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Hello, Folks~
My apologies for not posting here the past couple of days, but I got called out of town on Friday and only just got back here a few minutes ago. That's 3 times in the past two weeks I've been called out of town for a few days, and it plays hell with organizing this thing. It just seems like *life* doesn't want me to devote as much time to the ride as I would like to! ::025::
OK, first off, to answer Madhatter's question about breakfast... I've been open to suggestions about morning meet times, kenneling up times, and roll-out times, but since no one has seemed to voice a preference I guess I'll have to make an executive decision! ::025::
Since we have daylight savings time on our side I don't think we have to do any sort of "dawn patrol" pre-sunrise meetings or launches. Better to have the sun up for good sight lines and to burn off any morning moisture, so how about we plan for breakfast - again at the Y.O.Ranch Resort's restaurant (
http://www.yoranchhotel.com/branding-iron-restaurant-en.html) - at between 7:00 and 8:00am. Then we can shoot for a launch time from the hotel for the rides no later than 8:30 or 9:00. If you take a while to eat breakfast, get to the restaurant at 7:00... If you're a coffee and muffin kind of rider then you can shave lit later. In previous years we have *staged* our bikes right out front under the portico at the Y.O. They don't mind as long as the bikes aren't there more than 30 minutes or so, hence in the past we have suggested that folks get their bike ready, but leave it at their room or preferred parking spot while they go to the restaurant for breakfast, then after breakfast go grab your mount and pull around front and park on one side of the portico so there is ample room for other guests to pull around the outside for passage through the parking lot. This may sound confusing at first, but once you are there and see the facility it will all make sense.
Likewise the campers that want to meet up at the Y.O. to have breakfast with the group... There a ton of visitors parking slots out front across from the hotel's entry portico, so you can just park there, walk on in and have breakfast (the restaurant is right through the front door across the lobby just slightly to your right), and then you can fold your bike in with the other just prior to launch time.
How's that sound? And if anyone has any questions or suggestions please post them here.
Moving on to other details of the ride... I've mentioned here that the current situation with my knees will not allow me to chance riding off-road, so I asked for some of the Texas folks who have ridden up there before to hopefully pitch in with suggestions and preferences on some dirt routes, but so far it's been very quiet on that front. Thankfully, though, our member Hodee (Shannon Hodell) gave me a call the other night and kindly volunteered to try and do some route planning for the off-road stuff. He's done some riding and exploring in the the area, plus he has some new off-road routes he'd like to try, so I'm going to leave all the off-road stuff to him. He's from Sugarland, near Houston, and will be riding in probably Thursday night and staying at the Y.O. I've sure if you have any questions about the details you can post them here and Hodee will try and answer them, or you can drop him a PM. Here's a link to his profile if you need to PM him -
http://www.yamahasupertenere.com/index.php?action=profile;u=3556
OK, regarding the scheduling of the pavement and off-road routes...
Given the varied arrival and departure times for various riders I've had to plan things with "scheduled" rides for all-day Friday, all-day Saturday, and half-a-day on Sunday. It just seems to be the only way it's gonna' work. But more about that in a minute... First, here's the basic gameplan for the routes I'm preparing:
- Friday - Pavement Riding Routes West and South of Kerrville - roads like the 16, 39, the "Twisted Sisters" (335, 336, and 337), 2271, etc. - hitting places like the Lone Star Motorcycle Museum (
http://www.lonestarmotorcyclemuseum.com/) and the Frio Canyon Motorcycle Stop (
http://www.friocanyonmotorcyclestop.com/) for amusement and refreshment - as well as seeing some cool Texas towns like Bandera, Medina, Leakey, Camp Wood, etc. Lots of truly memorable curvy roads with wonderful elevation changes and spectacular views. Some of these are so good you may find yourself wanting to ride them in each direction! Many of these are Butler Maps T-1 rated roads - which means they're among the best in the country. One of the reasons for doing these roads on Friday is to avoid what is bound to be lots of traffic (as well as LEO's) on Saturday and Sunday. Friday will definitely be the best day to enjoy these routes!
- Saturday - Pavement Riding Routes East and North of Kerrville - roads like 1341, 473, 1376, Old San Antonio Road, Willow City Loop, etc. - there will a lot more mileage on this day as planned, so not as many specific places to visit, but if time permits or the group wants it there are great spots to drop by, like the Admiral Nimitz National Museum of the Pacific War, Enchanted Rock, etc. - and other charming Texas towns like Fredericksburg, Willow City, and Luckenbach. Again, some of the best roads in Texas with awesome scenery and views. There will be a lot more mileage to cover on this day, with even some added road "treats" added if time allows... These "treat" roads are truly obscure and remote roads, but you have to ride them really heads-up, as most of them are one-lane, loaded with blind corners, and have free-ranging livestock. Not for the faint of heart, but these can be discussed Thursday and Friday evening, as well as at breakfast, to see if folks would like to tackle them.
Traffic is never much of a problem on the routes I'm prepping for Saturday, whereas roads like the "Twisted Sisters" will be loaded with Gold Wings, Baggers, and mini-vans, so I hope folks will agree to the scheduling I've outlined.
- Sunday - This is the day Hodee is planning his off-pavement routes, and the current plan is that Hodee will take out any riders that want to ride off-road and explore his picks and trails. I'll let elaborate on those. For those who would rather ride pavement (like I will be forced to), I will have a route planned to cover some areas not seen the first two days, but try and and break it up in two sections - i.e. leave with the pavement group in the morning to strafe some roads, then get back to Kerrville mid-day for those that need to pack up and head home. Then, after lunch, do some more roads in the area for those who still have the energy are staying over until Monday! ::025::
OK, now on to a couple of other bits of news...
One, it looks like we are going to be blessed with some truly outstanding weather! At the moment the forecast is calling for daytime high temps in the mid- to high-70's and nightly lows in the mid-50's, and so far no rain predicted in the area with mostly sunny skies, with maybe just the right amount of cloud cover to make for truly pleasant days! ::008::
Two, if my travels these past couple of days were any indication the wildflowers - and especially Texas bluebonnets - will be out in force throughout the state for the weekend! So bring your camera! There will be ample opportunities for great pics, so don't forget to charge lots of batteries and bring ample memory card space. Ditto on those of you with Go-Pro's, etc.
That's about it for this update, but more will follow in the next 48 hours, so check in on the thread frequently! And again, if anybody has any questions, ideas, or suggestions please post them here!
Thanks! ::012::
Dallara
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