[ST] For Rich Rumble, Austin TX & Hill Country

["STeve Duncan" <xhippy@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

>From: "Rich Rumble" <rich.rumble@xxxxxxx>
>
>STeve, what is riding like in the Austin area?  My wife may have an
>opportunity for work there.  Just wondering how roads there might compare
>with those you encountered with Don/T-bone/doggydoo.
>
>
>

Ahhhhhh, Austin.  The center of the known universe.  They have a saying in 
Austin;

"Austin, for those too Texan too live in any other state, and too weird to 
live anywhere else"

I love Austin.  It holds down the N.E. corner of Hill Country, more on that 
later.  In Austin, you must visit, 6th street, "the world capital of live 
music".  If you are really lucky, you will see David Earl Keene playing in 
some honky-tonk.  Do not pass this opportunity.  Or you might catch a set by 
one of the old timers, like Jerry Jeff Walker, or David Allen Coe, or Wille 
hisownself.

The roads of Hill Country are wonderful.  A lot like some of the areas you 
ride in SoCal, with maybe less constant elevation changes, but also with 
much less traffic, and the road surfaces are more consistent, if more 
abrasive (re: more grip, less tire life).  The thing you will notice about 
Hill Country is the desolation.  It's a lot like the SoCal high desert.  
Lots of rocks, not many trees.  But much more other vegetation.  And a lot 
of it is "open range", so watch out for the cattle guards. I don't know why 
they insist on putting those things in the apex of corners.  Maybe cattle 
don't corner well.  LEO is minimal out there, but they know where to nab ya, 
so be careful anywhere near a town.  Out on the backroads, you are pretty 
free to do "what 'cha want".

One other thing different between SoCal and Hill Country is the number of 
roads.  There are far fewer roads in HC, it's just so sparsely populated.  
It's more about quality vs. quantity.  Now if you are dual sporting, the 
options are endless out there.  Non paved outnumber paved 5 to 1, at least.

So, to the actual roads.  First, I will just throw out some town names that 
are the start/stop to some of the best roads.  If you have some mapping 
software, you can connect the dots, and have some great rides.  Just stay 
off most of the main hiways (some exceptions) and stick to the "FM" (farm to 
market) and "RR" (ranch roads) and you will find some great riding.

Mark towns like, Fredericksburg, Hunt, Bandera, Utopia, Camp Wood, Tarpley, 
Sabinal, Vanderpool, Luckenbach, Leakey and Kerrville into your software and 
play around with some routes.  You might have a little fun on a rainy night.

As for actual routes, let me suggest the following, not necessarily in any 
continuous loop.

Hwy 16 from Kerrville to Bandera is a great, twisty ride, up and over the 
mountain.  A great run, especially on a week day.  It gets a bit crowded on 
the weekend and so tight pasing is difficult.  Bandera is the epitome of 
Texas Hill Country.  A party unto itself.

Hwy 470 from Bandera to Utopia.  One of my favs, big fast sweepers, to tight 
hairpins, and great scenery.  Just across the river coming out of Tarpley is 
Mac and Erinie's, a shack in a gravel lot on your right.  Stop ther for the 
best Gourmet food you have ever had.  No lie.

Hwy 187 from Utopia north to hwy 39.  This is pretty, not real technical.  
It goes past the Lost Maples Natural Area, a real nice place to picnic, camp 
or hike.  It also goes past a private Motorcycle Museum, definitely worth a 
look.

Then hwy 39 (from the 187 intersection) back east on 39 to Hunt and 
Kerrville, is another GREAT road, best done on a weekday.  It parallels the 
Guadalupe river for many of it's miles and is just awesome, both in scenery 
and twisty bits.  Be careful of the low water crossings.  But blast away, 
when you can.  Man I love that road!

And then, finally, the mother load.  The one route that cannot be missed.  
The Three Sisters.
Start in Medina, hwy 337, headed west.  Starts out smooth and fast, gaining 
altitude towards Vanderpool, getting tighter.  Past Vanderpool the fun 
really begins, and you will swear you have been transported, to, somewhere 
else.  Across the mountain, hugging the side of a deep gorge, don't fall 
down here!  You get to Leakey and have a decision to make.  You have a loop 
to run.  You can either take 336 north or continue on 337 west.  I suggest 
staying on 337 to Camp Wood.  Another 25 miles or so of pure nirvana on over 
to Camp Wood.  At this point, just get off the bike, look up at the sky and 
say, "thanks Dunc", I'll hear ya.

But the party has really just begun!  Tricky bit here as you will need to 
head north on State hwy 55 about 3-4 miles to RR-335, north.  It will just 
kinda veer off to the right.  Now, ya gonna have some fun!  I won't give it 
away, just go fast and hold on, all the way up to hwy 41, T intersection.  I 
promise you will have to stop somewhere along the way, just to catch your 
breath, and say WOW, to whoever will listen.  And they better be with you, 
cause there ain't no one else out there.

When you hit 41, you have a flat stretch of about 20 going back east until 
you get to RR-336, on your right, take it back down and have the laugh of 
your life, big rollers, and tight corners, every bit as much fun as 335.  
This will hook you back up with 337 at Leakey.  Then you can take 337 back 
east to Vanderpool, and you will look forward to the ride back across.  At 
187, turn south to Utopia and have some great food at the Lost Maples Cafe, 
don't be surprised to see 50-100 bikes parked outside.

There are dozens and dozens of other routes out there.  This will get only 
get ya started.


Cheers!



dunc
eL Donut

STeve Duncan
'00-ST, RED/sliver

somewhere out here



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