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357 Posts
I've had the pleasure of spending the last few days in the hill country, so I wanted to give everyone an update on some conditions and my impressions. My intention was to ride the 3 sisters and surrounding roads in an aggressive fashion. It's been several years since my last ride here.
I started in Kerrville and took 16 to Medina and then 337 west. This is a fun road and the climb up the mountain from Vanderpool and down towards leakey was just a prelude of what was to come. I stopped in Leakey for water, since the temp was climbing toward 102 and then continued on 337 over to Camp Wood.
From there I went north up 335. This road is nothing short of a roller coaster and it's up and down, with dips and turns. It's just a blast to ride and the big girl has no problem handling this road in top gear, since it has plenty of torque, but drop down a gear and you can power through the low turns.
I only saw a few deer roadkill, but lots of turkeys by the side of the road, often getting startled and flying across the road in front of me. There was no one else on the road and I had it to myself, so I got to push it hard the entire way.
At the north end of the road I went east on 41 to get over to 336. The last time I rode 336 was in 2005 on my sabre 1100. This time with the power of the gl1800 at my fingertips, I was feeling pretty cocky after 335, until I saw the sign announcing the number of people killed on 336 on motorcycles. That got my attention and I was glad I took notice, because this is a very challenging road to ride. They have added lots of markers to indicate dangerous turns and you need to be paying attention. Theres lots of cattle crossings and I saw 2 cattle standing by the side of the road in the trees. Since there are no fences along the northern section, cattle standing near or in the road could be a fatal encounter. To me this section of road is the most difficult to ride really well. I was tired at the end of 336 and stopped in leakey again to rest up.
From there I headed north on 83, up towards Hunt and back towards Kerrville. There's lots of places you cross the Guadalupe river and it's very scenic driving along it.
I basically had the roads to myself today and when I stopped to get water it was often 10 minutes or so before I even saw another car (I only saw 4-5 bikes the entire day). If you can, I suggest riding these roads during the week, with less traffic. Be aware of the heat, but with the wind blowing almost constant today, it was not unbearable and sometimes even quite pleasant standing alongside the river in the shade.
There are more roads to ride tomorrow and I plan to do the southern route to Bandera over to Utopia and then swing west and north up to Rock Springs.
Right now it's now time for a cold one and also time to reflect how wonderful the wing is as a responsive / incredibly powerful machine. :thumbup:
I started in Kerrville and took 16 to Medina and then 337 west. This is a fun road and the climb up the mountain from Vanderpool and down towards leakey was just a prelude of what was to come. I stopped in Leakey for water, since the temp was climbing toward 102 and then continued on 337 over to Camp Wood.
From there I went north up 335. This road is nothing short of a roller coaster and it's up and down, with dips and turns. It's just a blast to ride and the big girl has no problem handling this road in top gear, since it has plenty of torque, but drop down a gear and you can power through the low turns.
I only saw a few deer roadkill, but lots of turkeys by the side of the road, often getting startled and flying across the road in front of me. There was no one else on the road and I had it to myself, so I got to push it hard the entire way.
At the north end of the road I went east on 41 to get over to 336. The last time I rode 336 was in 2005 on my sabre 1100. This time with the power of the gl1800 at my fingertips, I was feeling pretty cocky after 335, until I saw the sign announcing the number of people killed on 336 on motorcycles. That got my attention and I was glad I took notice, because this is a very challenging road to ride. They have added lots of markers to indicate dangerous turns and you need to be paying attention. Theres lots of cattle crossings and I saw 2 cattle standing by the side of the road in the trees. Since there are no fences along the northern section, cattle standing near or in the road could be a fatal encounter. To me this section of road is the most difficult to ride really well. I was tired at the end of 336 and stopped in leakey again to rest up.
From there I headed north on 83, up towards Hunt and back towards Kerrville. There's lots of places you cross the Guadalupe river and it's very scenic driving along it.
I basically had the roads to myself today and when I stopped to get water it was often 10 minutes or so before I even saw another car (I only saw 4-5 bikes the entire day). If you can, I suggest riding these roads during the week, with less traffic. Be aware of the heat, but with the wind blowing almost constant today, it was not unbearable and sometimes even quite pleasant standing alongside the river in the shade.
There are more roads to ride tomorrow and I plan to do the southern route to Bandera over to Utopia and then swing west and north up to Rock Springs.
Right now it's now time for a cold one and also time to reflect how wonderful the wing is as a responsive / incredibly powerful machine. :thumbup:
4: NO KIDDING!!!
