[Trip Report] Huntsville area day ride, 8/23/03

(moved from upcoming events forum)

Well, THAT was fun!

Scott has more piccies and (likely) a good report coming, but here are my summary, pics, and video.

(click on the photo caption for a larger image)

I woke up 5 minutes before the 5:00 a.m. alarm. I was psyched to go, and had laid out everything the night before. So, I snarfed down a quick breakfast shake, filled my CamelBak, and was out the door by 5:25 a.m.

I usually forget One Thing when I leave the house, but this time, I had everything I wanted to take. By the time I get to Giddings at 6:30, though, I realize that the one thing I forgot was to fasten my chin strap, d'oh!

Things start to pick up at the Giddings' Mickey D's at about 7:00 a.m.


Andy rolls up in his gorgeous new Silver Viffer, and we set off for Huntsville. A few miles out of town, he pulls over suddenly. I pull over, wait a few seconds, then double back. As I get near, I see him about 100 yards behind his bike, with wads of paper in his hand. I immediately realize what has happened, and look down at my tankbag... Yup, I'd forgotten to fasten the velcro strip on my map window, and the wind had whooshed my maps and directions to the Fridays onto 290, d'oh! #2

"Hello, I'm Andy, and I'll be your riding companion and litter-picker-upper this morning


We get to the Fridays' place no problem. Scott's recommendation to take 149 was golden; those few miles in the Sam Houston National Forest made my day (and it even got better). I can't wait to go back and ride more of that area.

Really, this is all one needs in their garage 8)


Scott graciously takes us on a tour of every 4-way stop in Huntsville before taking us out of town.

After some really fun riding, including some nice, but b-b-b-bumpy sweepers, and (my) trying to keep up with the front group (er, is that what you'd call "spirited riding"? ), we stop for lunch.

The folks at the Pioneer cafe, at FM 811 and State Road 7 east of Centerville, make a great bacon cheeseburger (the every day special), are very friendly, and have good A/C!


The aprilia loses to the Triumph in an impromptu Orange Contest


Actually, I don't know which impressed me more, the gorgeous RS or the smooth manner in which scratch hustled it around...

After lunch, we find some more nice sweepers, and eventually wind up in Normangee. Scott finally clues me in to where in Texas I am, and I decide to head home. I take the Old Spanish Road (where I encountered just enough rain to make me don my glove covers, at which point, of course, it just got hotter and drier :| ) to 21 to Caldwell to 696 to 619 to Taylor to my garage.

501 wonderful miles. The group consisted of a great group of guys (and ladies) with some awesome bikes (including Shannon's Ninja 250 That Could ).

It was great to meet you all. Thanks, Scott, for a great day.

Roll the vid, Bubba:
Windows Media Player 9 (software)
QuickTime 6.3 (QT software)

Paul
'01 aprilia

Love the video Paul, good job of editing. You did bust me though. I was watching it and called my wife in "honey, check this video out". I got one of those looks reserved to wifes and mothers for that part after we passed the truck and were catching up (I forgot about that). "We're only going about 70 honey "

Had a good time riding with everyone and found the day a little more manageable than one of the full blown butt burners. Look forward to the next trip. Will definitely hit the forest again soon!

Jeff
'01 FZ1

Whoops, sorry, Jeff, it was not intended that way, more of an homage to R1-ish power.

And 10-95, he meant 70 kph, not mph. I'm so slow I go backwards after corners, thus the apparent pullaway...

Great Video

Too bad you didn't include the pass you made on me. You could have subtitled it 1000 vs. 250 or something!

Seriously, thanks for putting up with the slow guy. I had a great time and learned a bunch. I will work on my cornering speeds on 149 and maybe visit some of these roads again (if I can find them).

Anyone know what road were the tigers on? I want to take my wife and daughter by there one day.

Be safe!

-sbaker

I think those tigers were on FM 977 just east of the town of Leona. It'd be a pretty straight shot north on I-45 from Houston.

Me? Riding smooth?

You must not have seen me bouncing around after nailing all those potholes dead center! :wink:

scratch said:

Me? Riding smooth?

You must not have seen me bouncing around after nailing all those potholes dead center! :wink:

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Well, you were usually a small speck on the horizon.

And I echo sbaker's thanks for the others' patience in waiting in the hot sun (or in scratch's case, under a roof 8) ) for me to catch up...

Re: Passing the Ninja

sbaker33 said:

Too bad you didn't include the pass you made on me. You could have subtitled it 1000 vs. 250 or something!

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Actually, I was amazed at how well you and your Ninja boogied down the straights. 8)

The roads sure seemed twistier in person than they look in the vids Really lose the sense of speed in the vids. I wanna lipstick camera so I can mount in on the fairings, forks, passenger pegs, etc,...

Did everyone enjoy the pace?

Tourmeister said:

The roads sure seemed twistier in person than they look in the vids

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I should probably mount the camera on the tank of a bike whose rider will achieve something more than 35 arc-seconds of lean...

Did everyone enjoy the pace?

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I enjoyed the pace, although I'm happy to actually ride The Pace, as opposed to quick through the turns and quicker down the straights . I do feel a bit guilty that I made folks wait in the sun for me to catch up every 20 minutes or so...

I do feel a bit guilty that I made folks wait in the sun for me to catch up every 20 minutes or so...

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You forget that I was usually the last one to arrive each time :wink:

I do feel a bit guilty that I made folks wait in the sun for me to catch up every 20 minutes or so...

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Paul,

Dont feel guilty at all. I think we all had a real good time and I think I would have felt real guilty if anything bad had happened otherwise.

Keep on with the Pace.

Tourmeister said:

You forget that I was usually the last one to arrive each time :wink:

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Only because you stopped for pictures... :P

And Andy: thx. Apparently, you can flick the Viffer around as easily as you do the SV...

By the way Paul, I rode behind you for quite some time. You were not riding exceptionally slow. :wink: Granted you were not ripping up the pavement, but I was quite content to ride behind you. There is no shame in not being the fastest guy on the road. Too many riders have checked out for good because of the need to be thought of as "the fast guy". I just ride my ride and not worry about being fast.

+1 !!

Paul, we all enjoyed the pace and didn't feel we had to wait at all. I think it is actually a little better having everyone spread out a little. That way if there is a problem it doesn't domino for everyone.
Once Andy took lead I was worrying that I had held everyone up when I had been leading. That was a brisk pace

The thing I liked most about this ride was that every curve felt smooth. I never felt forced or worried, it just flowed. When not leading it probably is better to give everyone 10-20 sec. lead so that you can be sure to concentrate on the road and not be distracted by the bike in front of you.

I had a blast but boy my neck is still stiff, definitely think that I am a wimp on long distances, think this is about as long as I will do.

I had a blast but boy my neck is still stiff, definitely think that I am a wimp on long distances, think this is about as long as I will do.

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It is like anything else, the more you do it, the easier it gets. And like most things, it takes much less time to lose the ability than it takes to get it. Well, except for body fat, it seems to get here in a hurry and takes **** near forever to get rid of!! :x

That day was just over 500 miles for me, and I was actually feeling pretty good when I got home (previously, I'd be wiped out, and sleep for 12 hours). I think the CamelBak helped a bunch, although it was drained by the time I got to Caldwell on the way home (note to self: fill with ice water during a lunch/gas stop)...

Now, to work on the wife for the Arkansas invasion...

All I know is that 11 hours on the VFR is alot more comfortable than on the SVS.