was still fun. We saw some turkeys off to the right. Once we turned left onto 166 we saw more wildlife and we enjoyed wide open spaces. First we saw antelope, then we saw javelinas, then we saw more javelinas. I was just glad that they would run away as we approached. When we got to 17, we headed north back to the motel. It was a great day of riding and another 340 miles on the odometer. Randy had a smile on his face that he couldn't wipe off.
Dinner was had at the Ft. Davis drugstore. That place was pretty good.
Sunday:
It was decided that we'd eat at the drugstore again so we weren't in such a hurry to leave since they didn't open until 8am. Another tasty breakfast and then we were off. Some of the group was headed for Black Gap, while Randy and I were headed to Big Bend National Park since we were the rookies and had never been. The plan was to ride down 118 again through Study Butte and enter the park on the west side. We passed the Black Gap group just before Alpine and lost sight of them as we continued on 118 out of Alpine. Riding 118 for the third time was great, I knew some of the curves better and could have a little more fun. A short gas stop in Study Butte and we were headed for the park. It was about 11 am when we left Study Butte.
Both Randy and I had heard the warnings, "it's 45mph in the park" so we kept the speed right at 45 or less for the first hour or 2 in the park. Our first destination in the park was Santa Elena Canyon, so we could dip a toe in the Rio Grande River. We passed up lots of beautiful sites along the way but since I knew we were coming back via the same 30 mile long road I asked Randy if it would be OK to stop at the sites on the way back. He was good with that. By noon we were at the Santa Elena canyon and I had ridden my bike out on to the river bed and parked it just a few feet from the water. Randy decided to keep his RT on the dirt road but still in plain site. I was content to hang out at the river and b.s. until Randy started talking about the tubers who had been shot from the cliffs. Considering we were both in hi-viz jackets it was time to leave!
We headed up the road and stopped at several scenic exhibits along the way. The most beautiful was Sotol Vista Overlook. My camera just couldn't take in the entire view but it was incredible. After some photos we moved on and checked out other attractions along the way. Some we were able to pull up along side, in those cases I snapped a picture without even getting off the bike.
Once back on the main road we headed east to go to the Chisos Basin to hopefully get a look at "the window" from the lodge area. I'm not sure we actually saw "the window" but it was amazing riding up to the lodge. As you got closer you went from an arid desert into an almost tropical forest. Once we got to the lodge it was quiet and peaceful. I could have stayed there for awhile but by now I was starting to watch the time as I wanted to be heading out of the park by 4pm so we'd be back before dark.
Time management was on my side. and at 3:25 we were heading north on 385 out of the park. The only thing is that you have to ride through the desert in the park, at 45 mph for about 30 miles. That had to be the most boring part of the ride, it was straight, flat and slow. At least off in the distance you had plenty of mountains to look at and I wondered if we'd get to ride some twisties when we came out of the desert and out of the park with it's 45 mph limit. Indeed we found a few twisites upon leaving the park, and then more straight roads. This allowed a little time for creative pictures.
Once out of the park we continued north on 385. I saw the sign for Black Gap but knew the other group had been long gone from there and we'd be hard pressed to go scouting in Black Gap and make it home by night fall. So onward we went. When we pulled into Marathon Randy reminded me about the local law enforcement that liked to watch 90 and 385 so we took it nice and slow. By now Randy and I both were a little nervous about the deer as we had seen a few along the way and at a check point the border patrol officer asked Randy if he'd seen that deer along the road beneath the tree. He hadn't.
We took 90 into Alpine and then headed north on 118. Alright so this was the fourth time on 118 but it was getting late and was prime deer time. So I took it a little easy but still had fun. We rolled into the motel parking lot at 5:32pm with another 326 miles on the odometer. Randy had a smile from ear to ear again. It was another great day.
Dinner was another story altogether. Sunday night in Ft. Davis you don't have much of a choice as the only thing that is open is Hotel Limpia and you'd better call them if you plan to eat after 4pm because they just close up after the last guests leave. So we called them and told them we would be having 10 people show up at 7pm. They seemed a little excited and said they'd stay open.
We arrived just a few minutes before 7 and was seated promptly. I was one of the last ones in as I was fiddling with stuff on my bike. At my table there were 7 of us. The waitress introduced herself as Kara and proceeded to take our drink orders. Tea, tea, tea, water, tea, tea w/ lemons, lots of lemons. Off she went and we all looked at the menu. Fred wanted an appetizer but there were none on the menu. The menu is some what pretentious with fancy dishes and high prices. The Fried Beef Tenderloin caught my eye as I was in the mood for a steak and thought that a fried tenderloin might be interesting.
Well the dinner took a definite down turn when Kara brought out the salad. She brought out one little bowl and said that was for everyone. We told her we'd need more and she said it was served family style. So after about 3 people got their helpings of salad we had to wait for more. She could have changed the entire mood of the meal if she had started by bringing at least 2 bowls of salad, I mean there were 7 healthy men sitting at the table.
Next came the main course, I wish I had my camera when Doug's Lemon Parmesan Chicken was placed before him. To say it was smaller than he expected would be an understatement. Kara served the rest of the meals and when Doug saw Gary's chicken fried chicken I thought he might cry. It was at least twice the size. He asked Kara about the size different, her excuse "It's because it's fried, that makes it larger". OK, now I knew we were in trouble.
Everybody got a serving of the cream cheese mashed potatoes. I don't think anybody was interested in the squash. Everybody started commenting about how hot (spicy) the potatoes were. Then promptly all the drinking glasses were emptied. And they remained that way for several minutes. Finally Fred asked the manager for some tea as our waitress had forgotten us.
As for my Fried Beef Tenderloin. If that was in fact a tenderloin it had to be the worst cut of tenderloin ever. I've had poorly cooked brisket that wasn't that tough and dry. And the batter? It was caked on there in far too much abundance. And there was at least 1/2 the gravy served with the meal as should have been. Both Gary and I asked for more gravy when we received our plates, Kara acknowledged our requests but never brought us gravy.
After picking off most of the battered crust and finishing the leather tough tenderloin I proceeded to check out the fresh snap peas. They were cold and soggy. They had been boiled to death in the back. The potatoes were good although drowned with black pepper so it was impossible to taste anything but the pepper.
After everyone had stopped eating Kara returned to offer desert. She had blackberry pie but no icecream, she was out of several deserts, had 1 slice of coconut pie, and mainly pushed the chocolate cake and a combination chocolate cake/french silk concoction. I figured I had endured enough of this chef's disasters.
In summary about Hotel Limpia's restaurant, STAY OUT!!! I honestly believe the chef would be fired from even the worst short order cook position in a greasy spoon. I saw him once when he came out of the kitchen and he looked as though he truly did not know what he was doing and didn't look like the type of person who should be cooking the type of expensive cuisine this place was trying to sell. Read my words,
STAY AWAY FROM HOTEL LIMPIA'S RESTAURANT, IT'S HORRIBLE!
I'd nominate it for the worst restaurant in Texas if I could find a link.
Monday:
Today's ride would be long and boring but my philosophy is any day on two wheels is a good day. Not everyone shared my thoughts. From the weather forecast I figured I'd be shedding some layers early but that I had strong winds to content with. Well with just the eletrics on I was able to easily regulate the temps until we got almost to San Antonio. The biggest challenge between Balmorhea and Kerville had to be the wind. It was coming out of the south and it was blowing hard. I was thankful I had the GS and not a lighter bike like a GSX-R or K1200GT. We stopped every 100 miles or so to take a break. We weren't in a hurry.
Breakfast was had in Ft. Stockton at the Burger King inside the Shell station. This was the first time we'd eaten at a fast food place all weekend long. It was also nice to take a break from the relentless wind. We decided we would push for Schulenburg to have a late lunch/early supper.
By 4:30 we arrived in Schulenburg at the Oak Ridge smoke house. I had always known this place for it's home cooking buffet and jerky. It didn't even dawn on me they had Bar-B-Que. Well now I know, THEY DON'T!!!! Sure they call it BBQ but I had to cut my brisket with a knife that I darn near broke. It was so tough you couldn't even just bite off a piece, you had to cut it into smaller chunks. And yes my beef tenderloin was tougher than this poorly cooked brisket. John took pity on me and brought me some pulled pork from the buffet. It wasn't any better. Those folks in Schulenburg should be ashamed of the crap they call bar-b-q. It's an insult to those of us who know how to cook good 'Q.
After dinner we headed home. John and I decided to stay on I-10 and head for 99. We were taking the faster route home. While Fred, Gary and Doug were taking 102 into Eagle Lake and enjoying a few local roads on the way home. Well shortly after getting on 99 we got hung up in a huge traffic jam for almost 30 minutes. So much for the fast way home. We turned onto Morton road and took back roads into Sugar Land. I arrived in my driveway at 7pm with a total of 1.837 new miles on the odometer. I wheeled the bike in the garage and went inside, I was home.
Gear - What worked and didn't:
I had purchased a few items for this trip as this was really my first winter trip to take. Items included Gerbing liners (pants, jacket & sockets), a heat-troller from Warm & Safe, Lee Parks Design PCI gloves, and a Technik mount for my camera. And I borrowed some Aerostitch Tank Panniers from Gray.
The electric liners and controller worked great! They made the entire weekend comfortable. When it was cold and wet on Friday morning, my body was warm and dry. I did learn that you have to really crank up the pants though to get the socks right. That may be due to the wind being blocked by the tank panniers but I think I'll try to get another controller just for the socks.
The Lee Parks Design Phase Change gloves with Outlast were probably the biggest disappointment for me. All of my gear is water proof so I don't worry about rain. But with the gloves I had to worry about the rain, so I wiped them down with mink oil to give them a little water resistance. Well they were soaked through by the time I got to Seguin on Friday. So I had to fall back to my $30 cheapie winter gloves which worked great. I tried the gloves again on Sunday morning on the way to breakfast. Just 2 miles down the road my finger tips were cold and the gloves were dry. Motorcycle Consumer News has raved about these gloves in the past, but for me they seemed to be money wasted. I think they'll be up for sale by the end of the week. I plan to replace them with electric gloves or at least electric liners for my $30 pair of cheap winter gloves.
I had hoped to use the Technik mount with my camera to take some videos while I was riding. Well that didn't work well at all. There's just too much vibration transmitted through the mount to record a good picture. Of course I have to consider that I'm using a Sony DSC-H9 camera that has some video capabilities and not a real video camera. None the less the purchase of the mount isn't wasted, I'll use it for my radar detector which has been on my farkle list for some time now.
The Aerostitch Tank Panniers had to be one of the better things I took on the trip. They allowed me to carry my camelback bladder on one side along with an adult beverage for the motel room. And I was able to carry lots of other things that normally got carried in my top case. On the return trip they were invaluable as I was not wearing as many layers as I had going out and I was able to find enough space to pack everything with those panniers. These are definitely on my farkle list, before the radar detector for sure.
Some gear that I've had for a while that worked as expected:
Olympia AST Hi-Viz Jacket (water proof)
Olympia Ranger Pants (water proof)
Setup Riding Boots (water proof)
UnderArmor Cold gear, best long underwear ever!
Shoei Pin-lock visor system (no visor fogging)
And the one thing that is high on my list to fix:
My gosh awful Rick Mayer custom seat. I've sent it back once already for adjustments and I don't think Rick actually listened to my complaints. I had 2 problems with the original stock seat, I felt like I was sliding forward and it caused a pain across my tail bone that made it painful to sit for days after. Well the RMC seat did the same things. After sending it back the sliding forward problem is mostly gone but even 2 days after the trip, it still hurts to sit down. It's going back for another adjustment just as soon as I can fine a temporary seat as it takes 2 weeks to get adjusted. If he can't get it right this next time around I think I'll look seriously at the Russell Day Long.
First off, it was my plan to use the audio blog feature of Utterz to blog about the trip verbally instead of with written text. I also didn't expect to have Internet access when I got out to Ft. Davis. It turns out I type a little better than I talk so I don't think I'll be using Utterz in this manner again.
Friday:
I got over to John's about 4:10am, and we left promptly at 4:15. Once headed down 90A I realized I had forgotten my wallet so I radio to Fred and John and turned around. I'd catch up with them in Brookshire. A quick dash into the house and I had my wallet, then back on the bike and through the yard I went (I would hear about driving through the yard later). I pulled into the Flyin' J about 40 minutes later with plenty of time before we had to depart. On the way over it was misting and I had on my Lee Parks Design PCI gloves. Since I had coated them the night before with mink oil I wasn't worried about them in a light mist (big mistake).
We got on the road just after 5:30 with 5 of us on bikes and 3 bikes on trailers. As we were leaving I thought about putting on my Aerostitch covers but decides against it. Ooops! Riding west on I-10 from Brookshire isn't terribly exciting but it was the beginning of the trip, it was raining, it was cold, my electrics were working, and I was headed to west Texas.
By the time we reached Lulling my hands seemed really cold and I thought the left heated grip had malfunctioned. Great, I'd have to ride the entire weekend without my heated grips. When we reached Seguin we filled up at the Exxon next to the Kettle grill. My left hand was so cold it felt like someone had smashed my fingers. When I took my hand out of the glove and touched the grip I realized my grips were working but the gloves had failed me miserably.
Breakfast at the Kettle grill was interesting. The food was good but my plate came out last as asking for eggs over hard, really hard, was a challenge for the cook. But I had time to warm up while I was inside and my hands began to feel normal again. When I examined my fancy gloves I realized they were completely soaked and would not be of any use to me for the rest of the day. Luckily I had brought extra pairs of gloves. So I used my Joe Rocket Drytech gloves that I had bought 2 years ago on a special closeout for $30. These ended up being my cold weather gloves for the weekend.
Once we got through San Antonio the rain seemed to disappear and we were left with cloudy skies and cool temps (in the low 40s). With the electric gear on and dry gloves I was comfortable and enjoying the ride. We rode west from San Antonio stopping every 100 miles or so. Just taking it easy and enjoying the scenery. When we stopped in Sanderson to fill up there was some concern about getting up the road quickly and getting to our motel before dark. We were in serious deer country now.We arrived in Fort Davis before dark and checked into our motel rooms. Once everybody arrived (some stopped along the way for stuff) it was time to find dinner which we did at the local drug store. Food was good.
Saturday:
"Side stands up at 7:30am" that was the plan decided upon the night before. Well by 7am, everyone was out at their bikes getting ready. The plan was simple, ride down 118 to Study Butte, ride the river road (FM 170) up to Presidio, eat lunch and then continue on 170 to Candelaria, turn around and ride back to Presidio, then head up 67 through Marfa and take just outside of Ft. Davis we'd take Hiway 166 west to do the Davis Mountain loop. According to Mapsource, this would be a 419 mile trip. I was pumped.
We ate breakfast at the Drugstore in Ft. Davis but it didn't open until 8am so we stood around for awhile. After breakfast we took off on 118 as we had planned. I don't think we got 10 miles out of town before a deer jumped out in front of Gary who was in the lead. Hello! I was awake now.When we got to Alpine, we caught up with Fred who had left ahead of us to fuel up in Alpine. We got caught by a train and Fred was asking where Doug was. Apparently Doug was the last one out of breakfast and he hadn't caught up. Later in the day we'd discover that he had started to run the planned route backwards heading toward Marfa. Doug would catch up with us down the road in Study Butte.
Since Fred and Gary didn't know where Doug was they decided to turn around and go look for him along the route. The rest of us continued on down 118. We stopped in Study Butte to gas up, as Presidio was the next gas stop 70 miles away. This is where we met up with Doug. Once everyone had gassed we took off on FM 170. Wow! what a road. Of course in the back of my mind I heard Fred's warning, "if you crash on the river road we won't call an ambulance, we'll just call for a body bag because it's gonna take a while to get help." With that warning in mind, I set my speed accordingly. My decision was to limit myself to no more than "double over" warning signs and not over the posted speed limit.
Along the river road we stopped at a scenic over look to take pictures. Mike convinced me to walk down the hill a little ways to get a picture on the other side. He said "I'll give you your money back if you aren't happy". Well the picture was nice but the walk back up the hill SUCKED! After everyone got finished with pictures and the group had collected from Study Butte we suited up and continued on the River Road toward Presidio. Just a couple miles down the road we caught up with Gary and Fred who were coming from Presidio. So everyone turned around and we met back up at the scenic overlook. After some discussion it was decided that we'd continue along FM170 to Presidio for lunch, but Fred and Gary were heading to Lajitas for lunch.Wow! The river road was fun. Once we got going after leaving the over look Randy and I ended up riding together. We kept the pace at my predetermined speeds and had a good time. Only once did a corner give me a little "pucker factor" when it started decreasing it's radius and seemed to go on forever.
We fueled up in Presidio and then went over to El Alamo for mexican food. It was after 2pm when we all finished and paid the bill. Fred and Gary had shone up as there wasn't any food in Lajitas. John, Fred, Gary and Doug decided they were done for the day and were heading back to the motel. Randy and I weren't really ready to call it quits and neither was Andy on his K1200GT. So the 3 of us decided we'd take our own route back. Since it was already after 2pm and it was a good 45 minutes in each direction to get to Candelaria and back, we opted to do that another day. The plan was to ride up 67 through Marfa and go to Ft. Davis, then we'd do the Davis mountain loop. We made good time going up Hiway 67.
Once in Ft. Davis we took 118 west and headed into the Davis mountains. Andy in front, then Randy and me in the rear. A few miles up the way, and many turns into the ride, we came upon 5 deer in the road. Actually 3 in the road and 2 in the ditch alongside. Once we stopped they got out of the way, but this was our reminder that deer were present! We continued on and took a break at the McDonald Observatory to check it out briefly.After a quick stop we decided to continue along the loop and hoped to return to the observatory that even for an astronomy program. Heading west on 118 the road got narrower and rougher but it was still fun. We saw some turkeys off to the right. Once we turned left onto 166 we saw more wildlife and we enjoyed wide open spaces. First we saw antelope, then we saw javelinas, then we saw more javelinas. I was just glad that they would run away as we approached. When we got to 17, we headed north back to the motel. It was a great day of riding and another 340 miles on the odometer. Randy had a smile on his face that he couldn't wipe off.
Dinner was had at the Ft. Davis drugstore. That place was pretty good.
Sunday:
It was decided that we'd eat at the drugstore again so we weren't in such a hurry to leave since they didn't open until 8am. Another tasty breakfast and then we were off. Some of the group was headed for Black Gap, while Randy and I were headed to Big Bend National Park since we were the rookies and had never been. The plan was to ride down 118 again through Study Butte and enter the park on the west side. We passed the Black Gap group just before Alpine and lost sight of them as we continued on 118 out of Alpine. Riding 118 for the third time was great, I knew some of the curves better and could have a little more fun. A short gas stop in Study Butte and we were headed for the park. It was about 11 am when we left Study Butte.
Both Randy and I had heard the warnings, "it's 45mph in the park" so we kept the speed right at 45 or less for the first hour or 2 in the park. Our first destination in the park was Santa Elena Canyon, so we could dip a toe in the Rio Grande River. We passed up lots of beautiful sites along the way but since I knew we were coming back via the same 30 mile long road I asked Randy if it would be OK to stop at the sites on the way back. He was good with that. By noon we were at the Santa Elena canyon and I had ridden my bike out on to the river bed and parked it just a few feet from the water. Randy decided to keep his RT on the dirt road but still in plain site. I was content to hang out at the river and b.s. until Randy started talking about the tubers who had been shot from the cliffs. Considering we were both in hi-viz jackets it was time to leave!We headed up the road and stopped at several scenic exhibits along the way. The most beautiful was Sotol Vista Overlook. My camera just couldn't take in the entire view but it was incredible. After some photos we moved on and checked out other attractions along the way. Some we were able to pull up along side, in those cases I snapped a picture without even getting off the bike.
Once back on the main road we headed east to go to the Chisos Basin to hopefully get a look at "the window" from the lodge area. I'm not sure we actually saw "the window" but it was amazing riding up to the lodge. As you got closer you went from an arid desert into an almost tropical forest. Once we got to the lodge it was quiet and peaceful. I could have stayed there for awhile but by now I was starting to watch the time as I wanted to be heading out of the park by 4pm so we'd be back before dark.
Time management was on my side. and at 3:25 we were heading north on 385 out of the park. The only thing is that you have to ride through the desert in the park, at 45 mph for about 30 miles. That had to be the most boring part of the ride, it was straight, flat and slow. At least off in the distance you had plenty of mountains to look at and I wondered if we'd get to ride some twisties when we came out of the desert and out of the park with it's 45 mph limit. Indeed we found a few twisites upon leaving the park, and then more straight roads. This allowed a little time for creative pictures.Once out of the park we continued north on 385. I saw the sign for Black Gap but knew the other group had been long gone from there and we'd be hard pressed to go scouting in Black Gap and make it home by night fall. So onward we went. When we pulled into Marathon Randy reminded me about the local law enforcement that liked to watch 90 and 385 so we took it nice and slow. By now Randy and I both were a little nervous about the deer as we had seen a few along the way and at a check point the border patrol officer asked Randy if he'd seen that deer along the road beneath the tree. He hadn't.
We took 90 into Alpine and then headed north on 118. Alright so this was the fourth time on 118 but it was getting late and was prime deer time. So I took it a little easy but still had fun. We rolled into the motel parking lot at 5:32pm with another 326 miles on the odometer. Randy had a smile from ear to ear again. It was another great day.
Dinner was another story altogether. Sunday night in Ft. Davis you don't have much of a choice as the only thing that is open is Hotel Limpia and you'd better call them if you plan to eat after 4pm because they just close up after the last guests leave. So we called them and told them we would be having 10 people show up at 7pm. They seemed a little excited and said they'd stay open.
We arrived just a few minutes before 7 and was seated promptly. I was one of the last ones in as I was fiddling with stuff on my bike. At my table there were 7 of us. The waitress introduced herself as Kara and proceeded to take our drink orders. Tea, tea, tea, water, tea, tea w/ lemons, lots of lemons. Off she went and we all looked at the menu. Fred wanted an appetizer but there were none on the menu. The menu is some what pretentious with fancy dishes and high prices. The Fried Beef Tenderloin caught my eye as I was in the mood for a steak and thought that a fried tenderloin might be interesting.
Well the dinner took a definite down turn when Kara brought out the salad. She brought out one little bowl and said that was for everyone. We told her we'd need more and she said it was served family style. So after about 3 people got their helpings of salad we had to wait for more. She could have changed the entire mood of the meal if she had started by bringing at least 2 bowls of salad, I mean there were 7 healthy men sitting at the table.
Next came the main course, I wish I had my camera when Doug's Lemon Parmesan Chicken was placed before him. To say it was smaller than he expected would be an understatement. Kara served the rest of the meals and when Doug saw Gary's chicken fried chicken I thought he might cry. It was at least twice the size. He asked Kara about the size different, her excuse "It's because it's fried, that makes it larger". OK, now I knew we were in trouble.
Everybody got a serving of the cream cheese mashed potatoes. I don't think anybody was interested in the squash. Everybody started commenting about how hot (spicy) the potatoes were. Then promptly all the drinking glasses were emptied. And they remained that way for several minutes. Finally Fred asked the manager for some tea as our waitress had forgotten us.
As for my Fried Beef Tenderloin. If that was in fact a tenderloin it had to be the worst cut of tenderloin ever. I've had poorly cooked brisket that wasn't that tough and dry. And the batter? It was caked on there in far too much abundance. And there was at least 1/2 the gravy served with the meal as should have been. Both Gary and I asked for more gravy when we received our plates, Kara acknowledged our requests but never brought us gravy.
After picking off most of the battered crust and finishing the leather tough tenderloin I proceeded to check out the fresh snap peas. They were cold and soggy. They had been boiled to death in the back. The potatoes were good although drowned with black pepper so it was impossible to taste anything but the pepper.
After everyone had stopped eating Kara returned to offer desert. She had blackberry pie but no icecream, she was out of several deserts, had 1 slice of coconut pie, and mainly pushed the chocolate cake and a combination chocolate cake/french silk concoction. I figured I had endured enough of this chef's disasters.
In summary about Hotel Limpia's restaurant, STAY OUT!!! I honestly believe the chef would be fired from even the worst short order cook position in a greasy spoon. I saw him once when he came out of the kitchen and he looked as though he truly did not know what he was doing and didn't look like the type of person who should be cooking the type of expensive cuisine this place was trying to sell. Read my words,
STAY AWAY FROM HOTEL LIMPIA'S RESTAURANT, IT'S HORRIBLE!
I'd nominate it for the worst restaurant in Texas if I could find a link.
Monday:
Today's ride would be long and boring but my philosophy is any day on two wheels is a good day. Not everyone shared my thoughts. From the weather forecast I figured I'd be shedding some layers early but that I had strong winds to content with. Well with just the eletrics on I was able to easily regulate the temps until we got almost to San Antonio. The biggest challenge between Balmorhea and Kerville had to be the wind. It was coming out of the south and it was blowing hard. I was thankful I had the GS and not a lighter bike like a GSX-R or K1200GT. We stopped every 100 miles or so to take a break. We weren't in a hurry.
Breakfast was had in Ft. Stockton at the Burger King inside the Shell station. This was the first time we'd eaten at a fast food place all weekend long. It was also nice to take a break from the relentless wind. We decided we would push for Schulenburg to have a late lunch/early supper.
By 4:30 we arrived in Schulenburg at the Oak Ridge smoke house. I had always known this place for it's home cooking buffet and jerky. It didn't even dawn on me they had Bar-B-Que. Well now I know, THEY DON'T!!!! Sure they call it BBQ but I had to cut my brisket with a knife that I darn near broke. It was so tough you couldn't even just bite off a piece, you had to cut it into smaller chunks. And yes my beef tenderloin was tougher than this poorly cooked brisket. John took pity on me and brought me some pulled pork from the buffet. It wasn't any better. Those folks in Schulenburg should be ashamed of the crap they call bar-b-q. It's an insult to those of us who know how to cook good 'Q.
After dinner we headed home. John and I decided to stay on I-10 and head for 99. We were taking the faster route home. While Fred, Gary and Doug were taking 102 into Eagle Lake and enjoying a few local roads on the way home. Well shortly after getting on 99 we got hung up in a huge traffic jam for almost 30 minutes. So much for the fast way home. We turned onto Morton road and took back roads into Sugar Land. I arrived in my driveway at 7pm with a total of 1.837 new miles on the odometer. I wheeled the bike in the garage and went inside, I was home.
Gear - What worked and didn't:
I had purchased a few items for this trip as this was really my first winter trip to take. Items included Gerbing liners (pants, jacket & sockets), a heat-troller from Warm & Safe, Lee Parks Design PCI gloves, and a Technik mount for my camera. And I borrowed some Aerostitch Tank Panniers from Gray.
The electric liners and controller worked great! They made the entire weekend comfortable. When it was cold and wet on Friday morning, my body was warm and dry. I did learn that you have to really crank up the pants though to get the socks right. That may be due to the wind being blocked by the tank panniers but I think I'll try to get another controller just for the socks.
The Lee Parks Design Phase Change gloves with Outlast were probably the biggest disappointment for me. All of my gear is water proof so I don't worry about rain. But with the gloves I had to worry about the rain, so I wiped them down with mink oil to give them a little water resistance. Well they were soaked through by the time I got to Seguin on Friday. So I had to fall back to my $30 cheapie winter gloves which worked great. I tried the gloves again on Sunday morning on the way to breakfast. Just 2 miles down the road my finger tips were cold and the gloves were dry. Motorcycle Consumer News has raved about these gloves in the past, but for me they seemed to be money wasted. I think they'll be up for sale by the end of the week. I plan to replace them with electric gloves or at least electric liners for my $30 pair of cheap winter gloves.
I had hoped to use the Technik mount with my camera to take some videos while I was riding. Well that didn't work well at all. There's just too much vibration transmitted through the mount to record a good picture. Of course I have to consider that I'm using a Sony DSC-H9 camera that has some video capabilities and not a real video camera. None the less the purchase of the mount isn't wasted, I'll use it for my radar detector which has been on my farkle list for some time now.
The Aerostitch Tank Panniers had to be one of the better things I took on the trip. They allowed me to carry my camelback bladder on one side along with an adult beverage for the motel room. And I was able to carry lots of other things that normally got carried in my top case. On the return trip they were invaluable as I was not wearing as many layers as I had going out and I was able to find enough space to pack everything with those panniers. These are definitely on my farkle list, before the radar detector for sure.
Some gear that I've had for a while that worked as expected:
Olympia AST Hi-Viz Jacket (water proof)
Olympia Ranger Pants (water proof)
Setup Riding Boots (water proof)
UnderArmor Cold gear, best long underwear ever!
Shoei Pin-lock visor system (no visor fogging)
And the one thing that is high on my list to fix:
My gosh awful Rick Mayer custom seat. I've sent it back once already for adjustments and I don't think Rick actually listened to my complaints. I had 2 problems with the original stock seat, I felt like I was sliding forward and it caused a pain across my tail bone that made it painful to sit for days after. Well the RMC seat did the same things. After sending it back the sliding forward problem is mostly gone but even 2 days after the trip, it still hurts to sit down. It's going back for another adjustment just as soon as I can fine a temporary seat as it takes 2 weeks to get adjusted. If he can't get it right this next time around I think I'll look seriously at the Russell Day Long.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Friday, January 25, 2008
Big Bend Freeze Out 2008
"We'll likely start out in rain", that's what Fred said a few weekends ago. It looks like he was right.I ran out of time yesterday before I could make a post, but the bike is ready, the important gear is tested. I'm hoping to make audio posts to blog through out the weekend provided my bluetooth functions on the phone and zumo. I also have a camera mount I'm going to try, hopefully I can get some video footage while I'm riding.
3:56am, time to mount up!
Sunday, January 20, 2008
A Sunday Ride
Today was pretty cool, with a temperature of 30 degrees when I got on the bike to go to breakfast. Since the Sunday meeting place is only about 2 miles down the road and since I wasn't planning to go riding after breakfast I dressed more for breakfast and wrenching than riding in the cold. This would have been a great morning to use some of my electric gear but since I'm still waiting on the Warm & Safe controller I didn't bother hooking up the cable directly. Remember, I was only going to breakfast.
Brrr!!! When I got onto Hiway 6 taking the new over pass over 90A I realized how cold it was. Thank goodness I was halfway there. Turn on the heated grips! On High!!
You see the reason why I wasn't going riding following breakfast is because I was planning to help my buddy John put his Goldwing back together. After our last trip he had started working on the front end, changing fork oil, replacing steering head bearings and other stuff. With the holidays and a cold he sort of got delayed on putting it all back together. So the plan was to work on that following breakfast.
After breakfast Fred and I headed to John's house. Lucky for me John's garage is insulated and had a little space heater running. It took the chill off the air and made it such that your hands didn't hurt when you scraped or banged them. Once we got started, things were going pretty well. We managed to get the forks set, front tire on, brakes and fender attached. Pretty much everything at the bottom end of the forks. Then we went to the top end. It took three tries before we got all the cables routed correctly from the handlebars. Those pesky throttle cables. After that we put the instrument cluster end and decided to call it a day.
Since it was just before 2pm and Reagan was out and about, I decided to take the long way home. So I headed west on 90A to FM359 where I turned right. A few miles down the road I caught up with some Harley riders doing the double nickel. Everybody had their gear on and seemed to be riding safely so I just stayed behind them. I figured when we got to Winner Foster road I'd go which ever direction they didn't. As I expected they stayed on 359 heading north so I turned left and took off down Winner Foster Road. It was a great day, very little traffic, clear skies and the temperature was just right.
I turned right onto Bois D Arc and headed north. This road takes you into Fulshear with a few sharp turns along the way. When I got into Fulshear my Fuel light came on. What? only 160 miles on the trip meter and I need gas? What gives. I decide to push on into Brookshire for gas. I stay on FM1093 heading west out of Fulshear. When I get to Simonton I turn right onto Simonton road toward Brookshire. There's an Exxon there and I like using my speed pass. Since I was a little concerned about my fuel economy I decided to keep the pace steady (but enjoyable) so I could see if my fuel usage was on par. My guage said I had 38 miles of fuel left and it was 10 miles to Brookshire. So if things were OK, I should roll into town with 27 miles left. And that's what happened. While refilling the tank, it dawned on me that last weekend I was riding around the motorcycle range practicing on "the bean" which is a small oval-ish track used in the MSF Experienced Rider course. That was mostly first and second gear with some hard acceleration which explains the poor fuel economy.
With a full tank of gas I headed north to Pattison to ride Racers Road. It's got some nice sweeping curves and is fun to ride. Racers Road is FM1489 out of Pattison. When I crossed the Brazos river I slowed to 45mph so as to avoid the need to make any donations to the San Felipe police department. I continued south crossing over I-10. Just as I got to FM 1093 I decided to turn right instead of left and head toward Wallis. I had a plan...
Once I got to Wallis I turned left on Hiway 36 and headed south east toward Rosenberg. I was planning to stay on 36 until I got to spur 10 which would cut over to Hiway 59. When I got a few miles down the road to Orchard I decided to head south to Taverner and pick up 90A. Once I got to 90A I turned left heading toward Rosenberg again. Glancing down at the GPS I noticed a road up ahead on my right that eventually went to Hiway 59. So when I got to it, I turned right onto FM1875 and headed south toward Beasley. They've been doing some construction on 59 around Beasley and I wasn't sure about the best way to get onto 59 heading back to the house. A short detour and I manged to get myself going northbound on Hiway 59.
By 4pm I was in my driveway, talking to my neighbor. It was a nice ride home and I wasn't too cold. The odometer has another 106 miles on it from today's trip and I think my adjustments to the backrest are going to work well. Before I leave for Ft. Davis on Friday, I hope to take another 100 miler without the beadrider pad on the seat. Hopefully I've adjusted the bike to the point that I can enjoy my Rick Mayer custom seat which to this point has been a pain in my butt.
Brrr!!! When I got onto Hiway 6 taking the new over pass over 90A I realized how cold it was. Thank goodness I was halfway there. Turn on the heated grips! On High!!
You see the reason why I wasn't going riding following breakfast is because I was planning to help my buddy John put his Goldwing back together. After our last trip he had started working on the front end, changing fork oil, replacing steering head bearings and other stuff. With the holidays and a cold he sort of got delayed on putting it all back together. So the plan was to work on that following breakfast.
After breakfast Fred and I headed to John's house. Lucky for me John's garage is insulated and had a little space heater running. It took the chill off the air and made it such that your hands didn't hurt when you scraped or banged them. Once we got started, things were going pretty well. We managed to get the forks set, front tire on, brakes and fender attached. Pretty much everything at the bottom end of the forks. Then we went to the top end. It took three tries before we got all the cables routed correctly from the handlebars. Those pesky throttle cables. After that we put the instrument cluster end and decided to call it a day.
Since it was just before 2pm and Reagan was out and about, I decided to take the long way home. So I headed west on 90A to FM359 where I turned right. A few miles down the road I caught up with some Harley riders doing the double nickel. Everybody had their gear on and seemed to be riding safely so I just stayed behind them. I figured when we got to Winner Foster road I'd go which ever direction they didn't. As I expected they stayed on 359 heading north so I turned left and took off down Winner Foster Road. It was a great day, very little traffic, clear skies and the temperature was just right.
I turned right onto Bois D Arc and headed north. This road takes you into Fulshear with a few sharp turns along the way. When I got into Fulshear my Fuel light came on. What? only 160 miles on the trip meter and I need gas? What gives. I decide to push on into Brookshire for gas. I stay on FM1093 heading west out of Fulshear. When I get to Simonton I turn right onto Simonton road toward Brookshire. There's an Exxon there and I like using my speed pass. Since I was a little concerned about my fuel economy I decided to keep the pace steady (but enjoyable) so I could see if my fuel usage was on par. My guage said I had 38 miles of fuel left and it was 10 miles to Brookshire. So if things were OK, I should roll into town with 27 miles left. And that's what happened. While refilling the tank, it dawned on me that last weekend I was riding around the motorcycle range practicing on "the bean" which is a small oval-ish track used in the MSF Experienced Rider course. That was mostly first and second gear with some hard acceleration which explains the poor fuel economy.
With a full tank of gas I headed north to Pattison to ride Racers Road. It's got some nice sweeping curves and is fun to ride. Racers Road is FM1489 out of Pattison. When I crossed the Brazos river I slowed to 45mph so as to avoid the need to make any donations to the San Felipe police department. I continued south crossing over I-10. Just as I got to FM 1093 I decided to turn right instead of left and head toward Wallis. I had a plan...
Once I got to Wallis I turned left on Hiway 36 and headed south east toward Rosenberg. I was planning to stay on 36 until I got to spur 10 which would cut over to Hiway 59. When I got a few miles down the road to Orchard I decided to head south to Taverner and pick up 90A. Once I got to 90A I turned left heading toward Rosenberg again. Glancing down at the GPS I noticed a road up ahead on my right that eventually went to Hiway 59. So when I got to it, I turned right onto FM1875 and headed south toward Beasley. They've been doing some construction on 59 around Beasley and I wasn't sure about the best way to get onto 59 heading back to the house. A short detour and I manged to get myself going northbound on Hiway 59.
By 4pm I was in my driveway, talking to my neighbor. It was a nice ride home and I wasn't too cold. The odometer has another 106 miles on it from today's trip and I think my adjustments to the backrest are going to work well. Before I leave for Ft. Davis on Friday, I hope to take another 100 miler without the beadrider pad on the seat. Hopefully I've adjusted the bike to the point that I can enjoy my Rick Mayer custom seat which to this point has been a pain in my butt.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Getting ready for a cold ride weekend
So next weekend I'm heading to the Big Bend area for the Big Bend Freeze Out ride. Since I didn't have the electric gear that makes such a ride comfy, I decided to splurge and get it. In typical fashion I started by upgrading my gloves, getting electric liners and socks, and of course the electric controller. The smart thing to do would have been to start getting all of this stuff earlier in the year. That would have been the smart thing to do.
None the less, I started last month which should have been plenty of time. Around December 18th, I had found a dealer on e-bay that was interested in helping me get the right size of Gerbing liners. So I paid her for the liners and socks. Instead of electric gloves from Gerbing, I decided to go with the PCI Gauntlets from Lee Parks Design. Using their sizing chart I discovered I needed a size small which was odd since most other gloves are medium or large. But I followed their sizing tool and ordered the small. I got a call the next day from Steve and he was sending the gloves out so I'd have them before Christmas. Fantastic!
Christmas eve comes and so does my gloves, jacket liner and socks. I knew the pants liner would be coming later since it was coming direct from Gerbing. I tried everything on and most of it fit. The gloves were too small. With the holiday it took a couple of days to get in touch with Steve at Lee Parks Design to talk about the fit. When we finally talked he felt that what I needed was a larger small but that a medium would be too big. Ok, I'd send them back via FedEx so they'd be there on January 2nd and he could send me out a slightly larger pair.
Meanwhile, since I had the Gerbing jacket I now knew what type of power connector was needed so I could order the Heat-troller from Warm & Safe. I was impressed with the Warm & Safe controller over the Gerbing because it appeared as though they stood behind their product and I was supporting a "little guy". I was also intrigued by the option of getting the controller with remote knobs so you could mount them on the handlebars. So December 26, I place my order on-line and receive an email from PayPal showing the payment. So then I wait...
January 2nd comes around and the holidays are over. Time to get to work! I still have gloves and a heat controller I'm waiting on. I check FedEx and the gloves arrived. Then I contact the Warm&Safe folks via IM. I was impressed at how fast they responded on IM. I inquired about my order and they said they had to build the remote style controller and that it would be a few weeks. Oooops! I mentioned that I was going on a trip at the end of the month and before I could turn around I had a PayPal refund. I continued the IM conversation to see if the regular dual controllers were available and when they might ship. I was told, order today and you'll have it by the end of next week. Ok, so I jumped online and ordered the dual controller and a few extra accessories to make the money I was going to spend about equal to what it was originally. Again I get a PayPal invoice showing my payment but nothing else. So I wait...
Since I didn't get the controller last week or the gloves I started sending emails on Monday(1/14/8). Monday afternoon I decided to call Steve to follow up. I catch him as he's heading out the door. He tells me he just sent me an email, which he did, and that he had been waiting on a new shipment of small gloves to arrive which they had. The new larger small gloves were going out that day and I should have them on Wednesday.
Meanwhile on Monday I inquire about my controller. In an email I asked about my order status and mention that on January 2nd I was told I'd have the controller the following week. The next thing I know I get a PayPal shipping notice saying they are shipping everything via USPS when I specifically asked for UPS Ground. I'm not a fan of our postal service's poor tracking abilities. So I send an email pointing out that I had requested UPS Ground and that I was concerned about the arrival of my package before my trip next week...
Almost instantly I get an email back from Mike at Warm & Safe acknowledging USPS poor tracking for faster speed. He even says that if I don't have it in 3 days, they'll overnight one to me. Then the email sort of takes a turn. He starts whining about how difficult it is to compete against the Chinese product and that he can't afford to keep them on the shelve because they are so expensive. Tne email gets worse as he talks about customers understanding realities of production and that a lot of orders came in before mine including big dealers. Huh????? Then he says I could by his product at any dealer that sales First Gear product. He does admit that they could do a better job on getting stuff out the door and they are working on that. Then he goes off about focusing on designing and inventing instead of copying and that they focus on riding motorcycles and not just buying them for photo shoots. Huh???????
So I wait...
Wednesday the gloves arrive. Hooray! I open the package and try them on. Snug, but maybe they'll work. I take them off and on several times and wear them for a little while as I sit at my computer. I try simple tasks like picking up my phone, moving the trackball and such. Hmmmm, they are still too small. So I try to call. All I get is an answering machine. I'll try again later.
Today (Thursday) I check on the USPS site and the controller package is here in town. Fantastic! I work on some computer projects while I wait for the package. Around 11am the package arrives. I open it and find every but the controller. WTF!!! I try to call and get their voice mail. Hmmmm, it's about as pleasant as the email I got from Mike. I leave a message and follow it up with an email saying that I didn't get the controller in my shipment.
Also today, I tried calling Steve @ Lee Parks Design. All I get is an answering machine so I leave a message, and I send an email asking for a return and a pair of mediums. And I ask for cross shipping as time is running out.
So I'm 1 week and 1 day away from leaving for my Big Bend Freeze Out ride. I don't have my fancy gloves or the controller I ordered. I could understand if I had procrastinated and waited until now to order this stuff, but I started last month. Well, there's still time and the "little guys" can be pretty amazing when it's crunch time. So I wait...
On a positive note, I am now officially an Iron Butt member, IBA #31171. I received certification for my SaddleSore 1000 (1,072 miles in 24 hours) and my BunBurner 1500 (1,635 miles in 36 hours). There was a letter from the president, Michael Kneebone, asking for forgiveness with the long delay in getting the rides certified. Both of these rides are in my blog, just look in May and June of 2007.
Update - Thursday Evening: Received an email from Mike at Warm & Safe just saying he'd check it out and have it shipped to me.
Update - Friday Morning: A call from Steve at Lee Parks Design. He's going through the glove inventory to find a size medium that are narrow but with longer fingers. Wow what service! I'm probably going to have to give up the Black and Tan color scheme to get the right size but I'll have the gloves for the trip. The "little guy" comes through again!
Update - Saturday: I got another PayPal shipping notice from Warm & Safe. It looks like they are shipping out my controller via US Priority Mail. Sure glad they finally got around to taking care of a mistake that I reported on Thursday.
Update - Tuesday: The controller from Warm & Safe arrived today. Thank goodness! I found it to be iron that Mike is so wrapped up about his stuff being made in the US but yet he has his controller puches made in Thailand.
Update - Tuesday: Got a call from Steve at Lee Parks Design today. He was just following up to see how my gloves fit. The only problem, my gloves haven't arrived yet. He seemed worried, hopefully they'll be here tomorrow.
Update - Tuesday evening: Steve sent an email expressing his frustration with USPS Priority mail. Apparently he was so concerned about it he also called me around 9:30pm to let me know he was getting me another pair ready to go out FedEx overnight. That's commitment!
Update - Wednesday morning: I looked up the tracking number on the gloves, they've scanned through North Houston, they should be here today. Before I could finish typing an email to Steve, I got an email from him showing he had seen the same thing.
None the less, I started last month which should have been plenty of time. Around December 18th, I had found a dealer on e-bay that was interested in helping me get the right size of Gerbing liners. So I paid her for the liners and socks. Instead of electric gloves from Gerbing, I decided to go with the PCI Gauntlets from Lee Parks Design. Using their sizing chart I discovered I needed a size small which was odd since most other gloves are medium or large. But I followed their sizing tool and ordered the small. I got a call the next day from Steve and he was sending the gloves out so I'd have them before Christmas. Fantastic!
Christmas eve comes and so does my gloves, jacket liner and socks. I knew the pants liner would be coming later since it was coming direct from Gerbing. I tried everything on and most of it fit. The gloves were too small. With the holiday it took a couple of days to get in touch with Steve at Lee Parks Design to talk about the fit. When we finally talked he felt that what I needed was a larger small but that a medium would be too big. Ok, I'd send them back via FedEx so they'd be there on January 2nd and he could send me out a slightly larger pair.
Meanwhile, since I had the Gerbing jacket I now knew what type of power connector was needed so I could order the Heat-troller from Warm & Safe. I was impressed with the Warm & Safe controller over the Gerbing because it appeared as though they stood behind their product and I was supporting a "little guy". I was also intrigued by the option of getting the controller with remote knobs so you could mount them on the handlebars. So December 26, I place my order on-line and receive an email from PayPal showing the payment. So then I wait...
January 2nd comes around and the holidays are over. Time to get to work! I still have gloves and a heat controller I'm waiting on. I check FedEx and the gloves arrived. Then I contact the Warm&Safe folks via IM. I was impressed at how fast they responded on IM. I inquired about my order and they said they had to build the remote style controller and that it would be a few weeks. Oooops! I mentioned that I was going on a trip at the end of the month and before I could turn around I had a PayPal refund. I continued the IM conversation to see if the regular dual controllers were available and when they might ship. I was told, order today and you'll have it by the end of next week. Ok, so I jumped online and ordered the dual controller and a few extra accessories to make the money I was going to spend about equal to what it was originally. Again I get a PayPal invoice showing my payment but nothing else. So I wait...
Since I didn't get the controller last week or the gloves I started sending emails on Monday(1/14/8). Monday afternoon I decided to call Steve to follow up. I catch him as he's heading out the door. He tells me he just sent me an email, which he did, and that he had been waiting on a new shipment of small gloves to arrive which they had. The new larger small gloves were going out that day and I should have them on Wednesday.
Meanwhile on Monday I inquire about my controller. In an email I asked about my order status and mention that on January 2nd I was told I'd have the controller the following week. The next thing I know I get a PayPal shipping notice saying they are shipping everything via USPS when I specifically asked for UPS Ground. I'm not a fan of our postal service's poor tracking abilities. So I send an email pointing out that I had requested UPS Ground and that I was concerned about the arrival of my package before my trip next week...
Almost instantly I get an email back from Mike at Warm & Safe acknowledging USPS poor tracking for faster speed. He even says that if I don't have it in 3 days, they'll overnight one to me. Then the email sort of takes a turn. He starts whining about how difficult it is to compete against the Chinese product and that he can't afford to keep them on the shelve because they are so expensive. Tne email gets worse as he talks about customers understanding realities of production and that a lot of orders came in before mine including big dealers. Huh????? Then he says I could by his product at any dealer that sales First Gear product. He does admit that they could do a better job on getting stuff out the door and they are working on that. Then he goes off about focusing on designing and inventing instead of copying and that they focus on riding motorcycles and not just buying them for photo shoots. Huh???????
So I wait...
Wednesday the gloves arrive. Hooray! I open the package and try them on. Snug, but maybe they'll work. I take them off and on several times and wear them for a little while as I sit at my computer. I try simple tasks like picking up my phone, moving the trackball and such. Hmmmm, they are still too small. So I try to call. All I get is an answering machine. I'll try again later.
Today (Thursday) I check on the USPS site and the controller package is here in town. Fantastic! I work on some computer projects while I wait for the package. Around 11am the package arrives. I open it and find every but the controller. WTF!!! I try to call and get their voice mail. Hmmmm, it's about as pleasant as the email I got from Mike. I leave a message and follow it up with an email saying that I didn't get the controller in my shipment.
Also today, I tried calling Steve @ Lee Parks Design. All I get is an answering machine so I leave a message, and I send an email asking for a return and a pair of mediums. And I ask for cross shipping as time is running out.
So I'm 1 week and 1 day away from leaving for my Big Bend Freeze Out ride. I don't have my fancy gloves or the controller I ordered. I could understand if I had procrastinated and waited until now to order this stuff, but I started last month. Well, there's still time and the "little guys" can be pretty amazing when it's crunch time. So I wait...
On a positive note, I am now officially an Iron Butt member, IBA #31171. I received certification for my SaddleSore 1000 (1,072 miles in 24 hours) and my BunBurner 1500 (1,635 miles in 36 hours). There was a letter from the president, Michael Kneebone, asking for forgiveness with the long delay in getting the rides certified. Both of these rides are in my blog, just look in May and June of 2007.
Update - Thursday Evening: Received an email from Mike at Warm & Safe just saying he'd check it out and have it shipped to me.
Update - Friday Morning: A call from Steve at Lee Parks Design. He's going through the glove inventory to find a size medium that are narrow but with longer fingers. Wow what service! I'm probably going to have to give up the Black and Tan color scheme to get the right size but I'll have the gloves for the trip. The "little guy" comes through again!
Update - Saturday: I got another PayPal shipping notice from Warm & Safe. It looks like they are shipping out my controller via US Priority Mail. Sure glad they finally got around to taking care of a mistake that I reported on Thursday.
Update - Tuesday: The controller from Warm & Safe arrived today. Thank goodness! I found it to be iron that Mike is so wrapped up about his stuff being made in the US but yet he has his controller puches made in Thailand.
Update - Tuesday: Got a call from Steve at Lee Parks Design today. He was just following up to see how my gloves fit. The only problem, my gloves haven't arrived yet. He seemed worried, hopefully they'll be here tomorrow.
Update - Tuesday evening: Steve sent an email expressing his frustration with USPS Priority mail. Apparently he was so concerned about it he also called me around 9:30pm to let me know he was getting me another pair ready to go out FedEx overnight. That's commitment!
Update - Wednesday morning: I looked up the tracking number on the gloves, they've scanned through North Houston, they should be here today. Before I could finish typing an email to Steve, I got an email from him showing he had seen the same thing.
Friday, January 11, 2008
This Friday's lunch in Fulshear
So today is Friday, it's gorgeous outside and I needed to run by the dealership to pick up a check and then make some deposits at the bank. Since it was so beautiful and I was hungry, I figured it'd be a great time to sneak a little riding in, so after leaving the bank (which is about 3 miles from the house) I took a detour going home.
I stopped off at the Exxon station at 59 and Sweetwater. Used my speedpass and filled up. Hmmm, $3.24 per gallon, I wonder how much more expensive premium is going to get.
With a full tank of gas I head south on 59 to Rosenberg. I turn north onto hwy 36 into Rosenberg. Traffic was light for a Friday afternoon. Probably because everyone was at Schultz Bar-B-Q. I had another favorite in mind though. Once out of Rosenberg I settled in and enjoyed my XM radio while taking in the clear sky. Just as I left Rosenberg there was a train running alongside me but once the speed limit went up to 65mph he quickly fell behind.
Just past Orchard, I turned right onto FM1489 toward Simonton. Five miles later I was rolling into Simonton. It's such a little town, but something about it just intrigues when I come into on this road. I make a right onto FM1093 heading toward Fulshear. I've decided where I'm going to eat lunch, Doziers.
I get to Doziers just a little past one and the parking lot is full. Since it's such a nice day, I decide to get my brisket and beans to go and eat out at one of the picnic tables under the trees. Judging from all the motorcycles that passed by, other people had similar ideas. It was just too pretty of a day to be couped up inside. After eating and checking voicemail, it's time to head home for real.
I leave Fulshear on FM1093 and turn right onto Bois D Arc Lane. There are some fun curves along this way and the scenery is nice to boot. Just as I'm coming up on a nice left hander a farmer pulls out in front of me in his big pickup truck, grinning from ear to ear. I guess he thinks he showed me, but the joke was on him as I had already slowed down expecting he would do just what he did. Once past the intersection I pick up the pace and enjoy the rest of the curves.
I eventually end up on FM359 where I make a right and head towards Richmond. A quick left by the Swingin' Door Bar-B-Q and I'm traveling more favorite roads, McCrary Rd and Precinct Line Rd. I finally come out on TX99 and decide to turn right and head towards 90A and home.
I make it home a little after 2pm with 62 miles on the odometer since I filled up at the Exxon. Not too bad for a quick trip to the bank :)
I stopped off at the Exxon station at 59 and Sweetwater. Used my speedpass and filled up. Hmmm, $3.24 per gallon, I wonder how much more expensive premium is going to get.
With a full tank of gas I head south on 59 to Rosenberg. I turn north onto hwy 36 into Rosenberg. Traffic was light for a Friday afternoon. Probably because everyone was at Schultz Bar-B-Q. I had another favorite in mind though. Once out of Rosenberg I settled in and enjoyed my XM radio while taking in the clear sky. Just as I left Rosenberg there was a train running alongside me but once the speed limit went up to 65mph he quickly fell behind.
Just past Orchard, I turned right onto FM1489 toward Simonton. Five miles later I was rolling into Simonton. It's such a little town, but something about it just intrigues when I come into on this road. I make a right onto FM1093 heading toward Fulshear. I've decided where I'm going to eat lunch, Doziers.
I get to Doziers just a little past one and the parking lot is full. Since it's such a nice day, I decide to get my brisket and beans to go and eat out at one of the picnic tables under the trees. Judging from all the motorcycles that passed by, other people had similar ideas. It was just too pretty of a day to be couped up inside. After eating and checking voicemail, it's time to head home for real.
I leave Fulshear on FM1093 and turn right onto Bois D Arc Lane. There are some fun curves along this way and the scenery is nice to boot. Just as I'm coming up on a nice left hander a farmer pulls out in front of me in his big pickup truck, grinning from ear to ear. I guess he thinks he showed me, but the joke was on him as I had already slowed down expecting he would do just what he did. Once past the intersection I pick up the pace and enjoy the rest of the curves.
I eventually end up on FM359 where I make a right and head towards Richmond. A quick left by the Swingin' Door Bar-B-Q and I'm traveling more favorite roads, McCrary Rd and Precinct Line Rd. I finally come out on TX99 and decide to turn right and head towards 90A and home.
I make it home a little after 2pm with 62 miles on the odometer since I filled up at the Exxon. Not too bad for a quick trip to the bank :)
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
New blog to post on
OK, so if you look in the archives there's already posts but those are from my other general blog. This blog is going to just be about motorcycling. Sources of inspiration will be the motorcycle itself, magazines, forums and people I meet along the way. So as always, if I come across something that inspires me to write about it, I will.
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