Colorado Cruiser: Carlsbad and Texas Hill Country Ride

To every good trip must come an end and today is the start of the end of this trip. We've ridden 600 miles of road in the Hill Country, and we have 200 more miles of riding to do today, but all of those miles will be toward home.

The temperature is 46 degrees which is 10 degrees higher than yesterday, so that's a good trend but a little late for this ride.

We were washed up, fed up, and loaded up by 8:30. After gassing up the bikes, we headed West on highway 39. I wanted to stop by a store called BC Broncos just outside of Kerrville because I've bought a lot of parts for my bronco from them over the years.

We pulled up to BC Broncos and I went in. It turns out they don't have a showroom or really anything to see except the broncos parked around the building. So I came back out and we headed down the road.

We chose to take highway 39 out. It's one of the 2 roads that criss crosses a river. I really enjoyed the beautiful scenery around the river. There are several picnic areas right on the river's edge that I would love to stop at but neither of us are sure whether they are public or private. Most have a gate of some sort on them suggesting they are private.

Once we left the river bottom and climbed up onto a ridge, the wind hit us. It came in from the left side very hard and forced us to lean the bikes into it. We stopped at a little grocery store to warm up and get a snack before starting another road. I grabbed a spicy V8 and doritos to munch on. The wind continued blowing while we ate and reminisced about roads we had ridden and what roads we would ride today.

We started by riding highway 336. We rode it on Monday and wanted to ride it again before we left. We've ridding all of the best roads at least twice now, and a couple of roads 3 times. This was a great ride under clear skies and much warmer than Monday. I love how 336 winds along the top of some long hills, then dips and twist down one and up onto the top of the next with wide views of the valleys to either side and the the hillsaround. It was a great road.

We came out the bottom of 336 into Leakey, but for once we didn't stop, we turned right and headed straight West on 337. It's not as good as 336, but still pretty fun.

At the end of 337 we turned North on 55 and stayed on that until we reached Rock Springs. Highway 55 wasn't as twisty as the twisted sisters, but it was fast with big sweeping turns that you could take without slowing down. It's a different kind of awesome and was fun to ride. The 30 miles seemed to fly by, and at 70mph it really did fly by.

By now we'd ridden 150 miles and needed gas and lunch. There was a cafe across from the gas station with several cars out front, so rather than wander town looking for somewhere else to eat, we just rode over there. It turned out to be the local hangout because everyone inside was laughing and talking to each other, except for us.

We were the obvious outsiders that everyone looked at with suspicion. John said one elderly man openly stared at us while he ate.

But the waitress took our order for a couple of hamburgers and fries without any antagonism. The burgers were only $3.00 and we wondered if they'd be nasty, but they were quite good.

With our bellies and gas tanks full, we headed north on the last of twisty roads. We turned off of highway 55 even though it would take John closer to home. Instead we took highway 377 which has allot more twists and turns to it. Our last hurrah of good riding roads.

It was like the lower portion of 55, high speed sweeping turns that were very fun, except for one random river crossing with a sudden 90 degree entry and another 90 degree exit. We wondered how many people had missed the turn and wound up in the river.

We turned and burned our last 50 miles of riding together all the way up to the town of Junction and Interstate 10. John gassed up his bike and we said our goodbyes. I always get melancholy at the end of rides and John ribbed me about it. It's just so much fun riding together that I hate to see it end.

John left and headed for the freeway and 800 miles of high speed but boring riding home. The last time we were here, John did the whole ride in one day. But that day he started riding at 4:00 am and that just wasn't possible today.

I took an extra 20 minutes to look at roads and routes up to San Angelo where my Niece and her family live. I've visited them several times including just 3 months ago, but it's always fun to visit, plus free room and board is great on trips like this.

I found a few back roads that looked good and headed off to find them. I didn't even have to get on the freeway at all. The trees were thinning compared to the hill country, and the hills were gone. These were just minor roads out through the scrub brush, but still better than the freeway.

I eventually ran out of side roads and hopped onto a big wide highway for the last 40 miles to San Angelo. When I arrived, my niece welcomed me and we chatted for an hour as I wound down from the ride. Then I offered to give all the kids rides on the motorcycle. I gave them rides last time, but I was on my VTX with a small backseat and no arm rests. The goldwing I ride now has a big comfy seat and arm rests and fold down and offer allot more security to kids riding on the back. I took the bigger kids out of the neighborhood and down the frontage road of the freeway and back. But the little kids I just idled around the block. They all hooted and waved at everyone.

Another niece and her kids dropped by in the middle of the ride, so I gave her older girl a ride as well.

After the rides, we grabbed BBQ from a local restaurant and I described my rides and listened to what all the various kids are up to. It's always great to catch up with family and see the kids. It made me miss my own grandkids.

As with all young families, there was much going on tonight, so I sat and wrote this blog while the kids headed off to various activities.

John texted that he'd ridden 350 miles toward home and stopped in Van Horn for the night.

I checked the weather at home. It's snowing all night, so I don't think I'll be able to ride all the way home tomorrow. I don't think the snow will have melted completely in 1 day, but I'll keep checking throughout the day. It's a long ride to do in 1 day but I could do it if I need to.

Visiting BC Broncos in Ingram Texas