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- Joined
- Feb 28, 2003
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- Location
- Huntsville
- First Name
- Scott
- Last Name
- Friday
A few weeks ago I set out with Daniel and two other riders to make a run up to Woody's BBQ in Centerville. That ride ended with the GS on the trailer headed home because of an unknown electrical issue (later confirmed to be a dead battery... like totally dead and could not jump start it.). The following weekend I set out to do a similar ride. James Cain showed up for that one on his new Aprilia Tuareg 660 Rally. That ride ended with the Aprilia on the same trailer headed home... He picked up a nail in the rear tire and that tire would NOT come off the rim so we could put in a new tube! This time, I was determined that the third time would be a charm... right?
The night before heading out, I decide to address some head shaking I have been experiencing on my Husky 701 since having put new tires on it. The MotoZ Tractionator rear is larger in diameter than the OEM TKC-80 even though they are technically the same tire size. This put the rear of the bike higher than normal and at speeds around 60-70mph the bike would get a little squiggly. If I shifted my weight back to the rear of the seat, it was much better. So I decide to see if I can raise the triple clamp on the forks. Upon inspection, I can see a few lines left at the top of the forks. So I get the bike supported on a jack, loosen all the bolts, and gently tap the top of the forks until they are even at the same mark, a change of maybe 2-3 mm. Hard to think that little bit of difference will make much difference, but I will know more tomorrow.
Saturday morning I meet up with long time friend, Rob Vaughan (@woodsguy ) to do a ride. I am on my Husky 701 and he is rocking a new Honda XR 650L, olds cool tech from the 80s that still gets the job done! No one else shows up, so the two of us head out a bit after 9:00am. The sky is clear and sunny. It is about 75 F with low humidity. Perfect riding conditions!! Right off the bat, I can tell a significant difference in the handling of the bike!! I can run up well over 70mph and the bike is much more stable. It is still not quite perfect, but way better.
We head for the Trinity River and cross over to run back roads towards Lovelady. Rob is not a huge fan of sand. Problem is, most of the roads are sandy, often deep and loose for fairly long stretches. My 701 makes me feel like I am somehow cheating. It just goes through the sand so well!
The XR650L has a tiny gas tank, maybe 2-1/2 gallons? There aren’t many gas stations out where we are going, so we divert over to Lovelady for a splash and dash to get Rob’s bike topped off. I am good for about 230-240 miles easy. With his bike full, we head back West into more sand.
There are a lot of 90 degree corners on the road as it winds through the woods and follows the occasional pasture fence. Did I mention sand? I treat it like I’m down hill skiing, pointing my knees where I want the bike to go and giving it gas to make it so! Works great!
I don’t see Rob’s headlight… I just cleared a pretty loosey goosey section. He doesn’t run it fast, but he usually gets through it okay. But sometimes I just get that feeling without even having to wait
I circle back to that nasty section and find Rob driving the bike back toward the center of the road. Judging by the scattered sand and crossed up ruts, he went down. He gives me the thumbs up and tells me he is good. At least now he knows he can pick up the XR by himself. I would have gladly helped if he wasn’t so quick about it! While trying to get turned back around I have to cross a big berm on the shoulder. I stall the bike and almost dump it
The stuff on the edge is super soft! I click into second gear before taking off and then slip the clutch to get moving. This avoids having to make the shift from first while trying to get up momentum to get back on top of the sand.
With everyone pointing in the right direction again, we continue on, popping back out on pavement for a while at FM 3151. We make the short run down to FM 230 and pick up FM 2915. This road is not long, but it is fun. It has a nice long series of fast sweepers running through the woods up and down gentle hills. It soon turns to white gravel and red dirt. The red stuff is the actual ground and the white is trucked in gravel spread to firm up the road. It eventually becomes FM 3275, but is still dirt, gravel, and progressively more sand.
There is a short section of the road that runs North before bending Northeast toward Hwy 21. Right at the bend, we turn right onto Oil Field Road (Cr 3485). My son showed me this road last fall while we were out goofing off one HOT and HUMID evening. It was very deep and loose sand then and I was on my R1200 GS Rallye. I got through it, even dodging several suicidal deer! As dry as it has been lately, I am wondering what we are in for…
Just before we turned, a big F250 coming from the other direction turned the same way and got in front of us
No way that thing is going to be moving fast enough for me to not run up on him. Then there is the dust cloud!! After a few corners, I just pull over and wait a bit, letting him get far ahead. It is much easier to get through the sand at about 35-40mph than 15mph 
I take off after a few minutes and we get into some fun sand for maybe a half mile or so and then I m right back on him. Fortunately, he turns off into a driveway and we are clear to go.
The road comes into the South side of a rural neighborhood with a lot of big acre wooded lots, apparently all sold. A few have new homes. Some have been partially cleared in preparation for building homes. Most are still untouched. The road becomes a nice hard packed gravel road that makes a LOT of white dust! I slow down in an attempt to spare Rob the worst of it and he also drops back. It’s a fun twisty road through the woods. The gravel part is called Williamson Way and as we leave the hood, it becomes Shiloh Creek Road (Cr 3385).
Once the road turns North after becoming Shiloh Creek Road, it goes back to dirt and the trees hug the sides, making for a cool shady tunnel that winds its way up to FM 1280. Rob is probably not enjoying the tunnel as much as me because it blocks the wind and traps the dust cloud behind me.
Normally, we’d turn right or left on 1280, but today I want to do a bit of exploring in an area I’ve not ridden for so long I can’t remember anything about the roads. So we just cross 1280 and head Northeast, continuing on Shiloh Creek Road. A few hundred yards in we pass an old Baptist church, Georgia Camp Baptist Church, established 1889 or so… I didn’t have time to catch that last digit as I zipped past it. I should have snapped a pic.
The road just rises and falls, gently winding with open pastures on one side and woods on the other. It is quite scenic. Just being out here cruising along, not ripping, and taking it all in is very relaxing.
We come to a sandy intersection and turn onto Bynum Cemetery Road (Cr 3390). This is clearly a less traveled road. It gets narrower and becomes another tunnel. The elevation changes are quicker. There is more sand. Somewhere back in here we drop down to a creek area with an old bridge and stop for a short break. I am definitely going to have to work some of these roads into my regular rides.
Just up the road a bit we cut over to Hwy 21. Looking at a map, there are roads all over the place between Hwy 21, Hwy 7, and the Trinity River. This is the area I am really wanting to check out. I want to see if I can make a loop in this area that eventually drops us back out on Hwy 21 not far from the bridge over the river. That would tie in nicely with roads I often include on my rides.
We head Southwest on 21 a short way and turn off onto Haley Lane (Cr 3150). It is straight and dusty. It makes a sharp bend and continues a long way, but we turn off onto Cr 3140, which is not straight and is quite fun! Unfortunately, it is also not long
It soon drops us back onto pavement at FM 132. 132 runs a few miles and becomes gravel, Cr 3120. We are heading straight towards the Trinity River and just before that, the route goes South and gets all squiggly on the GPS map.
And then there is a locked gate…
There is an interesting looking road off to my right, but I know that dead ends as well not far from us. It is not unusual in this area for counties to turn roads back over to large land owners. It relieves the county of the maintenance expenses. Understandable, but a bummer as it ruins what could be a lot of fun route sections. Nothing to do here but backtrack and see if any other roads will get us to the other side.
My GPS shows Cr 3231 cutting South a short way back. It too looks squiggly, which usually translates into fun.
But, it too has a locked gate and there is barely even a trace of road on the other side that wanders off across a large pasture and vanishes into the woods… So close to what would likely be so much fun
Next road… gate.
Next road, we are back to Cr 3140 and we run back down to Haley Lane. We turn Southwest and it becomes Cr 3155. About the time it is getting fun, we come to a stop at FM 1280. It stays paved a short way and then transitions back to gravel, Cr 3220. In less than a mile, this reconnects to my original route at Cr 3230 where we would have come out but for that first locked gate.
We turn South on 3230 and immediately get into a nice patch of deep, loose, rutted sand. On the far side it gets hard again for maybe a hundred yards before we hit a real tight 90 with more deep sand. Nothing to do here but point the knees into the breeze and brap on!! The bike squirms around as the front tire wobbles like a drunken sailor, but it is just along for the ride as the rear is doing all the work, hooking up and getting me moving in the right direction. The sand starts to fade as the road gets narrower. It is starting to have that look of the road less traveled… A few more corners and it starts looking like the road never traveled.
And, there’s a locked gate.
I am sure Rob is thinking about having to get back through that sand! I know I am!
But, we get back through it and return to Cr 3220 for a bit more backtracking. Right were the pavement of FM 1280 resumes, we cut South on Cr 3190.
This road looks promising, wide, smooth, maintained. Off to my left in the distance a huge house is under construction. Beyond that, another huge place sits on a hill with a nice view. Clearly there are some country folks out here with deep pockets! Beyond that… the roads begins looking less promising…
I just need it to keep going a little bit more… just a bit… and it will connect and we can make a semi decent loop out of this mess!
It becomes two dirt tracks through short brown grass, following a barbed wire fence along a pasture full of cows that are obviously not used to seeing nut jobs on motorcycles blasting down iffy roads. Some run. Some freeze and stare. Some relieve themselves
But the road goes on!
We soon reach the far side of the leg the last locked gate would have led to. There is a gate on this end as well, but not on the road we are on! The road here widens and is sandy. However, it looks like the county has been busy and there are what look like random patches of huge chunky gravel that has been dumped and spread on the road. They even look like they were pressed with a steam roller because they are quite flat. Odd… Anyway, a bit further and we come to Cr 3200. This is another long straight one, but hopefully it keeps us going in the right direction.
Rob rolls up behind me and I turn Southwest. I am about to roll on the throttle and get up to speed when a young black calf steps out of the high grass on my right and stops dead center in the road… frozen. I don’t see any others anywhere, so this is probably the one that thinks it’s clever because it knows where the hole in the fence is! I slightly rev the engine, not wanting to scare it but only to snap it out of its stupefied trance to get it moving. It just kind of looks at me, but doesn’t move. So I barely start creeping down the left edge of the road, hoping it might recall a hole in a fence back through the tall grass from whence it came.
Nothing doing. It bolts left, directly in front of me, down into high grass in a ditch and into a fence that has no hole! Fortunately, it just stops and stands there, staring, but also not freaking out. We are able to creep on by and leave it to do whatever it is young cows like to do.
The road is dirt, with some seriously broken up sections of pavement. I mean there are some pot holes that could do some damage if hit square on unexpectedly! Fortunately, I am able to either dodge most or pin the throttle and lighten the front end to float it over them and let the rear absorb the hit, which definitely does a better job of that than the front! After a mile or so of this we approach a cluster of trees casting a shadow over the road. There in the shadow, easy to miss…
Another locked gate…
This gate is made of steel pipe and painted black. Real easy to not see it
That would hurt a bit…
Soooo… we backtrack. As we approach the prior intersection, I am scanning for that calf. It’s probably still here somewhere. I slow down as I get closer. Then I spot movement on my right. It is still standing down in the ditch where we left it. More importantly, it stays there.
We are out of roads to try. Cr 3200 looks like it just runs back to the highway. We follow it and it does indeed go all the way through. So I can do a so so loop. It’s just frustrating because so many of the dead end roads were fun and it would have been cool to work them into a good loop.
Rob is starting to get antsy about gas again. I am trying to keep his limited range in mind. So I decide to cut part of the original planned route and just cruise a few miles down the highway to Midway, where there is a small gas station.
And… there’s no gas
This means going pretty far off the route as the nearest gas is another 10 miles or so down the highway in Madisonville on I-45. There is a massive Bucees station with pumps and charging stations everywhere! I hate the place. It is always a madhouse. Today is no different!
The parking lot is packed! Idiocy is rampant. It’s like people totally forget how to cooperate or just don’t care. If their vehicle fits, they go! Cars are stacked 2 and 3 deep waiting for pumps. I lose track of Rob for a few minutes in the mayhem and then have to go looking for him. I eventually find him a hundred yards away at another huge section of pumps. But he has a pump!
I pull up next to him and it is about this time I remember I don’t have my regular credit card! It recently got hit with several thousand dollars of fraudulent charges, so they canceled the card and I am waiting on the new one to arrive. Rob graciously pays for my gas and then we get the heck out of there as fast as we can, heading back toward Midway to see what I can salvage of the planned route. All of our exploring and backtracking ate up a lot of time and it is getting on into the afternoon.
I decide to run the after lunch part of the route in reverse. This should get us up to Centerville relatively quickly so we can take an extended break, grab a bite to eat, and cool off a bit. The temp has been creeping up and it is now hovering in the high 80s and low 90s.
Just outside the edge of town we head North on FM 2346, a fun twisting strip of pavement past some very nice country homes! A bit before the Old Spanish Road (OSR higway), we cut over onto Westmoreland, Malone, and Dingerville roads, all of which are white gravel and dusty!
We head West a few miles when we hit OSR and pick up Wallace Road. This runs North and becomes Cr 102, a mix of dirt and tar “pavement”. This is just that real thick sludge that is often just spread on dirt roads while very hot, cooling to form a soft layer that keeps down dust and helps control mud. It is sometimes mixed with gravel and forms a decent layer unless heavy vehicles drive on it, especially on hot days when it gets softer. It drops us out into FM 977, and we run that Northwest to Cr 104. 104 is more of the same, but a little more fun because the terrain is more hilly. At FM 1119, we continue North up to Centerville and have a great lunch.
It’s only been 30 miles since we gassed up the bikes. As were are about to leave, I suggest to Rob that he might want to top off as we will be heading back out into the sticks and there won’t be anywhere to get gas. Once that is done, we head East out of town on Hwy 7 to Cr 204.
204 is another tar road on top of sand. Our goal is Cr 207. This heads out into the woods and has a nice long section that used to be rarely travelled, twisty, a few sections of fun hill climbs, and generally just a cool road. It used to be super sandy, perhaps one of the worst roads in the area. Like so many others, it has been getting gravel added to it over the years and most of the sand sections are gone, part even being tarred over with the big chunky gravel mixed in. It is still worth adding to a ride route though.
Somewhere back in there someone with deep pockets created a game ranch with the high fences to keep deer in. They have other stuff in there as well. I never know what we are going to see, sometimes nothing, but today Zebras!
207 takes us to the intersection of FMs 1511 and 3178. If you find yourself out here on a street bike, FMs 1511 and all of 831 are really nice rides. They are twisty, the scenery is nice, and there is usually next to zero traffic. We cut across 1511 and head East on 3178 to get to the start of Cr 232. This is another one of those areas where a lot of big new country homes have been built. These kinds of neighborhoods are popping up all over the place! After we clear the last home, the road drops down into the woods and winds its way to Cr 231. The North end of this is wooded and nice, but as we work our way South, more new homes.
We hit Hwy 7 and cut back over towards FM 1511 where we pick up the North end of Bridges Road (Cr 147) and Cr 121. It starts off as a tar road and on the backside of a high hill it changes to gravel as we come into a curve. I come through here often, so no big surprise. Once it becomes gravel it starts working its way down into a lowland/wetland area prone to flooding. The road used to be quite rough in the bottoms from water coming over it. However the county has been putting down gravel for several years, gradually building up so that it stays in pretty good condition in all but the worst storms. It eventually goes back to tar as we clear the bottoms and stays that way all the way back to FM 811, another fun road!
But, we aren’t here for the main roads and nice pavement. We turn South and immediately turn off onto Cr 124. This and 123 used to be sand/gravel. In the last year or so they have finally made it a tar road from end to end. It is still a fun side loop off of FM 811.
We hit 811 and run it back down to 1119 and turn South. I spot a side road I don’t recall ever riding before so we take it. It is Middleton Road (Cr 106). Straight. Gravel. Not much to look at. Just gets people from A to B. Now I know.
It drops us out on FM 977 where we came up before lunch. So I decide to just backtrack the way we came, all the way down across the OSR highway. But this time we skip Westmoreland Road and take Malone to Allphin Road, cross FM 2346 and pick up Wiseman Road back to OSR just outside of Midway.
Rob is getting worried about gas again. He’s sitting at 67 miles since the last fill up at lunch. I assure him we are heading home and he’ll be fine. His bike has been getting 50+ mpg! The only option is heading back to that Bucees in Madisonville and I’d rather not do that… So we head West a bit on 21 to FMs 2158 and 1428, just for a change of scenery. FM 247 is more direct, but boring. We end up there anyway, coming out on 247 in front of the Ferguson prison unit. Here we head South on FM 247, running it all the way back to our start point.
While gassing up I check with Rob to see if he is at 100 miles? He’s at 97 and puts in two gallons. He mentions he was on reserve the last ten miles. I mention he needs a bigger tankI put in 2.3 gallons at 130 miles. 56.5 mpg despite my heavy throttle hand 
We shake hands and part ways . 249.5 miles for the day. Even with the comfy aftermarket seat on my Husky, my tush is tender!! I head for the barn and call it a day. I do have more areas I want to explore though. That is the nice thing about getting older. I forget where I’ve ridden years ago and it’s like finding all new roads again!
This is the starting point, not much room left to adjust!
The edge of the dirt is where it was before I lowered the forks in the clamp.
The final position. Any ideas if it is safe to run it right up to the top? That extra bit might be all I need.
Rob on his XR650L and my Husky
The easy sand...
The less easy sand...
Lots of erosion here so the road has really been built up recently
Same thing here except that those big rocks used to be covered by the road! The water excavated them.
The first of the not so easy sand...
Now it is getting "interesting"!
"I'm just happy to be here!"
Lots of this today.
Seemingly random piles like this along this road in the middle of nowhere
You know what they say about cameras and steep hills..., Yes, it IS steeper than it looks. It looks flat! It is NOT! It drops away from us fairly quickly.
The night before heading out, I decide to address some head shaking I have been experiencing on my Husky 701 since having put new tires on it. The MotoZ Tractionator rear is larger in diameter than the OEM TKC-80 even though they are technically the same tire size. This put the rear of the bike higher than normal and at speeds around 60-70mph the bike would get a little squiggly. If I shifted my weight back to the rear of the seat, it was much better. So I decide to see if I can raise the triple clamp on the forks. Upon inspection, I can see a few lines left at the top of the forks. So I get the bike supported on a jack, loosen all the bolts, and gently tap the top of the forks until they are even at the same mark, a change of maybe 2-3 mm. Hard to think that little bit of difference will make much difference, but I will know more tomorrow.
Saturday morning I meet up with long time friend, Rob Vaughan (@woodsguy ) to do a ride. I am on my Husky 701 and he is rocking a new Honda XR 650L, olds cool tech from the 80s that still gets the job done! No one else shows up, so the two of us head out a bit after 9:00am. The sky is clear and sunny. It is about 75 F with low humidity. Perfect riding conditions!! Right off the bat, I can tell a significant difference in the handling of the bike!! I can run up well over 70mph and the bike is much more stable. It is still not quite perfect, but way better.
We head for the Trinity River and cross over to run back roads towards Lovelady. Rob is not a huge fan of sand. Problem is, most of the roads are sandy, often deep and loose for fairly long stretches. My 701 makes me feel like I am somehow cheating. It just goes through the sand so well!
The XR650L has a tiny gas tank, maybe 2-1/2 gallons? There aren’t many gas stations out where we are going, so we divert over to Lovelady for a splash and dash to get Rob’s bike topped off. I am good for about 230-240 miles easy. With his bike full, we head back West into more sand.
There are a lot of 90 degree corners on the road as it winds through the woods and follows the occasional pasture fence. Did I mention sand? I treat it like I’m down hill skiing, pointing my knees where I want the bike to go and giving it gas to make it so! Works great!
I don’t see Rob’s headlight… I just cleared a pretty loosey goosey section. He doesn’t run it fast, but he usually gets through it okay. But sometimes I just get that feeling without even having to wait
I circle back to that nasty section and find Rob driving the bike back toward the center of the road. Judging by the scattered sand and crossed up ruts, he went down. He gives me the thumbs up and tells me he is good. At least now he knows he can pick up the XR by himself. I would have gladly helped if he wasn’t so quick about it! While trying to get turned back around I have to cross a big berm on the shoulder. I stall the bike and almost dump it
The stuff on the edge is super soft! I click into second gear before taking off and then slip the clutch to get moving. This avoids having to make the shift from first while trying to get up momentum to get back on top of the sand.With everyone pointing in the right direction again, we continue on, popping back out on pavement for a while at FM 3151. We make the short run down to FM 230 and pick up FM 2915. This road is not long, but it is fun. It has a nice long series of fast sweepers running through the woods up and down gentle hills. It soon turns to white gravel and red dirt. The red stuff is the actual ground and the white is trucked in gravel spread to firm up the road. It eventually becomes FM 3275, but is still dirt, gravel, and progressively more sand.
There is a short section of the road that runs North before bending Northeast toward Hwy 21. Right at the bend, we turn right onto Oil Field Road (Cr 3485). My son showed me this road last fall while we were out goofing off one HOT and HUMID evening. It was very deep and loose sand then and I was on my R1200 GS Rallye. I got through it, even dodging several suicidal deer! As dry as it has been lately, I am wondering what we are in for…
Just before we turned, a big F250 coming from the other direction turned the same way and got in front of us
No way that thing is going to be moving fast enough for me to not run up on him. Then there is the dust cloud!! After a few corners, I just pull over and wait a bit, letting him get far ahead. It is much easier to get through the sand at about 35-40mph than 15mph I take off after a few minutes and we get into some fun sand for maybe a half mile or so and then I m right back on him. Fortunately, he turns off into a driveway and we are clear to go.The road comes into the South side of a rural neighborhood with a lot of big acre wooded lots, apparently all sold. A few have new homes. Some have been partially cleared in preparation for building homes. Most are still untouched. The road becomes a nice hard packed gravel road that makes a LOT of white dust! I slow down in an attempt to spare Rob the worst of it and he also drops back. It’s a fun twisty road through the woods. The gravel part is called Williamson Way and as we leave the hood, it becomes Shiloh Creek Road (Cr 3385).
Once the road turns North after becoming Shiloh Creek Road, it goes back to dirt and the trees hug the sides, making for a cool shady tunnel that winds its way up to FM 1280. Rob is probably not enjoying the tunnel as much as me because it blocks the wind and traps the dust cloud behind me.
Normally, we’d turn right or left on 1280, but today I want to do a bit of exploring in an area I’ve not ridden for so long I can’t remember anything about the roads. So we just cross 1280 and head Northeast, continuing on Shiloh Creek Road. A few hundred yards in we pass an old Baptist church, Georgia Camp Baptist Church, established 1889 or so… I didn’t have time to catch that last digit as I zipped past it. I should have snapped a pic.
The road just rises and falls, gently winding with open pastures on one side and woods on the other. It is quite scenic. Just being out here cruising along, not ripping, and taking it all in is very relaxing.
We come to a sandy intersection and turn onto Bynum Cemetery Road (Cr 3390). This is clearly a less traveled road. It gets narrower and becomes another tunnel. The elevation changes are quicker. There is more sand. Somewhere back in here we drop down to a creek area with an old bridge and stop for a short break. I am definitely going to have to work some of these roads into my regular rides.
Just up the road a bit we cut over to Hwy 21. Looking at a map, there are roads all over the place between Hwy 21, Hwy 7, and the Trinity River. This is the area I am really wanting to check out. I want to see if I can make a loop in this area that eventually drops us back out on Hwy 21 not far from the bridge over the river. That would tie in nicely with roads I often include on my rides.
We head Southwest on 21 a short way and turn off onto Haley Lane (Cr 3150). It is straight and dusty. It makes a sharp bend and continues a long way, but we turn off onto Cr 3140, which is not straight and is quite fun! Unfortunately, it is also not long
It soon drops us back onto pavement at FM 132. 132 runs a few miles and becomes gravel, Cr 3120. We are heading straight towards the Trinity River and just before that, the route goes South and gets all squiggly on the GPS map.And then there is a locked gate…
There is an interesting looking road off to my right, but I know that dead ends as well not far from us. It is not unusual in this area for counties to turn roads back over to large land owners. It relieves the county of the maintenance expenses. Understandable, but a bummer as it ruins what could be a lot of fun route sections. Nothing to do here but backtrack and see if any other roads will get us to the other side.
My GPS shows Cr 3231 cutting South a short way back. It too looks squiggly, which usually translates into fun.
But, it too has a locked gate and there is barely even a trace of road on the other side that wanders off across a large pasture and vanishes into the woods… So close to what would likely be so much fun
Next road… gate.
Next road, we are back to Cr 3140 and we run back down to Haley Lane. We turn Southwest and it becomes Cr 3155. About the time it is getting fun, we come to a stop at FM 1280. It stays paved a short way and then transitions back to gravel, Cr 3220. In less than a mile, this reconnects to my original route at Cr 3230 where we would have come out but for that first locked gate.
We turn South on 3230 and immediately get into a nice patch of deep, loose, rutted sand. On the far side it gets hard again for maybe a hundred yards before we hit a real tight 90 with more deep sand. Nothing to do here but point the knees into the breeze and brap on!! The bike squirms around as the front tire wobbles like a drunken sailor, but it is just along for the ride as the rear is doing all the work, hooking up and getting me moving in the right direction. The sand starts to fade as the road gets narrower. It is starting to have that look of the road less traveled… A few more corners and it starts looking like the road never traveled.
And, there’s a locked gate.
I am sure Rob is thinking about having to get back through that sand! I know I am!
But, we get back through it and return to Cr 3220 for a bit more backtracking. Right were the pavement of FM 1280 resumes, we cut South on Cr 3190.This road looks promising, wide, smooth, maintained. Off to my left in the distance a huge house is under construction. Beyond that, another huge place sits on a hill with a nice view. Clearly there are some country folks out here with deep pockets! Beyond that… the roads begins looking less promising…
I just need it to keep going a little bit more… just a bit… and it will connect and we can make a semi decent loop out of this mess!
It becomes two dirt tracks through short brown grass, following a barbed wire fence along a pasture full of cows that are obviously not used to seeing nut jobs on motorcycles blasting down iffy roads. Some run. Some freeze and stare. Some relieve themselves But the road goes on!
We soon reach the far side of the leg the last locked gate would have led to. There is a gate on this end as well, but not on the road we are on! The road here widens and is sandy. However, it looks like the county has been busy and there are what look like random patches of huge chunky gravel that has been dumped and spread on the road. They even look like they were pressed with a steam roller because they are quite flat. Odd… Anyway, a bit further and we come to Cr 3200. This is another long straight one, but hopefully it keeps us going in the right direction.
Rob rolls up behind me and I turn Southwest. I am about to roll on the throttle and get up to speed when a young black calf steps out of the high grass on my right and stops dead center in the road… frozen. I don’t see any others anywhere, so this is probably the one that thinks it’s clever because it knows where the hole in the fence is! I slightly rev the engine, not wanting to scare it but only to snap it out of its stupefied trance to get it moving. It just kind of looks at me, but doesn’t move. So I barely start creeping down the left edge of the road, hoping it might recall a hole in a fence back through the tall grass from whence it came.
Nothing doing. It bolts left, directly in front of me, down into high grass in a ditch and into a fence that has no hole! Fortunately, it just stops and stands there, staring, but also not freaking out. We are able to creep on by and leave it to do whatever it is young cows like to do.
The road is dirt, with some seriously broken up sections of pavement. I mean there are some pot holes that could do some damage if hit square on unexpectedly! Fortunately, I am able to either dodge most or pin the throttle and lighten the front end to float it over them and let the rear absorb the hit, which definitely does a better job of that than the front! After a mile or so of this we approach a cluster of trees casting a shadow over the road. There in the shadow, easy to miss…
Another locked gate…
This gate is made of steel pipe and painted black. Real easy to not see it
That would hurt a bit…
Soooo… we backtrack. As we approach the prior intersection, I am scanning for that calf. It’s probably still here somewhere. I slow down as I get closer. Then I spot movement on my right. It is still standing down in the ditch where we left it. More importantly, it stays there.
We are out of roads to try. Cr 3200 looks like it just runs back to the highway. We follow it and it does indeed go all the way through. So I can do a so so loop. It’s just frustrating because so many of the dead end roads were fun and it would have been cool to work them into a good loop.
Rob is starting to get antsy about gas again. I am trying to keep his limited range in mind. So I decide to cut part of the original planned route and just cruise a few miles down the highway to Midway, where there is a small gas station.
And… there’s no gas
This means going pretty far off the route as the nearest gas is another 10 miles or so down the highway in Madisonville on I-45. There is a massive Bucees station with pumps and charging stations everywhere! I hate the place. It is always a madhouse. Today is no different!
The parking lot is packed! Idiocy is rampant. It’s like people totally forget how to cooperate or just don’t care. If their vehicle fits, they go! Cars are stacked 2 and 3 deep waiting for pumps. I lose track of Rob for a few minutes in the mayhem and then have to go looking for him. I eventually find him a hundred yards away at another huge section of pumps. But he has a pump!
I pull up next to him and it is about this time I remember I don’t have my regular credit card! It recently got hit with several thousand dollars of fraudulent charges, so they canceled the card and I am waiting on the new one to arrive. Rob graciously pays for my gas and then we get the heck out of there as fast as we can, heading back toward Midway to see what I can salvage of the planned route. All of our exploring and backtracking ate up a lot of time and it is getting on into the afternoon.
I decide to run the after lunch part of the route in reverse. This should get us up to Centerville relatively quickly so we can take an extended break, grab a bite to eat, and cool off a bit. The temp has been creeping up and it is now hovering in the high 80s and low 90s.
Just outside the edge of town we head North on FM 2346, a fun twisting strip of pavement past some very nice country homes! A bit before the Old Spanish Road (OSR higway), we cut over onto Westmoreland, Malone, and Dingerville roads, all of which are white gravel and dusty!
We head West a few miles when we hit OSR and pick up Wallace Road. This runs North and becomes Cr 102, a mix of dirt and tar “pavement”. This is just that real thick sludge that is often just spread on dirt roads while very hot, cooling to form a soft layer that keeps down dust and helps control mud. It is sometimes mixed with gravel and forms a decent layer unless heavy vehicles drive on it, especially on hot days when it gets softer. It drops us out into FM 977, and we run that Northwest to Cr 104. 104 is more of the same, but a little more fun because the terrain is more hilly. At FM 1119, we continue North up to Centerville and have a great lunch.
It’s only been 30 miles since we gassed up the bikes. As were are about to leave, I suggest to Rob that he might want to top off as we will be heading back out into the sticks and there won’t be anywhere to get gas. Once that is done, we head East out of town on Hwy 7 to Cr 204.
204 is another tar road on top of sand. Our goal is Cr 207. This heads out into the woods and has a nice long section that used to be rarely travelled, twisty, a few sections of fun hill climbs, and generally just a cool road. It used to be super sandy, perhaps one of the worst roads in the area. Like so many others, it has been getting gravel added to it over the years and most of the sand sections are gone, part even being tarred over with the big chunky gravel mixed in. It is still worth adding to a ride route though.
Somewhere back in there someone with deep pockets created a game ranch with the high fences to keep deer in. They have other stuff in there as well. I never know what we are going to see, sometimes nothing, but today Zebras!
207 takes us to the intersection of FMs 1511 and 3178. If you find yourself out here on a street bike, FMs 1511 and all of 831 are really nice rides. They are twisty, the scenery is nice, and there is usually next to zero traffic. We cut across 1511 and head East on 3178 to get to the start of Cr 232. This is another one of those areas where a lot of big new country homes have been built. These kinds of neighborhoods are popping up all over the place! After we clear the last home, the road drops down into the woods and winds its way to Cr 231. The North end of this is wooded and nice, but as we work our way South, more new homes.
We hit Hwy 7 and cut back over towards FM 1511 where we pick up the North end of Bridges Road (Cr 147) and Cr 121. It starts off as a tar road and on the backside of a high hill it changes to gravel as we come into a curve. I come through here often, so no big surprise. Once it becomes gravel it starts working its way down into a lowland/wetland area prone to flooding. The road used to be quite rough in the bottoms from water coming over it. However the county has been putting down gravel for several years, gradually building up so that it stays in pretty good condition in all but the worst storms. It eventually goes back to tar as we clear the bottoms and stays that way all the way back to FM 811, another fun road!
But, we aren’t here for the main roads and nice pavement. We turn South and immediately turn off onto Cr 124. This and 123 used to be sand/gravel. In the last year or so they have finally made it a tar road from end to end. It is still a fun side loop off of FM 811.
We hit 811 and run it back down to 1119 and turn South. I spot a side road I don’t recall ever riding before so we take it. It is Middleton Road (Cr 106). Straight. Gravel. Not much to look at. Just gets people from A to B. Now I know.
It drops us out on FM 977 where we came up before lunch. So I decide to just backtrack the way we came, all the way down across the OSR highway. But this time we skip Westmoreland Road and take Malone to Allphin Road, cross FM 2346 and pick up Wiseman Road back to OSR just outside of Midway.
Rob is getting worried about gas again. He’s sitting at 67 miles since the last fill up at lunch. I assure him we are heading home and he’ll be fine. His bike has been getting 50+ mpg! The only option is heading back to that Bucees in Madisonville and I’d rather not do that… So we head West a bit on 21 to FMs 2158 and 1428, just for a change of scenery. FM 247 is more direct, but boring. We end up there anyway, coming out on 247 in front of the Ferguson prison unit. Here we head South on FM 247, running it all the way back to our start point.
While gassing up I check with Rob to see if he is at 100 miles? He’s at 97 and puts in two gallons. He mentions he was on reserve the last ten miles. I mention he needs a bigger tank
I put in 2.3 gallons at 130 miles. 56.5 mpg despite my heavy throttle hand We shake hands and part ways . 249.5 miles for the day. Even with the comfy aftermarket seat on my Husky, my tush is tender!! I head for the barn and call it a day. I do have more areas I want to explore though. That is the nice thing about getting older. I forget where I’ve ridden years ago and it’s like finding all new roads again!
This is the starting point, not much room left to adjust!
The edge of the dirt is where it was before I lowered the forks in the clamp.
The final position. Any ideas if it is safe to run it right up to the top? That extra bit might be all I need.
Rob on his XR650L and my Husky
The easy sand...
The less easy sand...
Lots of erosion here so the road has really been built up recently
Same thing here except that those big rocks used to be covered by the road! The water excavated them.
The first of the not so easy sand...
Now it is getting "interesting"!
"I'm just happy to be here!"
Lots of this today.
Seemingly random piles like this along this road in the middle of nowhere
You know what they say about cameras and steep hills..., Yes, it IS steeper than it looks. It looks flat! It is NOT! It drops away from us fairly quickly.
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