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While I was working on this ride report, I noted that Coolhand has posted his report of the same ride. He's as fast at ride report posting as he is on his DR. Since I've already written this up separately, I'll just post it separately as well....
I'll call this the "4-Guys-Ride". (November 27, 2009)
Coolhand, SZ Rider, JThompson, and I, met at a corner store at Hwy 1431 and Parmer/Ronald Reagan Blvd. in Cedar Park, at 9 am on a rather cool morning, Friday November 27, 2009.
Rusty/Woodbutcher (I think. Sorry I am lousy at remembering names) dropped by for a gallon of milk, or to see us off, I'm not sure which. He would not be riding with us, as he had work to do, while we four guys had 'fun' to do.
Morning meet in Cedar Park (GPS: 30.5353, -97.7832)
SZ Rider was an '04 KLR, and I was on a '08 KLR, Cool Hand was on a Suzuki DR650 with the smallest gas tank of the bunch, while JThompson, was on a Honda XRL 650 with a proper sized transparent gas tank.
The day started out around 40F degrees, and I don't think it got much warmer than mid sixties all day. It was chilly riding north on Parmer/Ronald Reagan Blvd., especially for the two riders who did not have wind screens. I noticed some hand wringing of frozen fingers at the traffic lights after a few miles at highway speeds, so I modified the route a bit get us off of Parmer/Ronald Reagan Blvd., somewhere north of Hwy 29. The detour would take us around to Camp Tejas on the San Gabriel River at the west end of Lake Georgetown (GPS: 30.6961, -97.8281).
From Camp Tejas we road to Hwy 3405 and made our way along county roads to Florence (GPS: 30.8413, -97.7943). North on Hwy 195 out of Florence for a couple of miles enroute to Maxdale via CR277/Wolfridge Rd. These are nice paved scenic county roads. No dirt yet.
We stop in Maxdale at the Cowboy Church where I'd hoped we might pick up addition riders from the Killen area. We arrive at 10am, exactly as stated in the ride invite, but no additional riders, so we continued on.
The Cowboy Church in Maxdale (GPS: 30.98985, -97.83541)
We rode west from Maxdale on CR220/Maxdale Rd. to Oakalla where we crossed over the Lampasas River and started up CR223 (GPS: 30.98506, -97.92759) which follows the river up to Kempner. We stopped along the way to enjoy the view.
The Lampasas River between Oakalla and Kempner (GPS: 31.01802, -97.99351)
Coolhand's Suzuki could go 150 miles before running out of gas, but ideally should be refueled at around 75 miles, so we always kept an eye out for fuel stops. We'd ridden about 50 miles when we arrived in Kempner (GPS: 31.0806, -98.00252). We rolled through Kempner, looking for gas, but the only thing resembling a gas pump looked like it had not been used in a while, so we continued on.
We road up Hwy 2313 a few miles to the first dirt road of the day. Here we followed Coolhand's lead and let some of the air out of our tires, which were a little overinflated after all the pavement we'd ridden up to this point.
First dirt road of the day - CR32 in Lampasas Co. (GPS: 31.1258, -98.04235)
This road was well packed limestone gravel that deteriorated to a gravel two-track, then became paved shortly before intersecting Hwy 580 (GPS: 31.17303, -98.06879). We did a little left-right jog on Hwy 580 to pick up CR34/3600. This road proved to be a little more fun with a few water crossings. One water crossing was natural gravel and easily the deepest we would cross all day, but still only about a foot deep.
All to soon we ran out of dirt road upon intersecting Hwy 1690, which we road a short distance to Hwy 581, which took us to Adamsville (GPS: 31.30182, -98.16904)
Before the ride, Coolhand suggested an alternate ride along county roads to Adamsville, which I wish we'd have ridden afterall. Oh well, just an excuse to ride out that way again some time.
I knew however that some of the best riding was just a short distance down Hwy 281 from Adamsville, where we turn west on CR46 (GPS: 31.26221, -98.17564). Several miles into CR46 we encountered an exotic animal ranch, where previously I'd seen Zebra and such. Today however we saw only these...
Camel Ranch (GPS: 31.29002, -98.22268)
The scenery on this ride has been great, with all the fall color (or at least as much as we get in Central Texas) and Red Oaks standing out against the evergreen Live Oaks, Cedar and Juniper. But I have to say that CR46 & CR73 between Adamsville and Lometa are probably the most fun roads to ride on this trip. It is open range, no fences. just a little gravel road winding through the trees. We stopped at a little watering hole for a few pictures.
A watering hole along CR73 between Adamsville and Lometa (GPS: 31.29046, -98.26989)
We then make our way over to Lometa via CR42 to CR69 to Hwy 581. We stop for gas in Lometa at about 110 miles.
It's about noon. time to eat. There aren't a lot of places to eat in Lometa. We saw a bunch of Harleys parked outside one restaurant, but I had another place in mind from a previous ride; the Branding Iron.
The last time I was here the food was surprisingly good. I have to say though, that this time the food was just OK. I guess the place has changed hands or something. The service was excellent and food was fine, but not as good as I remembered. I didn't here any complaints though, as we were hungry.
Lunch at the Branding Iron in Lometa (GPS: 31.21517, -98.39331)
The obligatory 'food' picture... Burgers all the way around.
Back on the road, we head south a short distance on Hwy 183 to Hwy 3415 (GPS: 31.1999, -98.38542). Hwy 3415 downgrades to CR53 about halfway to Hwy 580. We stop at a little known community named Nix TX. Here they have an antique gas station, antique shop, and a ferocious Dachshund.
My family name is Nix, but to my knowledge we have no connection with this community. Still, if I were single, and trying to pick up girls, there's an angle here I could use to my advantage, don't ya think. Nah! They'd never buy it. No one who owns an entire town would ride a KLR.
Nix, TX (GPS: 31.1086, -98.36516)
We rolled west on Hwy 580 from Nix to Bend. Then west of Bend we turned south on Hwy 501 and ride a half mile or so to CR432 (GPS: 31.08325, -98.53596). I figured that all the highway riding would get boring, so I routed us down this little county road as a diversion more than anything else. It's a pleasant road that crosses a couple of creeks.
Thus far, all of the water crossing on this ride have been short and not very slippery. It was actually really nice not to fear for one's life every time we'd ride across a low water crossing. There was one crossing on CR432 however that was longer and slicker, and it had a bunch of large cracks and heaves in it that could easily pitch a motorcycle sideways out from under it's rider. Fortunately none us grew complacent after riding all the relatively easy crossings thus far. Remaining alert and cautious, we crossed without incident.
Back up on Hwy 501 we continue a short distance south to Rough Creek Rd. (GPS: 31.05626, -98.5715), which becomes E. Chappel Rd. This is a very dusty limestone gravel road that rises up a hill to a plateau. There are numerous intersecting roads that all the maps I've seen show going off in interesting directions. However, in reality, the side roads become gated private roads, so we stuck to the main road until it became Hwy 1031. At this point we headed south on CR409 (GPS: 31.0917, -98.62179).
CR409 starts out flat and straight through mesquite grassland being grazed by rather large black cattle. About a mile down the road I notice my bike wiggling a round a lot, which I at first attributed to the loose gravel surface. But soon thereafter it became apparent that my rear tire was going flat in a hurry. I stop and sure enough, I have a flat tire. Oh boy!
I've never had a flat on the road before. Therefore I have never had to fix a flat on the road before, but I have always carried with me everything needed to do so. I've planned for this eventuality, and here is my chance to see how well I've prepared.
My fellow riders seemed impressed by my preparedness, and with their help, the rear tire was off the bike in no time. Upon inspection I found a nice 3" nail sunk all the way into the tire.
At first I felt foolish that I'd been riding on a tire with no tread to speak of, around it's center, thus making the tire more susceptible to puncture, but hey, a 3" nail is going skewer even the best brand new tire. Just dumb luck I suppose.
We had the bead broken, and loose in the rim on one side, and the old tube pulled out. I found a nice big tear in the tube. Never count on patching a tube... always plan to replace tubes.
New tube in. Tire bead reseated. Tire re-inflated via air compressor. Wheel back on the bike. Tools repacked onto the bike, and away we went in under a 1/2 hour I reckon.
Ah! The joys of Dualsport motorcycling. Fixing a Flat on the road. (GPS: 31.07112, -98.62969)
Well there's your problem! That's not supposed to be there. Yes... I know. Time for a new tire.
At this point, CoolHand and SZ Rider were tired of eating dust and anxious to get going, so without any objection from JThompson or myself, they took off to do a hot-lap, if you will, for the rest of CR409 all the way down to Cherokee on Hwy 16.
CR409 had only recently been graded, so the surface was especially loose and dusty. Coolhand and SZ Rider waited for us to catch up at a couple of turns, and took a couple pictures as we caught up with them (See Coolhand's pictures on his report"]post).
At one particular turn I noticed a track in the road that was unmistakeably that of a rider getting very loose and almost going down. Apparently SZ Rider lost the back wheel exiting a turn under power and had his rear wheel slide back and forth enough to pitch him off, but he managed to gather it back up without incident. Well done, but definitely a 'pucker-moment' I'm sure.
Once in Cherokee (GPS: 30.98175, -98.70822) we headed east a couple miles on Hwy 501 to CR436, which become CR435, which become CR226, also known as Baby Head Rd. (GPS: 30.98072, -98.65947). This is a nice picturesque ride down a canyon crowded with trees and creeks. the last few miles are paved, but narrow.
By the time we reach Hwy 16 at CR226, it is getting late, about 4:15 pm. The sky has gotten cloudy, and it is darker than usual for this time of day, and it is getting colder.
We have a look at a map and try to decide which way to ride back to Austin. The objective is to arrive before dark, but without abandoning the spirit of the ride, which is to have fun riding interesting roads.
Planning the home stretch back to Austin from CR226 and Hwy 16 (GPS: 30.88788, -98.65364)
We decide to skip Llano, opting instead to ride a more direct route down to Hwy 29 via CR216/Lone Grove Ranch Rd. (GPS: 30.86844, -98.65364) to Hwy 2241 (GPS: 30.81427, -98.57381) where we did a did a right-left jog over to CR202/lone Grove Rd. down to Hwy 29.
We stopped briefly on Hwy 29 to see the Bald Eagles that nest in a tree on the bank of the Llano River. I caught only a glimpse of one male eagle flying from the river to a tree.
Continuing on Hwy 29 past Lake Buchanan to Park Rd. 4 through Inks Lake Park. We are now riding at a bad time of day, an hour before sundown, when the deer become more active. In fact, as SZ Rider crested a hill, he found a couple of deer in the middle of the road 100 feet ahead of him. We all braked suddenly and became much more cautious thereafter, but never saw another deer.
From Park Rd. 4 we rode up CR116/Hoover Valley Rd. (GPS: 30.71559, -98.38069) to reconnect with Hwy 29 just west of Burnet. Once in Burnet Coolhand was in need of fuel. While stopped in Burnet I explained that I'd planned to ride county roads back to Cedar Park, rather than ride Hwy 29, if anyone cared to join me. SZ Rider opted to ride Hwy 29, as he had further to go before it got dark. Coolhand and JThompson rode with me down a series of county roads all the way to Cedar Park where we went our separate ways.
My mileage, round trip to from/to Cedar Park, was about 250 miles in 8 hours elapsed time. I intended to post my track log for your consideration, should you be interested. But unfortunately I am unable to post my track log because my Mapping software won't save in the .gpx format, and the TWT site will not upload an .mps file. However, the track is very close to route posted on the ride invite here. Additionally, I added GPS coordinates throughout my ride report that can be copied and pasted into google maps to pin point all the key locations.
It was a very nice ride, except for the flat tire. At least I was finally able to use all the tools and gear I'd been carrying around all these years, and verify that the gear I have is sufficient to do the job on the road.
Thanks guys... It was a pleasure riding with you.
Anthony
I'll call this the "4-Guys-Ride". (November 27, 2009)
Coolhand, SZ Rider, JThompson, and I, met at a corner store at Hwy 1431 and Parmer/Ronald Reagan Blvd. in Cedar Park, at 9 am on a rather cool morning, Friday November 27, 2009.
Rusty/Woodbutcher (I think. Sorry I am lousy at remembering names) dropped by for a gallon of milk, or to see us off, I'm not sure which. He would not be riding with us, as he had work to do, while we four guys had 'fun' to do.
Morning meet in Cedar Park (GPS: 30.5353, -97.7832)
SZ Rider was an '04 KLR, and I was on a '08 KLR, Cool Hand was on a Suzuki DR650 with the smallest gas tank of the bunch, while JThompson, was on a Honda XRL 650 with a proper sized transparent gas tank.
The day started out around 40F degrees, and I don't think it got much warmer than mid sixties all day. It was chilly riding north on Parmer/Ronald Reagan Blvd., especially for the two riders who did not have wind screens. I noticed some hand wringing of frozen fingers at the traffic lights after a few miles at highway speeds, so I modified the route a bit get us off of Parmer/Ronald Reagan Blvd., somewhere north of Hwy 29. The detour would take us around to Camp Tejas on the San Gabriel River at the west end of Lake Georgetown (GPS: 30.6961, -97.8281).
From Camp Tejas we road to Hwy 3405 and made our way along county roads to Florence (GPS: 30.8413, -97.7943). North on Hwy 195 out of Florence for a couple of miles enroute to Maxdale via CR277/Wolfridge Rd. These are nice paved scenic county roads. No dirt yet.
We stop in Maxdale at the Cowboy Church where I'd hoped we might pick up addition riders from the Killen area. We arrive at 10am, exactly as stated in the ride invite, but no additional riders, so we continued on.
The Cowboy Church in Maxdale (GPS: 30.98985, -97.83541)
We rode west from Maxdale on CR220/Maxdale Rd. to Oakalla where we crossed over the Lampasas River and started up CR223 (GPS: 30.98506, -97.92759) which follows the river up to Kempner. We stopped along the way to enjoy the view.
The Lampasas River between Oakalla and Kempner (GPS: 31.01802, -97.99351)
Coolhand's Suzuki could go 150 miles before running out of gas, but ideally should be refueled at around 75 miles, so we always kept an eye out for fuel stops. We'd ridden about 50 miles when we arrived in Kempner (GPS: 31.0806, -98.00252). We rolled through Kempner, looking for gas, but the only thing resembling a gas pump looked like it had not been used in a while, so we continued on.
We road up Hwy 2313 a few miles to the first dirt road of the day. Here we followed Coolhand's lead and let some of the air out of our tires, which were a little overinflated after all the pavement we'd ridden up to this point.
First dirt road of the day - CR32 in Lampasas Co. (GPS: 31.1258, -98.04235)
This road was well packed limestone gravel that deteriorated to a gravel two-track, then became paved shortly before intersecting Hwy 580 (GPS: 31.17303, -98.06879). We did a little left-right jog on Hwy 580 to pick up CR34/3600. This road proved to be a little more fun with a few water crossings. One water crossing was natural gravel and easily the deepest we would cross all day, but still only about a foot deep.
All to soon we ran out of dirt road upon intersecting Hwy 1690, which we road a short distance to Hwy 581, which took us to Adamsville (GPS: 31.30182, -98.16904)
Before the ride, Coolhand suggested an alternate ride along county roads to Adamsville, which I wish we'd have ridden afterall. Oh well, just an excuse to ride out that way again some time.
I knew however that some of the best riding was just a short distance down Hwy 281 from Adamsville, where we turn west on CR46 (GPS: 31.26221, -98.17564). Several miles into CR46 we encountered an exotic animal ranch, where previously I'd seen Zebra and such. Today however we saw only these...
Camel Ranch (GPS: 31.29002, -98.22268)
The scenery on this ride has been great, with all the fall color (or at least as much as we get in Central Texas) and Red Oaks standing out against the evergreen Live Oaks, Cedar and Juniper. But I have to say that CR46 & CR73 between Adamsville and Lometa are probably the most fun roads to ride on this trip. It is open range, no fences. just a little gravel road winding through the trees. We stopped at a little watering hole for a few pictures.
A watering hole along CR73 between Adamsville and Lometa (GPS: 31.29046, -98.26989)
We then make our way over to Lometa via CR42 to CR69 to Hwy 581. We stop for gas in Lometa at about 110 miles.
It's about noon. time to eat. There aren't a lot of places to eat in Lometa. We saw a bunch of Harleys parked outside one restaurant, but I had another place in mind from a previous ride; the Branding Iron.
The last time I was here the food was surprisingly good. I have to say though, that this time the food was just OK. I guess the place has changed hands or something. The service was excellent and food was fine, but not as good as I remembered. I didn't here any complaints though, as we were hungry.
Lunch at the Branding Iron in Lometa (GPS: 31.21517, -98.39331)
The obligatory 'food' picture... Burgers all the way around.
Back on the road, we head south a short distance on Hwy 183 to Hwy 3415 (GPS: 31.1999, -98.38542). Hwy 3415 downgrades to CR53 about halfway to Hwy 580. We stop at a little known community named Nix TX. Here they have an antique gas station, antique shop, and a ferocious Dachshund.
My family name is Nix, but to my knowledge we have no connection with this community. Still, if I were single, and trying to pick up girls, there's an angle here I could use to my advantage, don't ya think. Nah! They'd never buy it. No one who owns an entire town would ride a KLR.
Nix, TX (GPS: 31.1086, -98.36516)
We rolled west on Hwy 580 from Nix to Bend. Then west of Bend we turned south on Hwy 501 and ride a half mile or so to CR432 (GPS: 31.08325, -98.53596). I figured that all the highway riding would get boring, so I routed us down this little county road as a diversion more than anything else. It's a pleasant road that crosses a couple of creeks.
Thus far, all of the water crossing on this ride have been short and not very slippery. It was actually really nice not to fear for one's life every time we'd ride across a low water crossing. There was one crossing on CR432 however that was longer and slicker, and it had a bunch of large cracks and heaves in it that could easily pitch a motorcycle sideways out from under it's rider. Fortunately none us grew complacent after riding all the relatively easy crossings thus far. Remaining alert and cautious, we crossed without incident.
Back up on Hwy 501 we continue a short distance south to Rough Creek Rd. (GPS: 31.05626, -98.5715), which becomes E. Chappel Rd. This is a very dusty limestone gravel road that rises up a hill to a plateau. There are numerous intersecting roads that all the maps I've seen show going off in interesting directions. However, in reality, the side roads become gated private roads, so we stuck to the main road until it became Hwy 1031. At this point we headed south on CR409 (GPS: 31.0917, -98.62179).
CR409 starts out flat and straight through mesquite grassland being grazed by rather large black cattle. About a mile down the road I notice my bike wiggling a round a lot, which I at first attributed to the loose gravel surface. But soon thereafter it became apparent that my rear tire was going flat in a hurry. I stop and sure enough, I have a flat tire. Oh boy!
I've never had a flat on the road before. Therefore I have never had to fix a flat on the road before, but I have always carried with me everything needed to do so. I've planned for this eventuality, and here is my chance to see how well I've prepared.
My fellow riders seemed impressed by my preparedness, and with their help, the rear tire was off the bike in no time. Upon inspection I found a nice 3" nail sunk all the way into the tire.
At first I felt foolish that I'd been riding on a tire with no tread to speak of, around it's center, thus making the tire more susceptible to puncture, but hey, a 3" nail is going skewer even the best brand new tire. Just dumb luck I suppose.
We had the bead broken, and loose in the rim on one side, and the old tube pulled out. I found a nice big tear in the tube. Never count on patching a tube... always plan to replace tubes.
New tube in. Tire bead reseated. Tire re-inflated via air compressor. Wheel back on the bike. Tools repacked onto the bike, and away we went in under a 1/2 hour I reckon.
Ah! The joys of Dualsport motorcycling. Fixing a Flat on the road. (GPS: 31.07112, -98.62969)
Well there's your problem! That's not supposed to be there. Yes... I know. Time for a new tire.
At this point, CoolHand and SZ Rider were tired of eating dust and anxious to get going, so without any objection from JThompson or myself, they took off to do a hot-lap, if you will, for the rest of CR409 all the way down to Cherokee on Hwy 16.
CR409 had only recently been graded, so the surface was especially loose and dusty. Coolhand and SZ Rider waited for us to catch up at a couple of turns, and took a couple pictures as we caught up with them (See Coolhand's pictures on his report"]post).
At one particular turn I noticed a track in the road that was unmistakeably that of a rider getting very loose and almost going down. Apparently SZ Rider lost the back wheel exiting a turn under power and had his rear wheel slide back and forth enough to pitch him off, but he managed to gather it back up without incident. Well done, but definitely a 'pucker-moment' I'm sure.
Once in Cherokee (GPS: 30.98175, -98.70822) we headed east a couple miles on Hwy 501 to CR436, which become CR435, which become CR226, also known as Baby Head Rd. (GPS: 30.98072, -98.65947). This is a nice picturesque ride down a canyon crowded with trees and creeks. the last few miles are paved, but narrow.
By the time we reach Hwy 16 at CR226, it is getting late, about 4:15 pm. The sky has gotten cloudy, and it is darker than usual for this time of day, and it is getting colder.
We have a look at a map and try to decide which way to ride back to Austin. The objective is to arrive before dark, but without abandoning the spirit of the ride, which is to have fun riding interesting roads.
Planning the home stretch back to Austin from CR226 and Hwy 16 (GPS: 30.88788, -98.65364)
We decide to skip Llano, opting instead to ride a more direct route down to Hwy 29 via CR216/Lone Grove Ranch Rd. (GPS: 30.86844, -98.65364) to Hwy 2241 (GPS: 30.81427, -98.57381) where we did a did a right-left jog over to CR202/lone Grove Rd. down to Hwy 29.
We stopped briefly on Hwy 29 to see the Bald Eagles that nest in a tree on the bank of the Llano River. I caught only a glimpse of one male eagle flying from the river to a tree.
Continuing on Hwy 29 past Lake Buchanan to Park Rd. 4 through Inks Lake Park. We are now riding at a bad time of day, an hour before sundown, when the deer become more active. In fact, as SZ Rider crested a hill, he found a couple of deer in the middle of the road 100 feet ahead of him. We all braked suddenly and became much more cautious thereafter, but never saw another deer.
From Park Rd. 4 we rode up CR116/Hoover Valley Rd. (GPS: 30.71559, -98.38069) to reconnect with Hwy 29 just west of Burnet. Once in Burnet Coolhand was in need of fuel. While stopped in Burnet I explained that I'd planned to ride county roads back to Cedar Park, rather than ride Hwy 29, if anyone cared to join me. SZ Rider opted to ride Hwy 29, as he had further to go before it got dark. Coolhand and JThompson rode with me down a series of county roads all the way to Cedar Park where we went our separate ways.
My mileage, round trip to from/to Cedar Park, was about 250 miles in 8 hours elapsed time. I intended to post my track log for your consideration, should you be interested. But unfortunately I am unable to post my track log because my Mapping software won't save in the .gpx format, and the TWT site will not upload an .mps file. However, the track is very close to route posted on the ride invite here. Additionally, I added GPS coordinates throughout my ride report that can be copied and pasted into google maps to pin point all the key locations.
It was a very nice ride, except for the flat tire. At least I was finally able to use all the tools and gear I'd been carrying around all these years, and verify that the gear I have is sufficient to do the job on the road.
Thanks guys... It was a pleasure riding with you.
Anthony
Some how it didn't exactly work out that way, but at least dust eating duties were shared equitably. It would have been foolish of me to try and keep up with Coolhand and SZ Rider on my bald tires. I was happy to hang back a ways.
