Tourmeister
02-02-2004, 01:01 AM
Howdy,
:tab Here are the pics:
http://twtex.com/linkfiles/013004Austin/
:tab Well, I have the weekend free and this seems like a good opportunity to get over to Austin and meet some of the local TWT folks. The weather is supposed to be in the 60's all weekend and rain free. Sounds good to me!
:tab I plan on leaving around 3:00pm on Friday so I can ride during the "heat" of the day and arrive right about sunset. Last night while going over the bike in the garage and installing the GIVI Wingrack II, I noticed that the nuts that secure the rack to the passenger footpeg brackets were no where to be found :? So I bolt up the upper bolts that mount to the subframe and decide to head for the local autoparts store on the way to work. Friday morning I am packed and ready to roll.
:tab While sitting out in the driveway, the mailman pulls up and walks over. He's got the latest issue of Cycle World in his hand and we spend a few minutes talking bikes. There is a slight drizzle and it is in the upper 40's. He's looking at me like I am missing a few nuts. Little does he know... A quick stop at the local Reliable Autoparts store and thrity-two cents later, I have my lockwashers and nuts and I'm ready for the trip. I head out to the office to hang out until 3:00pm.
:tab When I get to the office, it dawns on me that my right hand is really cold and my left hand is cooking! The right heated grip has not worked for several months because the wires frayed right where they go into the grip. Slightly motivated by the idea of having my throttle hand freeze, I set to seeing about repairing the grip. How hard can it be? Solder a few connections, shrink wrap everything, reinstall the throttle tube on the clipon and I am good to go... right?!
:tab One would think that I would have learned by now that any project that I think will be simple automatically gets ridiculously complicated. I mean, it's genetic. I've grown up seeing my Dad go through the same thing. I get the grip off, manage to expose the little posts down inside the rubber where they wires attach and now I am thinking this is no big deal. Then I realize I have no solder or shrink wrap :| Now I have to wait for Dad to get back from lunch so I can waste forty-five minutes running into town to visit our friendly Radio Shack. By the time I get back to the office it is 2:15 and I am starting to realize that this project has just transformed into one of those projects... :x
:tab As it is with so many projects that involve small things and hot things, I quickly realize I need extra hands to hold everything and that hot things burn! Dad gets involved, we spend fifteen minutes trying to make crappy solder connections, and then another ten out in his shop digging around for those connectors he could swear he still has somewhere. Finally we find some little round copper rivets that are soft and look like they will work as crimps.
:tab It is fast approaching 3:00pm and I am no where close to being ready to leave. My throttle tube is hanging in pieces and the gas tank is propped up so I can reach the throttle cable tensioners to loosen them. We unsolder the crappy brittle joints and then use the little copper dodads to crimp the wires together. Once secure, we let the solder wick all inside the crimp and over the wires. I'm thinking things are good. I should know better.
:tab It seems I did not get the heat shrink shoved far enough up the wires to get it away from the heat of the soldering iron. The ends have already shrunk down and there is no way in the world I can get it to slide over the joint. Being a bit of an anal perfectionist, I cannot simply let this go :headbang: A glance at the clock reveals it to be nearing 3:30... Arrgghh!!! I unsolder everything... again... get new and larger pieces of shrink wrap in place further up the wire from the joint and set about recrimping and resoldering. This works better, but still not as good as I really would like. It just doesn't look clean. It will have to do. I slide the shrink wrap up into place and click on the hair dryer.
:tab Mom's hair dryer sucks! Well... actually it blows, but only luke warm air even on high, DOH! It takes forever for the shrink wrap to just snug up. But it does enough that I can slide the larger piece over both joints for a secondary cover. I use a combination of the hair dryer and the heat from the soldering iron to get it shrunk into place. Then it occurs to me that I might want to click the bike on and see if the grip even gets hot... :brainsnap I should know better, I be an ingeneer :roll: Thankfully it works! I get the throttle assembly put back together, reset the gas tank and I am ready to head out. 4:30pm... I still have to get gas before leaving town.
:tab 4:50 and I am finally on the road and heading out of town. It will be dark in about an hour and it will start getting really cold. Already it is just barely in the low 50's. Fortunately the cloud cover is high, the misting has stopped and the roads are dry. I head West on Hwy 30... my hands warm and toasty. The rest of me could only be so lucky :roll: I really need to invest in an electric vest. I hate being cold.
:tab I reach College Station in a little under an hour. As I am heading West out of town on FM 60, the sun breaks through the clouds and I am treated to a nice sunset.
A Texas sunset (http://www.twtex.com/linkfiles/013004Austin/DSC01302.JPG). Forgive the powerlines... Could not get under them.
The cloud cover thins out a little (http://www.twtex.com/linkfiles/013004Austin/DSC01303.JPG)
:tab I decide to run FM 166 over to Caldwell. This is a fun stretch of road with some great curves. I quickly settle into a nice rythm and have some fun. The sun starts to fade and the clouds really begin to glow in earnest. Several times I come real close to stopping for more pictures but I just don't feel like breaking my pace. I crank the VFR's high beams on and light up the night, scanning for the beady eyes of suicidal deer. Unlike many bikes, the lights on the VFR rival even some of the best cages. It is not long before I reach Caldwell and pick up Hwy 21 through town.
:tab Just West of Caldwell I pick up the South end of FM 908 and head for Rockdale. This is the same route that we ran on our way to Austin for New Years. Then we were running it considerably slower because it was Beth, Debbie and myself. Now, with no one else to worry about I can just set a pace and go. There are just miles and miles of nice 40-60mph sweepers through gently rolling hills. FM 908 runs through Rockdale and then starts heading in a more Westerly direction until it hits FM 486. I run FM 486 a mile or so and hit FM 1331 for the run almost directly West to Hwy 95.
:tab It seems that sections of FM 1331 are getting reworked all the way down to the dirt. Fortunately, despite recent rains, the dirt sections are hard packed and don't have much in the way of loose gravel. I can still keep a nice pace because it is smooth. Now that the sun is long gone, the temperature has dropped back down to around 45 F. My palms are hot and my knuckles are freezing. The heat cannot get to the backside of my hand faster than the night air carries it away. This is where electric gloves would be nice!
:tab FM 1331 drops out onto Hwy 95. There I head North a mile or so and turn West on Hwy 29 to Georgetown. This road is really really smooth most of the time and has nicely banked sweepers. If it was closed to everyone but me, I would be zinging through here at triple digit speeds for sure! :twisted: However, with all the deer out and traffic, combined with the fact that the road is NOT closed to everyone but me, I sit content, trolling along with the flow of traffic until I reach I-35.
:tab I'm hoping Will has not eaten yet because I want to go to Jardin-Corona's for dinner. It is the little Mexican place that John introduced us to on New Year's weekend. The food is great and the prices really cheap. A short blast down I-35, over on FM 1431 and I am at Will's house, 7:45pm. Nearly two hours late. When I walk in, I see that Will has a nice big bowl of soup and a sandwhich with one bite taken out of it, doh! Not that I can blame him... He's kind enough to let me take his truck and go get dinner. I get the takeout from Jardin-Cornona. They are PACKED!! People are mulling around in the parking lot waiting to get in. My takeout only takes about ten minutes and I am good to go. It does not disappoint.
:tab Back at Will's, we chat a while and then decide to watch Pulp Fiction on his monster TV and surround system. That is one messed up movie :roll: Stuffed with Mexican food and nice whiskey, it is time to nod off for the evening.
:tab I get up nice and early Saturday, just in case any of the local guys actually show up at 9:00am. Realistically, I am not expecting anyone. Most of the guys seemed to favor Sunday. We hang out a while just in case. The weather is gloomy and cold. The roads are wet and slick. We decide to hop in the truck and hit the bike shops. It's cool because I need to get a part anyway and Will needs to pick up some maintenance items. Besides, I like hanging out at Lone Star BMW/Triumph and oogling the new bikes. I especially like the R1150GS Adventure models! I just need 17 big G's to fall out of the sky tax free and land in my lap :mrgreen:
:tab Back to reality... We head home after lunch and lounge around a while. About 3:00pm, the clouds thin out and the sun comes out. The temperature starts to climb up near 60 so we decide to ride out towards Marble Falls. Once there, it is so nice we decide to just keep on riding and head South on US 281 to FM 2147. We stop at a giant pink granite rock that John showed me when I was out here New Year's. I try to talk Will into riding his bike up to the top for a photo op, but he elects to leave it parked on the shoulder. I ride up alone.
This is about 35-40 feet higher than the road surface. Purty ain't she!? (http://www.twtex.com/linkfiles/013004Austin/DSC01304.JPG)
That is Will way back there in the background (http://www.twtex.com/linkfiles/013004Austin/DSC01305.JPG)
Will comes up for a look around and then we get under way again.
:tab We hit Hwy 71 and head West looking for the start of FM 962. We pick it up and start heading back East toward Round Mountain on US 281. As we cross US 281 and get back on FM 962, I spot an SV650 coming up. They are riding two up. We give them a wave and then take off. I love riding with Will because we have similar riding styles. Neither of us like to really push it. We like to just settle into a nice pace and stay there. We reach the turn off where Spur 962 heads Southwest toward Johnson city. I decide to pull over and stop to wait for the couple on the SV to catch up. I cannot help myself! :angel:
:tab While we are waiting, we spot a little dude coming out of the underbrush to check us out.
Will get's friendly with the locals! (http://www.twtex.com/linkfiles/013004Austin/DSC01306.JPG)
You like that? Right there... ohhh that's the magic spot... (http://www.twtex.com/linkfiles/013004Austin/DSC01307.JPG)
The look of ear scratching ecstacy (http://www.twtex.com/linkfiles/013004Austin/DSC01308.JPG)
:tab When we get done playing with the donkey, the couple on the SV comes around the corner and I flag them down. They are Stewart and Maria. Like us, they are out enjoying the beautiful evening. I slip them a TWT card and tell them about the forum. Hopefully they will remember the card and turn up on the site soon. They take off ahead of us, never to be seen again. While we are putting our helmets back on, a Kwacker Z something goes buzzing by in a fury of inline 4 whining. We run a nice brisk pace all the way back to Bee Cave on Hwy 71.
:tab When I get to the light at Hwy 71 and RR620, we pull up next to some kind of 80's era looking Yamaha two stroker. I'm thinking this thing is really quiet for a two stroker. I'm trying to get the tank bag open so I can grab a TWT card but the light changes before I can get it out. I glance over and this guy kick starts the bike and takes off. No wonder it was so quiet :roll: We hang with him on 620 all the way to RR 2222. At this point we turn left and head out for Lime Creek road.
:tab We are just putting along, not goofing off or hauling butt. An Aprilia of some sort comes around the corner from the other direction and starts making the "slow down" motion and patting his head. Understood. I check the speed and we are doing 50mph. Right before rounding a corner I see a speed limit sign for 40mph so I bring it down a notch. Sure enough, there is an APD hiding behind some bushes shooting radar. We give him a nod and a wave and cruise on by, nice and peaceful. Who ever the guy was on the Aprilia.... THANKS!
:tab The rest of the run is a blast. There is almost no traffic this evening. It is about 6:00pm and the sun is setting, lighting up the high thin cloud cover in a fiery orange glow. I keep looking for places to pull over to stop and take a picture but I keep getting distracted by the next corner. The few cars we do wind up getting behind graciously pull over and wave us by them. We cruise by without getting nuts and give them a friendly wave back to let them know we appreciate their curtesy. After that, it is just clear sailing. Even the corners that usually have gravel are nice and clean. We run a nice mellow pace, gracefully slicing through the wonderful 15-25mph corners. Eventually we hit 1431 and then a few minutes later we are back at Will's house. All told, we have ridden about 150 miles and had a blast. It is 6:30pm, leaving us plenty of time to head for Rudy's BBQ at 7:00pm in case anyone shows up to meet us for dinner.
:tab Achim called and wants to come up from Buda to meet us. We get to the restaraunt a few minutes before him. The dining area is nice and toasty. We have a beer and just sit for a while soaking in the heat. When we came in I was not really thinking of eating. However, after about twenty minutes of sitting here smelling the BBQ, I just can't take it anymore and get in line. The BBQ here is fantastic! We hang out until about 9:00pm. No one else shows up so we call it a night and head for home.
:tab The next meeting place is to be the Cypress Mill Cafe in Wimberly at 9:00am tomorrow morning. A quick check of the weather shows it to be cold, wet and foggy. At this point I am not so sure I want to get up at 7:00am so I can make the ride all the way down there, freezing and wet. So I decide to see what it looks like in the morning. A quick peep confirms it sucks, so I crawl back in bed, find my warm spot and drift back off to dream of twisting roads.
:tab Around 2:00pm I suit up and head for home. I pretty much backtrack the route to Huntsville except that I run FM 487 out of Bartlett to Rockdale. It is a really nice ride. Unfortunately, the weather is a little gloomy and there are many places where the road is wet. Generally, wet conditions don't bother me. However, these roads have tar that has oozed up in the car tracks and is now slick and smooth, offering almost no traction. I am torn between these and the center track which is rougher but has all kinds engine grease and oil in it. I finally opt for the center track, hang way off the bike to keep it as upright as possible, and generally just run real slow in corners. :wink:
:tab As I get closer to College Station, the clouds start to break again, letting sunlight stream through. The temperature climbs up from the mid 50's to the mid 60's. The rest of the run home on Hwy 30 is really pretty. When I arrive home, I see Paul Massie sitting in the driveway with his bike. It seems he just returned from a nice ride out near Lake Livingston. We head inside and Beth has a fantastic Beef Stew waiting for us!! Awesome! We settle in for dinner just in time to watch the Super Bowl. The commercials are a hoot! :lol: Oh, and the game turns out to be rather exciting as well, hehe.
:tab All told, around 500 miles on the weekend. Gotta love it!
Adios,
:tab Here are the pics:
http://twtex.com/linkfiles/013004Austin/
:tab Well, I have the weekend free and this seems like a good opportunity to get over to Austin and meet some of the local TWT folks. The weather is supposed to be in the 60's all weekend and rain free. Sounds good to me!
:tab I plan on leaving around 3:00pm on Friday so I can ride during the "heat" of the day and arrive right about sunset. Last night while going over the bike in the garage and installing the GIVI Wingrack II, I noticed that the nuts that secure the rack to the passenger footpeg brackets were no where to be found :? So I bolt up the upper bolts that mount to the subframe and decide to head for the local autoparts store on the way to work. Friday morning I am packed and ready to roll.
:tab While sitting out in the driveway, the mailman pulls up and walks over. He's got the latest issue of Cycle World in his hand and we spend a few minutes talking bikes. There is a slight drizzle and it is in the upper 40's. He's looking at me like I am missing a few nuts. Little does he know... A quick stop at the local Reliable Autoparts store and thrity-two cents later, I have my lockwashers and nuts and I'm ready for the trip. I head out to the office to hang out until 3:00pm.
:tab When I get to the office, it dawns on me that my right hand is really cold and my left hand is cooking! The right heated grip has not worked for several months because the wires frayed right where they go into the grip. Slightly motivated by the idea of having my throttle hand freeze, I set to seeing about repairing the grip. How hard can it be? Solder a few connections, shrink wrap everything, reinstall the throttle tube on the clipon and I am good to go... right?!
:tab One would think that I would have learned by now that any project that I think will be simple automatically gets ridiculously complicated. I mean, it's genetic. I've grown up seeing my Dad go through the same thing. I get the grip off, manage to expose the little posts down inside the rubber where they wires attach and now I am thinking this is no big deal. Then I realize I have no solder or shrink wrap :| Now I have to wait for Dad to get back from lunch so I can waste forty-five minutes running into town to visit our friendly Radio Shack. By the time I get back to the office it is 2:15 and I am starting to realize that this project has just transformed into one of those projects... :x
:tab As it is with so many projects that involve small things and hot things, I quickly realize I need extra hands to hold everything and that hot things burn! Dad gets involved, we spend fifteen minutes trying to make crappy solder connections, and then another ten out in his shop digging around for those connectors he could swear he still has somewhere. Finally we find some little round copper rivets that are soft and look like they will work as crimps.
:tab It is fast approaching 3:00pm and I am no where close to being ready to leave. My throttle tube is hanging in pieces and the gas tank is propped up so I can reach the throttle cable tensioners to loosen them. We unsolder the crappy brittle joints and then use the little copper dodads to crimp the wires together. Once secure, we let the solder wick all inside the crimp and over the wires. I'm thinking things are good. I should know better.
:tab It seems I did not get the heat shrink shoved far enough up the wires to get it away from the heat of the soldering iron. The ends have already shrunk down and there is no way in the world I can get it to slide over the joint. Being a bit of an anal perfectionist, I cannot simply let this go :headbang: A glance at the clock reveals it to be nearing 3:30... Arrgghh!!! I unsolder everything... again... get new and larger pieces of shrink wrap in place further up the wire from the joint and set about recrimping and resoldering. This works better, but still not as good as I really would like. It just doesn't look clean. It will have to do. I slide the shrink wrap up into place and click on the hair dryer.
:tab Mom's hair dryer sucks! Well... actually it blows, but only luke warm air even on high, DOH! It takes forever for the shrink wrap to just snug up. But it does enough that I can slide the larger piece over both joints for a secondary cover. I use a combination of the hair dryer and the heat from the soldering iron to get it shrunk into place. Then it occurs to me that I might want to click the bike on and see if the grip even gets hot... :brainsnap I should know better, I be an ingeneer :roll: Thankfully it works! I get the throttle assembly put back together, reset the gas tank and I am ready to head out. 4:30pm... I still have to get gas before leaving town.
:tab 4:50 and I am finally on the road and heading out of town. It will be dark in about an hour and it will start getting really cold. Already it is just barely in the low 50's. Fortunately the cloud cover is high, the misting has stopped and the roads are dry. I head West on Hwy 30... my hands warm and toasty. The rest of me could only be so lucky :roll: I really need to invest in an electric vest. I hate being cold.
:tab I reach College Station in a little under an hour. As I am heading West out of town on FM 60, the sun breaks through the clouds and I am treated to a nice sunset.
A Texas sunset (http://www.twtex.com/linkfiles/013004Austin/DSC01302.JPG). Forgive the powerlines... Could not get under them.
The cloud cover thins out a little (http://www.twtex.com/linkfiles/013004Austin/DSC01303.JPG)
:tab I decide to run FM 166 over to Caldwell. This is a fun stretch of road with some great curves. I quickly settle into a nice rythm and have some fun. The sun starts to fade and the clouds really begin to glow in earnest. Several times I come real close to stopping for more pictures but I just don't feel like breaking my pace. I crank the VFR's high beams on and light up the night, scanning for the beady eyes of suicidal deer. Unlike many bikes, the lights on the VFR rival even some of the best cages. It is not long before I reach Caldwell and pick up Hwy 21 through town.
:tab Just West of Caldwell I pick up the South end of FM 908 and head for Rockdale. This is the same route that we ran on our way to Austin for New Years. Then we were running it considerably slower because it was Beth, Debbie and myself. Now, with no one else to worry about I can just set a pace and go. There are just miles and miles of nice 40-60mph sweepers through gently rolling hills. FM 908 runs through Rockdale and then starts heading in a more Westerly direction until it hits FM 486. I run FM 486 a mile or so and hit FM 1331 for the run almost directly West to Hwy 95.
:tab It seems that sections of FM 1331 are getting reworked all the way down to the dirt. Fortunately, despite recent rains, the dirt sections are hard packed and don't have much in the way of loose gravel. I can still keep a nice pace because it is smooth. Now that the sun is long gone, the temperature has dropped back down to around 45 F. My palms are hot and my knuckles are freezing. The heat cannot get to the backside of my hand faster than the night air carries it away. This is where electric gloves would be nice!
:tab FM 1331 drops out onto Hwy 95. There I head North a mile or so and turn West on Hwy 29 to Georgetown. This road is really really smooth most of the time and has nicely banked sweepers. If it was closed to everyone but me, I would be zinging through here at triple digit speeds for sure! :twisted: However, with all the deer out and traffic, combined with the fact that the road is NOT closed to everyone but me, I sit content, trolling along with the flow of traffic until I reach I-35.
:tab I'm hoping Will has not eaten yet because I want to go to Jardin-Corona's for dinner. It is the little Mexican place that John introduced us to on New Year's weekend. The food is great and the prices really cheap. A short blast down I-35, over on FM 1431 and I am at Will's house, 7:45pm. Nearly two hours late. When I walk in, I see that Will has a nice big bowl of soup and a sandwhich with one bite taken out of it, doh! Not that I can blame him... He's kind enough to let me take his truck and go get dinner. I get the takeout from Jardin-Cornona. They are PACKED!! People are mulling around in the parking lot waiting to get in. My takeout only takes about ten minutes and I am good to go. It does not disappoint.
:tab Back at Will's, we chat a while and then decide to watch Pulp Fiction on his monster TV and surround system. That is one messed up movie :roll: Stuffed with Mexican food and nice whiskey, it is time to nod off for the evening.
:tab I get up nice and early Saturday, just in case any of the local guys actually show up at 9:00am. Realistically, I am not expecting anyone. Most of the guys seemed to favor Sunday. We hang out a while just in case. The weather is gloomy and cold. The roads are wet and slick. We decide to hop in the truck and hit the bike shops. It's cool because I need to get a part anyway and Will needs to pick up some maintenance items. Besides, I like hanging out at Lone Star BMW/Triumph and oogling the new bikes. I especially like the R1150GS Adventure models! I just need 17 big G's to fall out of the sky tax free and land in my lap :mrgreen:
:tab Back to reality... We head home after lunch and lounge around a while. About 3:00pm, the clouds thin out and the sun comes out. The temperature starts to climb up near 60 so we decide to ride out towards Marble Falls. Once there, it is so nice we decide to just keep on riding and head South on US 281 to FM 2147. We stop at a giant pink granite rock that John showed me when I was out here New Year's. I try to talk Will into riding his bike up to the top for a photo op, but he elects to leave it parked on the shoulder. I ride up alone.
This is about 35-40 feet higher than the road surface. Purty ain't she!? (http://www.twtex.com/linkfiles/013004Austin/DSC01304.JPG)
That is Will way back there in the background (http://www.twtex.com/linkfiles/013004Austin/DSC01305.JPG)
Will comes up for a look around and then we get under way again.
:tab We hit Hwy 71 and head West looking for the start of FM 962. We pick it up and start heading back East toward Round Mountain on US 281. As we cross US 281 and get back on FM 962, I spot an SV650 coming up. They are riding two up. We give them a wave and then take off. I love riding with Will because we have similar riding styles. Neither of us like to really push it. We like to just settle into a nice pace and stay there. We reach the turn off where Spur 962 heads Southwest toward Johnson city. I decide to pull over and stop to wait for the couple on the SV to catch up. I cannot help myself! :angel:
:tab While we are waiting, we spot a little dude coming out of the underbrush to check us out.
Will get's friendly with the locals! (http://www.twtex.com/linkfiles/013004Austin/DSC01306.JPG)
You like that? Right there... ohhh that's the magic spot... (http://www.twtex.com/linkfiles/013004Austin/DSC01307.JPG)
The look of ear scratching ecstacy (http://www.twtex.com/linkfiles/013004Austin/DSC01308.JPG)
:tab When we get done playing with the donkey, the couple on the SV comes around the corner and I flag them down. They are Stewart and Maria. Like us, they are out enjoying the beautiful evening. I slip them a TWT card and tell them about the forum. Hopefully they will remember the card and turn up on the site soon. They take off ahead of us, never to be seen again. While we are putting our helmets back on, a Kwacker Z something goes buzzing by in a fury of inline 4 whining. We run a nice brisk pace all the way back to Bee Cave on Hwy 71.
:tab When I get to the light at Hwy 71 and RR620, we pull up next to some kind of 80's era looking Yamaha two stroker. I'm thinking this thing is really quiet for a two stroker. I'm trying to get the tank bag open so I can grab a TWT card but the light changes before I can get it out. I glance over and this guy kick starts the bike and takes off. No wonder it was so quiet :roll: We hang with him on 620 all the way to RR 2222. At this point we turn left and head out for Lime Creek road.
:tab We are just putting along, not goofing off or hauling butt. An Aprilia of some sort comes around the corner from the other direction and starts making the "slow down" motion and patting his head. Understood. I check the speed and we are doing 50mph. Right before rounding a corner I see a speed limit sign for 40mph so I bring it down a notch. Sure enough, there is an APD hiding behind some bushes shooting radar. We give him a nod and a wave and cruise on by, nice and peaceful. Who ever the guy was on the Aprilia.... THANKS!
:tab The rest of the run is a blast. There is almost no traffic this evening. It is about 6:00pm and the sun is setting, lighting up the high thin cloud cover in a fiery orange glow. I keep looking for places to pull over to stop and take a picture but I keep getting distracted by the next corner. The few cars we do wind up getting behind graciously pull over and wave us by them. We cruise by without getting nuts and give them a friendly wave back to let them know we appreciate their curtesy. After that, it is just clear sailing. Even the corners that usually have gravel are nice and clean. We run a nice mellow pace, gracefully slicing through the wonderful 15-25mph corners. Eventually we hit 1431 and then a few minutes later we are back at Will's house. All told, we have ridden about 150 miles and had a blast. It is 6:30pm, leaving us plenty of time to head for Rudy's BBQ at 7:00pm in case anyone shows up to meet us for dinner.
:tab Achim called and wants to come up from Buda to meet us. We get to the restaraunt a few minutes before him. The dining area is nice and toasty. We have a beer and just sit for a while soaking in the heat. When we came in I was not really thinking of eating. However, after about twenty minutes of sitting here smelling the BBQ, I just can't take it anymore and get in line. The BBQ here is fantastic! We hang out until about 9:00pm. No one else shows up so we call it a night and head for home.
:tab The next meeting place is to be the Cypress Mill Cafe in Wimberly at 9:00am tomorrow morning. A quick check of the weather shows it to be cold, wet and foggy. At this point I am not so sure I want to get up at 7:00am so I can make the ride all the way down there, freezing and wet. So I decide to see what it looks like in the morning. A quick peep confirms it sucks, so I crawl back in bed, find my warm spot and drift back off to dream of twisting roads.
:tab Around 2:00pm I suit up and head for home. I pretty much backtrack the route to Huntsville except that I run FM 487 out of Bartlett to Rockdale. It is a really nice ride. Unfortunately, the weather is a little gloomy and there are many places where the road is wet. Generally, wet conditions don't bother me. However, these roads have tar that has oozed up in the car tracks and is now slick and smooth, offering almost no traction. I am torn between these and the center track which is rougher but has all kinds engine grease and oil in it. I finally opt for the center track, hang way off the bike to keep it as upright as possible, and generally just run real slow in corners. :wink:
:tab As I get closer to College Station, the clouds start to break again, letting sunlight stream through. The temperature climbs up from the mid 50's to the mid 60's. The rest of the run home on Hwy 30 is really pretty. When I arrive home, I see Paul Massie sitting in the driveway with his bike. It seems he just returned from a nice ride out near Lake Livingston. We head inside and Beth has a fantastic Beef Stew waiting for us!! Awesome! We settle in for dinner just in time to watch the Super Bowl. The commercials are a hoot! :lol: Oh, and the game turns out to be rather exciting as well, hehe.
:tab All told, around 500 miles on the weekend. Gotta love it!
Adios,