Texas Hill Country ride

A little background:
A friend of mine was going to Kerrville, Texas on Saturday to trade his '04 Moto Guzzi and '04 BMW for a brand new V strom 650. He rented a box bed Uhaul truck one way for his two bikes and, after purchase, was going to ride the Suzuki in the hills a couple of days and then head home. We are always looking for an excuse to ride the Hill Country, so I told him I was "in"! The plan was that I would meet him at the dealership Saturday, noonish, and we'd ride the rest of Satuday, all day Sunday and head home on Monday.

Day 1: Friday

The weather last week was fabulous here, so I took off Friday morning for Canyon Lake. That's about 200 miles from my house on backroads. When I pulled out of my driveway around 8:30 it was sunny and about 60 degrees...nice!
The first interesting town on my route was Hallettsville. This is the county seat for Lavaca County. For those of you that don't know...in Texas the town that is the government center of a county is called the county seat. Most of these towns have beautiful courthouse buildings, usually in the center of town square.



Next up...Shiner, Texas...IMHO, home of the best beer ever made...Shiner Bock!!!! Oh yeah, they have some other POI"s too.




to be continued...

searsboy said:

A little background:

Next up...Shiner, Texas...IMHO, home of the best beer ever made...Shiner Bock!!!! Oh yeah, they have some other POI"s too.


to be continued...

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Hmmm "Shiner, Texas...IMHO, home of the best beer ever made" That's only 612 miles from my home. May have to ride down and have a beer! But I'll need a lunch recommendation also.
Its been at least 20-25 years since I was in that area.
Driving directions to Shiner, TX

Suggested routes

• 612 mi, 9 hours 38 mins
  
  
  In current traffic: 9 hours 55 mins
  US-69 S
• 670 mi, 9 hours 55 mins
  
  
  In current traffic: 10 hours 15 mins
  I-44 W and I-35 S

turbodieseli4i6 said:

Hmmm "Shiner, Texas...IMHO, home of the best beer ever made" That's only 612 miles from my home. May have to ride down and have a beer! But I'll need a lunch recommendation also.
Its been at least 20-25 years since I was in that area.
Driving directions to Shiner, TX

Suggested routes

• 612 mi, 9 hours 38 mins
  
  
  In current traffic: 9 hours 55 mins
  US-69 S
• 670 mi, 9 hours 55 mins
  
  
  In current traffic: 10 hours 15 mins
  I-44 W and I-35 S

Notice it takes longer using the interstates than the highways. I think this could be a ride I may do next spring. Thanks for taking us along!!

Click to expand...

If you're serious about riding down I can recommend a great route through Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma. A "must" lunch stop in Arkansas is the Oark Cafe. Fantastic burgers and homemade pie!
Here's a good spot for lunch (and a Shiner Bock) in Shiner.
Shiner Restaurant & Bar - Shiner, Texas
And if you're REALLY coming this way, you must go further west of Shiner (about 120 miles) and get into the hill country. Stick with my ride report for more info, pics and videos on this!
BTW: You can buy Shiner Bock almost anywhere in Texas...you don't have to go all the way to Shiner!!!!!

day 1 continued:

Next on the route heading west on highway Alt 90 is Gonzales. You guessed it...another county seat (Gonzales County)! Gonzales is a small town rich in Texas/Mexican history. It's said that here is where the fight for Texas liberty began. Legend has it that when Texas was actually Mexico, the Mexican army had sent a small canon to Gonzales in 1831 to help fend off Indian attacks. When the Texas Revolution began in 1835 Mexican soldiers were sent to retrieve the canon. They didn't get it...instead the Texians raised a homemade flag with the words "Come and take it". It's a very popular phrase that's used down here for just about any occasion...like gun control!!! Oh yeah...we still have the canon! Have y'all heard the slogan "Don't Mess With Texas"?




I gassed up in Gonzales (120 miles from home) before continuing on to McQueeney. I was joined here by a couple of riding buddies from nearby Canyon Lake and we ate lunch at Blake's Cafe. Nothing but great award winning homemade food and atmosphere here. The building was constructed in 1900 originally as a Post Office. Lots of personality and right across the street from the crystal clear Guadalupe River.



After lunch the three of us took off for Canyon Lake on some beautiful backroads. I spent the night at my friend's house that has an outstanding view of Canyon Lake to the east and the sunset to the west.
Sorry...no pictures. I don't know how these other guys on ADV do such an amazing ride report. Maybe the Friday night margaritas had something to do with it, but I didn't take any pictures of this amazing lake. It's created from the spring-fed Guadalupe River. The water is so beautiful and chilly...even in the scorching summer heat.
Here's at least a short video that I took...and it shows the lake!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFa0Y9Lt4hA

part 2: notice the deer at the 1:42 mark
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGpS1Ud5ioQ

This is what was going on in the lake (far background) of my video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEjMUWzJTmc

end of day 1...240 miles...mostly clear skies...chilly morning, warm afternoon...good roads

I was out there a few years back and enjoyed the "The Three Sisters" (Ranch Road 335) ride. Pretty good BBQ in Leakey after the ride too.

Big Thump said:

I was out there a few years back and enjoyed the "The Three Sisters" (Ranch Road 335) ride. Pretty good BBQ in Leakey after the ride too.

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Cool!
FM 335 is one of the (twisted) sisters. 336 & 337 are the other two...three of the best roads that I've ridden in Texas...and I've been riding here for almost 40 years!!! I'll have a few pics and videos from those roads later in the RR (days 2 & 3)!
There's a lunch spot in Medina that has a great chicken salad sandwich. Everything on their menu, that I've had, is exceptional. They're apple oriented at this place with their own apple orchard just down the road. The apple pie is divine!!!
Patio Cafe « Love Creek Orchards

Are there tours and a tasting room at the brewery? I get to Austin now and then.

Hot Wing said:

Are there tours and a tasting room at the brewery? I get to Austin now and then.

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ABSOLUTELY!
Here's a link...their tour time/days are very specific.
Shiner.com

A couple of videos from day 1 were added to post #4

This is one of my favorite rides. My daughter goes to Texas State, so I am lucky enough to get to do this ride a few times a year. Great pics.

Old Can Ride said:

This is one of my favorite rides. My daughter goes to Texas State, so I am lucky enough to get to do this ride a few times a year. Great pics.

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What year is she in? My daughter is a junior at Baylor.
We try to do the Kerrville ride twice a year (spring & fall). It never gets old out there.
The last few years we have been skipping one of the sisters (336) because of all the rough cattle guards.
We rode it this time and I will never skip it again...great road. With the NC it's so easy to stand on the pegs and
absorb the cattle guard.

searsboy said:

Cool!
FM 335 is one of the (twisted) sisters. 336 & 337 are the other two...three of the best roads that I've ridden in Texas...and I've been riding here for almost 40 years!!! I'll have a few pics and videos from those roads later in the RR (days 2 & 3)!
There's a lunch spot in Medina that has a great chicken salad sandwich. Everything on their menu, that I've had, is exceptional. They're apple oriented at this place with their own apple orchard just down the road. The apple pie is divine!!!
Patio Cafe « Love Creek Orchards

Click to expand...

I forgot to add those Roads, but I did them and got the T-Shirt (which I wore out now). Coming back to that area is on my bucket list for sure.

Day 2:

Chilly and overcast as I left Canyon Lake for Kerrville. It was in the mid 50's when I took off around 9:00. There are some great backroads on the route today. My buddy sends me a text and says he'll be at the dealership around 11...we should get there about the same time.
I didn't take many pictures today, but here's a video of the river bridge outside of Comfort, Texas. This used to be a tricky low water crossing. As you can see they put in a new bridge well over the water!

10.26.2013 Comfort, Texas river bridge - YouTube

Here's a vid from a great backroad between Comfort and Kerrville. This road follows Cypress Creek all the way. It's still chilly and overcast and I hit a little rain. The hill country has a lot of deer and with this kind of weather they stay out longer in the morning. No close encounters, but I'm not going fast and my attention is focused.

10.26.2013 Cypress Creek Road - YouTube

I reach the dealership around 11:15. Lynn has already unloaded his bikes and is signing all the paperwork. This is my first visit to the dealer (Destination Cycles). The entire staff is very friendly and helped make the "deal" go down super smooth. Their coffee wasn't very good, but they had a ton of breakfast tacos that were tasty!
I think it was about 1:00 when we finally got out of there. We had plenty of daylight and time to ride a loop to our cabin in Hunt. This video is Highway 16 that we took south from Kerrville to Medina. It's as good as any road in the hill country (there are no bad ones!).

10.26.2013 Hwy 16 southbound (part 1) - YouTube

In Medina we had apple pie here. Not hungry for much else, but I usually get a chicken salad sandwich here...one of the best I've ever had...of course there is apple in it! Their specialty is anything with apples and have their own orchard just down the road. The pie was really good!

Patio Cafe « Love Creek Orchards

After our pie, we took FM 337 westbound from Medina to Vanderpool. This road is one of the regionally famous "twisted sisters". Lots of twisties and beautiful scenery. The sun came out and we had a blast.
I apologize that these videos are so long and unedited. Until I get editing software, these vids are taken from my computer and uploaded directly to youtube.

10.26.2013 FM 337 westbound (part 2) - YouTube

We made it to our cabin around 4:00.

End of day 2: 55-80 degree temperature range; 220 total miles; brand new V strom following me!

Day 3:

We got an early start today. It was probably in the upper 50's and overcast. We left the cabin in Hunt, Texas and rode west on FM 1340. This is a very scenic road that follows the river and crosses it several times. Here's a short video...notice the buck at the fenceline to my right in the first few seconds of the vid...then at the end I am slowed by a bunch of turkeys!!! Pun intended!

10.27.2013 FM 1340 - YouTube

We made our way to Leakey (pronounced lake e) and had breakfast at the Mill Creek Cafe. The breakfast was very good. They offer a spicy pan sausage that was incredible. The buffet looked old...it was 10 am, so we ordered off the menu.


Mill Creek Cafe, Leakey - Restaurant Reviews - TripAdvisor

After breakfast we left Leakey northbound on FM 336. We call this twisted sister the cattleguard road. The road is only about 30 miles long and there must be about 30 cattleguards on it...some of them will bounce you right off the seat! An EZ fix to keep this from happening is to stand up on the pegs. The bike's suspension absorbs the hit completely. About 2/3 of the way up this road we turned west on FM 3235. The first 10 miles was nice and paved...the next 10...not so much!

We had hoped for a nice packed gravel road. The pictures don't show it, but most of this road was slow-going...very rough with lots of fist-sized rocks.

10.27.2013 FM 3235 (unpaved) - YouTube

My daughter at Texas State is a freshman. Her best friend goes to Baylor, so she goes a few times a year to see her at Baylor. I also have a daughter that graduated from Baylor. We do a ride every year called "The Wildman Ride" to the hill county. This is with the GWRRA club ride, but lots of folks are showing on every kind of bike.

Let me know when you are going to the hill county and I will ride with you guys.

Will do OCR!

Here's a short video of the V strom coming down a hill.

10.27.2013 V strom downhill unpaved rd - YouTube

Hot Wing said:

Are there tours and a tasting room at the brewery? I get to Austin now and then.

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If you're in Austin, there are a TON of awesome breweries right here in the city. With the recent changes in the laws, almost all of them have a tap room and/or tours, especially on the weekends.

Beer Guide for Austin - Texas, United States - BeerAdvocate

A Guide to Austin?s Brewery Tours | Things to Do in Austin, Texas

Great report Craig, I got out to the Sisters this spring, but need to make another run out before it gets cold(ish).

trey