Not My Weekend

Rebecca and I rode up to Hico last Saturday for a TWTex pie run at the Koffee Kup Family Restaurant.

The day started out with a little rain storm as we were leaving Houston and then culminated in some of the windiest, dustiest weather I’ve ever ridden in….which contributed to less than stellar gas mileage on the R1200ST’s part and less than stellar decision making on my part.

Read Rebecca’s ride report for the day on her blog here.

Having spent the night with a friend in Huntsville, I planned a nice relaxing Sunday enjoying some east Texas Piney Woods riding.

The day started with a dash of adrenaline as I used my ABS to avoid colliding with a left-turning farm truck that decided to ignore my approach and then stop in the middle of my lane. The event was made more exciting by the waiting truck following the original truck, which was taking up the other lane, giving me no escape route.

I grabbed a sandwich and a peach iced tea at a Sonic Diner in Onalaska, enjoying the beautiful blue skies and light cool breeze. The relaxation and refreshment seemed to set a tone for my ride.

I ran down the roads, heading further and further northeast. The BMW was running perfectly, traffic was minimal, and each field of lush green grass or waving evergreen bough seemed to be exclaiming “Spring is coming!”

Cresting a hill on FM942 east of Leggett, I suddenly found a long 2x6 with a few other misc boards nailed to it (part of a pallet?) taking up most of my lane.

I immediately braked on reflex and then got off the brakes to cross the lumber with neutral input.

It felt like a piece of the wood was caught in my wheel, or perhaps caught between the wheel and the engine. I pulled my speed down carefully, trying not to aggravate the oscillation in my handlebars. Pulling to a stop about 1/8 mile down the road, I deployed my kickstand and dismounted to see the damage.



After a few minutes of well-deserved swearing, I dug in my tankbag to find my cellphone. My tri-mode Verizon phone had one bar of service, but it was enough to interrupt my parents’ relaxing afternoon at home and get them into my truck for the 115 mile (each way) drive to pick me up.

The 2.5 hour wait wasn’t all that bad, actually. I relaxed with a book in the combined shade of my bike and the surrounding trees. The culvert next to the road contained a stony creek, babbling over the rocks.

Many of the cars that passed me stopped to offer help. A couple of them stand out in my memory.

One older gentleman in a work truck pulled up behind the R1200ST about 1 hour into my wait. He was a fellow rider and had seen me sitting there in a previous pass but was busy at the time. He helped me move the R1200ST closer to the shoulder (the bend in the wheel rim was making it difficult to roll).

A group of men in a pickup passed heading toward town early into my wait. Seeing the coolers in the back, I asked if they had any water. They apologized, but offered me a bottle of beer, which I declined. Passing the other direction half an hour later, they stopped to hand me a cold bottled water and wished me luck with my wait.

Mom and Dad finally showed up with the truck around 4:45pm, shortly after I had dug a jacket out of my luggage to ward against the growing evening chill. With some difficulty, we loaded the BMW into the truck and tied it down.

Coming into Houston on US59, we were passed by a huge procession of cruisers. There must have been at least 100 bikes. Red-faced, I sank into my seat and mentally apologized to the R1200ST for the ignominy of being seen on the back of a truck by so many motorcyclists.

I have a few more pictures from the ride that will be posted eventually.

What’s next?

Tomorrow I’m going to be stripping down the front wheel and taking it to a highly recommended local wheel repair shop to see if anything can be done. A replacement wheel will cost roughly $700 from BMW, not counting the tire (which was coming due for replacement anyway). I’ve been unable to source a used wheel…. Those ST’s are just too rare.

I’ll also be taking the downtime to change the front brake pads, do my next valve adjust, and an oil change. The R1200ST is now past 24,000 miles.

Two Eight

It’s that time of year again. I’m growing OLD!

Thanks to family, friends, and coworkers for the barrage of cards, gifts, and emails. I really appreciate the thoughtfulness!

I started to write something deep and grand and far-reaching about a look back and my lofty goals….. but frankly, I got kinda sick of that around New Years just a month ago.

I’ll settle for saying that it was a year of transition and I’m way ahead of schedule.

Hiking the Lone Star Trail

I went on a "short" 2.5 hour hike on the "Little Lake Creek" section of the Lone Star Trail in Sam Houston National Forest today.

A few pictures:

Weekend Riding Report

I did some nice riding over the weekend. It was nothing spectacular, but very enjoyable. As seems to be usual for short, local rides, my camera was along but didn’t make it out of the tankbag.

I had intended to make it up to the TWTex Pie Run 250 miles away in Lake Fork on Saturday. I had been eying the weather forcast right up to Saturday morning, feeling more and more positive. I awoke at 6AM to dark skies and pouring rain. The radar was very “green” on top of my house and for what would be the first hour of riding.

I wussed and did my taxes instead. (Yay! Refund!)

After some of Dad’s yummy waffles, I designed a shortened Piney Woods route to get me out of the house and on the R1200ST for the first time (one commute doesn’t count, right?) since my ride to Pensacola.

I really wanted to ride FM1725 between Cleveland and FM150 again, so I headed that direction. Between a 1.5 lane farm road, a pavement-ends turn-around situation, and a 10-minute pouring rain cloud, it was a very pleasant and adventurous outing.

And there was much leaning of the BMW. (Hey! Something had to be done about the I-10 flat spot on my tires!)

Patricia had organized an afternoon ride on Sunday. I met up with her, Billy & wife/pillion Anna, and Ronnie for a pre-ride mocha while we decided on a route. Patricia had a route out to Fayetteville loaded in her (Gavin’s) GPS, but she really didn’t want to lead the ride. I don’t know the Fayetteville route well enough to lead it, but I DID know a fun way to run up to FM3090 in Navasota and then back around on FM149 through the forest.


Surprise! Surprise! I ended up leading the four bikes north through my route.

Those who know me know that I don’t generally enjoy leading group rides. I won’t go over my usual reasons ad nauseam because this ride turned out to be the exception.

It was a beautiful day: clear and cold. The roads were clean and dry for the most part. After the first few turns I got a feel for what a comfortable pace might be for the members of the group and was able to relax. The R1200ST ran smoothly, eating up the miles. With just a touch of pressure to perform, I focused more than usual on holding the bike steady on my chosen line and fully looking through each turn as I powered out. Over the course of the ride I had only a few flubs that needed correction, marked by a chastened shake of the head. (That momentary loss of the rear wheel to a tar snake doesn’t count, darn it! Thrilling, but easily ridden out.)

We ended the ride with a late lunch at Phil’s in Montgomery, one of my local favorites!

Spring Schedule

My Spring 2007 Riding Schedule is starting to come together.

March 23-25 – A quick ride to Kerrville for the BMWSportTouring.com Hill Country Rally.

April 21 - I’ll be tagging New Mexico as I head to Cloudcroft for the Sport-Touring.Net Region 2 Meet and Eat.

May 4-6 – Find me in Junction, TX at CheapSTOC for more spectacular Texas Hill Country riding.

June – The Sport-Touring.Net National Meet is in Custer,SD on the 13th. I’m planning to make a two-week tour out of it. I haven’t yet decided whether to front or back load this trip.

July 12-15 - My Uncle Rob and Aunt Debbie are attending the BMW MOA Rally in Milwaukee, WI. I would really like to join them there. I'll have to see how vacation time and logistics arrangements work out. At least it's only a 1.5 day ride away. ;)

August - My little sister, Jessica, is getting married to her long-time boyfriend Dave. Congrats to the happy couple! I'll be attending the wedding in San Diego, CA. I may be riding out there... haven't decided yet.

September 21-23 – I’ll head to Eureka Springs, AR for the Central Sport-Touring.Net meet.

Lunch Ride to Pensacola - The Ride Back!

Pensacola, FL to Hammond, LA
3:15 PM to 6:05 PM
208 miles (753 running total)
Fuel Used: 4.24
MPG: 49.0

After having lucked out with the morning sun, I fully expected my eyes to be tortured by the setting sun. Happily, a haze once again took the sky and I managed to avoid dealing with glare.





Just west of Mobile, my mother called to check on my progress. She gave me a weather update for Houston and reminded me to be careful as darkness fell.

I played hopscotch with a fellow motorcyclist for a short time on I-12. He followed me briefly and then with a final wave, roared down the road at a faster pace than I was willing to sustain.



With the air threatening to turn damp, I pulled over to put my camera away as the sun finally dipped below the horizon.



I was shocked at how well the R1200ST was doing MPG-wise during this segment of the trip. My fuel countdown began very late, so I was able to get pretty far into Louisiana before finding a busy interstate exit in Hammond, LA.


Hammond, LA to Sulphur, LA
6:05 PM to 8:45 PM
176 miles (929 running total)
Fuel Used: 3.54
MPG: 49.7



This time of day has always been a challenge for me. With poor night vision, the transition between light and darkness makes my headlights less effective when they are needed most. I was overjoyed to find that my new HID bulb replacement kit really helped out, sending lots of very bright light down the road.

A call from Rebecca at some point during this segment also helped keep me motivated.

At the 900 mile mark, and with the homestretch in sight, I realized that once again I was starting to feel hungry. My earlier (satisfied) craving for seafood gave way to desire for a yummy honey-mustard chicken salad. Just past Lake Charles, I saw a sign advertising a Cracker Barrel.

Sulphur, LA to Cypress, TX
10:04 PM to 12:53 AM
154 miles (1083 running total)
Fuel Used: 3.21
MPG: 47.9



My mother called just after I ordered my dinner. The weather update wasn’t looking so good. A storm system was lingering over Houston, dumping some light rain. Mom estimated that I would hit the outskirts of it about 40 minutes from Houston.

I didn’t really want to get back on the bike. I wasn’t particularly sore, but a tiredness had settled in. I had already ridden 200 miles further than my longest previous day. It was getting late and all I had to look forward to was a storm system and bad visibility.

Despite these thoughts, I never considered calling it a day. I kept telling myself that I only had to ride 1000 in 24 ONCE to achieve my goal. I had plenty of time in reserve if I needed to stop on the side of the road (or even get a cheap motel room!) for a nap. There was no real need to push myself.

Once I started moving, I was too busy to spare energy to focus on my doubts. There were still lots of cars on the road, providing extra light. Lots of construction between the Louisiana border and Beaumont meant that I had my hands full picking a line to avoid seams in the pavement.

The road shone wetly in my headlights as I approached Baytown, TX. The few showers I passed through were mild and I had no visibility problems.

The temperature dropped twenty degrees when I got on I-610, the Houston inner loop. I turned on my grip warmers and was glad that I had never gotten around to taking my liner out of my jacket. My new Underarmour ColdGear shirt also helped.

Dodging heavy raindrops, my body didn’t dare feel tired as I rode north on US290 toward my final gas stop of the day. In the end, I think the adverse weather was probably a good thing. It kept me on my toes at a time when I might normally relax and go complacent.

All four of the entrances to the gas station were flooded, so I ended up going through a neighboring fast food parking lot. My foot slipped a little on the slick concrete and a sick feeling flashed in my stomach. I kept the bike upright and managed to get the kickstand down after several tries. The fuel pump disgorged my final receipt. Success!



I spent a few minutes documenting the trip stats before wearily mounting back up to travel the additional 10 miles to home where my mom was still awake waiting for me to get home so she could do my witness form. My bed was a welcome sight.

Final Thoughts:

Wasn’t it boring?

Not really. I was fully occupied the entire time: from singing along to my music, fiddling with the camera, composing this report in my head, wondering when a friend would call (and hoping they wouldn’t catch me belting out something embarrassing, like Celine Dion), or just contemplating some aspect of my life and travels.

How has my outlook changed?

It’s shocking to look back at when 20 miles to the beach was a long ride, or when 150 miles between my college town and home was a major undertaking. It’s even strange to look at these last few years, when a normal day might be 400 to 500 miles and 600 was not out of the question. That’s HALF what I rode on that one January day.

The country is now just a little bit smaller and more accessible. No, I won’t plan to ride this pace frequently, but it’s good to know that my options are open.

Final Stats:

Miles Odometer: 1083
Miles GPS: 1120

Overall Average Speed: 60.4 mph
Moving Average Speed: 73.9 mph

Total Time: 18:34
Moving Time: 15:10
Stopped Time: 3:24

And yeah. The truth? I did it all for the license plate back.