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Lime Creek Road, TX

Joined
Mar 2, 2003
Messages
3,875
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Location
Round Rock
What: Lime Creek Road, connecting Volente and 1431 on the NE side of Lake Travis, is a great set of twisties. It was voted the #5 best road in the 2003 Ride Texas magazine's readers' poll, and the Ride Texas Ride Guide describes it (paraphrased) as being designed by "road engineers on acid."

The road surface is very good, with the occasional bit of gravel. There are a few driveways and turnoffs, and there are quite a few sharp blind turns, so keep a lookout for the odd bit of gravel, the delivery or garbage truck during the weekdays, and lake traffic during the warm season.

The local police also love to park out near the 1431 entrance to Lime Creek, and catch the folks hurrying down the straightish portion after enjoying the curves.

Many riders love this road, but complain of it being overly busy or dangerous. Stories abound of vehicles aplenty, and car and bike accidents as some folks tend to hit some of the corners a bit too hot.

There's also "The Dog" that has been known to chase some riders. I've not seen it, though, in my few times around the road.

Some experienced riders do a sighting pass, to determine the traffic, gravel, police presence, etc., then bomb, er, return the other way to really enjoy the road.

One thing I've thought about is that the road has a very different character depending upon which direction you're going. Out of Volente, you're on the outside lane for most of the real twistie stuff, with no real views to speak of. Coming toward Volente, though, there are a few more vistas of the lake, and you're on the inside of the blind corners. Try it for yourself!

lcr.jpg


Speed limit is 40, I bow down to those who can keep that pace through the best parts. ;)
lcr15mph.jpg


Where: Lime Creek Rd. runs from Volente to 1431 near Cedar Park NE of Lake Travis. You can also get to "LCR" from Austin by taking 2222, which becomes Bullock Hollow Rd when it crosses 620. Take Bullock Hollow until it T's at 2769, turn left and take 2769 to Volente. Turn right onto Lime Creek Rd., and enjoy.

From just west of Cedar Park, look for LCR on the south side of 1431. The first few miles from this direction are not particularly great, and take you by some quarries before you descend into the best part of the road.

Designation: Lime Creek Road

Roll the vids, Bubba:
From 620 to 2769 to LCR:
* Windows Media Player 9 (31.5 Mb, software)
* QuickTime 6.3 (28 Mb, QT software)

From 1431 toward Volente:
* Windows Media Player 9 (13 Mb, software)
* QuickTime 6.3 (11.5 Mb, QT software)
 
OK, that's it! 63 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. Buck has that damned video and now I have to forego the gym this afternoon and go ride Lime Creek Road and 1431. Buck, I'm blaming my lack of houshold productivity on on you when my wife asks. :-D
 
Dang You and That Video....

Buck,

I have been comfortable sitting in my house and getting fat (or fatter) when I say this video. Now I will have get my buddies together and head up that way. LCR is just inviting for our group. I can see my buddy vessmech on his devil bike (Lucifer oranger Triumph Sprint RS) tearing this road up. Maybe we could meet up with you and have you show us the way. I now need to decide if I should ride the SV650 or R1150RS. I was really becoming the coach potato's potato.
 
Howdy,

:tab This is indeed a fun road. However, the last time we were on it, we came around a blind corner to find an F-350 just stopped in the middle of the road. He was just chatting with a fellow on the side of the road. The truck could not have been at a worse location in the corner. Irondawg was leading on his Sprint ST (RIP) and managed to miss the truck, the rest of us had time to brake as we were doing the delayed apex thing and not following to close. Nonetheless, it was still a fun ride. I prefer more secluded and less travelled roads ;-)

Adios,
 
Yes, it is heavily travel. And enforced. TCSO put their new BMW R 1150 RT's on that road first. Seems the Harleys were being left in the dust. But I feel better now that I'm back from my ride. It's great to have such a wonderful little road 20 minutes from my house.
 
Just lucky, I guess.

I've done the road about 10 times since getting up the nerve to tackle those bends, and I've:

  • followed the garbage truck a few yards before it turned off of LCR
  • encountered the big delivery truck right at the apex of one of the tight curves, but it stayed in its lane, and I had plenty of room to avoid it anyway, as slow as I was going :oops:
  • seen no popo, ever, but I keep around 40 or so on the straightish parts, so hopefully we'll just wave to one another if I do see one.
  • not seen The Dog, even with my loudified v-twin
  • not seen much gravel, other than what was indicated in the vid

I hope my luck holds.

:angel:
 
:tab I wonder if a polarizing filter on the lens would help cut out some of the glare from the sky portion and give a little better exposure on the road/groud portion of the picture? Any ideas? This is often done on regular cameras for still shots but I don't know if you can do it on the video.

Adios,
 
leeroy: thanks. :)

Scott: I didn't realize how bright it was until I started editing the vid, sorry about that. Dunno about attaching a polarizing filter. I think a cheaper alternative would be hitting it at a different time or when it's cloudier. :-D
 
There are several deaths on that road each year...you got the Jap car clubs riding at high speeds on that road (for a car anyways and a driver with limited skill) and they tend to come into the other lane. I feel sorry for any biker that meets them. And yes it has already happened. Don't get me wrong, it is an awesome road. It is just getting traveled on too much these days.
 
...and a driver with limited skill...

:tab Let's not forget the riders that fall into that same category ;-) Many of the accidents are single vehicle accidents!

:tab Paul, I wasn't griping about the vids hehe. Just a point of interest. You seem to be doing a great job of building up a video library for us of the cool roads. I need to get you over here to do some of the Deep East Texas roads we hit on our Butt Burner routes. Your suggestion of doing cloudy days is actually a very good one. Many books on photography point out that it is easier to get a good "proper" exposure on overcast days because the lighting is more even and seems to come from everywhere instead of being so directional.

:tab I like the added touch of a soundtrack ;-)

Adios,
 
I've updated the original post to emphasize the business/dangers of the road, to be fair.

I'd love to get back up for a Butt Burner, but would wind up miles behind the usual suspects, I'm afraid... ;) East Texas is definitely on my list, just dunno when.
 
Wow!

Howdy. Heard about this site at the IMS show in Dallas. Just logged on and I love it. Just wanted to say that these videos are fantastic. It's driving me nuts having to sit here and look at roads that I won't be able to get to until next spring. However, I just might be able to convince my wife into taking an impromptu weekend run down to the Hill Country by showing her these videos. Thanks again and keep up the great work.

Kelly Teeples
Fort Worth
 
:tab Welcome to the site Kelly. I'll be running two tours into the Hill Country in April via my tour company (see sig). Two more in the Fall. I'll be doing another in early May in the are South of DFW.

Adios,
 
Re: Wow!

FWVic said:
Howdy. Heard about this site at the IMS show in Dallas. Just logged on and I love it. Just wanted to say that these videos are fantastic. It's driving me nuts having to sit here and look at roads that I won't be able to get to until next spring. However, I just might be able to convince my wife into taking an impromptu weekend run down to the Hill Country by showing her these videos. Thanks again and keep up the great work.

Kelly Teeples
Fort Worth

Sell the wife on Fredericksburg as a destination. Bed and Breakfast, German food and beer, so forth and so on. You get to ride, she gets to antique, shop, schmooze and everything else I can't stand to do. It's the best of both worlds. If she rides, you got it made, it's just a weeked get away. Either way YOU are riding the best roads in Texas! Let me know if I can help further. :mrgreen:
 
Buck,

Don't know what you do for a living but if you keep making these great videos you could do more for Texas tourism than the Longhorn steer and BBQ.

One of my office mates walked by and silently watched me "leaning" into the turns as I watched the video in full screen mode for what must have been a full minute before I noticed him standing there and shaking his head. Well, I invited him in to watch a minute and I think you hooked him. We talked bikes for about 10 more minutes and he started to get "that look" - you know the one where you are mentally calculating how much fundage you have stashed away for those new toys ...

Keep up the good work!

Dave.

Dave.
 
Dave,

Hehe, my little plan to assimilate all non-riders into the crack addiction of motorcycling is working... :-D

Thanks for the kind words...
 
Buck,
Your vids are really great. I tried one once in West VA but it was very very "shakey". I get sick tryin to watch. A few questions:
1. What kind of camera
2. Digital??
3. What editing software?
4. What kind of mount?
I would like to do some roads in this area.
Keep up the good work!
 
Your vids are really great. I tried one once in West VA but it was very very "shakey". I get sick tryin to watch.

Thanks, Buzz...!


1. What kind of camera

Couple of year old JVC GR-DVL725U, with image stabilization (key for moto-videos, I should think).

2. Digital??

Yup. I'd love to get a bullet cam, but they're analog, and it's just so easy to transfer the digital video to my machine (I'm too lazy/cheap to buy the bullet cam and associated video capture card).

3. What editing software?

Generally, Window Movie Maker v5.1. I do have QuickTime Proin order to make .mov versions. I also bought ULead VideoStudio 6, which has some nice features, but just find that the (free) Windows Movie Maker has the features I like (transitions, multi-audio, etc.), and is easier to use.

4. What kind of mount?

Aluminum camera mount with suction cup feet, very similar to this one (I bought mine from LP, but what I received has slightly more articulation)
 
Hey Paul,

:tab Quick question for you. The bullet camera is analog (RCA), but does that mean that a digital camera with an RCA input won't work? I know that a lot of people have been using digital cameras with RCA jacks and they hook them up the their VCR's and then play old videos into the camcorder. This way they convert their VHS stuff to digital format so it can be stored on CD's and DVD's. Basically they are using the camera as a pass through. Can your camera do this? If so, then I would think you'd also be able to use the bullet cameras.

Adios,
 
Scott,

That might work. My DV cam doesn't have those RCA plugs, so I'd have to use my other, older analog vidcam, which means buying a video capture adapter, which means opening up my PC, which doesn't interest me much right now. ;)

If the camera can digitize incoming analog signals, well, COOL!
 
Buck

Or is it Paul? Thanks for the detailed post. I think my problem was the stabilization. I'm going to borrpw a friend's and try again. Is windows movie Maker bundled wi9th XP or is it a seperate program? I guess I could use my MAC i have at home.

TKS Again
 
hcope1 said:
Buck

Or is it Paul?

Either works. ;)

Buck was given by my mother, pre-natally... :roll:

Is windows movie Maker bundled wi9th XP or is it a seperate program? I guess I could use my MAC i have at home.

TKS Again

No problem. Windows Movie Maker comes with XP, but a nicer version is available as a free upgrade, iirc... Download site.

I think I've got a fairly recent version. Actually, my about box gives two versions... :shock:

* Windows Movie Maker: Version 5.1
* Windows Movie Maker Version 2.0.3312.0 (this is what the download page gets you to).

I'm by no means a fan of Micro$oft, but I do like this program.

Have at it!
 
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