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Sprocket
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My Texas Two Step rally was a bit different than that of PassTheGravy. I only signed on for the ride on Wednesday, so my expectations of being competitive were really, really low. Needless to say, I was not disappointed...
The rally was based out of Garland and divided into a 12-hour group and a 24-hour group. The 12-hour folks were to be released Saturday at 1000 and had to be back by 2200 the same day. Opting for the 24-hour ride (yeah, I'm a glutton), I was set to head out at 0400 Saturday. My darling and very supportive wife Angela "suggested" I sleep at the event hotel rather than wake our whole house leaving at 0300. So, I did. Only slept 3 hours though...
At 0400 Saturday I started from the rally hotel at Jupiter & 635 in Garland and headed west on 635 to the Tollway. Knowing the Dallas checkpoint of the Scottish Rite Hospital was right on the tollway made it an easy target. Snapped a quick pic of my "flag" (hand towel with my official number of 53 on it) and I was off.
Went south on 35 and jumped off in Abbott to search for CR1302. Well, after over shooting the 90-degree left on 1242 and running about 100' feet onto a 110' gravel driveway (yikes!), I continued west on 1242 a little shaken. Finding CR1320 west of town I "assumed" this was the right road. Lost 20 minutes before I realized 1302 and 1320 ARE NOT the same thing. Doubled back to town and noticed CR1302 where I did my little overshooting event and headed south on it. At exactly 1.5 miles showing on my tripmeter I found a run down bar set back about 20-30 yards off the road. Assuming it was my target (marker set 15 yards off the road, *about* 1.5 miles down CR1302) I proceeded to burn about 30 minutes in the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere looking for a marker that didn't exist. Seems it was down a cowpath I had missed by 20 yards. Oh well...
Back on the bike I headed into Waco to find a toll bridge that had been donated to the city. Still running around in the dark I found two bridges next to each other along MLK Blvd. (aka Lake Brazos Pky). One was one-way for vehicles and the other was a foot bridge of sorts. After 3 loops driving across the vehicle bridge I parked and walked up to the foot bridge. Sure enough, it was it. A quick pic of my flag on the bridge and I was off again...
Doubled back to North Waco and hooked onto 6 headed SE. Made Calvert and was looking for some art gallery with a bicycle rider statue outside. Seeing it was painted bright yellow and right on the highway (aka S Main), even I was able to spot it. Another quick snapshot and I was back underway...
6 took me south right into College Station (another mandatory checkpoint). Quick fill up (needed the gas receipt), grabbed a bottle of water, called the wife to check in and off I went.
Navasota saw me head SW on 105 into Brenham (home of Blue Bell). Tons of dairy cows almost made me stop for ice cream, but I pressed on and caught 290 heading west. Just before Carmine I turned south on 237 towards Round Top. The rather scenic rolling hills along 237 were made a nice morning ride.
237 deposited me right into La Grange, where I was looking for a "Twin Blockhouse" (sort of a fort) monument. Knowing most small town Texas historical buildings are around the default historical downtown area, that's where I headed. After a half dozen circles around the square I choose a random street to explore and happened to notice a small monument of the side of the road. Dismounting I realized it was my target. Talk about luck! Another shot of my flag, a quick shedding of my jacket liner and Widdder vest, and a glove swap and back on the road I went.
77 heading south had me lined up with Hallettsville. Once there a turn onto 90 took me west, right into Mecca. Mecca being Shiner of course! Looking for the Shiner brewery museum was a bit harder than I first thought. Being fluent in Redneck I figured would be an advantage. Needless to say, even speaking a foreign language I got bad intel. Seems there are not one, but two museums in Shiner. One is named after some guy, the other was my target (the original brewery). After my third round of Redneck to English I found the correct spot. Another pic, and another call to the wife and I was back on the road.
95 south into Yoakum, 111 west, and then west on 2067 for about 5 miles and I found the mythical town of Cheapside. literally, there is a single sign about the size of a city street sign on the north side of the road that simply says "Cheapside". That's it. And it's all I needed a pic of (with my flag of course!) for an "easy" 178 points. Easier said than done. Being a rally newbie I had no clue that flags don't magically stick to whatever you need a pic of. So I carefully laid my flag on my left luggage case and walked across the road for a pic. ZOOM! A big hay hauling dually appeared out of thin air and blew my flag 10-20' down the road. I pattered after it and got it squared back in place. ZOOM! Truck #2 roared by with the same results. Again I set up the shot for another go. ZOOM! Truck #3 carried my flag even further down the road. All this on a road I had yet to see another vehicle and the only sign of life previously was the ever present buzzards (!!!). Finally the riding gods had their laugh and I got my needed shot. Once again Emma fired up and we roared off. Of note was the fact I passed another rider headed in off 111.
Back out to 111/183 and north into Gonzales. Turning west onto 90 found me in Sequin pretty quickly. Not desiring to be as cold as the previous night ride, a quick Wal-Mart shopping spree netted a nice set of long johns. Best $4 I've sent in a long time. Quick slabin' on I10 found me in San Antonio at 1530. Being a mandatory checkpoint and the 1400 deadline for a mandatory 8 hour rest period was looming I scouted for a gas station with adjoining hotel. A Chevron and Comfort Inn came into sight so an exit was executed. Filled up with gas, checked into a room, showered and made a vain attempt at sleep. Even with half a medium pizza in my belly (hey! I hadn't eaten all day) sleep was not easy to come by. I finally drifted off around 2100 but 2340 came way too quick.
0010 and I squeezed $0.50 more gas into the bike just for the all-mighty receipt. Little did I know that 50 cents (no, not the rapper) would probably save my butt a few short hours later... Back on 10 I headed west through San Antonio instead of skirting on the 410 loop as I just wanted too. No good reason, juz' cuz' really...
Just to recap... It's now right around 0100, well below 50 degrees, and I'm headed straight through deer country. Can ya tell I'm new to this Rally stuff?
Ok, so cruising west on 10 I quickly settled into a groove of 80-100 (mostly at the higher end). About 10 miles out I saw my first deer. Then another. Another. And another. ***! Blowing through Kerrville into Junction my deer-o-meter had registered over 30 live examples and 4-5 fresh kills. One was on an on ramp, all 4 legs straight up in the air! Very odd...
Figuring riding the center line of my 2 lanes plus the generous interstate-sized shoulder game me a fair shot at seeing any kamikaze deer, I pressed on. Just as I passed the well-lit town of Junction my gas light came on. With 120+ miles showing and a proven, known-to-me range of only about 150 miles I figured that surely there would be another truck stop before Sonora (about 60 miles away). WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!
Just to recap... It's now right around 0230, well below 50 degrees, and I'm headed straight through deer country with the idiot gas light on. Can ya tell I'm new to this Rally stuff?
About a million deer later I dropped the speed to sub-80 in hopes of stretching out the mileage. Through either divine intervention or physics (I'll take the later) I made it to a station in Sorona that was not only open, but had fresh coffee *AND* vanilla creamer! Was I feeling lucky or what? Funniest thing was the little girl behind the counter was trying hard to convince me NOT to ride on to San Angela until after sunup. Something about deer, blah, blah, blah. Locals don't drive after dark, blah, blah, blah. Deathwish, blah, blah, blah. Dunno, but whatever she was saying she really was convinced I was the stupidest person she had seen all night (methinks the only person she saw all night too).
277 north to San Angelo was the next leg of "Deer Search '05". At this point the deer and wildlife sightings were getting comical. I noted a herd of 15-20 deer covering both sides of the highway in one 100-200 yard section. In addition to the mounting deer count (both alive and dead) I also added to my list a coyote that *really* didn't want to abandon a deer carcass as I approached, several H-U-G-E rabbits (I'd guess 20+ lbs.), and 2-3 dog sized things that were way too rounded to be dogs/wolves/coyotes (javilina maybe?). An attempt at sanity limited my initial speed to 80ish, but boredom quickly raised it to 100ish. Even being down to only 1 lane and no shoulder to speak off. Crazy in hindsight, but perfectly acceptable safety cushion at the time. Weird. 'Course I could count the traffic I passed since leaving San Antonio on one hand, but the quantity of deer was simply amazing. Big ones, little ones, with horns, without horns, dead ones, live ones. Name a type of deer common to Texas and I'll bet I saw 50 specimens of that type....
A quick fill up and much needed checkpoint gas receipt in San Angelo and back onto 277 towards Abilene. About 10-20 miles out I saw huge, several-story tall shapes spinning in the night. There was a 3/4 moon, but with my lack of sleep and poor eyesight I couldn't get the shapes to register. Slowing to 30mph I really focused and realized they weren't alien space ships. Windmills. 'lectric ones. Big, honking, environmentally friendly windmills. Sheesh!
Abilene saw me turn east and head homed on 20. Fighting the most incredible crosswinds I have ever experienced I pressed east into the rising sun. Another gas stop in Weatherford, circled Ft. Worth on 820, caught 121 to 635 and made it back to the rally HQ at 0940 Sunday morning.
Lows:
-Cold
-Deer
-Left Aerostich at home in favor of jacket, jeans, Widder (it was warm Friday)
-Deer
-No GPS
-Deer
-Escort 8500 crapped out (been on life support for awhile now anyway)
-Did I mention the deer?
-Everyone else was on a mailing list and knew the cities (or some at least) weeks before. I signed up less than 48 hours before the rally and knew nothing.
Highs:
-Got to see a ****eload of Texas I never have seen before
-Quality time with Emma (my new-to-me BMW)
-Broke in the new Corbin
-Rode at go-to-jail speeds without seeing ANY other signs of people for for miles and miles
-Met great people
Bottom line? Roughly 1050 miles in 21.5 hours riding. Miles and miles of riding, miles and miles of smiles. Didn’t win anything, but didn't expect to. Definitely not my last rally plus I plan to hit this one again next year... :clap
The rally was based out of Garland and divided into a 12-hour group and a 24-hour group. The 12-hour folks were to be released Saturday at 1000 and had to be back by 2200 the same day. Opting for the 24-hour ride (yeah, I'm a glutton), I was set to head out at 0400 Saturday. My darling and very supportive wife Angela "suggested" I sleep at the event hotel rather than wake our whole house leaving at 0300. So, I did. Only slept 3 hours though...
At 0400 Saturday I started from the rally hotel at Jupiter & 635 in Garland and headed west on 635 to the Tollway. Knowing the Dallas checkpoint of the Scottish Rite Hospital was right on the tollway made it an easy target. Snapped a quick pic of my "flag" (hand towel with my official number of 53 on it) and I was off.
Went south on 35 and jumped off in Abbott to search for CR1302. Well, after over shooting the 90-degree left on 1242 and running about 100' feet onto a 110' gravel driveway (yikes!), I continued west on 1242 a little shaken. Finding CR1320 west of town I "assumed" this was the right road. Lost 20 minutes before I realized 1302 and 1320 ARE NOT the same thing. Doubled back to town and noticed CR1302 where I did my little overshooting event and headed south on it. At exactly 1.5 miles showing on my tripmeter I found a run down bar set back about 20-30 yards off the road. Assuming it was my target (marker set 15 yards off the road, *about* 1.5 miles down CR1302) I proceeded to burn about 30 minutes in the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere looking for a marker that didn't exist. Seems it was down a cowpath I had missed by 20 yards. Oh well...
Back on the bike I headed into Waco to find a toll bridge that had been donated to the city. Still running around in the dark I found two bridges next to each other along MLK Blvd. (aka Lake Brazos Pky). One was one-way for vehicles and the other was a foot bridge of sorts. After 3 loops driving across the vehicle bridge I parked and walked up to the foot bridge. Sure enough, it was it. A quick pic of my flag on the bridge and I was off again...
Doubled back to North Waco and hooked onto 6 headed SE. Made Calvert and was looking for some art gallery with a bicycle rider statue outside. Seeing it was painted bright yellow and right on the highway (aka S Main), even I was able to spot it. Another quick snapshot and I was back underway...
6 took me south right into College Station (another mandatory checkpoint). Quick fill up (needed the gas receipt), grabbed a bottle of water, called the wife to check in and off I went.
Navasota saw me head SW on 105 into Brenham (home of Blue Bell). Tons of dairy cows almost made me stop for ice cream, but I pressed on and caught 290 heading west. Just before Carmine I turned south on 237 towards Round Top. The rather scenic rolling hills along 237 were made a nice morning ride.
237 deposited me right into La Grange, where I was looking for a "Twin Blockhouse" (sort of a fort) monument. Knowing most small town Texas historical buildings are around the default historical downtown area, that's where I headed. After a half dozen circles around the square I choose a random street to explore and happened to notice a small monument of the side of the road. Dismounting I realized it was my target. Talk about luck! Another shot of my flag, a quick shedding of my jacket liner and Widdder vest, and a glove swap and back on the road I went.
77 heading south had me lined up with Hallettsville. Once there a turn onto 90 took me west, right into Mecca. Mecca being Shiner of course! Looking for the Shiner brewery museum was a bit harder than I first thought. Being fluent in Redneck I figured would be an advantage. Needless to say, even speaking a foreign language I got bad intel. Seems there are not one, but two museums in Shiner. One is named after some guy, the other was my target (the original brewery). After my third round of Redneck to English I found the correct spot. Another pic, and another call to the wife and I was back on the road.
95 south into Yoakum, 111 west, and then west on 2067 for about 5 miles and I found the mythical town of Cheapside. literally, there is a single sign about the size of a city street sign on the north side of the road that simply says "Cheapside". That's it. And it's all I needed a pic of (with my flag of course!) for an "easy" 178 points. Easier said than done. Being a rally newbie I had no clue that flags don't magically stick to whatever you need a pic of. So I carefully laid my flag on my left luggage case and walked across the road for a pic. ZOOM! A big hay hauling dually appeared out of thin air and blew my flag 10-20' down the road. I pattered after it and got it squared back in place. ZOOM! Truck #2 roared by with the same results. Again I set up the shot for another go. ZOOM! Truck #3 carried my flag even further down the road. All this on a road I had yet to see another vehicle and the only sign of life previously was the ever present buzzards (!!!). Finally the riding gods had their laugh and I got my needed shot. Once again Emma fired up and we roared off. Of note was the fact I passed another rider headed in off 111.
Back out to 111/183 and north into Gonzales. Turning west onto 90 found me in Sequin pretty quickly. Not desiring to be as cold as the previous night ride, a quick Wal-Mart shopping spree netted a nice set of long johns. Best $4 I've sent in a long time. Quick slabin' on I10 found me in San Antonio at 1530. Being a mandatory checkpoint and the 1400 deadline for a mandatory 8 hour rest period was looming I scouted for a gas station with adjoining hotel. A Chevron and Comfort Inn came into sight so an exit was executed. Filled up with gas, checked into a room, showered and made a vain attempt at sleep. Even with half a medium pizza in my belly (hey! I hadn't eaten all day) sleep was not easy to come by. I finally drifted off around 2100 but 2340 came way too quick.
0010 and I squeezed $0.50 more gas into the bike just for the all-mighty receipt. Little did I know that 50 cents (no, not the rapper) would probably save my butt a few short hours later... Back on 10 I headed west through San Antonio instead of skirting on the 410 loop as I just wanted too. No good reason, juz' cuz' really...
Just to recap... It's now right around 0100, well below 50 degrees, and I'm headed straight through deer country. Can ya tell I'm new to this Rally stuff?
Ok, so cruising west on 10 I quickly settled into a groove of 80-100 (mostly at the higher end). About 10 miles out I saw my first deer. Then another. Another. And another. ***! Blowing through Kerrville into Junction my deer-o-meter had registered over 30 live examples and 4-5 fresh kills. One was on an on ramp, all 4 legs straight up in the air! Very odd...
Figuring riding the center line of my 2 lanes plus the generous interstate-sized shoulder game me a fair shot at seeing any kamikaze deer, I pressed on. Just as I passed the well-lit town of Junction my gas light came on. With 120+ miles showing and a proven, known-to-me range of only about 150 miles I figured that surely there would be another truck stop before Sonora (about 60 miles away). WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!
Just to recap... It's now right around 0230, well below 50 degrees, and I'm headed straight through deer country with the idiot gas light on. Can ya tell I'm new to this Rally stuff?
About a million deer later I dropped the speed to sub-80 in hopes of stretching out the mileage. Through either divine intervention or physics (I'll take the later) I made it to a station in Sorona that was not only open, but had fresh coffee *AND* vanilla creamer! Was I feeling lucky or what? Funniest thing was the little girl behind the counter was trying hard to convince me NOT to ride on to San Angela until after sunup. Something about deer, blah, blah, blah. Locals don't drive after dark, blah, blah, blah. Deathwish, blah, blah, blah. Dunno, but whatever she was saying she really was convinced I was the stupidest person she had seen all night (methinks the only person she saw all night too).
277 north to San Angelo was the next leg of "Deer Search '05". At this point the deer and wildlife sightings were getting comical. I noted a herd of 15-20 deer covering both sides of the highway in one 100-200 yard section. In addition to the mounting deer count (both alive and dead) I also added to my list a coyote that *really* didn't want to abandon a deer carcass as I approached, several H-U-G-E rabbits (I'd guess 20+ lbs.), and 2-3 dog sized things that were way too rounded to be dogs/wolves/coyotes (javilina maybe?). An attempt at sanity limited my initial speed to 80ish, but boredom quickly raised it to 100ish. Even being down to only 1 lane and no shoulder to speak off. Crazy in hindsight, but perfectly acceptable safety cushion at the time. Weird. 'Course I could count the traffic I passed since leaving San Antonio on one hand, but the quantity of deer was simply amazing. Big ones, little ones, with horns, without horns, dead ones, live ones. Name a type of deer common to Texas and I'll bet I saw 50 specimens of that type....
A quick fill up and much needed checkpoint gas receipt in San Angelo and back onto 277 towards Abilene. About 10-20 miles out I saw huge, several-story tall shapes spinning in the night. There was a 3/4 moon, but with my lack of sleep and poor eyesight I couldn't get the shapes to register. Slowing to 30mph I really focused and realized they weren't alien space ships. Windmills. 'lectric ones. Big, honking, environmentally friendly windmills. Sheesh!
Abilene saw me turn east and head homed on 20. Fighting the most incredible crosswinds I have ever experienced I pressed east into the rising sun. Another gas stop in Weatherford, circled Ft. Worth on 820, caught 121 to 635 and made it back to the rally HQ at 0940 Sunday morning.
Lows:
-Cold
-Deer
-Left Aerostich at home in favor of jacket, jeans, Widder (it was warm Friday)
-Deer
-No GPS
-Deer
-Escort 8500 crapped out (been on life support for awhile now anyway)
-Did I mention the deer?
-Everyone else was on a mailing list and knew the cities (or some at least) weeks before. I signed up less than 48 hours before the rally and knew nothing.
Highs:
-Got to see a ****eload of Texas I never have seen before
-Quality time with Emma (my new-to-me BMW)
-Broke in the new Corbin
-Rode at go-to-jail speeds without seeing ANY other signs of people for for miles and miles
-Met great people
Bottom line? Roughly 1050 miles in 21.5 hours riding. Miles and miles of riding, miles and miles of smiles. Didn’t win anything, but didn't expect to. Definitely not my last rally plus I plan to hit this one again next year... :clap
Great report!