Welcome to the Two Wheeled Texans community! 
Feel free to hang out and lurk as long as you like. However, we would like to encourage you to 
I DID try to go out this weekend. I have been planning to do a Bun Burner Gold (1500 miles in 24 hours) for February, but have been postponing it due to weather the past couple weekends. This weekend, I had Netscape open on two weather sources, watching forecasts and radar images for all the cities along my proposed route. While riding Saturday morning was out of the question, the forecasts were all starting to agree that things should shape up well enough on Sunday to make this ride worthwhile. To get a jump on things, I decided I would head out of Plano at 10PM while it was still raining, as the rain should only last down to Waco and should be clearing up by 11PM or just after.
So ... jump on the bike just before 10PM to head down to the Chevron for some petrol in a nice light rain. Ok ... this isn't too bad. It's been raining long enough that the streets aren't really slick anymore, and my biggest issue was spray from other vehicles, but with the windshield set at the appropriate level, I was getting enough wind across it and my faceshield such that visibility wasn't a problem. Of course, what I failed to consider was that Dallas drivers don't understand how to drive in the rain, so it took me 90 minutes to get from north Dallas down to Waxahatchie.
As the night wore on, traffic thinned out, and apparently the cops didn't feel much like playing in the rain either, as there were very few out and about, and no speed traps set. Rolled into my first gas stop in San Marcos right about 2:15am ... about 30 minutes behind schedule. Not too bad, considering Texas' night time speed limit of 65mph and all the rain I had to contend with. The kid behind the counter at the Texaco there looked like he thought I was a martian or something, but then decided I was dry enough so I must know what I'm doing. First note ... I got 247 miles on this tank, though it wasn't completely empty but riding into the wind seemed to be zapping precious fuel mileage. 250 miles was the longest stretch I had planned, so no serious problems there, but still a bit shy of the expected 350 mile range in favorable conditions. Needed to make a note to watch the gas gauge as I got further out west in case the headwinds became stronger and mileage dropped even more.
Back on the road just before 2:30am (managed to keep that stop pretty short which was encouraging), my next stop was only 46 miles down the road and used for a route reference point. I pulled off I-35 onto Fm 1604 just north of San Antonio right around 3:00AM. While I intended to just splash the gas so I could get a pay at the pump receipt, I decided now was a good time to put on my Gerbing heated socks. I had left those off to make sure they didn't get wet in the rain, but my Oxtar boots kept the rain out great, so my only problem was the damp 43 degree air that was getting to them. Quick change there, and I'm back on the road.
FM 1604 finally meets up with I-10, and I'm immediately greated by what looks like a dozen deer standing over on the side of the road. It's now ~3:45AM, so they're just wondering the roadside, but other than a quick glance at us while we pass, they don't seem particularly interested in the traffic. This becomes a pretty common occurance, there are groups of between 5 and 15 deer scattered along the road and in the median all along the way. While the rain stopped shortly after San Marcos, there are occassional areas of fog, though nothing terribly offensive. Then, just before I reached Kerrville, the dense fog set in. At this point, I can't see the next expansion joint in front of me on the highway. Having seen a fair number of deer beside the road, I decide it best to make an unscheduled stop and check the weather conditions. As I pulled into Comfort, TX, I'm greated by one of the local sherriff deputies who thinks I'm absolutely crazy for being out riding in this soup. We talked for awhile, and it turns out that they've been getting some pretty thick fog in the early morning the past several mornings, but tonight's fog is the worst he's seen in awhile. Doesn't sound like there's much hope in the fog lifting or burning off as the temps are still only in the mid 40's, and the moisture from the day's rain is still heavy in the air. The suggestion at the little convenience store I stopped at was that my best bet was to hang out until sunrise, then get back going. So I'm already 45 minutes behind schedule, and the safe approach is to wait 3 hours before continuing ... that certainly takes the BBG out of contention. I'm only about 350 miles into the trip, so heading home would put me just over 700 miles ... not long enough for a certification there. Feeling like I'm out of options (and I do have to be at work Monday morning), I decided to head back towards San Antonio to find a hotel for the night. There's supposed to be a couple in Boerne, so I look up the Best Western on the ole Garmin, and plot my route. Not sure exactly where the GPS took me, but there certainly wasn't any Best Western there, so I jump back up on I-10 to start looking for hotels. At 10:30am, I was in my driveway. I did stop for food just north of Austin, but with the sun coming up, I figured I was best to just ride home and sleep it off here, than stop for a quick hour or two somewhere and then head home.
Couple of things I noticed on this ride that I need to affect before April: 1) the seat ... while the sheepskin pad I got from Aerostich helped some, after getting soaked in the rain for a good 4 hours, it wasn't helping anymore. I might have to give the Sargent a try before the ride, but something more comfortable is needed. Granted, touring on the Busa, I average seat time was about 160 miles ... now I'm doing ~240 mile stops on the ST. It's a big improvement over where I was, but if I can get more comfortable, I want it. 2) Wind buffetting if annoying after 7 hours. I think I need to try either a larger screen, the Laminar Lip, or the mirror deflectors (or some combination). 3) A camelbak exposed to 4 hours of rain and road grime is gross. 4) I think I *finally* got the HJC venting working to where it would keep the faceshield clear, but until that point, riding in the rain with the face shield cracked open means you'll end up taking a good bit of rain through the helmet. 5) Even custom earplugs can get uncomfortable when you're trying to layer up under your helmet to minimize the effects of #4.
All and all, the bike and modifications made so far worked pretty well. I need to do some fine tuning on the throttlemeister as it would hold the throttle pretty well, but was still doing a little slip. Didn't have much time to test the XM radio, but when I had it one for that short segment, it seemed to work well. I guess my 2610 just got de-prioritized while I have some more urgent changes to make before April. All told, even with the slower pace due to rain, I still knocked out 700 miles in just over 12 hours. Not enough to put me on track for the BBG, but a significant improvement over my SS1K time from a year ago.
Since the ride was done mostly at night, I don't have any pictures from this trip, unfortunately.
So ... jump on the bike just before 10PM to head down to the Chevron for some petrol in a nice light rain. Ok ... this isn't too bad. It's been raining long enough that the streets aren't really slick anymore, and my biggest issue was spray from other vehicles, but with the windshield set at the appropriate level, I was getting enough wind across it and my faceshield such that visibility wasn't a problem. Of course, what I failed to consider was that Dallas drivers don't understand how to drive in the rain, so it took me 90 minutes to get from north Dallas down to Waxahatchie.
As the night wore on, traffic thinned out, and apparently the cops didn't feel much like playing in the rain either, as there were very few out and about, and no speed traps set. Rolled into my first gas stop in San Marcos right about 2:15am ... about 30 minutes behind schedule. Not too bad, considering Texas' night time speed limit of 65mph and all the rain I had to contend with. The kid behind the counter at the Texaco there looked like he thought I was a martian or something, but then decided I was dry enough so I must know what I'm doing. First note ... I got 247 miles on this tank, though it wasn't completely empty but riding into the wind seemed to be zapping precious fuel mileage. 250 miles was the longest stretch I had planned, so no serious problems there, but still a bit shy of the expected 350 mile range in favorable conditions. Needed to make a note to watch the gas gauge as I got further out west in case the headwinds became stronger and mileage dropped even more.
Back on the road just before 2:30am (managed to keep that stop pretty short which was encouraging), my next stop was only 46 miles down the road and used for a route reference point. I pulled off I-35 onto Fm 1604 just north of San Antonio right around 3:00AM. While I intended to just splash the gas so I could get a pay at the pump receipt, I decided now was a good time to put on my Gerbing heated socks. I had left those off to make sure they didn't get wet in the rain, but my Oxtar boots kept the rain out great, so my only problem was the damp 43 degree air that was getting to them. Quick change there, and I'm back on the road.
FM 1604 finally meets up with I-10, and I'm immediately greated by what looks like a dozen deer standing over on the side of the road. It's now ~3:45AM, so they're just wondering the roadside, but other than a quick glance at us while we pass, they don't seem particularly interested in the traffic. This becomes a pretty common occurance, there are groups of between 5 and 15 deer scattered along the road and in the median all along the way. While the rain stopped shortly after San Marcos, there are occassional areas of fog, though nothing terribly offensive. Then, just before I reached Kerrville, the dense fog set in. At this point, I can't see the next expansion joint in front of me on the highway. Having seen a fair number of deer beside the road, I decide it best to make an unscheduled stop and check the weather conditions. As I pulled into Comfort, TX, I'm greated by one of the local sherriff deputies who thinks I'm absolutely crazy for being out riding in this soup. We talked for awhile, and it turns out that they've been getting some pretty thick fog in the early morning the past several mornings, but tonight's fog is the worst he's seen in awhile. Doesn't sound like there's much hope in the fog lifting or burning off as the temps are still only in the mid 40's, and the moisture from the day's rain is still heavy in the air. The suggestion at the little convenience store I stopped at was that my best bet was to hang out until sunrise, then get back going. So I'm already 45 minutes behind schedule, and the safe approach is to wait 3 hours before continuing ... that certainly takes the BBG out of contention. I'm only about 350 miles into the trip, so heading home would put me just over 700 miles ... not long enough for a certification there. Feeling like I'm out of options (and I do have to be at work Monday morning), I decided to head back towards San Antonio to find a hotel for the night. There's supposed to be a couple in Boerne, so I look up the Best Western on the ole Garmin, and plot my route. Not sure exactly where the GPS took me, but there certainly wasn't any Best Western there, so I jump back up on I-10 to start looking for hotels. At 10:30am, I was in my driveway. I did stop for food just north of Austin, but with the sun coming up, I figured I was best to just ride home and sleep it off here, than stop for a quick hour or two somewhere and then head home.
Couple of things I noticed on this ride that I need to affect before April: 1) the seat ... while the sheepskin pad I got from Aerostich helped some, after getting soaked in the rain for a good 4 hours, it wasn't helping anymore. I might have to give the Sargent a try before the ride, but something more comfortable is needed. Granted, touring on the Busa, I average seat time was about 160 miles ... now I'm doing ~240 mile stops on the ST. It's a big improvement over where I was, but if I can get more comfortable, I want it. 2) Wind buffetting if annoying after 7 hours. I think I need to try either a larger screen, the Laminar Lip, or the mirror deflectors (or some combination). 3) A camelbak exposed to 4 hours of rain and road grime is gross. 4) I think I *finally* got the HJC venting working to where it would keep the faceshield clear, but until that point, riding in the rain with the face shield cracked open means you'll end up taking a good bit of rain through the helmet. 5) Even custom earplugs can get uncomfortable when you're trying to layer up under your helmet to minimize the effects of #4.
All and all, the bike and modifications made so far worked pretty well. I need to do some fine tuning on the throttlemeister as it would hold the throttle pretty well, but was still doing a little slip. Didn't have much time to test the XM radio, but when I had it one for that short segment, it seemed to work well. I guess my 2610 just got de-prioritized while I have some more urgent changes to make before April. All told, even with the slower pace due to rain, I still knocked out 700 miles in just over 12 hours. Not enough to put me on track for the BBG, but a significant improvement over my SS1K time from a year ago.
Since the ride was done mostly at night, I don't have any pictures from this trip, unfortunately.
The temperature wasn't really the problem, but the temperature mixed with the humidity that created the fog. My route was all Interstates, with the exception of FM1604 that loops around San Antonio. It's labled as am FM, but it's basically a highway ... 4 lane divided road and 70mph. It's also the loop around San Antonio that most riders seem to use for the coast to coast routes. The reason for trying this THIS month was because I am riding coast to coast in April, so wanted to access myself and my equipment prior to setting out on this trip. While I didn't complete the ride's objectives, it was very informational so still a good thing to have done. My route was supposed to take me along I-10 to Las Cruces, then back to I-20 for my run home, so it was planned at just over 1580 miles according to Streets and Trips. If I hadn't hit that fog, I'm pretty sure I could have recovered my 45 minute deficit with the 75mph interstates in West Texas and the daylight hours. 