With some suggestions from Bill we charted a route that took us through the rugged terrain of the Hill Country west of Austin. With no less than 40 turns on the queue sheet we were twisting and turning on some great two-laners. A highlight for the day was finding ourselves on a small county road that rolled over cattle grates every half mile and eventually threw us onto a narrow dirt road that seemed like it might end at any moment. That is the way to travel.
We took lunch hour (thanksgiving leftovers, mmm) along a small river with crystal clear water and the some incredible root systems from the trees lining the shores. One interesting thing about streams and rivers around here is that the bridges generally dip down so that when the rain comes and the river floods the water just flows over rather than building up behind it and then washing the whole road away. They also put measuring sticks on the side of the bridges so that you can see how deep the water on the road is when it is flooded. Our lunch spot was at one of these bridges and you could tell that, when the flood water came through here, it was well over 5 feet on the road due to the amount of debris in the trees and bushes along the banks.
Upon leaving the Hill Country we entered the plains/prarie that cover most of the Lone Star. Crossing these expanses is tough unless you have something to listen to besides the wind and engine. Hooray for in helmet speakers and 4 gigs of music at your fingertips.
A map check stop in the late afternoon made us a new friend. Brian Long, tester of motorcycle tires, pulled up next to us on the roadside on his chromed out Big Dog custom hardtail. Brian’s job is to ride 500 plus miles a day on preset routes to test the handling and wear characteristics of tires that have yet to see the market. The rear tire on his Big Dog was nearly a foot wide and apparently costs the consumer about $400 to replace every 8000 miles. Ouch. Looks cost big dollars. Brian made us feel good about our choice of bikes when he told us about the bump he had hit the other day on the Big Dog hardtail that launched him several feet off the seat leaving his hands as the only contact point with the bike. I don’t think we have to worry about that with 9 inches of travel on the rear of our bikes. He rode off into the evening stating that “we were having way too much fun.”
The evening brought a lengthy spectacular sunset that turned the western sky many shades of orange while to the east hues of purple and red stretched across the horizon.
We rode into the night with our destination still a ways off experiencing the cold that comes with darkness on the plains. By the time we pulled into Choke Canyon State Park it was all business to get the camp set up and make warm food.
It’s good be done with the day.
-Colin
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