Trip to Fredericksburg - the Twisted Sisters

Over the Memorial Day Holiday we rode down to Fredericksburg TX, the mecca for motorcycling in Texas (perhaps even the Southwest).

Weather was great, but turning hot. We rode down to from Dallas to Cleburne as fast as we could (boring highways) then wound around on Farm to Market (or Federation of Micronesia if you own a Garmin) roads over toward Glen Rose. Beautiful area that we had just ridden the weekend before on bicycles. FM2005 is a great little find from Hamilton to Goldwaithe. We picked up TX-16 and headed down to Fredericksburg. Although 16 is a state highway, it's really scenic and lightly traveled.

Overnighted in Fredericksburg, then the next day took on the fabled 3 Twisted Sisters, a series of FM roads near Leakey / Camp Wood that are technical and exhilarating. We even took in a local tourist phenomenon, the Stone Henge replica near Hunt.

Hunt also has an awesome camp store that has great food, and featured a good live band out of Austin while we were there. Lots of vacationers down on the river there.

That evening we rode over to the "bat cave" an old railroad tunnel that hosts a large colony of bats. It's now an official nature center, complete with a small viewing amplitheatre and a ranger on staff. We've never been there at the right season where the bats are there (the migrate to Mexico in the colder months). Even though they were there, their flight started at dusk, and it was too dark for me to spot them (although the ranger kept saying he could see them down the valley).

Monday we were eager to get back to Dallas before the afternoon got too hot, so we opted to go the most direct way back. We did stop over in Glen Rose for lunch at a bookshop / cafe that was great. It's in an old car dealership and adjacent to the local bicycle shop. If you are in the area, be sure to drop in. http://storiebookcafe.com/ They even have live music on most weekends.


Over all trip: 888.8 miles over 3 days, roughly 300 miles each day. Not for the faint hearted, and had we had more time off of work, I would definitely recommend stretching it over 4-5 days.

New Ride

Well Dallas had an actual winter this year, but now we are into spring riding season. Introducing my new step-up bike - a gently used Honda CBR 600 F4i. The folks at Maxim Honda in Allen TX hooked me up with this nice ride. I've taken it out only a few times (bought it the first day of Spring, and Dallas got 8" of snow that day). Rode it to Muenster TX and then again to Denton (See courthouse shot). Planning a Memorial Day weekend ride down to Fredericksburg TX, so stay tuned.

Meanwhile the Vespa is scheduled to roll 12,000 miles this afternoon on the commute home. Need to buy a new oil filter. The Vespa has proven to be a really fun reliable commuter. It gets about 75 mpg as opposed to 22 in my sedan. That's a 53 mpg incremental savings... so in riding 12,000 miles I've saved 226 gallons of petrol. At an average price over the years of $2.75 / gallon... that's a whopping $625... not even enough for a down payment on a new Vespa. Oh well, the fun factor is still there.

:-)

Rainy Weekend = Moto Maintenance

Well for those of you living in North Texas, you know that we broke out the canoes over the last few days for sure. No riding either via bicycle or motorcycle. Fortunately for me my partner the ace mechanic caught up on serveral motorcycle maintenance items: new tires for the Kawasaki, valve job for the Kawasaki (pictured) and repair of the steering on the Vespa. Yea!! I'm back on the road on two wheels... if it weren't for the forecast for rain into next week. :-(

Photo: well I guess I should stop asking for a naked bike... fortunately it all went back together and no bolts were extra at the end.

Of note: our next door neighbor a home brewer hosted a brew day yesterday. His 3 bay garage was converted into a microbrewery as the North Texas chapter of Home Brewers took over for about 8 hours. Those guys are great, and very generous with the samples of their handiwork I must say.

The Tron it is a Jumbo...

Well one of my life long wishes has now been checked off as of last night... to see the new Cowboy's ostentatious gargantuan stadium...... FOR FREE. I had laid awake many nights wondering how much I would have to shell out for an event ticket in order to get my taste of Jerry Jone's latest tribute to himself. The tron is indeed jumbo, and during games 6 guys are up in there keeping it going. No kidding.

But as those of you who know me, I don't want to have to pay for it. At last the universe provided my chance. An invitation from a generous friend to attend a charity event benefiting the Warren Center. A great charity group that provides services for developmental delays.

My gf and I glommed on to a backstage tour of the facility to include the press box (pictured), the player's locker room, some VIP suite, etc. Turns out the Cowboys leave their locker room then run through a club bar at the playing field level to get out onto the playing field. Sort of weird, but then again how many of us cruise through a bar before doing battle? Hmmm... perhaps a survey is in our future dear readers.

The event was really cool, it's annual and growing. It's a Fantasy Football draft complete with buffet dinner, open bar, and silent auction. Keep an eye out for next year. Scott Murray hosted, and Tony Dorsett was the celeb in residence.

I now have my own fantasy football team, so now I'll be cool at work when folks bring this up (a first for me). I don't even remember who I drafted other than some dude named Houshmandzadeh. I'm not making this up. He's alledgedly a wide receiver from Seattle. I think he must have an extra wide jersey to get that name on there... not sure.

Cowboys Stadium Summary

Large Factor: *****

Opulent Factor: *

Jumbo Tron Factor: ****

Locker room wow factor: **

Locker room shower / urinal: *

Press Box: **

Outrageous Posted Food Pricing: ***********

Outrageous Posted Drink Pricing: **************

Place I'd least like to be during a natural disaster or national crisis: **************

Busted

Well it had to happen sometime, I guess. My first Vespa repair*. When commuting last week I noticed the steering was a bit notchy. Thought it was my imagination (as it usually is) at first... but... turns out a bearing fixture in the steering failed. :-( As Boz would say "Danger there's a break down dead ahead". Bummer.

A call placed by my ace mechanic to our parts vendor MOTORSPORT SCOOTERS in San Diego had the offending part shipped to our house (arriving today, yea!!)... all for the low low price of $28.95. A lot to pay for that tiny ring of ball bearings, but not bad for 11,000+ miles.

* not to include normal scheduled maintenance: Oil and Filter, Tires. (I'm particulary hard on tires.)