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HOUSTON: NE Houston - Atascocita/Humble area riders!

Ok... maybe this is the actual schedule... I'm out for saturday the 14th and the 21st. Hoping that is the"final answer"... it will be sundays for those weekends, I guess.
 
So the wife started scheming this weekend about escaping the HOA / Country Club / Golf Course Home trappings we live in now. We started just looking at small acreages and what may be available where I could have a real shop, a garage that is long enough to put more than a smart car in, and no HOA to deal with. We went to look at a few houses around Conroe and Magnolia (on the west side, close to Field Store Road), so I took her on a few of my motorcycle roads to show her what was in the area on some of my rides. Hopefully some day in the near future, we'll be in the country and not deal with some of the headaches we have here.

Since we were out there, I figured it was time to actually stop at the Washington on the Brazos State Historical Park. There is a reproduction of the old "independence hall" where the Texas Declaration of Independence was signed, but the old, original town of Washington is gone. The museum at the park was good, and we even did the "townsite" trail in the heat. If you're a history buff and interested in Texas history, the museum is pretty good. There is also a reproduction of some of the old structures where the employees dress up in period clothing to show how life was in Washington around 1835. We spent so much time in the museum that we didn't get to that one until closing time. We went to one in Williamsburg, VA years ago that was a similar idea, and it was cool.

Could be an interesting afternoon for anybody in interested in Texas history!
 
I’ve been to the Williamsburg one when I was young. I remember being awed by all these old people doing old people things. I want to say there’s another place that does that as well that I went to while in school... maybe the Hogg ranch? It’s always interesting to consider how much of their daily life we’ve automated or phased out with specialization.

As for the acreage, do it! I’ve become so much more relaxed since moving out to the boonies. The difficulty is finding close+affordable right now. Even where I am, commuting is not possible, and prices are still sky high.
 
Ok. The pie run on the 28th looks good. I can put a ride together and make that fit!

As for this weekend.. a ride to Fairfield Sunday to check out some new roads and see if 811 is open? About 420 miles from Atascocita. Do far, it looks dry, but hot. It's August! I can seal with that...

Anybody else?
 
Here's my plan Sunday the 22nd. 7 am KSU at Texan Mart, Atascocita, WLHP and Aerobic. about 400 miles, 9 hours.

1485 and 149 to Richards, Shiro, Madisonville. 579, 811, 977, 489 to Oakwood, back to Madisonville, 247 to Four Notch Rd, 1725 and back to Atascocita. Light cyan out, dark cyan return. Should give me some ideas that I can work into the SS1000 route... and hopefully 811 will be paved again.

20% rain chance, highs in the low to mid 90s.
 

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Still only 2 digit temps. Not like I used to ride in at 110+. I'll enjoy the ride!

Btw, if you cut in and out around Huntsville, that would cut out 100 miles...

😎
 
OK. Is it time for another San Augustine Ride? 427 miles, about 9 hours. This one is clipped a bit to make it more workable for a day ride, but it includes a few of the roads that Tourmeister recommended quite awhile back. Hopefully the road construction issues that Drmototx posted about on 1414 are gone... but we'll see how it works!

I was looking at Monday, but the weather guessers are saying that the rain chances are ramping up on Monday to about 50% for the afternoon. Sunday looks like 20%, and that's about as good as it gets. Still in the low 90s, but at least not pushing 100... should be good!

I'm thinking an 0700 Sunday (9/5) meet at the Texas Kountry Kitchen in Dayton for breakfast, and then KSU somewhere around 730... maybe a little bit later. If it works better, we can tweak the time to accommodate. If it turns out that Monday works better and maybe the weather forecast changes, we can adjust. I figure this ride should be enough to scrub in that new rear tire!
 

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Update... it looks like the forecast rain chances are coming down. Monday may be looking better... or at least the risk is forecast within a 2 hour window...

This morning, the Monday forecast looks like 2 to 4 pm has a rain chance of 40 to 60% max... based on the weatherbug forecast for both San Augustine and Humble. Highs around San Augustine in the high 80s. Highs here in Humble in the low 90s, 93 max, but we would be near San Augustine by then. It's still not a pristine forecast for Monday, but it looks like a 2 hour window in the early to mid afternoon that may result in "external hydration". Unfortuately, we would be hitting 1414 at about 2 or 3 pm... The last I heard (from Drmototx) was that 1414 may be a construction zone... I'm hoping not, but it's a real possibility.

For Sunday, it looks like about a 20% chance of rain in Humble and in San Augustine, with highs of 94 and 93, respectively. Sunday still looks like the better weather, but if we need to do Monday, it's still a possibility. It's a coin flip on Monday for rain gear, but Sunday looks like a good chance of a dry ride. Regardless, the high temps are actually fairly decent for this area. Weather-wise, I would pick Sunday. If it's a ride / no ride decision, I could be persuade to go with Monday.
 
Looks like it's firm, 0700 meet up at Texas Kountry Kitchen in Dayton on Monday. It looks like we should be dry beyond 1414, and it it's iffy for a couple of hours as we work toward Lumberton. I'm thinking we'll be lucky this time... After the two recent monsoon rides, it's time we win one. :-)
 
Ok. Storms and lightning just left Atascicita. Looks like the first hour or more of the ride would be going back into storms and lightning.

Maybe this ride will be next weekend...
 
Saturday is looking good for the ride that didn't happen Monday (Post 1788). Same route for Saturday? 92 for a high and no rain in the forecast.
 
Saturday is looking good for the ride that didn't happen Monday (Post 1788). Same route for Saturday? 92 for a high and no rain in the forecast.
Great ride today! A little warm on late afternoon, but it was actually pretty cool through the morning in shorts, tee and mesh!

It was great getting Josh back out...its been awhile!

Good news! 330 has been resurfaced and is a great ride again. 353 was good, and 1414 is good, with none of the mass gravel that we heard about recently. All cleaned up!
 
Great ride today! A little warm on late afternoon, but it was actually pretty cool through the morning in shorts, tee and mesh!

It was great getting Josh back out...its been awhile!

Good news! 330 has been resurfaced and is a great ride again. 353 was good, and 1414 is good, with none of the mass gravel that we heard about recently. All cleaned up!
That’s great! I was planning on going, but slept right throw my alarm! Haha! Our bridge down here is closed. So I needed to get up before 5 am to be in Dayton by 7. My body said “No…” glad to hear 1414 is better now. I’ll try it again the next time I go to the lake. Since I didn’t get up in time, I took a ride over to Sealey, then up to Bellville and across to Smithville. HWY’s 159 and 153 were pretty good. About 350 miles today. Still not sure what is causing the faint clunk sound though. Rode fine. I did get my wife to rock the bike while holding the break and sounds like it’s coming from right around the axle. Not sure if it could be a wheel bearing, but it still feels tight when testing the bearings….
 
Hope you get the clunk figured out, but I'm glad you got out for a ride. I think you would have loved this ride!

FM 1414 was good. I think that when we were out last, the roads were a bit wet, and I know the temps were about 20 degrees below the forecast. That may have skewed my perception... I was thinking there was an issue on 353, but it was great... my favorite of the day yesterday. I was riding 1414 with a bit of caution, looking for issues. 330... last time it had a lot of bad patch sections, and they are all gone now. The signs say loose gravel and no stripes... there were no stripes, but the gravel seems to have set well, and I didn't detect any loose on the surface. We went in careful, and then I wicked it up bit by bit on the way through. Next trip it will be great! In my opinion, those are the best of the San Augustine Area.

Now... for the "new" roads on the route. We crossed Sam Rayburn Lake on Hwy 147 and cut off on FM 1277. It was decent up to Hwy 103. We cut west on 103 to 95 north. 95 wasn't really exciting, but then we cut back east on Hwy 21 from Chireno to FM 1196 south. 1196 was a nice road. It took back to 1277, just a mile or two short of 103, and we took 1277 into San Augustine. 1277 goes on the good roads list as well! Maybe not as tight as 353, 330, or 1414, but 1196 and 1277 are good!

Another "new" route... after running 353 out of San Augustine to 87, we figured we would see what the conditions were on 330. It was cut out of the route, but it was great. That takes you back to Hwy 21, and then a 4 mile jog west on 103 takes you to 2784, and then 1592. to Hemphill. those two roads are a lot better than taking 87 from Milan to Hemphill. similar to 1277 and 1196... another good "discovery" (actually, Tourmeister recommended these roads to me a long time ago).

Note to self. The fuel stop in Lumberton... I couldn't use my fuel app... couldn't get a signal, so I gave it the SS1000 test. told it to give me a receipt. no receipt. That would mean having to go in to get a receipt inside, and burn more precious time at the stop.
 
Saddle Sore 1000... but not the slabbing kind!

OK, I think I have something that will work here. no freeways, avoiding major highways as much as possible, and getting a few curves in along the way. This one won't be done in 15 hours...

I have gone to the fuel station websites and identified critical fuel stops along the way that are within the FZ1 fuel range. Since the towns are generally smaller, the distance between fuel stops varies a bit, with the longest run at 168 miles. I also looked into deer populations, and wildlife collision data, and it appears that the area of highest risk is at the west end, from near Lampasas to Brownwood. Brownwood isn't a fuel stop, but it's the best point to define the western "corner" of the route. Not sure if we need to stop there, just for the sake of a receipt... but De Leon is close to the corner and may work. I'll have "tracks" being written on my GPS, so that will help document the actual ridden route. I set it up with a depart from Atascocita at midnight, to allow for sunlight before we get to the higher deer population areas. Even in that area, it doesn't appear that it's anything like the center of the hill country, where the critter carcasses are all over the place on the road.

1021 miles in 22:40 per Basecamp, at an overall average speed of 45 mph (including stops). an overall average of 49 will get us down under 21 hours.

The days are getting shorter, and I need a valve inspection. If we need to plan this soon, I might wait a little more on the valves... I do have tires that are ready for the run.

Who is interested? When would be a good day to do this?
 

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That looks like a fun little route. An hour and change of wiggle room is nice, too. How is it calculating the 45 average mph? Just based on speed limits + stops? Oh, and which direction are we running it? Clockwise so we're headed west in the morning, and east in the evening?

Picking a particular day might be tough. If we're looking at ~23 hours, starting at midnight Friday will make it tough to get any sleep beforehand for those working, but starting midnight Saturday will make it tough for those working to get enough sleep afterwards. I could do either.
 
Basecamp is trying to calculate on default settings and road types for speeds. It tends to run a bit slow in these calculations. I think we can do better.

If we assume 8 stops (not including the end, 15 minutes each), we lose 2 hours. Figuring that in, with a moving average of 49 mph, I calculate 22.8 hours. That is pretty close to the 45 mph (including the 2 hours for stops).

With a moving average of 51, that's about 22 hours total, and at 54, it would be under 21. The key is keeping the stops over control and keeping it moving. Towns will slow you down, but it's certainly doable.

Yep, timing is rough Start at midnight, done around 10 pm the next night. For some reason, work schedules don't accommodate these things well.
 
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