Ride #40, 405 miles.
A personal best for me this year and a Hill Country best. I don't think I've ridden this far in one day since 2018, which was the last time I rode to Sturgis. Those were 500+ mile days.
The weather was stunning today. It had been raining since last Sunday, all the way through Wednesday with a little drizzle on Thursday. Today's high was a mild 84F compared to last week's 100-105F highs. We've glided through this summer without most of the usual heat. Usually, Septembers are just as hot as August. It's like we've swapped climates with Cali. Heard they are cooking out there.
It was a nice 69F when I left this morning just before 8:00, headed farther south out of the Hill Country than I have been on two wheels so far. As I pulled out on to my road I noticed a stowaway clinging to my front brake line, trying to hide just behind my speedometer. It was some kind of greenish/brown grasshopper. I let it be to see how far it would hang on. It started to creep up the brake line toward the master cylinder and when I got to Kerrville it had poked its head up above the windscreen. It stayed that way, with its tiny antennae flapping in the breeze. I got into some twisties going over the big hill heading to Medina. I think it was enjoying the ride. On the south side of Medina I pulled over at a small picnic area to snap a pic of passenger. I looked down as I was grabbing my phone out of my vest pocket and when I looked up again it was gone. Bummer! I didn't see it anywhere. Oh well.
I carried on to Bandera and needed to make a pit stop. I knew there was a city park there. As I turned into the park area there were a ton of cars parked all up and down the street, but I didn't see any people. The facilities were upfront and I found a place to squeeze the bike into. When I came back out of the restroom I saw a guy standing there with a camera that had an enormous lense. I remembered I had brought some coffee so I'm sipping away watching the dude with the camera just standing there, and out of nowhere hundreds of teenage girls emerged, jogging along, all wearing track uniforms from different high schools and numbered up. Ahhhh, some kind of cross-country race through the park. The dude with the camera was taking photos of the event. Almost as fast as the girls appeared, they disappeared minus a few stragglers.
I jumped back on the bike and got back on my route. Stopped in Hondo for some gas, which is the farthest south I had previously been. I kept riding south to Devine, Tx, then west to La Pryor. Snapped a few pics on the roadside, where I turned north heading for Uvalde. This was all flatlands...south of Hondo and Uvalde. I've also been to Uvalde previously. Stopped for more go juice, then kept riding north. I got to Leakey and was really craving a hamburger. I detoured and hit the Frio Canyon Motorcycle Stop and the Bent Rim Grill. I devoured a 1/2 pound "Indian Chief", aka bacon cheeseburger. One of the better burgers I've had there. I didn't ride the Three Sisters Loop this time around.
I carried on north to Junction. Gassed up for the last time. Made my way to Mason and then home, where I arrived safely at 4:00pm. Great, but tiring day.
Working my way up to a 500 miler. I'm going to need a new back tire first.
Really nice sunsets you have there, Per. The lake pictures remind me of the swamps in Louisiana, with the giant cypress trees growing everywhere.
