The Cheese Weasels Do Big Bend, Texas

[Cormanus]

Thanks, Stichill, for this fantastic report. I’m enjoying riding along with you and looking at the amazing vistas. I see now why redbirds has always written so enthusiastically about the Texas Hill Country. It looks amazing.

I was interested in your Eagle Rider experience. Pterodactyl and I used them when we came to the US in 2015 and found them excellent. We didn’t rent Harleys; I don’t know if that made a difference.

[Stichill_imp]

You're welcome, Cormanus. I really enjoy documenting the "big rides" as it's a good way to reinforce the memories in my own mind as well as create a record for later perusal and reminiscence.

With EagleRider, our experience at Euro Cycle Las Vegas last year was positive. Cowboy is relatively new to the EagleRider system; I think they launched March 1 so it may have been startup problems. I did write to EagleRider about the experience last Friday. I got an automated acknowledgement but so far no actual response.

[Stichill_imp]

Day 4 - 26 March 2018 - Presidio to Fort Davis



Leaving Big Bend State Park, we gassed up in Presidio and turned north toward Fort Davis.



As we descended in elevation north of Shafter, an immense expanse opened before us. We could see for miles in all directions west, north, and east across a vast prairie interrupted only by distant mountain ranges. It wasn't safe to stop on the highway until we'd reached a lower elevation, but these images nevertheless hint at the impressive scope of the landscape we encountered.





We reached Fort Davis under increasingly overcast skies and cooler temperatures, and parked in a spacious lot. Then we walk a short distance into town and immediately found an inviting drug store lunch stop.





The wait staff and local customers were very open and easy to engage in conversation. The lunch crowd was sizable and told us that this was the right place to eat the noon meal.




Creative drug store plumbing

We ran short of time to do the entire Fort Davis loop that Redbirds recommended, but we did have a chance to run up and down TX 118 and stop at the McDonald Observatory (hat tip to junipash). I absolutely loved riding 118 and was enthralled with the beauty of the countryside in that area.




















We went further up TX 118 and turned around in a wayside picnic area. Here I am punching in a new route to take us through Alpine, back through Marathon and Sanderson, thence onto secondary roads heading northeast toward Sheffield.

[redbirds_imp]

The Davis mountains were a pleasant surprise for me the first time we visited there. We went there from Presidio just as you did with the idea of getting on US90 for our drive back to El Paso. Once there we wisely decided to spend an extra day in the area; it was lovely and we wanted to linger a bit.

[GaryMNM_imp]

As mentioned by others, great pic's and ride report, thanks for pulling it together and sharing.

I made some of the same stops back in April of 2012. Coming back from a once annual BBQ gathering held south of Houston. Mine included a stop off at the Spoetzl Brewery in Shiner, TX. My trip was solo, as most of mine tend to be, so I can closely identify with those times of deep contemplation.

I went from sweltering Texas heat to a snow capped welcome home after a stop to tour the Carlsbad Caverns.

Congrats on a great adventure.

[Stichill_imp]

Thanks for the positive commentary, Gary. I've come away with some indelible Texas memories...

[Stichill_imp]

Day 4 - 26 March 2018 - Fort Davis to Ozona

After we turned around on TX 118 northwest of Fort Davis, we had quite a few miles ahead of us to reach our overnight in Ozona off interstate 10.



We decided to avoid the slab and instead rode through Alpine and Marathon, turning north at Sanderson, making no stops.



As we struck off on a ranch road toward Sheffield, one of our guys was monitoring storm activity to our north-northwest. It was mostly staying north of us but now that we were heading more north, it was a growing concern. We pulled up together and talked it over.


The meeting of the minds...

TX Ranch Road 2400 is a very lonely road. We felt very isolated out there. We saw no human habitation or retail operation of any kind, just an occasional oil/gas installation or lonely industrial shed. It was warm and sunny. with no traffic and no crossroads to worry about, everyone chilled out and we just rode peacefully "in the zone" all the way to the intersection of N State Highway 349.

At the intersection of TX 2400 and TX 349, we finally found a wide spot in the road where we could stop and take a break.






Looking north on 349


Looking south on 349




Looking back west on TX 2400

We made it to our hotel in Ozona, just a standard Hampton Inn motel. We rode a short distance to a steakhouse and had a nice steak dinner. We fueled the bikes on the way back so we'd be ready to go early the next morning.


Parked for the night


Total mileage Day 4

[Stichill_imp]

Day 5 - 27 March 2018 - Ozona back to Austin



There were thunderstorms overnight, which did a fantastic job of washing all the dust and grime off the bikes.



The weather to the east contained spotty areas of rain. The weather outside was cool, in the low 50s Fahrenheit.



We ate the complementary hotel breakfast and were on the highway by 7:30. We decided to just make time on interstate 10 and then hop off at TX 90 through Harper and on through Fredericksburg.


Stopping to add more layers off I-10

We were running the speed limit of 80 mph to keep up with the prevailing traffic. We came upon a convoy of wide-load chase cars that were all towing another chase car. It looked sketchy because they were small cars towing small cars of equal size. I was leading the group and had gotten out ahead when the the other three had peeled off at the rest area to layer up. I noticed the tow cars were weaving in their lanes as the wind, road surface, and loose front suspension on the towed cars caused them to wander left and right out of their lane. I applied throttle and got past them as quickly as possible.

After I had passed them, I went through a construction zone where speeds slowed to 45 mph and the lanes deviated. Behind me, my group approached the same construction zone, only they were behind the tow car convoy. As one of the convoy cars applied brakes to slow for the construction, it jack-knifed directly in front of one of our riders who was leading the following group of three. The guys said this happened only few car lengths ahead. As our buddy applied brakes and backed off, the jack-knifing tow cars did a 360° minuet in front of him, veered to the right, then sling-shotted back across to the left and into the median. The guys said it was one of the hairiest near-misses they'd ever seen on a bike.

At those cruising speeds, we saw that the Harleys were draining their fuel tanks rapidly. We saw a gas station in Harper and stopped to gas up. The store wasn't open on Tuesdays (go figure) but the pumps were working with credit cards. After topping off, we rode on a few more miles and found another one in Frederickburg to refresh.


Harper


Frederickburg

I made the mistake of continuing east on TX 290 past Dripping Springs to I-35 in Austin. TX 290 at that point becomes suburban stop-and-go. Then I-35 is a wild urban interstate jungle. Would have been better to cut back SE from Dripping Springs, using the same route we had on the way out.

We got back to Cowboy Harley Davidson around 12:30 pm, unpacked the bikes, changed clothes, and called an Uber to the airport.





All-in-all, a grand riding adventure over the incredibly scenic and beautiful landscapes of Texas.


Actual route, run clockwise from Austin

[Inhouse Bob]

A great adventure. I'm so glad no one got tangled up with the cars on the last day. That could have been really ugly. See you in Kentucky!

[the Ferret]

Simply a great adventure and a great seat time report. Thanks so much Stichill for taking the time. The forum is a mich richer place because of members like you (now if you only had a CB 1100 lol)