You're about to see a detailed report of the 3rd Annual Texas VFR Meet with special guest appearances by none other than the VFR guru himself....... Miguel Mayo and also including a butterfly!!
[image: IPB Image] Texas VFR Meet 06 051.jpg Miguel
Hey guys. What a great ride on Friday. It was good meeting all of you. Too bad it was hot and filled with Butterflies! It was like Alfred Hitchcock's, "The Butterflies". tongue.gif
I ended up heading back Friday night to Austin. It was about 400+ miles for me for the day. Man, I was beat. My wife almost couldn't believe the amount of bug gook on my helmet and bike.
I'm in Dallas today for work. I'll upload some of my pics tonight.
Had a great time. Kudos on the meet organization to all involved. Ended up buying a tire in SA, 8 shield cleaning stops later, we got in about 7. Glad to hear your and Ron's trips ended safely. I'm looking forward to seeing the photographic record.
Had a great time.I have never smelled rubber from hot tires like that before when we got done running the sweepers on 55.That was 1 hot tire and shred to the edge.Hope I didn't hold too many people up when I was leading.
ronimalvfr, Oct 9 2006, 09:40 AM Had a great time.I have never smelled rubber from hot tires like that before when we got done running the sweepers on 55.That was 1 hot tire and shred to the edge.Hope I didn't hold too many people up when I was leading.
Yes, 55 was a good one. Always is. Tires were nice and warm and ready for a track!
Can't say I liked all the cattle guards on 336 though. Those things beat me and the VFR to death!
ronimalvfr, Oct 9 2006, 09:40 AM Hope I didn't hold too many people up when I was leading.
A few times I was having trouble keeping up with you. I know there were some that wanted to go a bit faster at times and I'm definitely a slow-ass in the corners but I think it all worked out.
No major mechanicals or get-offs equals a good ride to me. fing02.gif
I would like to give a big THANKS out to Miguel for keeping up with the forum and for suffering the long boring journey through Dumas and F'n Amarillo to join our party in Texas. Without him and VFRD we'd have a much harder time putting these rides together.
Thanks to Ron for initially laying out the routes and all the others for tweaking them. Mgtx73 led us up 55 at top speed...definitely had a blast even though HS kept slowing down or was he speeding up? Duckeater also led us along a couple of fabulous roads that we would have missed without him.
Thanks to ZZR Chuck for running sweep too....in more ways than one.[image: IPB Image] laugh.gif
Just checking in, I am home, the so called cold front hit yesterday round about Lubbock, hit me at full bore with a freaking downpour, I know know why you have all those flood gauge poles at every dip in the road!! Yea Lubbock thats where I put her down for the night, what a pit that place is! Saw some Dead guy on the curb surrounded by the PO at 9m this morning at some bar on the highway out of town, I had to see that shit while waiting at the stoplight. The cops where just standing next to the guy talking like it was just routine or somthing?? I thought I saw blood he was laying face down on the curb, awful thing to see..... I was glad I was leaving that hole! I am from Colorado so I packed the heavy turtle neck and the heated vest which ran pretty much all day today! Low clouds became fog the further north I got! Glad to be home but I am chilled to the bone!
HispanicSlammer, Oct 9 2006, 08:20 PM Just checking in, I am home, the so called cold front hit yesterday round about Lubbock
Lubbock? Not the garden spot of the state. Glad you made it down and very glad to hear you made it home safely. I enjoyed the chance to shoot the stuff.
James - rider from Austin who is roomate to Nixx told me how to draw a map of the Texas Hill Country while we waited for the Octagenerian squad to seat us at Cowboys Steakhouse! Should have listened to Duckeater on that one, $20 for a 10oz Ribeye 4 oz of which was fat! 3 hours for dinner 1 hour actually dining! James says he looks like Uncle Fester when he shaves his head - I think he looks like a young Cournel Sanders, or like he belongs on the set of Gettysburg the Movie!
[image: IPB Image] James Map Nixx's buddy James told me to draw a map to his specs - Thats a FACT
That map does rule. It's true too. F'n butterflies and tacky stuff were great markings. Fredicksburg is tacky but I guess that's why buses of old people go there.
HispanicSlammer, Oct 10 2006, 01:11 PM James says he looks like Uncle Fester when he shaves his head - I think he looks like a young Cournel Sanders, or like he belongs on the set of Gettysburg the Movie!
Colonel "James" Sanders, just after the infamous Butterfly Massacre, 1500mi SW of the Battle of Gettysburg [image: IPB Image]
dutchinterceptor, Oct 10 2006, 04:44 PM It had something to do with the drought this year. They were like a swarm of bees coming at you.
Words (and even still photos) don't really do it justice. On the way up I was drafting Juan to cut down on the carnage and, I swear, he was cutting a tunnel through clouds of the darn things.
And don't forget the live ones that got into the helmets at 80+ and the proceeded to flap around an inch in front of your face.
So did everyone avoid the "dirty sanchez" on saturday and sunday too? Maybe he took the weekend off after scoring such an awesome collar with that ice cream truck on friday. I mean, come on, a frickin' ice cream truck on a straight out in the middle of nowhere. That's some hardass!
I'll be going back through there at the end of the month on my way out to big bend nat'l park. Hopefully he'll be targeting deer hunters by then (pun intended) and won't care about little ol' me.
[image: IPB Image] Before.jpg
[image: IPB Image] Museum.jpg
[image: IPB Image] MOTHRA! Butterflies attack the Texas Hill Country after recent rains.
My part in this adventure started on Weds Oct 4th I decided to do some southern CO roads on the way down to New Mexico where I would cut diagonally on 64 to Texas.
WED Oct 4
[image: IPB Image] Lake Isabel Still In Colorado
[image: IPB Image] Spanish Peaks Southern Colorado
I decided to do the highway of legends on the way to Raton Pass and avoid interstate 25 Hate Interstates
[image: IPB Image] La Veta Nice gateway town to the Highway of Ledgends
[image: IPB Image] Fall In Southern Colorado West Spanish Peak
[image: IPB Image] Stonewall Highway Of Legends
I headed up I-25 over Raton Pass then into Raton NM for a gas stop, my third since leaving Colorado, I thought it prudent since the rest of the way was unknown territory for me. I wish I had taken the road strait east on 72 instead of going southeast on 64, I could have been on a crazy neat road hwy 72 then cut down to Texas. 64 sucks, its under construction and there is a stupid New Mexico Safety Corridor where its double fines for speeding, they want your lights on too. It was strait and boring, whats the safety corridor about? Dumb New Mexico road!
I made my way into Texas and was surprised to know that most highways are 70mph speed limit there! Great much better than 55! The fines however are a bit stiffer as I found out in Amarillo where I got pinched by a city cop speeding 80 in a 70 zone! $140 bucks fine and they don't take out of state checks!! I was just about to head out from being pulled over, reved it up and slipped the clutch when the cop lit up again - What now man! He already caught another speeder, so he was behind on his quota I guess cause that was quick!
Stopped at the Super 8 south of town and saw a cool post card of Palo Dura on the counter, asked the clerk how to get there!
Oct 5th Thursday
[image: IPB Image] Palo Duro Canyon south east of Amarillo
This is a State Park in Texas not more than 15 miles from Amarillo, pretty interesting canyon in a sea of farmland surrounding it!
[image: IPB Image] Palo Duro Visitor Center Nice vistas
[image: IPB Image] Heading Down Cruiser going painfully slow
I turned off the road near Plainview, aptly named town and headed down into the Cotton Gin of Texas, miles and miles of Cotton Fields, I had no idea Texas produced so much Cotton, first time I have seen a cotton field, it looks like a fire zone after harvest, all the plants are dried up and burnt looking. It has a spicy smell too! Then it began to get hilly the further south I went. I stopped at Floydada where the cotton fields began and had some lunch at the Subway, some locals were talking about this woman who was advertising the paper for a husband, I guess she is desperate, they seemed to think so!
[image: IPB Image] Monster Windmills on the mesa Huge near Fullerville
[image: IPB Image] Old and the New More windmills hundreds of them Inadale this county is committed to wind energy
Once I made it south of I-20 the scenery changed again from hilly scrub and cotton Fields to green pastures and Mesquite bushes with prickly cactus all over - I am sure it was all prickly before people settled in! I could feel the air get moist the further south I went!
[image: IPB Image] Sunset at Hedwig's Hill Incredible sunset
I wanted to take a picture of the Llano river but there was no place to stop, the sunset there was explosive, I mean streamers of sunlight bounding out of the clouds and reflecting in the cool still water of the river. too bad but it is a site I will remember for a long time to come.
I stopped in Mason just as the sun started to go down and listened to the birds as I drank a gatorade on the side of the convenience store, It was peaceful. I followed a BMW GS all the way down to this place from Sweetwater, he was going exactly the speed limit, and still stinging from my ticket I just followed behind far back a bit!
I rolled into Fredricksburg around dark, it was full of tourists, turned west to Kerville and met the guys around 8pm!
OCT 6 Friday
Mid morning start down 16 behind Mike who took it easy at first, good thing cause I would have gone too fast into those hairpin turns hidden around the corner and blown right into the bushes, they surprised me as it was, I was glad everybody was going slow enough, they just sneak up on you cause the rest of the turns were easy and fast! We hightailed it to Lost Maples and ran into Doug (Fotomoto) at the restaurant, but not before we encountered the smear of butterflies, these creatures are all over the place in the trees, the drought killed off the beetles that normally feed on the butterfly larvae so they are a real problem, swarms of billions of butterflies with no end in site till they die off in winter!
[image: IPB Image] Lost Maples In Utopia
[image: IPB Image] Inside Lost Maples Gossip Not Permitted
North to the Museum [image: IPB Image] Lone Star Motorcycle Museum Just North of Leakey (Lake-e)
[image: IPB Image] Inside of the museum lots of great bikes
[image: IPB Image] Jap Bikes Now we know how the POS Jap Bike Rumors got started!
[image: IPB Image] I have always wanted an original indian strait four
[image: IPB Image] Lawrence Of Arabia The man died riding a bike like this one
[image: IPB Image] Four Cylinder Arial called a flat four?
[image: IPB Image] Ducati Bevel Gear Yep check
[image: IPB Image] Another classic Indian Yellow
[image: IPB Image] BMW Do'In shafties for quite a long time now!
Then the riding started over 337 where the tight stuff is, and so is Sanchez, and DPS officer with a reputation for giving out tickets, it is said he would give his own mother a ticket for 2 over. He is known far and wide for being tough, we managed to get by him 3 times without incident. I took video but lost the camera lens after taking a direct hit to the lens cover in a new chip sealed section. I noticed it in camp wood and put the camera away for fear of more damage. Bad enough with the heavy butterflies but rocks too??
Highway 55 was great a big 4 lane highway up the hill to nowhere, Mike and Ron took off ahead of me and I followed close, and fast, our tires were smelling hot, Ron and I wore off the edge of out tires there! It was fun and fast!
We doubled back and then went up 335 to Vance, wow this road is a free roller coaster and zoo built into one!! Strange road and exiting but crazy dips had me slamming my tank with my chest a few times, then you roll past huge ranches with exotic animals, camels, giraffes, peacocks, ostrich, and others. Its a good long road too, the dips and hills just keep on comming!
[image: IPB Image] Fridays Crew At the Crossroads 41 and 335 the Harley Guy graciously took the picture
The last of the sister roads 336 was interesting but full of Cattle Guards, It was unnerving for some of us cause they were always in turns. I am used to them cause they are all over Colorado. I liked that road the best, I could go fast there.
[image: IPB Image] Pic stop on 337 blasted out for the road
[image: IPB Image] butterflies are free darned things were everywhere like snow falling!
Oct 7 Saturday
We lost 2 riders and gained 2 more Sat, heading north this time the roads were straiter and full of dead animals. I saw swans for the first time, beautiful animals that fly gracefully as they look in the water. They are large! This however was Buzzard country! Mike took it fast since well the road dictates it.
[image: IPB Image] Doss Texas Not much but a church and some homes, fast pace required a few gathering stops
[image: IPB Image] Coppers BBQ In Llano
[image: IPB Image] Coopers Open Smoke pits You can watch as they bbq
I loved this place, it was no frills I went overboard and ordered pork chops and Beef ribs, wow! Texas is tops for BBQ so far, TN second, MO then Kentucky in my travels, KS sucks for food!
[image: IPB Image] Chris deep into a bike story no frills BBQ but good!
[image: IPB Image] Big F'n Rock Duckeater thats him out there by himself
[image: IPB Image] 11 bikes getting hot now
Here the group split up into fast and slow groups, we sort of got lost after Luckenbock, I was scratching my head as to why all these folks were stopped here, but where else can you get beer at the local post office!! After that it was full bore pretty much and the pace was stiff! we pulled off onto some county road and then it got interesting, Chris was leading with his GPS totally lost on this farm road, then all of a sudden I see him catch air, then Duckeater, then Martin on his Busa, then My turn - totally off the ground on a whoop in the middle of the road, it was like Isle of Man out there.
[image: IPB Image] Luckenbock Texas Waylan Willy and the boys were not there but they had beer at the post office.
Somehow we made it Beorne Where it is said ol Scootr lives - didn't see him out there but its a nice place. We decided to cut our losses here, it was getting late and the critters were coming out of the shade to play so we altered the route to a bit and let Duckeater take us on a few of his favorite roads, more fast stuff, I was having a good time too!
Then back in Kerrville for a night on the town at Cowboys steakhouse home for the elderly! The waiting room is full of skeletons and the steak is full of fat! I wasn't too happy with the price either for all the wait and slim pic-kens for actual steak?? The so-called fries were awful, just half baked potatoes all starch and no taste! Stay away unless your 90 and have time to wait in line!
The night before we had much better at Acapulco mexican restaurant, fast seating, somewhat decent food, Martin didn't care for it but mine was good. Funny waiter but a bit too fresh - teased us a bit! I cant complain he sat us when the place was packed!
Oct 8 Sunday
Time to head home but not before doing some of those roads again, Chris, Mike, Martin and I headed to Vondlepark together were Chris and Mike peeled off, Mike lead me to Rock Springs and I was all alone again, flowed a big Harley train to the Sonora for lunch, got me a Big Texas Burger that filled me up so much I skipped dinner and went strait to bed in Lubbock, I got pounded by rain 2 hours east of Lubbock. Lubbock is a hole btw Hated it!!
[image: IPB Image] Last photo op vfr lined up at the motel
[image: IPB Image] VFRS and owners Chris, Miguel, Jim, Ron, Mike, Juan, and Brian - Martin took the pictures he was on a Busa
There were other riders along too not on VFRS James on his FZ650, Chuck on his Ninja, a RC51, beemer father son tandem - I have both their names on the tip of my tongue but for the life of me!
Riding Home on the last day was cold and damp, strait cow country, till I headed into New Mexico where I took that alternate road hwy 72 to Raton, it was interesting, lots of mud from the rains, bumpy and strange twists and dips, fun to ride but not too fast its narrow and it was foggy at the top!
[image: IPB Image] Hwy 79 New Mexico get me off that flat road with all the road construction!
[image: IPB Image] NM hwy 79 near raton bumpy and foggy road - still 100 times better than 64
I met about 4 riders at the gas station near Trinidad, we all discussed strategy for beating the cold and the rain riding into Colorado, the weather was the worst here and cold around 40 degrees with the cold rain! Guy on his cruiser looked like he was suffering, a soldier at Fort Carson, I gave him my glove liners cause he needed them more than I did! I have grip heaters so.... Great ride guys!!
End of thread · 31 posts recoveredWayback Machine snapshot 19 Oct 2006
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