_RG_
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The Seven Bridges ride was an addition to Kickstand~Prophet’s monthly Meet n Greet n Eat event. It started from the Granger lake Willis Creek park where hard-core moto campers gathered to share a great time around the campfire.
The ride loop runs about 145 miles and includes a good many one lane semi-paved farm roads and a whole bunch of sharp right angle turns. There are also several fun miles of gravel and even a few of righteous dirt.
Four of us ventured out to see what the day would bring. Texas Mud Taco on his mighty DR650, Builtea rolled up on his Ural hack, JT on his V-Strom and me hanging onto the 1190.
First on our route was the Chandler or 366 bridge.
We looped back toward the lake and went into Taylor park to visit the once haunted Hoxie bridge. There’s also another historic bridge there called the Friendship bridge. It’s further in the woods than we had time to explore this trip.
After crossing the Granger Lake dam, we rode out to the Donahoe bridge. Although known to be pretty much gone, the bridge was originally a cable type suspension bridge. All that remains are a few heavy cables grown over and almost invisible.
Many historic bridges that remain were built near the turn of the century. Judging by the tonnage, you can bet iron was a whole lot less expensive back then.
The Cummins crossing bridge is a different and interesting design among the group. JT was on the new bridge nearby as I went down to the old structure. He watched just below as a bobcat came from one side of the creek, crossed over a small log that went across and disappeared into the woods on the other side. Pretty cool stuff.
Next was the Bryant Crossing bridge over the Little river. This is a great bridge but it’s days are clearly numbered.
Next was the Sugar Loaf bridge over the San Gabriel. This is a fine old bridge that is recently restored and makes a great stop along many dualsport rides.
As we started the inbound leg of our loop on a really nice stretch of dirt, my TPMS started flashing. Not just a low tire pressure message but one saying “PUNCTURE!” That was different. I switched over to pressure readings and watched my rear tire drop from 42 to 17 psi in the span of a few hundred yards. OK, I believe! Time to stop.
This is another of those flats that I couldn’t duplicate with a hammer and all day to try. Little triangular piece of flint rock about the size of my fingernail had buried itself in a mostly worn out TKC80 rear. Chris heard it and found the culprit within moments of getting stopped.
After dealing with the flat it was getting late and the days are short so with our dignity well intact we slabbed it back to the camp just in time to roll in on headlights.
The track includes two more stops that we missed. Another historic bridge and the old house where the Texas Chainsaw Massacre was filmed will be reason enough to make this loop another day.
Thanks to a great group of riders for a fine day. On two wheels.
The GPX file for this trip is available HERE.
The ride loop runs about 145 miles and includes a good many one lane semi-paved farm roads and a whole bunch of sharp right angle turns. There are also several fun miles of gravel and even a few of righteous dirt.
Four of us ventured out to see what the day would bring. Texas Mud Taco on his mighty DR650, Builtea rolled up on his Ural hack, JT on his V-Strom and me hanging onto the 1190.
First on our route was the Chandler or 366 bridge.
We looped back toward the lake and went into Taylor park to visit the once haunted Hoxie bridge. There’s also another historic bridge there called the Friendship bridge. It’s further in the woods than we had time to explore this trip.
After crossing the Granger Lake dam, we rode out to the Donahoe bridge. Although known to be pretty much gone, the bridge was originally a cable type suspension bridge. All that remains are a few heavy cables grown over and almost invisible.
Many historic bridges that remain were built near the turn of the century. Judging by the tonnage, you can bet iron was a whole lot less expensive back then.
The Cummins crossing bridge is a different and interesting design among the group. JT was on the new bridge nearby as I went down to the old structure. He watched just below as a bobcat came from one side of the creek, crossed over a small log that went across and disappeared into the woods on the other side. Pretty cool stuff.
Next was the Bryant Crossing bridge over the Little river. This is a great bridge but it’s days are clearly numbered.
Next was the Sugar Loaf bridge over the San Gabriel. This is a fine old bridge that is recently restored and makes a great stop along many dualsport rides.
As we started the inbound leg of our loop on a really nice stretch of dirt, my TPMS started flashing. Not just a low tire pressure message but one saying “PUNCTURE!” That was different. I switched over to pressure readings and watched my rear tire drop from 42 to 17 psi in the span of a few hundred yards. OK, I believe! Time to stop.
This is another of those flats that I couldn’t duplicate with a hammer and all day to try. Little triangular piece of flint rock about the size of my fingernail had buried itself in a mostly worn out TKC80 rear. Chris heard it and found the culprit within moments of getting stopped.
After dealing with the flat it was getting late and the days are short so with our dignity well intact we slabbed it back to the camp just in time to roll in on headlights.
The track includes two more stops that we missed. Another historic bridge and the old house where the Texas Chainsaw Massacre was filmed will be reason enough to make this loop another day.
Thanks to a great group of riders for a fine day. On two wheels.
The GPX file for this trip is available HERE.
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