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Post your Day Rides Here!

Some pics from a recent ride to visit with some friends near Marthaville, Louisiana:
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We visited the site of Los Adeas in Natchitoches Parish, the capital of Tejas from 1729 to 1770 - the presidio was constructed on the hill in the background:
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Mrs. SwampFox even did a little off-roading on her Burgman scooter rig:
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To get to Perry's place back in the woods, where, among other friends, we met up with Bones & Betty on their V-8 powered trike (no little camping trailer for them - they pull a full size pop-up with this rig):
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On the way home we stopped by the Allen House in DeSoto Parish, which was spared from the lignite strip mine by the Civil War Trust (http://www.civilwar.org/aboutus/new...sfield-anniversary-preservation.html)[/SIZE]:
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Rode the DR to a short camping trip with some friends Friday afternoon. 8 of us stayed at Jackson Creek Park (listed as Jackson Park on google maps) on the south shore of Wright Patman Lake near Atlanta, TX. This park is maintained by the US Army Corps of Engineers and offers FREE CAMPING!!! The place is actually pretty nice, during the day the park's main attraction seems to be the boat ramp with lake access but there are some dirt roads/trails leading off the main paved road to several campsites in the woods. Many of the campsite areas have a concrete picnic table, lantern hook, charcoal grill, and metal trash can available and there is a vault toilet near the entrance of the park (it actually had toilet paper in it too :rofl:). There is no water or electricity available in the park. Friday night there were only 3 other occupied campsites besides ours.

It was perfect weather for some hammock camping, and after we got everything set up, we made a fire ring out of some rocks in the area and cooked burgers and hot dogs on a charcoal grill that one of my friends brought in his pickup truck :bbq:. We listened to music, drank a few beers, and told lies around the campfire until the wee hours of the morning. When we got up the next day, we rebuilt the campfire so we'd have some fresh coals to cook breakfast with on the dutch oven. We had applewood smoked bacon, breakfast sausage, fried eggs, and oranges to get the day started :eat3:. After breakfast we lazed about the campsite for a while before packing everything back up and heading home.

Here's a picture of a hammock stack that 3 of my friends made:

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It was pretty interesting watching them get in and out of those things by climbing on the straps of the lower hammocks to get into the upper ones. Amazingly, no one was injured by falling from their hammock, those late-night bathroom trips to pee in the woods were a bit of a hassle for them though :lol2: Personally, I'm just going to stick with setting my hammock up near enough to the ground that I can easily crawl into/out of the thing. Also, I've started using the same ratchet tie-down straps that I use for securing my luggage to the back of my bike for my hammock straps as well, eliminating the need to carry extra, purpose-made hammock straps.
 
jhw0253 & I explored some backroads yesterday morning while it was still shady & cool, including a stop at the Rosenwald School c.1928 in DeSoto Parish, which survives as a rural community center/polling place:

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We did have to stop for a doe and her very young fawn to clear the way, but I didn't have time to get the camera out of my pocket.

jhw0253 (James) has found the XR650L is not compatible with the arthritis developing in his hands and posted it for sale here: http://www.twtex.com/forums/showthread.php?t=95501. I rode if a few miles down a bumpy oil-top road - very nice bike, just a little too large for this short fellow.
 
Hugh is regaining his strength after completing chemo treatment a few months ago. On Memorial Day 2014 he visited our place for an oil change and adjustments to his sidecar alignment. Hugh then treated us for lunch at the Longwood General Store, where we parked the pups in the shade:

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After which we visited the Northwest Louisiana Veteran's Cemetery for a moment of reflection:

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Those are some good looking hacks :thumb:

I really like the blue GS rig. That shade of blue and chrome just look really nice together. The Burgman rig is pretty cool too. I didn't even know you could do hacks with them. I guess it has the power to handle the extra weight without any trouble?
 
Those are some good looking hacks :thumb:

I really like the blue GS rig. That shade of blue and chrome just look really nice together. The Burgman rig is pretty cool too. I didn't even know you could do hacks with them. I guess it has the power to handle the extra weight without any trouble?

Thanks Scott. Yes, the Burgman has plenty power, due in part to the adaptability of the CVT transmission. It's a good thing Jena is not an aggressive rider 'cause her Burgman rig will outrun by Sportster rig. :rider:
 
Jeff (Jeff S) and I did a pleasant 400 mile THC ride between Llano and Kerrville, taking advantage of some of the more obscure routes found in the Butler Maps. We even managed getting side tracked on some new undeveloped subdivision consisting of a patchwork of interesting dirt trails around 7:30. I was on a street bike, so I had to be careful about traction. Jeff rode his Versys and filmed our ride using his GoPro cam.

[ame="http://youtu.be/CrZfI3DAdCQ"]Jeff S and Red hittin' Butler Map routes[/ame]
 

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:tab I got Daniel out riding at my folk's place this weekend despite the insane heat/humidity... :twitch: Rachel rode for a bit on Saturday and called it quits pretty early. I spent the rest of the day on the CRF 110 and XR-80 chasing Daniel around on his TTR50E. Sadly, no pics. I forgot to charge the battery and it died right when I started trying to shoot a video early on.

:tab We headed back Sunday and thought we were going to get rained out because a nasty storm cell was heading straight for us. We got a lot of wind and a few sprinkles, but then it cleared up and even cooled down a bit. So we spent a couple hours chasing each other around. As I was loading the bikes to head home he was still zooming around and came up asking me to watch what he could do now... I grabbed the camera with the charged battery...

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:tab So what he just did was jump the entire width of the driveway in my folk's yard. The drive is about 8-10 inches higher than the surrounding ground at this point. Most other places it is maybe 2-3 inches. Leave it to Daniel to find the place he can use as a ramp... So I tell him to do it again while I reposition for better shots.

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No fear... He'd do it all day if I let him :lol2:

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:tab He gets smoother each time and his landings get better as well. After a few more passes we finish loading the trailer and head back to the house. As he is helping me unload all the bikes and gear, I ask him if he'd like to try riding Sarah's CRF-110. "SURE!!" As if I didn't know what his answer would be... After following him around all day yesterday and today, I could see that his riding skills had really improved. The 110 is a tad tall for him so he has to slide off to one side to keep it up, but it fits him perfect otherwise. So after we get all the other stuff taken care of, I get him set to go on the 110.

:tab The first thing I tell him is that if he is going to ride it, he needs to be able to put the kickstand up on his own. He promptly leaned the bike to the right and fell over :lol2: It was my fault really... I neglected to put the bike on a level spot and there was actually a slight slope... to the right... :oops: I get him righted and put the stand up for him this time. He fires the bike up, pops into gear, and is about to rip off across the yard when I tell him, "Stay in FIRST gear!" The look on his face is priceless, but he does as he is told.

:tab I can't gripe at him, because he IS doing what I told him, but he has the throttle PEGGED in first gear trying to make it go faster :lol2: This bike has a lot more get up and go than the 50 so I want to see how well he controls it before I turn him lose. It soon becomes obvious he's got it covered, so I grab the camera.

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He's getting the hang of the throttle... My yard won't take much of this!!
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:tab He tries stopping a few times and falls over. He picks the bike up by himself each time and is soon going again. He even manages to figure out how to do the kickstand. He's motivated. I eventually let him try second gear but tell him NOT to peg the throttle!!

:tab He starts to get on the gas like he normally would on the 50 and the bike takes off pretty fast! I can tell it got his attention because he immediately backed off the throttle and was then a bit more cautious with it after that. At one point, he cracked the throttle so hard on start that the front end got light. I'm thinking, "Oh great! He's gonna start trying to wheelie this thing before I know it!" :doh: Amazingly, he never tried that again :shrug:

:tab So now the issue is whether or not I will ever be able to get him to ride the 50 again...? After all, if Sarah wants to ride, this is "her" bike ;-) To her credit, she came out and watched him a bit and encouraged him, telling him how good he was doing. Of course, he wants to know how soon we can go back over to my folk's place... and you can guess which bike he wants to ride! :lol2:

Here he is with Sassy (Blue Heeler) and Griffin (Golden Retriever)
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:tab It was sure fun getting to ride with him two days in a row. He REALLY likes it when I can ride with him and we can play follow the leader through the trails in the woods. It's hard to keep up with him! :giveup:
 
Sweet form...and sweet dogs too!! Looks like Griffin got the standard summer "burr cut"
I used to get from my Grandpa back in the day..looks like a happy bunch!!
 
Went for a run to Miara, about 150k south of Gladstone.

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It appears to be a nice place, however I rode the ZX and it appears i should have ridden the DRZ.

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Rules Beach.
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I was personally responsible for the death of so many of these little fellas today. They were everywhere.

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So... Am now planning a trip on the Dualsports. It appears you are allowed to ride on the beach as well. Usually only 4 wheeled vehicles are allowed on beachs around here. :)
 
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Met Oldtimer for breakfast in Uncertain and then rode some of the local county roads - encountered some mud from the Wednesday evening storm. Oldtimer was trying out his new tires/gear before he leaves for Montana on his CRF250L. :rider: Everything worked good but he found his 80/20 tires didn't grip the mud very well when we had to navigate thru the ditch to avoid a downed tree.

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I tried to do the old Cheeseburger Loop yesterday. It was really nice. 208.8 miles door to door.

I stopped off Stubblefield Lake Road for a quick photo op.
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Saw Ourboros on his 1190 when I was getting gas and taking a break in Bedias
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... and stopped for a SALAD at Yankee's.
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I followed a GPX file found on TWT named Cheesburgerloop.gpx. The red circled areas on the track attached to this post indicate where something is blocked off and inaccessible from the original Track. I plan to go out and try to find some fun alternatives for those areas on my next ride and come up with a modern day 2014 version of the loop.
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Sure, a SALAD only. Uh huh. You responsible health nut, you.

This morning, I met up with CDC and a buddy of his. We rode for just a short bit before they peeled off for Houston town.

I found a couple of really nice paved county roads out of Blanco and now am sipping cool water outside a charming little store in Sisterdale.
 
This what Del Norte Tacos looks like on a 68 degree AUGUST! morning.
Brisket/Egg tacos are yummie!
:eat:
 

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Went on a little excursion to Abilene, Sweetwater and back home to visit with a friend who has cancer. His first rounds of chemo were to combat the tumors on and near his guts.....and those are gone now but he has more showing up clustered near his heart. He and I both think that his days are numbered....but I had a wonderful visit and got to share a wonderful steak with him and talk until there was little more to say. I told him that I respected and loved him, and his attitude is positive and upbeat and thankful. He has a lovely wife and family to support him....so all is as well as can be.
I left work in Bastrop about 1:30on August 1st and here it was only 85 degrees.....and once I broke free of the traffic on hwy's 71, 183, etc....the sky turned to a magnificient fall-like deep blue overhead and fading to a baby blue in the distance under soft and level powdery clouds......what a nice ride up to Abilene I had......rode up to Goldthwaite and stopped at Prime Fresh Foods, which is owned by a longtime friend of mine and got some Capra premium Dorper lamb chops, ribs and loin steaks (www.caprafoods.com) and sure enjoyed them with Rob and his wife in Abilene! I learned from my friend that Dorpers are NOT hair sheep, and have been selected over the years for MEAT production only thus their flavor is not like that of hair/wool breeds.....they are now being sold in HEB and Whole Foods if anyone is interested?!
pic1- waiting across from PFF to get my lamb! Rob froze it for me in Abilene, kept it on ice in the right pannier all the way up and back, otherwise.
pic2-Buffalo Gap windmill farm pictures on CR126 SW of Merkel
Pic3-More windmills....I counted/estimated over 500 south and east of Sweetwater....many new and shiny white, but some squeaking badly/ turning slowly and oil/fluids leaking down their support structure.
pic4-Lake Sweetwater was nearly dry in 2011, and is still 15-20 feet below full(estimated)....but at least has some water in it.......
 

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Leaving Sweetwater about 4:00 pm on Saturday and got home about midnight....the scariest part of the trip was riding on 190/183 after dark from San Saba to about Liberty Hill......lawzy i saw some HUGE deer right beside the road and rode about 55 mph to try and maintain some degree of safety. Saw very few from LH back through Georgetown and home.
I headed south on 70 out of Sweetwater and turned se on 153, found this little old house up a dry gully......I'm a sucker for a red dirt road of any type!
pic1- old house and gully

followed 153 to west of Winters and cut off south on 2111, and then picked up 158 into Ballinger, where I headed south south on 83 to 1929 so I could see OH Ivie Lake for myself:
pic2- "Lake" OH Ivie.....looks pretty low to me?! Lotsa turtles in the water visible from the bridge, maybe 50 feet below!
I then headed east on CR306 which is a fantastic high speed gravel road to Gouldbusk....my KLR turned 57,000 miles on that road with the throttle set to 65mph.......how about another 57K? :deal:
I then turned north on 1026 and east on the same to big 283 and north to CR256 which is a wonderful little road with nice scenery and elevation changes, then north on 2633 to CR210 east, another fast straight gravel road! Then south on 586 to to 45 and CR500, where I sidetracked slightly on CR114 to get the obligatory Regency Bridge shot, and finally a sunset shot....
pic3- good ole Regency Bridge
pic4- sunset, CR500 and about 75 degrees or so in August.....fantastic!
then on to Hwy 16 to and hwy 190 and home while worrying about deer.....about 550 miles in two days, made some new friends in Abilene and good scenery and the re-cementing of an old friendship that may not be long in this world. Life is a journey, be thankful every day when you can move about and count your blessings! :sun:
 

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Mark thanks for the kind post. Your friend will be in my prayers to our high priest of our confession of faith. Your friend needs a supernatural miracle and Jesus is in that business. He takes our natural and super sizes it. It's a win deal either way for your friend. Ever time I see one of those windmills turnin I think, wonder if you had some good gloves is you could grab hold and rider around once? Thanks for the great pictures.
 
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