DAL/FTW: South O' the Plex - Meet & Eat

I'm itching to do some back roads exploring on my "two-fiddy".


I mapped out a route here:
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/27600165



It's a work in process and I don't know what I will find, but I tried picking out interesting places by looking at the satellite image. It should be fun. I'll ride the northern part of it on the way to eat, then the southern part on the way back home.

If anyone wants to join me, let me know.

Jeephoto said:

I'm itching to do some back roads exploring on my "two-fiddy".

I mapped out a route here:
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/27600165

It's a work in process and I don't know what I will find, but I tried picking out interesting places by looking at the satellite image. It should be fun. I'll ride the northern part of it on the way to eat, then the southern part on the way back home.

If anyone wants to join me, let me know.

Click to expand...

Ask Mac to be sure....but I think further south is muuuch better...closer to Maypearl...more hilly definately
The little CR that runs across I35 jus south of 916 at Grandview is especially nice in spots...paved...kinda...but still nice along the ridge with a valley. You access it from the eastern edge of Grandview...no I35 access...(ask Mac about this)

Sent from my LGL62VL using Tapatalk

Don't think I've seen that little Honda before, Larry. On any kind of gravel road, you'll run off & leave me on my 500 lb VStrom.

Mr2mch/MacDaddy? I am open to suggestions on better routes. I'm trying to figure the best navigation aids, because there are soooo many places to go in this big ol' state of ours.

Tim, I thought you had seen my little Honda. Trust me, I'm not a fast rider; more slow and explore, stop and photo, look and see. If you want to explore with me we can turn around at whatever you feel uncomfortable with.

We'll see, Larry. In any case, I may have a friend along, on a Beemer sport tourer, in which case there won't be any dirt or gravel for us. See ya tomorrow.

I'm going to try to go. Looking forward to some new tasty food with a ride on the side. I still haven't seen a meet time.

My route will take me from Desoto, through Ovilla, then Midlothian. From there, to 2258 and wing it from there.

11:30.

Yep. just went back and started reading again. cursed details.

And thanks for suggesting this. Thanks to Mr2mch for the food suggestion too.

Jeephoto said:

I mapped out a route here:
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/27600165

It's a work in process and I don't know what I will find, but I tried picking out interesting places by looking at the satellite image. It should be fun. I'll ride the northern part of it on the way to eat, then the southern part on the way back home..

Click to expand...

Larry, I think that will work just fine. You'll enjoy it. If there's any missing little gems out there you'll find them next time, or the time after that. Looks good, you should have a good day.

It's gonna be hot tomorrow, folks. Hydrate, please.

A_perdue said:

What time you headed that way? I'll be leaving Red Oak around 10:15 I'll be coming through maypearl around 10:30 or so

Click to expand...

Jeephoto said:

I mapped out a route here:
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/27600165

Click to expand...

All of those roads are fine. Only Ozro, Auburn and Low Water are gravel, IIRC. But the other ones are scenic and paved. Low Water Rd is fun, but short.

I'm debating on coming tomorrow. Just found out there is a Pro Rider Advanced Course tomorrow in Waxahachie. I've been waiting for that one to make and it finally did. Not sure I want to stand around in a parking lot for 8 hours tomorrow though.

I'll post back when I get sure. I'm not sure how much riding I want tomorrow. I did 800 miles this past week with 300 of those today. Tired.

Take that course! You'll get much more good from that class (as you know) than you will from one of those great sandwiches.

I went ahead and signed up for the course, so won't make tomorrow unfortunately.

I'll catch y'all next time.

A few of us from Friday Night Ice Cream may attend.

Rich

Dang..I wish I could be at this one... but Im outta town

Sent from my LGL62VL using Tapatalk

I'm shoving off in about 15 minutes. Whomever is coming, I'll see y'all in Grandview presently.

Here are some pix from today's meet-up.

Here are most of the bikes that made it. I think there were about a dozen total.
2018-0526 - South o' Plex Pre Mem'l Day Ride (2) by Tim Shelfer, on Flickr

2018-0526 - South o' Plex Pre Mem'l Day Ride (3) by Tim Shelfer, on Flickr

Some familiar faces.
2018-0526 - South o' Plex Pre Mem'l Day Ride (4) by Tim Shelfer, on Flickr

2018-0526 - South o' Plex Pre Mem'l Day Ride (7) by Tim Shelfer, on Flickr

Ordering lunch at the Country Store, a friendly, business run by Mennonites.
2018-0526 - South o' Plex Pre Mem'l Day Ride (9) by Tim Shelfer, on Flickr

Pie? Did someone say pie?
2018-0526 - South o' Plex Pre Mem'l Day Ride (10) by Tim Shelfer, on Flickr

Larry (JeePhoto) checking out the preserves while we waited for our sandwiches.
2018-0526 - South o' Plex Pre Mem'l Day Ride (11) by Tim Shelfer, on Flickr

Lunch. A mega sandwich, chips, boutique black cherry soda, and homemade pie. All for well under $10.
2018-0526 - South o' Plex Pre Mem'l Day Ride (13) by Tim Shelfer, on Flickr

A little backroad riding afterward.
2018-0526 - South o' Plex Pre Mem'l Day Ride (15) by Tim Shelfer, on Flickr

2018-0526 - South o' Plex Pre Mem'l Day Ride (16) by Tim Shelfer, on Flickr

We rode some gravel roads. But when we got to a nasty, pockmarked dirt road, I turned my 475 lb V-pig around & headed away from Tipover Alley. Stopping for a water break on the way back.
2018-0526 - South o' Plex Pre Mem'l Day Ride (17) by Tim Shelfer, on Flickr

Looks like a good time, sorry I missed it. Hope y'all do it again soon.

Re: South O' the Plex - Meet & Eat

Not quite The Country Store.....
But still pretty tasty
Sandwich ..an apple cinnamon muffin & a cherry lime Rickey at Woodys in Centerville this evenin

Sent from my LGL62VL using Tapatalk

Thanks for the great photos and write up, Tim. I don't have much more to add.

We had a great turnout of various bikes from all over north Texas. Some rode the highways, and some rode the backroads. The Country Store was a real neat experience; I heard many TWT'ers, myself included, comment that they will be back. The food was good, the people friendly and the riding, except for the heat, was fantastic.

I had mapped out a route to Country Store avoiding highways. I had a great ride, hardly any traffic, and beautiful scenery.

On one of the County Roads, I turned the corner and I was face-to-face with hundreds of bicycles coming at me. I kept to the far right, but some of the riders seemed to "own the road" and rode taking up most of the two-lane road.


As I rode on, the scenery got very hilly, and pleasing. As I turned one corner, a lake, dam bridge and lovely pastures spread out before me.



Except for a couple of missed turns, U-turns and backtracks, I made it to the Country Store. We had a great group arrive and the food was excellent.



After lunch, a few riders decided to join me on my planned route back home. I mapped out a route to check out the best, most interesting roads I could find. Two-lane, gravel, dirt, water crossings. Unfortunately, my riding/navigation and we missed a turn and rode a long ways before being able to turn around.



Once we checked the other's GPS's, we backtracked and found my intended roads. Most were just two-lane, but we did get into some cool water crossings (dry) and cool bridges. At one point, some of our group decided to leave the ride; it was getting hot and gnarly riding for a big bike. My XL250R performed excellently.



I clocked 152 miles driveway to driveway but had a great time. We need to do this again!!

It was lots of fun, Larry. As for the bicyclists, we were really in their domain, running on those tiny county roads. As a lone bicyclist around Arlington, I'm frequently bullied by cars who like to play intimidation games with me just because I'm there. I don't blame those guys for defending their patch of turf when they can.

I didn't even think about the two events interacting with each other, but Saturday was the Burleson Honey Bicycle Tour that is a fairly we attending bicycle rally starting in Burleson and goes south. Didn't dawn on me that paths would cross or I would have mentioned it beforehand.

No biggie. Nobody was in a hurry Saturday. As far as I'm concerned, both sides played well and a good time was had by all.

Just saw this on FB:

Just to let everyone know there is a free Adventure bike ride starting at Eurosport cycle Sunday morning the 3rd of June. Groups and individuals leave out at 9am and the ride ends at Hammons BBQ in Glenrose. This ride will have a little more pavement and all creek crossings have been carefully picked for the bigger bikes and riders new to the Dual Sport community. I will be there early to load the ride onto anyone's GPS if they want it.( BRING YOUR GPS CABLE ) All sizes of DS bikes welcome. There will be free coffee and donuts. If you have any questions give Eurosport a call or you can email me. Robert Lee
Eurosport cycle
3100 Airport Fwy,
Fort Worth, TX 76111
(817) 838-8135

The bicyclists were not a problem; except that 2 or 3 insisted on taking a big chunk of my lane. My little Honda is very skinny, but at least once, I swerved into the grass off of the road to avoid a collision.

I may check out that Eurosport ride; it sounds like a good time.