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...the Lurker EXPOSED!!!

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arcangel

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Came across this board from someone on Sport-Touring.net -- was that you, Buck000? Anywho, been lurking here for a week or two. Lots of interesting riders with good info.

My name's Chad Nevills, I'm 34, currently living in FW, working as an engineer at Lockheed. I'm a contractor, so I've moved around a bit--KS (originally from there), OK, MI, GA. Got to do several Dragon's Tail/Cherohala trips when in GA--a definite must do.

Right now I'm riding a 97 Honda Blackbird and my faithful 86 Yamaha FJ1200 around NE TX. Have a Kawasaki Concours at my home in KS, but haven't managed to get her down here yet. Never been much of a peg scraper, but trying to learn... Enjoy slinging the saddlebags on & just heading out on weekend trips.

Coming from KS (land of square tire profiles), ANYTHING is more interesting. Been riding to Palo Pinto/FM 4, GlenRose, Granbury lately. Just got back from a trip to Austin, hoping to hit Kerrville & area soon, if work permits (stuck working 55-60 hrs since Nov.) Loving Texas.

Sadly, few of my friends ride, but I'm always amazed at how easily people strike up conversations down here, especially bikers, so constantly making new acquaintances who ride.

Anywho, love the board and hope to meet some of you soon!

Oily side down,

chad
www.pbase.com/v00d00child
 
Oily side down
Click to expand...

You have an oily side? :-P

:tab Welcome to the board. Keep an eye on the Upcoming Rides/Trips section, there is usually something going on every few weeks or so. I won't be putting much together the next six weeks or so because I already have some private stuff planned. After the end of June, I'll be doing a little more, then I have some tours planned for Aug, Sept, Oct, and Nov. We also have the TWT Rally in Arkansas mid Sept.

:tab There is no shortage of bike stuff to do in Texas pretty much year round.
 
** I'm posting this to the 2 new members from Ft. Worth... Andy and Chad **
>> Been riding to Palo Pinto/FM 4, GlenRose, Granbury lately. <<

There are some nice roads near Hico (SW of Ft. Worth). One road is 1602 from Hico to Jonesboro. Another is 1702 from Dublin to Indian Gap. Yet another 219 all the way from Clifton to Olin.

I did 1602 a couple of weeks ago and it was especially scenic with all the wild flowers out. It had quite a few nice sweepers. I did 219 and 1702 a couple of years ago. If you do 219 be sure and follow the signs to the community of Norse. That area (Clifton included) was originally settled by folks from Norway. It's interesting to wander around the cemetery at Norse and see tombstones that date from the early 1800's inscribed in Norwegian. Of course the 1800's are going to seem downright contemporary to Andy but to us yanks, that's positively ancient.

If neither of you have done so yet, be sure and run by a bookstore and pick up a copy of "The Roads of Texas" by Shearer Publishing (ISBN# 0-940672-64-2 ). It is an atlas of very detailed maps of the whole state. It's fun to look for the twistiest, rural roads you can find on the map and take off on an exploration ride. When I pick an area I want to ride, I make a Xerox copy of the map section and stick it in my tank bag.
 
Mick-

Thanks the for info. Was kinda in that neck of the woods yesterday on a 330 mile loop I borrowed from the COG. There are truly some spectacular rodes hidden in NC Texas. FM 51/204 was incredible, but came up on a truck pulled over, guy standing next to the road, gawking at me. ??? A few seconds later, a firetruck, HWP, Ambulances scream by. Not to be a gore hound, but I went back, a Triumph Trophy rider had wrecked and had been lying in the rough. If the guy hadn't pulled over, who knows what'd happened.

Thanks for the book info also--called several dealerships around here, and they've obviously never heard of it. To date, I've been looking on the North American Sportbike Road Registry page, the South Central COG site, and a few others to glean the jewels from the TX countryside.

Cheers!

chad
 
Howdy,

:tab I was checking out the Roads of Texas last night at Barnes & Noble. I like the fact that it has a stapled binding instead of glued. It makes it easier to open the book and lay it flat when viewing the pages. Also, it is only $15 as opposed to the $25 for the Delorme Atlas & Gazetter. However, I still prefer the actual maps in the Delorme. I think it is easier to look at the maps and quickly spot the roads amongst all the background clutter. The roads on the Roads of Texas don't stand out as well. The big drawback to the Delorme is that the glued binding falls apart quickly and then your pages always fall out. This can be convenient actually when you don't want the whole huge book on your desktop, but it does tear up the edges of the pages. It would be really nice if Delorme would spiral bound their Texas map. Or better yet, it would be cool if they made that exact same map, with all the same detail, available on CD-Rom!! Drool... Actually, I'd like to see every state like that. I have their AAA Map'n'Go software but for me it is very unstable on any computer I install it on. It crashes all the time. Also, it is missing quite a few roads that the books include. I just bought the Microslop Street & Trips software because I am desperate for a stable computerized map program for trip planning. I will install it this evening. Lots of people like it, so hopefully I will grow to like it and it will work for me.

:tab Don't forget, if you find roads you really like, put them in our Favorite roads section! Especially if you have soem good pictures. That way everyone else can find out about the great rides.
 
Kinko's can spiral bind for minimal fee, but of course that will cut into the page width a bit. Aren't very many good atlases (eses's? atli?) that fit in a tank bag window, though.

I, too, use microslop Streets 98, which has surprisingly good detail for the boonies. One of the most frustrating things about TX is that you guys have 4 names for every road! Twice yesterday I had to flip a U to see the name of the road I was about to turn onto. Keeps me on my toes, I guess, and bottom line, they were ALL good roads, just woulda wound up in a different town.

Has anyone bought the maps/touring guides mentioned on ridetexas.com?

Gotta go ride my freshly sync'd FJ now... (WOO HOO!!!)

L8r
chad
 
Ride Texas Guide

Has anyone bought the maps/touring guides mentioned on ridetexas.com?
Click to expand...

:tab I recently bought the Ride Texas book just because I heard so many people raving about it. In my opinion, for me, it was not worth the money. But the money went to support a good cause so I don't really mind all that much. However, let me qualify my opinion a little bit.

:tab If you are capable of looking at a map and deciding which roads look the squiggliest, and you like to explore, then you really don't need this book. It is for the lazy rider that simply wants to look at the map, be told where to turn, where to eat, when to stop and look at the scenery, etc,... For some people, that is great. For me... well, I can do all that myself quite easily and that is a large part of what I enjoy about riding, the adventure of the unkown. Will the road be any good? Will the food at the roadside hole in the wall be something you come back for, or does it send you running, literally? :brainsnap About the best thing this book is good for is for finding out about out of the way and interesting places to stop and do some sight seeing: little museums, shops, etc,...

:tab Of course, you can also read some of the Ride/Trip Reports in the Story Telling and Tire Kicking forum ;-) Or You can just ask folks here if they have been to a particular area and see what they think of it.

:tab As long as you are on most paved roads in Texas, they are some of the best marked roads in the country I think. Try spending some time in Louisiana, Mississippi, or Alabama!! And don't even think about stopping to ask locals for directions. Most of them have no freaking idea where they are, or the number or name of any of their own roads :? Georgia and North Carolina are much better.
 
>> Thanks for the book info also--called several dealerships around here, and they've obviously never heard of it. <<

I'm surprised. I've seen it in quite a few book stores. Try giving them the ISBN# that I supplied and let them look it up from that. As a last resort you might try Amazon.com.
 
>> There are truly some spectacular rodes hidden in NC Texas. FM 51/204 was incredible, <<

Forgot to ask,... where are these two roads?
 
quoting other people's messages

Howdy Mick,

:tab If you want to quote another person, highlight the text in their message that you want to quote, go to the editor for your message and use the following BBCode tages:

username said:
paste quoted text here
Click to expand...

Insert the person's username above. This will make the little box with their text and it will show their name above the box. Just an FYI in case you were not already aware of this.
 
Where are these roads?

Mick said:
Forgot to ask,... where are these two roads?
Click to expand...

Between Glen Rose and Stephenville. North of US 67.

51 is really nice and tight but way to short :-(
 
Hehe... that area is no secret to the DFW riders. It is one of the few areas relatively close by with any decent riding!
 
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