BIKE READY TO GO AND FIRST PICTURE STOP.
Once in Leakey, Texas I found my cabin, which was to be my base for the next three days of riding some of Texas’ best motorcycle roads. The cabin was a sweet set up secluded on several acres with the Frio River running behind it(low, but still running). A full moon filled the Texas sky just over the river each night.
LEAKEY,TX, CABIN, RIVER AND MOON
Being in a town known for large motorcycle gatherings provided opportunities to meet other riders. In fact, a large group from ADVriders.com was in Leakey at the same time and were staying at the D’Rose Inn, a motel that caters only to motorcyclists. There was a group of about 35-40 Harley owners staying in Leakey as well. But this guy, Earl Nelson, was a highlight and the only one of which I asked to take a picture. He is over 75 yrs old and travels on this Harley and pulls this trailer. I met him at a gas stop in Leakey and we talked for a long time. He told me he had left Florida two weeks before and was on his way to Arizona to hook up with a buddy but was staying a couple of days in Leakey in the meantime. Then they were going to take their time getting to Sturgis. I think he actually lives out of this rig all the time. Earl admitted that if he didn’t have a Harley - he would own a BMW like mine.
PIC OF EARL
Although I’ve gone to this area of Texas every year for the past few years, this was the first time I rode a motorcycle through that area. I experienced steep grades and switchbacks for the first time on a motorcycle. Three specific roads, 335, 336, and 337 are known as the twisted sisters and they were challenging for a beginner. The roads themselves were not in the best shape and the Texas heat (over 99F and one day at 103) only made the conditions worse by causing the tar snakes and oil/grease residue on the roads to become like ice. I learned that the hard way - in a downhill switchback. My front tire started sliding in the turn, but fortunately I was able to pull out of it and remain upright for the rest of the ride. The deer were another hazard. On various occasions I would see deer standing beside the road, so I anticipated erratic behavior and sure enough, four different times deer darted out in front of me. 336 out of Leakey has a lot of cattle guards and free ranging cattle. I only encountered one large cow. I think it was contemplating crossing the road until it heard the Harley coming. I also encountered one horse roadside as I came out of turn. FM 337 from Leakey to Camp Wood is a mess right now. It's suppose to be fixed by August of this year. I met Jim who holds the stop sign for the road crew. I met him after I ran his stop sign. Once I got back to Jim we visited for about 15 minutes while I waited for the pilot car to come escort me through the road work. During the 15 minutes I think I met most of the road crew on that end of the work. Nice people, bad road.......for now.The next day I rode into Bandera and took my bike into a car wash just to get the grease/oil off the tires to see if that would help keep me a little more stable (no powerwashing bike - I know).
COW AND HORSE and Texas Hill Country Roads
I saw some strange things along the roads of Texas. Of course, what would Texas be without it's own Stonehenge. I found this replica on the road to Hunt, Texas which sits on the Guadalupe River. The strangest thing I saw (and I admit I stopped to take pictures just for DJ) was kangaroos in a field. At the same place there were camels grazing (do camels graze? I’m not really sure.) I had always known that there was an experiment conducted to see the feasibility of raising/using camels in the Hill Country, but I had assumed the idea had been abandoned. Perhaps these were just remnants or offspring. Much of the area is high fenced, but I just wasn’t expecting to see these animals behind the fence. Down the road from the kangaroos and the camels (and a giraffe and some other exotic type beast) was a house that had a wall built around it and this was his idea of protection from any who would dare climb his wall (broken bottles).
ODDITIES ALONG TEXAS ROADS
The heat was another factor so I was careful to carry a lot of water and to find a cool spot to swim or rest whenever needed. It was very apparent to me when the heat and the constant focus was getting to be too much for me. I could tell when I was not as alert as I should be, so I would stop and rest a while during those times. I rode two 10 hour days and three 5-8 hour days through the hill country. I carried bottled water in the seat bag and a camelbak in my tank bag on each outing. At Lost Maples State Park the lady working the office filled my camelbak again and allowed me to use their facilities to soak some of my clothes before heading up to Hunt, Texas. That day it was 103F. Even though I had plenty of water, there was no escape from the heat while on the bike. Sometimes the only respite from the heat was a cool river. The lack of rain in central Texas has hurt the area’s revenue they receive from vacationers. The rivers were very low and therefore not very crowded. This was an advantage to me because there were plenty of areas to stop and swim without having to deal with other people. Within the area I rode there are five major rivers for fishing/swimming/cooling down - The Medina, The Sabinal, The Frio, The Guadalupe, and The Nueces. But all the rivers are running very low right now.
SWIMMING HOLES/RIVERS
The towns I passed through all had an Old Texas charm to them and some of the best food in the area. I would recommend BJ’s Sweetshop in Camp Wood, Texas for their Peanut Butter Shakes made with homemade vanilla ice cream (real vanilla from Mexico). For the best breakfast, the Lost Maples Café in Utopia, Texas wins. The breakfast sausage they prepare was incredible. I stopped at the cafe on my way back to the cabin on the same day to eat a piece of their Chocolate Fudge Pecan Pie and met a couple from the valley. She was in the hill country celebrating her birthday as well. If you ever go to the Lost Maples Café for breakfast, don’t be fooled by the CLOSED sign in the window. They are open. But for years, an old guy (who is now the Justice of the Peace) comes into the restaurant every morning and they wait for him to get there to turn the CLOSED sign around. It started one day when he showed up and asked if he could “open ‘er up?†and ever since then he is the one who changes the sign and gets the day officially started………whenever he wants to. So even if you see a CLOSED sign, they are probably open for breakfast but just waiting on the J of P to change the sign. He was a nice guy too. I had planned a route that I had seen on a map. The map had designated the road as a scenic paved road. When he was visiting with me out by my bike he looked at the map and told me the road was NOT paved and I would be better off taking a different route to Bandera. That saved me some time and frustration.
CAMP WOOD AND UTOPIA, TEXAS
On Tuesday, June 13 I headed back home. I experienced some great roads on the way home too. I would recommend The Old Tunnel Road south of Fredericksburg which takes you to Luckenbach, Texas (made famous by the song of the same name by Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings). I stopped at Luckenbach to get the obligatory picture. Luckenbach is a gathering for motorcyclists on Sunday afternoons.
From Luckenbach I took 1888 southeast along the Blanco River. By the time I got to Bastrop, Texas the Wunderlich Thermometer on my bike was reading 108 F on the road. From Bastrop to home, I required 3 heat related rest stops just to cool down. The best place I stopped was Lockhart, Texas a town I had never been to before. It had a beautiful courthouse and plenty of shade. I sat on a bench with an iced water bottle on the back of my neck for about 20 minutes before getting back on the road and heading home.
LOCKHART, TX COURTHOUSE
Within 30 miles of home, the temperature dropped ten degrees because of a rain shower moving through. Even though it was the coolest ride of the trip, after being on the bike for 9.5 hours, those 30 miles seemed like the longest miles of my five days!
I’ve not ridden the roads that others post about here on the forum, so I have nothing with which to compare the Texas Hill Country roads. However, from my limited scope I think it was a wonderful place to ride and would invite those from outside Texas to consider visiting the Hill Country of Texas for a gathering of R's/BMWs sometime. At least, I am hoping you will consider it.
Oh well. Life goes on with or without Earl.
Or the only pictures are of everyone at a break BSing! 