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Feel free to hang out and lurk as long as you like. However, we would like to encourage you to 
- Joined
- Feb 28, 2003
- Messages
- 51,225
- Reaction score
- 8,193
- Location
- Huntsville
- First Name
- Scott
- Last Name
- Friday
Howdy,
Yes I know... this is slow in coming, but I have really good excuses... honest!! There was an earthquake!, a tidal wave!, two tornadoes!,... mold? Yes the dreaded black mold. So I've been busy looking for a place to live, dealing with insurance adjusters, and some other expensive stuff. So here it is.
We did our first TWT Newbie ride a few months back and it went over with great success. So I decide it would be cool to do a newbie ride that is an over nighter. The initial response makes it look like we will have a big group, but after all the dust settles and the emails trickle off, it is just a group of about nine people. In retrospect, that is a nice sized group. Ironically, there are no newbies left amongst us!
FRIDAY
Mark Eggers, Paul Yamarick, Will Bird, Brooke Babbie, and John Morin all decide to roll in Friday evening in time for dinner. We wait around for a bit for Debbie McMullen to finish a softball game so she can go to dinner with us. After Mexican food and Margaritas, we head back to the house for an evening of story telling and getting to know one another. I really enjoy this part of the get togethers. We knock off sometime before midnight. There are bodies all over the place in the living room and den!
SATURDAY
Paul and Mark got up early and went out for breakfast. I crawl out of bed at the disgustingly early hour of 8:30am 
I start poking around and getting the last minute stuff out of the way. I take advantage of the extra time and shoot a few pics of some of the bikes:
Paul's rented V-Rod
Will Bird's 2000 Triumph Trophy 1200
Mark Eggers 87 honda VF1000R a.k.a. "The Dinosaur"
Will and Brooke roll out around 9:30am, about the same time that Paul, Mark and John get back from breakfast. Debbie shows up a few minutes later. All we need now is for Vittorio to arrive and we are ready to roll. The weather looks like it will cooperate. It is mostly cloudy, humid and really hot already. The big challenge will be dodging the late afternoon thunderstorms that have been springing up everyday for the last month and a half. Everyone is getting suited up and twiddling with the bikes when Vittorio shows up a little before 10:00am on his Honda 919.
Everyone has put most of their luggage in Beth's car. She is pregnant and cannot ride per the doctor's orders. She is going to drive straight out to the hotel and do some pool time before we arrive. Everyone is excited about being able to ride without their luggage. I am so used to having the luggage that I just leave mine in place. I snag a quick goodbye kiss from Beth and we are ready to get this show on the road!
We head out of town on FM 980, the usual route out when heading East from Huntsville. I've decided to take everyone out a slightly different way this time. We head out towards Trinity on some of the local back roads and then skirt over the North side of Lake Livingston to Onalaska and pick up US 190 for a few miles. We've been taking it easy. This is Brooke's first trip on the motorcycle with Will, it's Mark's first group ride, and I'm not real sure how Paul will hang on the V-Rod if we start cruising a little faster.
Just East of Onalaska we head North back into the woods on a short but fun road. This is the place where I usually pick up the pace a little bit to see how everyone responds, a test road if you will. Everyone seems fine with a pace around 75-80mph indicated. At the end of the road I stop and ask Paul to run his high beam so I can more easily spot him bringing up the rear. It turns out this is not really necessary as I can see the gleam off the acres of chrome long before his headlight is pointing my direction! It is so hot that when I get off the bike and step on the pavement, tar is oozing up out of the pavement and sticks to the bottom of my boots :x Now every time I go to move my left foot, I have to unstick it from the foot peg first. Annoying.
The next section of road is FM 942, a really good road. The pavement is smooth and consistent. The curves are fast banked sweepers. There is seldom any traffic. The only real concerns are deer and the huge buzzards that cluster around the fresh roadkill. The buzzards are slow in taking off and you don't want to be behind or under them when they decide to lose some ballast 
Don't ask how I know. :|
I've got a nice pace going and as we reach the apex of a nice right hander, there is a good sized branch in the road right on my line. I adjust a little and barely clip the edge of the branch making it roll and kicking the front tire out a little. The bike gives a twitch and then proceeds as if nothing had ever happened. It is enough to get Debbie's attention 
Everyone behind me scatters and manages to miss it.
When we reach Chester, we stop for a break and gas at the local Exxon station. Everyone seems pretty excited about the last few miles of road. Mark is thrilled with the handling and feel of the new tires on his Dinosaur. Paul seems to be really enjoying the V-Rod and assures me that he is enjoying the pace we have been running. As we get ready to leave, I suggest to Brooke that her and Debbie swap bikes so that Brooke can experience the VFR. Little do I realize the surprise will be on me and that I will get to experience Brooke!
When everyone is back on their bikes, we head out and quickly get on the next back road. Brooke slides right up behind me and holds on TIGHT! I realize this is only her third or fourth time on a bike so I can understand her apprehension and I decide to go easy on her. Most of the curves in the next few miles are not real sharp and we can take them at about 70mph. Brooke has planted her head squarely on my right shoulder regardless of which way we are leaning. As I roll on the throttle I can feel Brooke's grip tightening proportionally. She's like a self tightening backpack More throttle, tighter grip! At one point, I start laughing out loud in my helmet, hehe. The odd thing is that as I am rolling on the throttle through some of the corners, the rear of the bike feels a little wiggly, unusual for the VFR. It is not bad so I chalk it up to Brooke's seating position.
When we come to a stop back at US 190 again, I check with Brooke to make sure I am not freaking her out and that she is having fun. She assures me she's having a great time. She's such a pleaser though that I have to wonder if she would say the same thing even if she were afraid for her life. I tell her to try and sit back and lean against the GIVI top case and to use her legs to squeeze and hold on rather than wrapping around me. I assure her that she can trust me, it will work. She does not seem real convinced but agrees to try anyway.
The next few miles are just a mild droning down US 190 across the B.A. Steinhagen Lake through Martin Dies Jr. State Park. This is pretty wetland type scenery with big Cypress trees, lots of lily pads and turtle covered logs. Brooke is a little more relaxed and is sitting back a little more. I don't think she trusts the GIVI bag though. A few minutes later we turn onto a little side road that is not real long, but it makes up for it in grin factor.
FM 777 makes a little loop South of US 190 just a few miles West of Jasper. It is a narrow winding road that runs down among the trees. It has loads of tight little 30mph curves. It is not long before Brooke is glued to my back and her head is right back on my shoulder, hehe. That's fine as long as she is comfortable. At one point we come around a corner and hit a little patch of sand/gravel at the apex. First the front end slides a little and then the rear. The bike immediately regains grip and keeps going as if nothing had happened. Brooke squeezes me so hard with her legs and arms I feel like my head is going to pop off!! I cannot help but wonder if she is going to be able to walk tomorrow?
Every time we go down this road, John grows little tentacles that pop out from under his jacket and he makes his way to the front of the group and disappears, the big BMZilla whisking around the corners like a graceful gazelle. I fight the urge to give chase and let him go. He'll be waiting for us at the stop sign. The rest of the road is uneventful but fun. When we catch up to John, Brooke is pretty excited, but she appears to be having a good time! We head on into Jasper for lunch.
We stop at Elijah's Cafe in Jasper for lunch.
This is a lot like the Cotton Patch Cafe chain. They have great Lemonade and good food. Best of all, my seat is under an air conditioner vent!! The temperature has been hovering in the mid to upper nineties since we left the house. The Lemonade goes real quick. The lunchtime chatter is pretty excited after the run on FM 777. I assure everyone that there is still more and better to come.
With the V-Rod in the pack, we are constantly having to sweat the next stop. It seems to be good for about 100 miles and then you have to get worried. However, we get it figured so we stop about every 80-90 miles so it is not a problem. I sure would not want to tour on that rig though :?
We head out of town on a long straight highway, a good place to sort of zone while lunch settles. About ten minutes out of town, we cut off the main highway to run a short little FM back down to US 190. Debbie is back on the bike with me now and I keep having to reassure myself that she is back there! Now that she is more comfortable on the bike and does not hold on, I can't really feel her presence. She leans with me so that her weight is immaterial for all practical purposes. This road is another fun one with great turns and multiple series of fast esses. There are a few places where we have to keep a sharp eye out for kids, cars and dogs, but otherwise it is deserted. Once again, John goes screaming by us and vanishes over the next hill. A few minutes later we come up to a corner and spot something glinting in the sun off in the ditch!! A heartbeat or two later I realize John is crouching down in the weeds with his camera to get shots of us as we come around the corner. For a moment my heart skipped a beat or two when I thought he might have gone down... whew! Mental note, smack him later when we get off the bikes!
After John catches up with us, we head East on US 190 into Newton. Here we pick up Hwy 87 and head North a few miles to the start of another gem of a road, FM 1414. There are a few treacherous corners on this road, but in general it is really fun. There is one spot where the road makes a sharp left followed by a long looping right hander. As the trailing bikes approach the left hander, through the woods they can see the lead bikes sweeping through the long right hander and out of sight.
As we approach each of the bad corners, I tap the brakes and signal for everyone to take notice and slow down. Everyone gets through the corners fine. Of course, no sooner than I am happy to see everyone has made it, we enter a fast right hander and I spot what appears to be a 4 ft X 4 Ft sheet of plywood covering the lane. Visions of the bike sliding across the road on this flash through my head. I aim for the very corner, right on the edge of the double yellow and then flick the bike back into the turn hard. I must have nicked the corner because later, everyone tells me they had a little more room between it and the double yellow. Again, everyone makes it through safely and we arrive in Burkesville for a break.
I love this gas station. It is clean and has lots of pumps. The only problem is that it is not pay at the pump as we are in a town that has one intersection on no lights. I mean, they don't even have a Dairy Queen!? But the gas station does have the best air conditioner around and they keep it set on deep freeze. When I walk in the door, the vent is blowing so hard it feels like I am standing in front of a fan blowing chilled air. VERY NICE. I usually stick my helmet and jacket in their outside ice chests where they keep the bags of ice 
While we are gassing up, a Valkyrie and some kind of FXDWGXL Harley something pull in behind us. While we are talking with the Valk rider, his buddy goes in to buy a beer. He then proceeds to slam the beer and smoke a cig in the space of about two minutes. After gassing up, he lights up another cig right next to the running pumps, mounts up and heads out. Some people amaze me.
More amazing is that I seem to have neglected to turn off the key on my bike. As I usually run with high beams, my battery has run down. When I try to turn it over it gives a groaning chug chug and stops. 
Time to do the bump start thing. I get on, pop into second gear, and John gives me a running shove. I pop the clutch and it fires right up! Whew! I get turned around and ride back to the pumps so I can fill up. But wait!! I need my key to open the tank... grrr... I hope it will restart :| John is not happy to see me kill the engine hehe. Fortunately, it fires right up and we are ready to get back on the road. While we are standing around chewing the fat, someone notices that Vitorrio's rear tire is starting to show chords in the center of the tread! We are miles from any kind of dealership that might possibly have a tire that will fit his bike. It is about 3:30pm and we have about another hour or so before we reach Hodges Gardens, our destination for the day. With nothing much else to do, he decides to ride it out to the hotel and see how it fares. We'll be keeping a close eye on this.
Despite a few obstacles in the road, everyone seems to be having a good time. Paul is keeping pace on the V-Rod and Mark is amazed at how good his bike feels on these roads with the new tires. So we set out, heading for the South end of the Toledo Bend Reservoir. The first half of the road is nice up and down sweepers through the woods. The rest of the road straightens out for the most part until we reach the dam. Right before the dam, the speed limit is posted at 70 mph. Right after that sign, the road makes a long flat left hander around the base of the dam. This curve has a way of sneaking up on you. I don't think it decreases in radius, there is just something about it. I lay the VFR way over and just rolllll on the throttle all the way through, flick it over for the following right hander, and then take off over the spillways. I check the mirrors and see that everyone else has done likewise.
Right after crossing the spillways, we enter into Louisiana. The road becomes LA 191. This was repaved a few years ago and is really nice and smooth. The Southern end of the road is mostly straight and runs up and over some long high hills. I am starting to get concerned about some clouds looming off to the North of us. They seem to be pulling together, getting progressively darker, and generally working at becoming a nuisance. We turn off onto a lesser quality state road, with lots of cracks sprouting grass, and head due East. Now I see definite rain pouring down out of the sky from the clouds. Surely, we have not ridden all the way across East Texas only to be rained on the last ten minutes of the ride!!?? We are in the middle of nowhere and there is no place to hide :|
We reach the highway that runs North towards the Gardens. It has been under construction for at least the last four years, probably longer. In those four years, I have not been able to discern any real progress. There is a huge sign boasting about how much money the state is spending on this road and the fact that there are no Federal dollars being spent. It shows. We cruise along the bumpy and ragged road that will eventually be replaced until we reach the hotel. The closer we get to the hotel, the more it looks like the rain is heading right for us. When we pull into the parking lot to check in, I realize that John is no longer with the group!? It seems I am the only one that does not realize this!? 
Apparently, a while back, Debbie's leather ponytail holder thingy came off and went flying. John decided to go looking for it. Great! What a suck up! :P
I cannot remember if John knows how to find the hotel. He has been here before, but it was over a year ago. So after getting everyone checked into their rooms, I backtrack to look for him. As I pull out of the parking lot, I notice that the rain has just sort of fizzled out to the North of the hotel, what luck! But what about finding John? No luck! Surely I must have missed him somewhere. So I backtrack again and head to the hotel to see if he has arrived. When I arrive, Beth and Debbie inform me that they saw him go by but they don't know where he went. I head over to the Gardens to see if he is there and I run into everyone else at the gate. Apparently, John stopped way back by the dam!! I thought they meant he stopped just a few minutes before we got to the hotel, not thirty minutes. Paul tells me he has already gone into the Gardens, so we have not lost him.
Paul wants a picture of the V-Rod at the entrance. There is a nice scenic overlook that is perfect for just such photographic urges. But I left my camera back at the hotel and the outer gate is going to be closed in mere minutes! I race back to get the camera and then head back to the locked outer gate. When it hits 5:00pm, the lady working the entrance booth is GONE! Fortunately, Paul came to the gate to wait for me and he triggers the sensor inside so I can get back inside. We cruise up the nice winding little road back to the overlook and shoot a few pics. The V-Rod is so photogenic 
Texas in the distant background.
A near perfect exposure showing off the acres of chrome and aluminum!
Here the bike almost seems to hover just off the ground.
Look at all the shiney bits to keep clean!![/url]
If only that were a V4 sitting there instead of a twin... mmm....
Paul and bike
As Paul and I start to head down to the main gardens and parking area, we find Mark coming up after making a loop around the lake and he follows us. We park the bikes and make our way over to the formal garden area. Pooped from our ride, we elect to just climb the stairs to the top of the hill and the shaded overlook with chairs. We take in the sights the lazy way
One of the many manicured lawn areas.
The spire at the top of the hill where we park our hineys.
Paul on the left and Mark on the right sitting in metal chairs that are deceptively comfortable!
More manicured lawns and walkways.
In April, this is solid Azaleas on the far side of the sidewalk.
More of the same.
Can you identify these plants?
Eventually, the heat, humidity and hunger motivates us to get off our rears and we head back over to the hotel to clean up for dinner. The hotel is also a clubhouse for a nice 18 hole golf course. The clubhouse has a small bar and grill in it that actually serves pretty good food and strong drinks from the bar, I mean STRONG! 
Here we have the whole crew at the Emerald Hills Bar & Grill:
The whole crew (minus Debbie).
Debbie McMullen and Vittori Bacchetta-Bonomi.
Mark Eggars, Paul Yammarick, and Debbie.
Beth Friday, John Morin and Mark.
Brooke Babbie and Will Bird.
Yours Truly.
When we first arrive, we pretty much have the entire place to ourselves. Our waitress does an excellent job of taking care of us, keeping the glasses full and making sure everyone gets what they ordered. The general consensus is that the food is good, better than one might expect from such an out of the way little place. About the time we finish up our food, a large party of people sits right behind us and every single one of them smokes. It is a nice evening so we move out to the back deck of the restaurant to let dinner settle.
Sunset
Little Miss "gets embarrassed at the flash of a camera!"
Evening sky
John kicking back and relaxing.
And again...
Will and Brooke before they disappear onto the golf course.
The early morning guys are apparently also early evening guys and they start to drift off to their rooms to call it a night. The restaurant shuts down around 9:00pm so the rest of us head over to the girls' room to hang out a little longer. Will and Brooke return from their stroll around the golf course and we call it an evening. It seems everyone wants to get up and get an early start on getting back to Huntsville.
SUNDAY
After a restless night, the insanely bright light of morning comes too soon. :? The good news is that it looks to be a beautiful morning/afternoon for riding. A peek outside shows that everyone is busy going through their morning rituals, packing the bikes, getting breakfast, and just generally milling around. After getting dressed I head over to the Clubhouse to see about breakfast. The buffet looks a little rewarmed so I opt for an order of fresh cooked eggs with toast, a favorite classic!
Ater breakfast, I wander around making sure everyone is about ready to go, collecting rooms keys and getting ready to check out. We line up the bikes and do the group shot. After checking out, we hit the road and backtrack towards the South end of the Toledo Bend Reservoir. Mark and Paul have decided to swap bikes on this leg so they can check out each others respective rides. It is around 9:30am and already it is getting quite warm. We round the end of the dam and shoot back down FM 692 towards Burkeville at a nice brisk pace, the V-Rod gleaming in my rear view mirrors as the brilliant morning sun beats down upon us.
It takes us around an hour or so to reach Burkeville. Mark is glad to get off the V-Rod. He is ecstatic about the motor but less than thrilled about the ergonomics of it! With its long reach to the bars and forward controls, the bike is really meant for someone longer of inseam than Mark. :wink: Vittorio's rear tire is not looking good, I am beginning to wonder if he will make it home. A few years back, John and I made a run from North Carolina back to Texas and John started the 1300 mile trek with a seriously shagged tire, much like Vittorio's tire. We made it back with no trouble so we are fairly confident that Vittorio should be able to make the 250 miles left for the day.
My rear tire is still feeling a little odd in corners. A quick check of the pressure indicates about 37psi hot. this is lower than I would normally run it so I guess the sidewalls are flexing a little more than usual. I don't spot any obvious holes, nails or anything so I decide to just keep an eye on it for the rest of the ride.
After getting gas and cool drinks, we head North towards Hemphill on Hwy 87, one of the best stretches of road in the state. Hwy 87 is a two lane affair with nice consistent pavement. Most of the turns are banked. The woods come right up to the edge of the road. Ordinarily, this would be a place to wick it up a notch... ordinarily. Right now there is a big black cloud hanging over our heads and it is drizzling on us! :x I really don't feel like stopping to mess with rain gear and it is not raining real hard, so I slow down a little (Debbie probably doesn't even notice this as she seldom thinks I slow down...) and we keep moving. This just looks to be a localized shower and I think we'll get away from it without any trouble.
A few more miles and the pavement is dry again, just in time for us to get to a really fun part of the road. The curves have such good sightlines and none of them are decreasing killers. It is really fun to come through here and try to keep a constant pace even through the corners. Speeding is not really required to have fun here. Like so many rides, smoothness is the key to real fun. It does not take long before we start getting strung out in a long line. Paul is doing an admirable job on the V-Rod, but it just isn't really cut out for this kind of riding. A minute or two after loosing sight of the last headlight, I pull over so we can regroup.
A few miles after we stop, Hwy 87 crosses over a leg of the Toledo Bend Reservoir, a perfect spot for pictures. We pull over and line up the bikes.
John forgetting to look both ways before standing in the middle of the street
Vittorio, Mark and Paul understand the game, everyone else is oblivious.
Still oblivious..
Two bikes sporting the same generation technology
It gets hot in a hurry when we stop so we keep the photo shoots short and simple. All the water on either side of the road is really making the thought of jet skiing sound real good right about now.
We get moving again and reach Hemphill shortly. There is not much to this town. There are a few antique shops, a cool downtown with the old style town square and courthouse, and a few old turn of the century homes. There is a really neat old style drugstore soda shop that serves real fountain drinks and floats. I just never seem to get here on a day they are open or early enough. They close at 4:00pm. We head West out of town to find a few short but very fun twisty FM's.
We reach one of my favorite sections of road in the state. It is only about three quarters of a mile long, but it is scenic, smooth and fast. It is a left handed sweeper going downhill into a fast right hander. Our enthusiastic fans are the cows standing around in the pasture, looking as if they have no idea what all the ruckus is about. I get setup to get pictures of everyone as they come through the right hander and they all head back up the road to setup for their passes. Debbie waits patiently in the shade with my bike.
Will and Brook on the Trophy 1200. One lousy blade of grass...
Paul doing the liesurely V-Rod thang!
Mark riding the dinasaur for all it's worth!
John and BMZilla
It's getting hot out here...
Beautiful isn't she?!... all nice and shiney!
John pulls up next to me while I am tucking the camera away and offers Debbie a ride. He was just gonna drop her off on the pavement after getting out of the grass, but she stays put after I get back on the road! If you know John and Debbie, this is a big deal for her. She knows what a squid he can be and for her to trust him with her life is a big deal Of course, it leaves me free to really have some fun and let a few small tentacles of my own hang loose on the last few twisty miles of this little lonely FM 
We continue North to pick up Hwy 21 East of San Augustine. Hwy 21 is a fun ride all the way from the Texas/Louisiana border West to Crockett. We won't be doing much of it though because we are once again taking the little back roads. Right after we get on 21, there is a tight right hander. As we approach this curve, I can see the road running down across a pasture, up the other side of the hill and then into a sharp left before running off into the woods again. I make short work of these curves before joining the road and disappearing into the woods.
The next road is about a lane and a half wide, at best. The terrain is quite hilly and the road follows the contours of the countryside, wandering up and down the hills, twisting around tank ponds and small hillside pastures with idly grazing cattle. Speed is not an issue on this road. It is better taken at a nice leisurely pace and soaking in the woodsy atmosphere. It takes us about 15 minutes to run it to its' end back on Hwy 87. Heading North once again, we look for the start of the roller coaster road, FM 353.
On a map, if the map even shows it, FM 353 doesn't look like anything special. Just remember that maps don't tell the whole story. When we first turn onto this road, nothing seems out of the ordinary. But a few miles into it, a right hander vanishes behind some trees and then the chase is on Many of the hills crest sharp enough to get my rear light on the seat and the butterflies flapping in my gut. Quite a few of the gullies and low points are severe enough to make me feel like an astronaut being shoved back down into the soft padding of his seat on take off. I have to keep a wary eye on the road though because this road is not real wide and the locals have a nasty habit of driving down the middle of the road straddling the yellow line 
It is a good thing this road is not too long because it has such a fun rhythm, I hate to stop and wait for people, but it is short enough that by the time we reach the end, it won't take long for the slower riders to catch up. Well, apparently a few of them got caught behind a slow moving truck
We roll into San Augustine and I am thinking of lunch. Just East of the US 96 and Hwy 21 intersection is a little place called...
Fausto's Restaurant
You really have to get here right at, or before, noon. This is especially true on Sunday. Once the local churches let out, this place gets packed real fast! Everything they serve is good, but if you like fried chicken, this place is really really good. The only problem is they only take cash!!
It seems very few of our group actually carries cash when on the road!? I can't believe people would leave town and not have at least some cash 
No sooner than I get finished with a good natured scolding of the cashless riders, I realize I left my wallet in my GIVI bag which is of course in the car with Beth, well on its' way home to Huntsville 
Now I sheepishly have to ask if anyone has enough cash to get me my standard grilled cheese sandwich... 
We enjoy a nice relaxed lunch. It is freaking hot outside and the thought of getting back on the bike is not appealing at the moment. All I can think of now is how to get in a quick power nap. We tease about taking "micro-naps" when we get back on the road. Debbie is not amused. She does not realize we are just kidding While everyone is trying to stay awake, I grab a cupful of ice and go outside to dump it in my helmet. then I hang the helmet on my GIVI rack so the ice can melt and soak into my helmet liner. When we get ready to leave and everyone sees me dump ice out of my helmet before donning it, I get some strange looks. Nonetheless, it feels reallll good once we get back on the bikes and get moving. After a quick gas stop, we are ready to start the last really good road. Vittorio's tire is not looking so great. 
Just South of the main highway intersection, we pick up the Northern end of FM 1277, a long fabulous strip of smooth, wandering, and really fast sweepers Debbie has once again elected to ride with John on the BMZilla. I guess he has been on his best behavior and has yet to give her a good scare, good boy! This of course leaves me free to ride a little more aggressively than I might with a passenger. I love this stretch of road because it is all about being smooth and letting the bike do its' thing. VFR's love to do their thing!!
Everything is peaches and cream. Then I start into a relatively tight left hander at the bottom of a draw, the apex being the lowest point. There is about a four foot wide swath of wet stuff running completely across BOTH lanes of the road Fortunately, I have been working on retraining my instinctive reactions. I don't slam on the brakes or chop the throttle and stand up the bike. Instead I stay calm, setup for the corner, gently roll on the throttle and lean into the inside of the curve. The second the bike hits the slime, the bike does a BIG SLIDE, both wheels, first the front and then the back. The VFR gives a slight side to side twitch, then hits the dry pavement on the far side after drifting a few feet to the outside of the corner. I'd swear my seat cover is coming loose from the seat pan as hard as I am putting the cheek vise to it!! Once I hit the dry pavement, life is good again. I immediately start to slow so I can do a mirror check to see if everyone else comes through clean. I had pulled out ahead a little so it is a short moment or two before the next bike comes through. I see a little bobble in the headlight and they make it through. Now I start counting the headlights as they come around the corner until I see everyone present and accounted for, whew!! That was not fun... well maybe just a little :wink:
A few miles farther down the road, we reach a really fun turn off. I watch for the tank pond with the swimming cows and then I know I'm almost at the turn. We head North on FM 1196. It might be tempting to just avoid this road because it doesn't really go anywhere useful. However, I make it a habit to run it up and back when we come out here. It was repaved in the last few years and is very nice. It is a rhythm road with lots of nice fast esses that rise and fall over quick hills. We reach the end and turn around to run it South. Paul comes over the hill and sees all of us coming right back at him, hehe. I give him the universal U-turn hand signal and he is soon right back with the pack.
The group has been riding together really well. Everyone has been keeping a good spacing and not bunching up on each other. This makes for a nice relaxed and worry free ride. We reach the end of FM 1277 in Broadduss and start the longest, most boring, part of the whole route. It is not until we reach Colmesneil that we can get back to having some fun. Of course, fun would not include the four deer on the side of the road that decide to shoot out in front of me from the tall grass on the roadside Fortunately, I spotted the whole group of eight a second or two earlier and was already covering the brakes. It was a set of four does and four fawns. Two of the does and two fawns decided to risk a broad side from 750 lbs of hurtling motorcycle. I make the decision that the larger does are worth dodging, the little fawns are just out of luck if I can't miss them. I manage to haul it down fast enough to avoid having to make a full blown panic stop, the deer scamper off into the thicket on both sides of the road, my seat cover only slightly more stretched. Everyone else saw me braking from a ways back and had plenty of time to slow.
The rest of the way to Chester is uneventful and we stop at the Exxon where we always take a break. The heat is really baking us like little potatoes wrapped in our riding suits. Ice cream and fluids are in order! After gassing up, Vittorio decides that his tire is bad enough that he wants to go ahead and split off from the group to head home to Houston. I try to get him to wait and let us ride with him until he has to turn South on US 59, but he is anxious to get going and the rest of the group is not even close to being ready to mount up and ride. I tell him to be careful and let me know when he gets home. With that, he is gone.
The rest of the group is still inside the store enjoying the cool air conditioning. A few minutes later, after I finish my Fudge Bomb, we saddle up and hit the road. Debbie is wearing out and has elected to climb back on board the cushy VFR for the rest of the ride home. I half expect to find Vittorio sitting on the side of the road with a blown rear tire. Fortunately, we don't see him. We are running a section of FM's just North of US 190 between Colmesneil and Livingston. Lots of fast curves marked at 40mph. Normally, there is little to worry about here. Today, that stupid branch is still in the middle of the same curve as yesterday! I spot it and stick out a leg to warn the others, John sticks out his leg and boots it off the road into the ditch.
We reach Onalaska and head West on US 190 and out over the Lake Livingston Causeway. Riding over the causeway gives us a great view of the lake and the sky. Huge thunderheads are scattered across the horizon but nothing looks immediately threatening. A few miles past Point Blank, we reach the turn for Waterwood Parkway. This is another short but awesome stretch of road that is not likely to be on any map. It is really the main artery of a subdivision giving access between FM 980 and US 190. It is wide and nicely paved with very few side roads. We run it at a passionate pace :wink: Then we hit FM 980 and run it all the way back to Huntsville, arriving sometime near 4:00pm. Beth greets us with cool drinks!
Everyone comes inside the house to cool off and relax before they have to head out for the last bit of riding to get to their respective homes. Will, Brook, and John still have to make the two and a half our ride to Austin. I don't envy them. While we are hanging out, Vittorio calls and informs us that he made it into Houston to the Beltway at Rankin before his rear tire gave up the ghost. Fortunately, it was not a traumatic blow out and he managed to safely pull it over to the side. He assures me that he has contacted his wife and a tow truck so he won't be stranded. I inform the rest of the group. Everyone is relieved to know he made it back to civilization before the tire let go. As everyone gathers their luggage from the car and straps it back to their bikes, I run around to get a few last minute pictures.
Mark and the VF1000R "Dinosaur".
Mark and Paul with the overexposing V-Rod.
John fiddling with the industrial luggage for the Zillabike.
Will and Brooke
Beth, Deb and myself hangout in the driveway until everyone rides off into the heat. With a knowing glance, we head back inside to sit in the air conditioning a little longer. It has been another great weekend of riding with a fun group of people. I always enjoy the roads and scenery, but the people are what really make the rides special for me. Now off to start planning the next one!
Yes I know... this is slow in coming, but I have really good excuses... honest!! There was an earthquake!, a tidal wave!, two tornadoes!,... mold? Yes the dreaded black mold. So I've been busy looking for a place to live, dealing with insurance adjusters, and some other expensive stuff. So here it is. We did our first TWT Newbie ride a few months back and it went over with great success. So I decide it would be cool to do a newbie ride that is an over nighter. The initial response makes it look like we will have a big group, but after all the dust settles and the emails trickle off, it is just a group of about nine people. In retrospect, that is a nice sized group. Ironically, there are no newbies left amongst us!FRIDAY
Mark Eggers, Paul Yamarick, Will Bird, Brooke Babbie, and John Morin all decide to roll in Friday evening in time for dinner. We wait around for a bit for Debbie McMullen to finish a softball game so she can go to dinner with us. After Mexican food and Margaritas, we head back to the house for an evening of story telling and getting to know one another. I really enjoy this part of the get togethers. We knock off sometime before midnight. There are bodies all over the place in the living room and den!SATURDAY
Paul and Mark got up early and went out for breakfast. I crawl out of bed at the disgustingly early hour of 8:30am I start poking around and getting the last minute stuff out of the way. I take advantage of the extra time and shoot a few pics of some of the bikes:Paul's rented V-Rod
Will Bird's 2000 Triumph Trophy 1200
Mark Eggers 87 honda VF1000R a.k.a. "The Dinosaur"
Will and Brooke roll out around 9:30am, about the same time that Paul, Mark and John get back from breakfast. Debbie shows up a few minutes later. All we need now is for Vittorio to arrive and we are ready to roll. The weather looks like it will cooperate. It is mostly cloudy, humid and really hot already. The big challenge will be dodging the late afternoon thunderstorms that have been springing up everyday for the last month and a half. Everyone is getting suited up and twiddling with the bikes when Vittorio shows up a little before 10:00am on his Honda 919. Everyone has put most of their luggage in Beth's car. She is pregnant and cannot ride per the doctor's orders. She is going to drive straight out to the hotel and do some pool time before we arrive. Everyone is excited about being able to ride without their luggage. I am so used to having the luggage that I just leave mine in place. I snag a quick goodbye kiss from Beth and we are ready to get this show on the road! We head out of town on FM 980, the usual route out when heading East from Huntsville. I've decided to take everyone out a slightly different way this time. We head out towards Trinity on some of the local back roads and then skirt over the North side of Lake Livingston to Onalaska and pick up US 190 for a few miles. We've been taking it easy. This is Brooke's first trip on the motorcycle with Will, it's Mark's first group ride, and I'm not real sure how Paul will hang on the V-Rod if we start cruising a little faster. Just East of Onalaska we head North back into the woods on a short but fun road. This is the place where I usually pick up the pace a little bit to see how everyone responds, a test road if you will. Everyone seems fine with a pace around 75-80mph indicated. At the end of the road I stop and ask Paul to run his high beam so I can more easily spot him bringing up the rear. It turns out this is not really necessary as I can see the gleam off the acres of chrome long before his headlight is pointing my direction! It is so hot that when I get off the bike and step on the pavement, tar is oozing up out of the pavement and sticks to the bottom of my boots :x Now every time I go to move my left foot, I have to unstick it from the foot peg first. Annoying. The next section of road is FM 942, a really good road. The pavement is smooth and consistent. The curves are fast banked sweepers. There is seldom any traffic. The only real concerns are deer and the huge buzzards that cluster around the fresh roadkill. The buzzards are slow in taking off and you don't want to be behind or under them when they decide to lose some ballast Don't ask how I know. :| I've got a nice pace going and as we reach the apex of a nice right hander, there is a good sized branch in the road right on my line. I adjust a little and barely clip the edge of the branch making it roll and kicking the front tire out a little. The bike gives a twitch and then proceeds as if nothing had ever happened. It is enough to get Debbie's attention Everyone behind me scatters and manages to miss it. When we reach Chester, we stop for a break and gas at the local Exxon station. Everyone seems pretty excited about the last few miles of road. Mark is thrilled with the handling and feel of the new tires on his Dinosaur. Paul seems to be really enjoying the V-Rod and assures me that he is enjoying the pace we have been running. As we get ready to leave, I suggest to Brooke that her and Debbie swap bikes so that Brooke can experience the VFR. Little do I realize the surprise will be on me and that I will get to experience Brooke! When everyone is back on their bikes, we head out and quickly get on the next back road. Brooke slides right up behind me and holds on TIGHT! I realize this is only her third or fourth time on a bike so I can understand her apprehension and I decide to go easy on her. Most of the curves in the next few miles are not real sharp and we can take them at about 70mph. Brooke has planted her head squarely on my right shoulder regardless of which way we are leaning. As I roll on the throttle I can feel Brooke's grip tightening proportionally. She's like a self tightening backpack More throttle, tighter grip! At one point, I start laughing out loud in my helmet, hehe. The odd thing is that as I am rolling on the throttle through some of the corners, the rear of the bike feels a little wiggly, unusual for the VFR. It is not bad so I chalk it up to Brooke's seating position. When we come to a stop back at US 190 again, I check with Brooke to make sure I am not freaking her out and that she is having fun. She assures me she's having a great time. She's such a pleaser though that I have to wonder if she would say the same thing even if she were afraid for her life. I tell her to try and sit back and lean against the GIVI top case and to use her legs to squeeze and hold on rather than wrapping around me. I assure her that she can trust me, it will work. She does not seem real convinced but agrees to try anyway. The next few miles are just a mild droning down US 190 across the B.A. Steinhagen Lake through Martin Dies Jr. State Park. This is pretty wetland type scenery with big Cypress trees, lots of lily pads and turtle covered logs. Brooke is a little more relaxed and is sitting back a little more. I don't think she trusts the GIVI bag though. A few minutes later we turn onto a little side road that is not real long, but it makes up for it in grin factor. FM 777 makes a little loop South of US 190 just a few miles West of Jasper. It is a narrow winding road that runs down among the trees. It has loads of tight little 30mph curves. It is not long before Brooke is glued to my back and her head is right back on my shoulder, hehe. That's fine as long as she is comfortable. At one point we come around a corner and hit a little patch of sand/gravel at the apex. First the front end slides a little and then the rear. The bike immediately regains grip and keeps going as if nothing had happened. Brooke squeezes me so hard with her legs and arms I feel like my head is going to pop off!! I cannot help but wonder if she is going to be able to walk tomorrow? Every time we go down this road, John grows little tentacles that pop out from under his jacket and he makes his way to the front of the group and disappears, the big BMZilla whisking around the corners like a graceful gazelle. I fight the urge to give chase and let him go. He'll be waiting for us at the stop sign. The rest of the road is uneventful but fun. When we catch up to John, Brooke is pretty excited, but she appears to be having a good time! We head on into Jasper for lunch.We stop at Elijah's Cafe in Jasper for lunch.
This is a lot like the Cotton Patch Cafe chain. They have great Lemonade and good food. Best of all, my seat is under an air conditioner vent!! The temperature has been hovering in the mid to upper nineties since we left the house. The Lemonade goes real quick. The lunchtime chatter is pretty excited after the run on FM 777. I assure everyone that there is still more and better to come.
With the V-Rod in the pack, we are constantly having to sweat the next stop. It seems to be good for about 100 miles and then you have to get worried. However, we get it figured so we stop about every 80-90 miles so it is not a problem. I sure would not want to tour on that rig though :? We head out of town on a long straight highway, a good place to sort of zone while lunch settles. About ten minutes out of town, we cut off the main highway to run a short little FM back down to US 190. Debbie is back on the bike with me now and I keep having to reassure myself that she is back there! Now that she is more comfortable on the bike and does not hold on, I can't really feel her presence. She leans with me so that her weight is immaterial for all practical purposes. This road is another fun one with great turns and multiple series of fast esses. There are a few places where we have to keep a sharp eye out for kids, cars and dogs, but otherwise it is deserted. Once again, John goes screaming by us and vanishes over the next hill. A few minutes later we come up to a corner and spot something glinting in the sun off in the ditch!! A heartbeat or two later I realize John is crouching down in the weeds with his camera to get shots of us as we come around the corner. For a moment my heart skipped a beat or two when I thought he might have gone down... whew! Mental note, smack him later when we get off the bikes! After John catches up with us, we head East on US 190 into Newton. Here we pick up Hwy 87 and head North a few miles to the start of another gem of a road, FM 1414. There are a few treacherous corners on this road, but in general it is really fun. There is one spot where the road makes a sharp left followed by a long looping right hander. As the trailing bikes approach the left hander, through the woods they can see the lead bikes sweeping through the long right hander and out of sight. As we approach each of the bad corners, I tap the brakes and signal for everyone to take notice and slow down. Everyone gets through the corners fine. Of course, no sooner than I am happy to see everyone has made it, we enter a fast right hander and I spot what appears to be a 4 ft X 4 Ft sheet of plywood covering the lane. Visions of the bike sliding across the road on this flash through my head. I aim for the very corner, right on the edge of the double yellow and then flick the bike back into the turn hard. I must have nicked the corner because later, everyone tells me they had a little more room between it and the double yellow. Again, everyone makes it through safely and we arrive in Burkesville for a break. I love this gas station. It is clean and has lots of pumps. The only problem is that it is not pay at the pump as we are in a town that has one intersection on no lights. I mean, they don't even have a Dairy Queen!? But the gas station does have the best air conditioner around and they keep it set on deep freeze. When I walk in the door, the vent is blowing so hard it feels like I am standing in front of a fan blowing chilled air. VERY NICE. I usually stick my helmet and jacket in their outside ice chests where they keep the bags of ice While we are gassing up, a Valkyrie and some kind of FXDWGXL Harley something pull in behind us. While we are talking with the Valk rider, his buddy goes in to buy a beer. He then proceeds to slam the beer and smoke a cig in the space of about two minutes. After gassing up, he lights up another cig right next to the running pumps, mounts up and heads out. Some people amaze me. More amazing is that I seem to have neglected to turn off the key on my bike. As I usually run with high beams, my battery has run down. When I try to turn it over it gives a groaning chug chug and stops. Time to do the bump start thing. I get on, pop into second gear, and John gives me a running shove. I pop the clutch and it fires right up! Whew! I get turned around and ride back to the pumps so I can fill up. But wait!! I need my key to open the tank... grrr... I hope it will restart :| John is not happy to see me kill the engine hehe. Fortunately, it fires right up and we are ready to get back on the road. While we are standing around chewing the fat, someone notices that Vitorrio's rear tire is starting to show chords in the center of the tread! We are miles from any kind of dealership that might possibly have a tire that will fit his bike. It is about 3:30pm and we have about another hour or so before we reach Hodges Gardens, our destination for the day. With nothing much else to do, he decides to ride it out to the hotel and see how it fares. We'll be keeping a close eye on this. Despite a few obstacles in the road, everyone seems to be having a good time. Paul is keeping pace on the V-Rod and Mark is amazed at how good his bike feels on these roads with the new tires. So we set out, heading for the South end of the Toledo Bend Reservoir. The first half of the road is nice up and down sweepers through the woods. The rest of the road straightens out for the most part until we reach the dam. Right before the dam, the speed limit is posted at 70 mph. Right after that sign, the road makes a long flat left hander around the base of the dam. This curve has a way of sneaking up on you. I don't think it decreases in radius, there is just something about it. I lay the VFR way over and just rolllll on the throttle all the way through, flick it over for the following right hander, and then take off over the spillways. I check the mirrors and see that everyone else has done likewise. Right after crossing the spillways, we enter into Louisiana. The road becomes LA 191. This was repaved a few years ago and is really nice and smooth. The Southern end of the road is mostly straight and runs up and over some long high hills. I am starting to get concerned about some clouds looming off to the North of us. They seem to be pulling together, getting progressively darker, and generally working at becoming a nuisance. We turn off onto a lesser quality state road, with lots of cracks sprouting grass, and head due East. Now I see definite rain pouring down out of the sky from the clouds. Surely, we have not ridden all the way across East Texas only to be rained on the last ten minutes of the ride!!?? We are in the middle of nowhere and there is no place to hide :| We reach the highway that runs North towards the Gardens. It has been under construction for at least the last four years, probably longer. In those four years, I have not been able to discern any real progress. There is a huge sign boasting about how much money the state is spending on this road and the fact that there are no Federal dollars being spent. It shows. We cruise along the bumpy and ragged road that will eventually be replaced until we reach the hotel. The closer we get to the hotel, the more it looks like the rain is heading right for us. When we pull into the parking lot to check in, I realize that John is no longer with the group!? It seems I am the only one that does not realize this!? Apparently, a while back, Debbie's leather ponytail holder thingy came off and went flying. John decided to go looking for it. Great! What a suck up! :P I cannot remember if John knows how to find the hotel. He has been here before, but it was over a year ago. So after getting everyone checked into their rooms, I backtrack to look for him. As I pull out of the parking lot, I notice that the rain has just sort of fizzled out to the North of the hotel, what luck! But what about finding John? No luck! Surely I must have missed him somewhere. So I backtrack again and head to the hotel to see if he has arrived. When I arrive, Beth and Debbie inform me that they saw him go by but they don't know where he went. I head over to the Gardens to see if he is there and I run into everyone else at the gate. Apparently, John stopped way back by the dam!! I thought they meant he stopped just a few minutes before we got to the hotel, not thirty minutes. Paul tells me he has already gone into the Gardens, so we have not lost him. Paul wants a picture of the V-Rod at the entrance. There is a nice scenic overlook that is perfect for just such photographic urges. But I left my camera back at the hotel and the outer gate is going to be closed in mere minutes! I race back to get the camera and then head back to the locked outer gate. When it hits 5:00pm, the lady working the entrance booth is GONE! Fortunately, Paul came to the gate to wait for me and he triggers the sensor inside so I can get back inside. We cruise up the nice winding little road back to the overlook and shoot a few pics. The V-Rod is so photogenic Texas in the distant background.
A near perfect exposure showing off the acres of chrome and aluminum!
Here the bike almost seems to hover just off the ground.
Look at all the shiney bits to keep clean!![/url]
If only that were a V4 sitting there instead of a twin... mmm....
Paul and bike
As Paul and I start to head down to the main gardens and parking area, we find Mark coming up after making a loop around the lake and he follows us. We park the bikes and make our way over to the formal garden area. Pooped from our ride, we elect to just climb the stairs to the top of the hill and the shaded overlook with chairs. We take in the sights the lazy way One of the many manicured lawn areas.
The spire at the top of the hill where we park our hineys.
Paul on the left and Mark on the right sitting in metal chairs that are deceptively comfortable!
More manicured lawns and walkways.
In April, this is solid Azaleas on the far side of the sidewalk.
More of the same.
Can you identify these plants?
Eventually, the heat, humidity and hunger motivates us to get off our rears and we head back over to the hotel to clean up for dinner. The hotel is also a clubhouse for a nice 18 hole golf course. The clubhouse has a small bar and grill in it that actually serves pretty good food and strong drinks from the bar, I mean STRONG! Here we have the whole crew at the Emerald Hills Bar & Grill:
The whole crew (minus Debbie).
Debbie McMullen and Vittori Bacchetta-Bonomi.
Mark Eggars, Paul Yammarick, and Debbie.
Beth Friday, John Morin and Mark.
Brooke Babbie and Will Bird.
Yours Truly.
When we first arrive, we pretty much have the entire place to ourselves. Our waitress does an excellent job of taking care of us, keeping the glasses full and making sure everyone gets what they ordered. The general consensus is that the food is good, better than one might expect from such an out of the way little place. About the time we finish up our food, a large party of people sits right behind us and every single one of them smokes. It is a nice evening so we move out to the back deck of the restaurant to let dinner settle.Sunset
Little Miss "gets embarrassed at the flash of a camera!"
Evening sky
John kicking back and relaxing.
And again...
Will and Brooke before they disappear onto the golf course.
The early morning guys are apparently also early evening guys and they start to drift off to their rooms to call it a night. The restaurant shuts down around 9:00pm so the rest of us head over to the girls' room to hang out a little longer. Will and Brooke return from their stroll around the golf course and we call it an evening. It seems everyone wants to get up and get an early start on getting back to Huntsville.SUNDAY
After a restless night, the insanely bright light of morning comes too soon. :? The good news is that it looks to be a beautiful morning/afternoon for riding. A peek outside shows that everyone is busy going through their morning rituals, packing the bikes, getting breakfast, and just generally milling around. After getting dressed I head over to the Clubhouse to see about breakfast. The buffet looks a little rewarmed so I opt for an order of fresh cooked eggs with toast, a favorite classic! Ater breakfast, I wander around making sure everyone is about ready to go, collecting rooms keys and getting ready to check out. We line up the bikes and do the group shot. After checking out, we hit the road and backtrack towards the South end of the Toledo Bend Reservoir. Mark and Paul have decided to swap bikes on this leg so they can check out each others respective rides. It is around 9:30am and already it is getting quite warm. We round the end of the dam and shoot back down FM 692 towards Burkeville at a nice brisk pace, the V-Rod gleaming in my rear view mirrors as the brilliant morning sun beats down upon us. It takes us around an hour or so to reach Burkeville. Mark is glad to get off the V-Rod. He is ecstatic about the motor but less than thrilled about the ergonomics of it! With its long reach to the bars and forward controls, the bike is really meant for someone longer of inseam than Mark. :wink: Vittorio's rear tire is not looking good, I am beginning to wonder if he will make it home. A few years back, John and I made a run from North Carolina back to Texas and John started the 1300 mile trek with a seriously shagged tire, much like Vittorio's tire. We made it back with no trouble so we are fairly confident that Vittorio should be able to make the 250 miles left for the day. My rear tire is still feeling a little odd in corners. A quick check of the pressure indicates about 37psi hot. this is lower than I would normally run it so I guess the sidewalls are flexing a little more than usual. I don't spot any obvious holes, nails or anything so I decide to just keep an eye on it for the rest of the ride. After getting gas and cool drinks, we head North towards Hemphill on Hwy 87, one of the best stretches of road in the state. Hwy 87 is a two lane affair with nice consistent pavement. Most of the turns are banked. The woods come right up to the edge of the road. Ordinarily, this would be a place to wick it up a notch... ordinarily. Right now there is a big black cloud hanging over our heads and it is drizzling on us! :x I really don't feel like stopping to mess with rain gear and it is not raining real hard, so I slow down a little (Debbie probably doesn't even notice this as she seldom thinks I slow down...) and we keep moving. This just looks to be a localized shower and I think we'll get away from it without any trouble. A few more miles and the pavement is dry again, just in time for us to get to a really fun part of the road. The curves have such good sightlines and none of them are decreasing killers. It is really fun to come through here and try to keep a constant pace even through the corners. Speeding is not really required to have fun here. Like so many rides, smoothness is the key to real fun. It does not take long before we start getting strung out in a long line. Paul is doing an admirable job on the V-Rod, but it just isn't really cut out for this kind of riding. A minute or two after loosing sight of the last headlight, I pull over so we can regroup. A few miles after we stop, Hwy 87 crosses over a leg of the Toledo Bend Reservoir, a perfect spot for pictures. We pull over and line up the bikes.John forgetting to look both ways before standing in the middle of the street
Vittorio, Mark and Paul understand the game, everyone else is oblivious.
Still oblivious..
Two bikes sporting the same generation technology
It gets hot in a hurry when we stop so we keep the photo shoots short and simple. All the water on either side of the road is really making the thought of jet skiing sound real good right about now.
We get moving again and reach Hemphill shortly. There is not much to this town. There are a few antique shops, a cool downtown with the old style town square and courthouse, and a few old turn of the century homes. There is a really neat old style drugstore soda shop that serves real fountain drinks and floats. I just never seem to get here on a day they are open or early enough. They close at 4:00pm. We head West out of town to find a few short but very fun twisty FM's. We reach one of my favorite sections of road in the state. It is only about three quarters of a mile long, but it is scenic, smooth and fast. It is a left handed sweeper going downhill into a fast right hander. Our enthusiastic fans are the cows standing around in the pasture, looking as if they have no idea what all the ruckus is about. I get setup to get pictures of everyone as they come through the right hander and they all head back up the road to setup for their passes. Debbie waits patiently in the shade with my bike.Will and Brook on the Trophy 1200. One lousy blade of grass...
Paul doing the liesurely V-Rod thang!
Mark riding the dinasaur for all it's worth!
John and BMZilla
It's getting hot out here...
Beautiful isn't she?!... all nice and shiney!
John pulls up next to me while I am tucking the camera away and offers Debbie a ride. He was just gonna drop her off on the pavement after getting out of the grass, but she stays put after I get back on the road! If you know John and Debbie, this is a big deal for her. She knows what a squid he can be and for her to trust him with her life is a big deal Of course, it leaves me free to really have some fun and let a few small tentacles of my own hang loose on the last few twisty miles of this little lonely FM We continue North to pick up Hwy 21 East of San Augustine. Hwy 21 is a fun ride all the way from the Texas/Louisiana border West to Crockett. We won't be doing much of it though because we are once again taking the little back roads. Right after we get on 21, there is a tight right hander. As we approach this curve, I can see the road running down across a pasture, up the other side of the hill and then into a sharp left before running off into the woods again. I make short work of these curves before joining the road and disappearing into the woods. The next road is about a lane and a half wide, at best. The terrain is quite hilly and the road follows the contours of the countryside, wandering up and down the hills, twisting around tank ponds and small hillside pastures with idly grazing cattle. Speed is not an issue on this road. It is better taken at a nice leisurely pace and soaking in the woodsy atmosphere. It takes us about 15 minutes to run it to its' end back on Hwy 87. Heading North once again, we look for the start of the roller coaster road, FM 353. On a map, if the map even shows it, FM 353 doesn't look like anything special. Just remember that maps don't tell the whole story. When we first turn onto this road, nothing seems out of the ordinary. But a few miles into it, a right hander vanishes behind some trees and then the chase is on Many of the hills crest sharp enough to get my rear light on the seat and the butterflies flapping in my gut. Quite a few of the gullies and low points are severe enough to make me feel like an astronaut being shoved back down into the soft padding of his seat on take off. I have to keep a wary eye on the road though because this road is not real wide and the locals have a nasty habit of driving down the middle of the road straddling the yellow line It is a good thing this road is not too long because it has such a fun rhythm, I hate to stop and wait for people, but it is short enough that by the time we reach the end, it won't take long for the slower riders to catch up. Well, apparently a few of them got caught behind a slow moving truck We roll into San Augustine and I am thinking of lunch. Just East of the US 96 and Hwy 21 intersection is a little place called...Fausto's Restaurant
You really have to get here right at, or before, noon. This is especially true on Sunday. Once the local churches let out, this place gets packed real fast! Everything they serve is good, but if you like fried chicken, this place is really really good. The only problem is they only take cash!! It seems very few of our group actually carries cash when on the road!? I can't believe people would leave town and not have at least some cash No sooner than I get finished with a good natured scolding of the cashless riders, I realize I left my wallet in my GIVI bag which is of course in the car with Beth, well on its' way home to Huntsville Now I sheepishly have to ask if anyone has enough cash to get me my standard grilled cheese sandwich... We enjoy a nice relaxed lunch. It is freaking hot outside and the thought of getting back on the bike is not appealing at the moment. All I can think of now is how to get in a quick power nap. We tease about taking "micro-naps" when we get back on the road. Debbie is not amused. She does not realize we are just kidding While everyone is trying to stay awake, I grab a cupful of ice and go outside to dump it in my helmet. then I hang the helmet on my GIVI rack so the ice can melt and soak into my helmet liner. When we get ready to leave and everyone sees me dump ice out of my helmet before donning it, I get some strange looks. Nonetheless, it feels reallll good once we get back on the bikes and get moving. After a quick gas stop, we are ready to start the last really good road. Vittorio's tire is not looking so great. Just South of the main highway intersection, we pick up the Northern end of FM 1277, a long fabulous strip of smooth, wandering, and really fast sweepers Debbie has once again elected to ride with John on the BMZilla. I guess he has been on his best behavior and has yet to give her a good scare, good boy! This of course leaves me free to ride a little more aggressively than I might with a passenger. I love this stretch of road because it is all about being smooth and letting the bike do its' thing. VFR's love to do their thing!! Everything is peaches and cream. Then I start into a relatively tight left hander at the bottom of a draw, the apex being the lowest point. There is about a four foot wide swath of wet stuff running completely across BOTH lanes of the road Fortunately, I have been working on retraining my instinctive reactions. I don't slam on the brakes or chop the throttle and stand up the bike. Instead I stay calm, setup for the corner, gently roll on the throttle and lean into the inside of the curve. The second the bike hits the slime, the bike does a BIG SLIDE, both wheels, first the front and then the back. The VFR gives a slight side to side twitch, then hits the dry pavement on the far side after drifting a few feet to the outside of the corner. I'd swear my seat cover is coming loose from the seat pan as hard as I am putting the cheek vise to it!! Once I hit the dry pavement, life is good again. I immediately start to slow so I can do a mirror check to see if everyone else comes through clean. I had pulled out ahead a little so it is a short moment or two before the next bike comes through. I see a little bobble in the headlight and they make it through. Now I start counting the headlights as they come around the corner until I see everyone present and accounted for, whew!! That was not fun... well maybe just a little :wink: A few miles farther down the road, we reach a really fun turn off. I watch for the tank pond with the swimming cows and then I know I'm almost at the turn. We head North on FM 1196. It might be tempting to just avoid this road because it doesn't really go anywhere useful. However, I make it a habit to run it up and back when we come out here. It was repaved in the last few years and is very nice. It is a rhythm road with lots of nice fast esses that rise and fall over quick hills. We reach the end and turn around to run it South. Paul comes over the hill and sees all of us coming right back at him, hehe. I give him the universal U-turn hand signal and he is soon right back with the pack. The group has been riding together really well. Everyone has been keeping a good spacing and not bunching up on each other. This makes for a nice relaxed and worry free ride. We reach the end of FM 1277 in Broadduss and start the longest, most boring, part of the whole route. It is not until we reach Colmesneil that we can get back to having some fun. Of course, fun would not include the four deer on the side of the road that decide to shoot out in front of me from the tall grass on the roadside Fortunately, I spotted the whole group of eight a second or two earlier and was already covering the brakes. It was a set of four does and four fawns. Two of the does and two fawns decided to risk a broad side from 750 lbs of hurtling motorcycle. I make the decision that the larger does are worth dodging, the little fawns are just out of luck if I can't miss them. I manage to haul it down fast enough to avoid having to make a full blown panic stop, the deer scamper off into the thicket on both sides of the road, my seat cover only slightly more stretched. Everyone else saw me braking from a ways back and had plenty of time to slow. The rest of the way to Chester is uneventful and we stop at the Exxon where we always take a break. The heat is really baking us like little potatoes wrapped in our riding suits. Ice cream and fluids are in order! After gassing up, Vittorio decides that his tire is bad enough that he wants to go ahead and split off from the group to head home to Houston. I try to get him to wait and let us ride with him until he has to turn South on US 59, but he is anxious to get going and the rest of the group is not even close to being ready to mount up and ride. I tell him to be careful and let me know when he gets home. With that, he is gone. The rest of the group is still inside the store enjoying the cool air conditioning. A few minutes later, after I finish my Fudge Bomb, we saddle up and hit the road. Debbie is wearing out and has elected to climb back on board the cushy VFR for the rest of the ride home. I half expect to find Vittorio sitting on the side of the road with a blown rear tire. Fortunately, we don't see him. We are running a section of FM's just North of US 190 between Colmesneil and Livingston. Lots of fast curves marked at 40mph. Normally, there is little to worry about here. Today, that stupid branch is still in the middle of the same curve as yesterday! I spot it and stick out a leg to warn the others, John sticks out his leg and boots it off the road into the ditch. We reach Onalaska and head West on US 190 and out over the Lake Livingston Causeway. Riding over the causeway gives us a great view of the lake and the sky. Huge thunderheads are scattered across the horizon but nothing looks immediately threatening. A few miles past Point Blank, we reach the turn for Waterwood Parkway. This is another short but awesome stretch of road that is not likely to be on any map. It is really the main artery of a subdivision giving access between FM 980 and US 190. It is wide and nicely paved with very few side roads. We run it at a passionate pace :wink: Then we hit FM 980 and run it all the way back to Huntsville, arriving sometime near 4:00pm. Beth greets us with cool drinks! Everyone comes inside the house to cool off and relax before they have to head out for the last bit of riding to get to their respective homes. Will, Brook, and John still have to make the two and a half our ride to Austin. I don't envy them. While we are hanging out, Vittorio calls and informs us that he made it into Houston to the Beltway at Rankin before his rear tire gave up the ghost. Fortunately, it was not a traumatic blow out and he managed to safely pull it over to the side. He assures me that he has contacted his wife and a tow truck so he won't be stranded. I inform the rest of the group. Everyone is relieved to know he made it back to civilization before the tire let go. As everyone gathers their luggage from the car and straps it back to their bikes, I run around to get a few last minute pictures.Mark and the VF1000R "Dinosaur".
Mark and Paul with the overexposing V-Rod.
John fiddling with the industrial luggage for the Zillabike.
Will and Brooke
Beth, Deb and myself hangout in the driveway until everyone rides off into the heat. With a knowing glance, we head back inside to sit in the air conditioning a little longer. It has been another great weekend of riding with a fun group of people. I always enjoy the roads and scenery, but the people are what really make the rides special for me. Now off to start planning the next one!
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