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Am I the only one?

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misterk I think for me a lot of it is time. I just can't make time to go ride six hours or more at a time. So it's frustrating that the two hour rides that are supposed to be fantastic are three or four hours away.

However, I don't treasure every mile on my motorcycle. Even though I am a die hard moto lover, there are some times when riding is a real chore. There is not a minute I spend on I-35 that I don't wish I was doing something else, especially if it's near DFW. I have no interest at all to ride anywhere on SH130. Once north of Leander, US 183 is ok and turns very nice as you approach the likes of Goldthwaite etc., and TX 29 is tolerable after Burnet and nice once it's 2-lanes but that section from Georgetown to Burnet is just a lot of noise and wind with only the occasional respite IMHO. I feel the same way about a lot of 281, 290, 71, etc. Those roads will take me to nice places but getting there is a price I pay. I'd always rather find another route. But that just adds a lot to the time spent getting to where I am going.

I'm sure people who ride a 600+ lb motorcycle with fairings and wind protection may feel a lot differently than I do on my Bonneville.

I think I need to spend some more time heading past Taylor on 79 and see what there is to ride East of here. The drive to College Station was always pretty nice even taking the quickest route when we went back and forth when my daughter was in college there.
 
dukey33 said:
I'd say you have it pretty good with such proximity to Marble Falls, the hill country and such. Just consider you have 360deg of direction to find roads to ride. Down here by the coast, we are cut off with only about 1/2 as many directions to ride before going into the GoM. Trying to go north or west typically requires cutting across Houston.
And all our nearby coastal roads are flat and straight!
I guess the grass is always greener on the other side.....

I get it. Like you said, Texas is big. It takes a full day's ride plus to get to any of the other borders from here. But from the CenTex, every border is a day's ride away.
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This times 75!!! I drive a minimum 2.5 and normally four to eleven hours to events (offroad). Minimum two hours just to unload to practice. On the flip side of the OP's point I know guys in CO who come to the western half of TX to find straighter roads for high speed riding. The grass is always,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
 
Well the roads near the coast might be straight and flat, but they can often go through interesting places and be scenic. Just depends on the roads I guess. But yeah, I can see how there are perhaps fewer interesting roads along the TX coast than there are in the NW Austin suburbs.
 
I'd be happy to ride out east with you this Sunday (Jan 17). Perhaps get breakfast over in Cameron. Could meet up in Georgetown as I live Metric/Braker Lane area. PM me if you're interested.

Getting into and out of the state does take a bit of effort plus the predictable wear and tear on equipment. I have standard west, north and east routes that I'll vary somewhat and try no to reuse the same route out and back in. Have been trying for the last few years to get in a couple of big out of state rides and use the in state for pie runs, meet and greets and just the usual puttering around CenTex to keep the skills up. Yeah it's a bit of a distance sacrifice for year round riding but I don't mind the extra journey.
 
RT_Slim said:
I'd be happy to ride out east with you this Sunday (Jan 17). Perhaps get breakfast over in Cameron. Could meet up in Georgetown as I live Metric/Braker Lane area. PM me if you're interested.
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That's a super great offer that I'll have to take you up on at some later date. I am booked on another project Saturday. I do want to do this though!
 
I fostered this kind of thinking for many years, more so as it pertained to the dirt world......I live in the wrong place. So you are not the only one. Texas is weak compared to the other public playgrounds where a lot of us tend to go on vacation. I can easily go on a rant about this.......but now I see my approach as lost time I can't get back, since I continue to choose to live here (stupid family). I finally found some middle ground and I've been logging some "boring" miles in Texas. Less enthusiastic miles are better than no miles? I don't have to have gnarly trails or endless forest/desert for 100% entertainment/satisfaction. Interesting places, historical places, old bridges, state parks, rivers, lakes, dams, breweries, lots of things can become destinations or a goal for a ride (not pies, i refuse šŸ˜ƒ). This forum and the 'other' forum taught me that.....once I gave into forums, fought that as well. There is good stuff all around us.

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I too am close to the hill country. But it is still mostly just a means to get to the "good stuff".....dirt roads. I remind myself that a lot of people travel from all over the state to ride stuff in my backyard. Self, slow down, look around....backroads.....GPS is your friend. I need to appreciate what I have instead of being jealous I don't live in states with the good stuff. Also, the words motorcycle and interstate aren't in my vocabulary, I avoid it like the plague, no matter the time lost. We have a lot of FM roads or even state highways if you have to. Also helps to tweak your steed, perhaps the rubber and/or have more than one flavor bike. I fought that for a while as well, it was a barely plated dirt bike or nothing. Now I still have a plated dirt bike.....and came to the realization that when a harley and a dirt bike fornicated and had a baby, an adventure bike was born, more middle ground. I am now a foster parent to an Africa Twin. This helps drastically with the I'm two hours from anything fun.

If you haven't, you might check out some good resources like the TWT TARA chapter on this web site, the Butler maps, maps like this one showing gravel road concentrations, Texas Highways magazine and/or go to some TWT events and rub shoulders with other riding vets. I also regularly play the game of leaving the house or work for a hour or two taking new to me back roads....take The Long Way Home šŸŽ¶. I stop a lot more now and read the historical markers as well. I sound like I am 80. My lesson learned, instead of thinking or dwelling about what I don't like about certain aspects of living/riding in Texas, find ways to still get a fix and experience new things, even if it isn't a 9 out of a 10. Gravel travel will open that up considerably. I still tend to trailer the plated dirt bike all over to the surrounding "cool" states and now ride my foster child for "local" Texas stuff to get me on two wheels more often. One of my girlfriends sang about this, "it's not having what you want, it's wanting what you've got."

And for background, according to the below, I'm a 5.5. Just 2.5 to go till it is all over for me :-P

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I recently moved to where I wanted to be. I thought it might be a good thing, but I'm finding myself surprised at just how much I'm enjoying it.

Wish I would have done it sooner. Life is short and all that.
 
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I used to pride myself on being able to get out of Texas in a day on the bike and the biggest town I had to ride through was temple I would have no trouble riding to raton with plenty of daylight but sense I would have to go at least another hundred miles into Colorado before I was in a town I would consider stopping in I always spent the night it Clayton . Arkansas was a one day ride to the good stuff , and same thing cutting through east Texas on back roads is ok riding . I have to truck now because I know Iā€™m going to have to have a dirt bike when I get there . I like sleeping in my trailer too , itā€™s more comfortable than my bed at home .
 
KsTeveM said:
I fostered this kind of thinking for many years,
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KsTeveM said:
I remind myself that a lot of people travel from all over the state to ride stuff in my backyard. Self, slow down, look around....backroads.....GPS is your friend. I

If you haven't, you might check out some good resources like the TWT TARA chapter on this web site, the Butler maps, maps like this one showing gravel road concentrations, Texas Highways magazine and/or go to some TWT events and rub shoulders with other riding vets.
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Thanks for the great response here. While I don't care to ride on dirt, this does summarize a lot of my thinking on this as well. I have Butler maps and subscribe to Texas highways mag and that helps but also helps point out that it's two hours away from everything.


I'm going to just keep looking down those FMs, PRs and CRs for lost town squares, cool bridges and historical markers. There will probably be views along the way. But I guess the likes of Big Bend or Davis Mountains, the Gulf coast, or even Twisted Sisters or Utopia and Bandera are likely out of reach unless I want to pull a trailer and make day or a week of it.
 
I dont know if I missed it in your post but I did not notice you saying anything about the Kerrville, Leaky, area some fantastic
Hill Country views out there and some of the best roads around for entertaining street riding
 
budzrex said:
I dont know if I missed it in your post but I did not notice you saying anything about the Kerrville, Leaky, area some fantastic
Hill Country views out there and some of the best roads around for entertaining street riding
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Yeah. That's 2 plus hours away. Kind of my original point.
 
yep, long way to anywhere. riding friends and I built camping cargo trailers for those faraway places. load the bike,clothes, food,water etc and meet up at the camping destination and do day trips. few days later, move to another area,state and do it again. cargo trailers can be extremely comfortable when outfitted with AC, fridge, bed, sink ....best part is no one else has slept in your bed and no hotel expenses.
 
I will have to say, I did not read all of the posts.
But my opinion, Texas is heaven. I was born in Houston, Dad transferred to Ca when I was a eleven and then to Hawaii. Graduated from college in Hawaii and ...Do not pass Go, go to...back to Texas ASAP. I did that in 1976. I now live in the National Forest, away from any big city.
Yes, I know that El Paso is half way to LA from Houston. But I can be in AZ, NM, Utah, Co, Ok, Ark, La,...way more in a day. Get out past Kerrville on I10 and the speed limit is 80mph. Your wife's Expedition could handle 80+ that standing on your head. 75 MPH is my limit pulling a correctly balanced trailer.
We have no state income tax. Life, out of any major city is very laid back. People in other states are jealous and I hope they stay away.
rh
 
prhaussies said:
I will have to say, I did not read all of the posts.
But my opinion, Texas is heaven. ...
We have no state income tax. Life, out of any major city is very laid back. People in other states are jealous
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I'm not leaving Texas! My wife and I did consider building a cabin in Leadville as a vacation house but I'm not going to live there. Since my wife is a travel agent we always come back to the argument that we'd rather spend extra money traveling than paying for a vacation home. We don't have enough extra to do both.
 
I've lived in Central Texas (SW Austin, and now Buda) for over 21 years and didn't realize how dismal motorcycling around here is until I read this thread. I always thought the year-round riding climate and the ability to point my bike in any direction for a stimulating ride made this area a moto paradise. But obviously I'm delusional, have been living in an alternate reality, and require therapy.

I also didn't realize I've been going about touring all wrong by actually riding my motorcycle the whole trip. I guess I missed the memo that tours are to managed much like Commodus tried to manage Maximus - with trailing your bike being the knife to the tour's belly to make it easier to vanquish.

Seriously though, doesn't anyone read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance anymore?
 
mr72 said:
Yeah. That's 2 plus hours away. Kind of my original point.
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Years ago, friend of mine was a roadracer in the small country he immigrated from. He picked Texas to settle in because he looked at a map and it looked like Texas was in the center of most of the tracks. The fourth day on the bus from New York to Texas he realized he had made a mistake.
 
Gassius Clay said:
I've lived in Central Texas (SW Austin, and now Buda) for over 21 years and didn't realize how dismal motorcycling around here is until I read this thread. I always thought the year-round riding climate and the ability to point my bike in any direction for a stimulating ride made this area a moto paradise. But obviously I'm delusional, have been living in an alternate reality, and require therapy.

I also didn't realize I've been going about touring all wrong by actually riding my motorcycle the whole trip. I guess I missed the memo that tours are to managed much like Commodus tried to manage Maximus - with trailing your bike being the knife to the tour's belly to make it easier to vanquish.

Seriously though, doesn't anyone read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance anymore?
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If I trailer to Colorado or North Carolina, I get three extra days of riding in Colorado or North Carolina versus riding three days in Texas. I've been on most of the Texas roads going to Colorado, including the one that goes through El Paso, the one through Odessa, the one through Lubbock, the one through Wichita Falls, the one through Paris and Oklahoma City and many others. I'd rather ride Colorado 65, 133, 550, 141, 67, 103 or 5 for 3 days than ride highway 287 in Texas for the same amount of time. When I head to Colorado, Idaho, Canada and the west coast this next summer, I'll haul at least to Taos, NM. I've ridden more than 50K miles on lots of motorcycles and I can say without any buts or reserves, that I-10 from Houston to El Paso is not my favorite motorcycle road.
 
just Curtis said:
I would have blamed it on auto correct. :D

Last I heard it's $2k per undeveloped acre in my neck of the woods, not that I'm a buyer.
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Where have you been pricing land!? It is not that low even way out by Lovelady. Here in the Huntsville area, you'd be hard pressed to find anything for less than $10K an acre, and then only if you are buy LARGE lots of acreage, like several hundred acres.
 
I like riding around Gillespie County which is not too far from Austin. Great paved county roads to ride & explore.

If I don't have a lot of time to devote riding to a destination, I load the bike in the back of the truck & haul it to my destination.
 
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