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Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Dallas to Lubbock


After the high of touring Cowboy Stadium yesterday, and seeing the lowlights of their game against the Packers, I stayed an extra night in the Dallas-Fort Worth area to drown my sorrows in a bottle, then connect with Ray the next day.

I spent the morning working at a Starbucks in Dallas until Ray came drop off the air compressor.
We then rode down to Stokers. Sadly I missed their big weekly Sunday event, but I did manage to see all the super cool bikes, and had some wonderful chats with the bikers who were there.

Stokers was originally a bike shop that just grew and grew. They had been doing some crazy custom bikes for years (think OCC-type stuff). Bikes with attitude and fun. And a heavy dose of 60's era psychedelic styling. They added a bar and reality show later.

Silly me forgot to take pictures of the many cool bikes there. 
Biggest surprise for me -- a motorcycle shop in the middle of Texas, with a long history of wicked customs is now also a dealer for Royal Enfield bikes. Royal Enfield is a British brand made in India. Life is interesting.

Lingering too long at Stokers made me late getting into Fort Worth. I was tipped to go check the Stockyards section of town.
Very nice tip that.

The have a real live working stockyards that have also become a huge tourist draw. Since I only arrived at night, I there was no livestock action, but the place was lit up like Christmas. The cobbled streets, hitching posts, beam-and-timber construction on all the buildings ... It was quite the scene. 

Sorry, again no pictures.

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Texans are quite welcoming people. Since I arrived in the State, I've met nothing by kindness for each person I've had to deal with.

Today, after my GPS directed me to a bike shop that had moved 5 years ago, a guy in the passenger seat of a car going the other way pulled up to see if I needed help. He didn't just slow down and yell, "You okay?" as the rolled by. He actually got the driver to stop the car, so he could get out and walk over to me and make sure I was okay. It doesn't sound like much, I know, but it really caught me by surprise. A pleasant surprise.

Honda Kawasaki West.com
When I did get to the bike shop, Honda Kawasaki West, they helped me test, and do a free warranty replacement for the controller on my TourMaster Synergy Headed Gloves. These guys had never seen me before; knew my story and that I was traveling; knew I could not represent repeat business for them -- yet they went out of their way to help me out.

That's a class act. Thanks, fellas!

Like I said, Texans are helpful.

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Last night when I got to the motel, I couldn't find the room I was assigned. A woman staying at the motel saw me looking around, lost, and came out to give me directions to my room. 

A few minutes after settling in, she called and inquired if I would be in need in female companionship that evening.

Nice.

I declined the offer.

Texans are nothing, if not helpful.

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The ride to Lubbock today was simply dreadful.
500 kms and it was a battle against the wind every inch of the way.

And not mere little winds either. This section of Texas is the southern end of the Great Plains. The place is flat. The sky is endless and the scenery is magnificent. The landscape complimented every single Western movie-fuelled stereotype I had about the West.

Texas plains
The mesas and buttes. Scrub land. Massive cattle ranches. The largest cows I have ever seen in my life. 
True to life cowboys wearing stetsons and leather vests while mending busted fences along the edge of the ranch.

But, oh that wind!

The wind is so strong there they have constructed massive windmill farms to harness it. 
And this is Texas! The state that is about as gung-ho on drilling for oil as any in the Union. They're going after Green energy. Go figure...

That said, if it's blowing hard enough, all day, every day, to invest millions in the wind farms, that is -- by definition -- not a good place for a motorcycle.
Even when riding on a perfectly straight road, the wind had the bike leaning at angles I haven't seen since I left the Dragon.

It took all my strength to keep it upright.

Then I had to deal with with turbulence from fully loaded 18-wheelers going 90 MPH in the opposite direction. I was practically wetting myself each time one of those behemoths passed the other way. The only respite was when the road would temporarily split into a divided highway. Then my only concern was being passed by them going my way.

Thankfully, the back draft from that is a lot easier to handle.

As I type this, my left arm and shoulder feel like they're about to call a wildcat strike on my body.

The craziest part of the day came as I was finally getting close enough to Lubbock to see road signs announcing its distance -- 145 miles.

It was about 3:30 PM and time was tight to make it there before nightfall. With the amount of VERY fresh roadkill I had seen already for the day, the last thing I wanted was to be part of that carnage for tomorrow's travellers to witness.

As I left a small town I saw an Alternative Route sign for the highway I was taking -- US 183. The sign looked very old, so I didn't worry about it, and kept on my chosen route. The GPS was showing 18 miles until the turn off for US 82 -- the main road into Lubbock -- and my home stretch for today's ride.

About 1/2 mile up the road from the Alt Route marker, was a large temporary electronic sign announcing the road was closed 17 miles ahead.

17 miles?

My GPS said my turn off was 18 miles. Maybe there's a mixup?

Who announces a road closure 17 miles away!

So I dismiss the whole concern and keep riding. I'm still trying to beat the sun.

About 5 miles down the road i see another sign mentioning the road closure 12 miles ahead. Okay. So at least they are consistent. 
My GPS is still showing my turn off to be 1 mile beyond this closure.

Hmmm.. 

I mull it over in my brain, and when I catch myself, the next sign I see announces the road closure again.
This time closer - 6 miles ahead.

And with more details  -- the bridge is out.

So now, I'm thinking "should I turn back?" 
"How do I deal with a missing bridge?"

I have never done a river crossing before.

The sun is setting. 

If I double back now, I'll certainly get caught out after sundown.

New sign "Bridge Out 3 miles ahead. Local traffic only"

I'm thinking "Why haven't I passed anyone, in either direction since that detour?"

"Maybe because you're the only putz-head on the road today!"

And then a wonderful thought kicks in. This could be really cool. 
I mean, I came for an adventure right?

What's more adventurous than fording a river upstream from a washed out bridge in the middle of the semi-arid plains of Texas.

You couldn't wipe the grin off my face to save your life.

Yes, I decide. Let's DO THIS! (At times I am such a boy -- I know :)

When I finally reach the end of the road, indeed I can see the old broken bridge on the bottom of the gully, and my turn off about a mile beyond, just up the hill -- right where my GPS promised it would be.

The road is indeed blocked off with road barricades. And there are workmen with heavy equipment -- front loaders, graders, a bulldozer and a few dump trucks -- all hard at work rebuilding this road. It looks like the bridge itself has already been rebuilt, but it won't be ready for car traffic until it get a few more layers of asphalt laid down.

I look to the east side of the bridge, and see that there's a dirt track. It looks like it does down to the river bed.

This is too cool!

So, I ride past the barricades, picking carefully along the rough dirt.
The driver of the bulldozer looks over to me and gives me a thumbs up sign! 

Yeaahhh, baby!!

Time to stand up to keep the weight low on the bike.

I am still grinning.

I get to the top of the incline and head down to the water. The river is DRY!!

I can get across to the other side easily.

And just like THAT! it's done.

I left out one huge WHOOP! (I really must stop yelling inside my own helmet :)

My gamble paid off!

I ride up the far bank, and pick slowly along the dirt track away from the construction site.

I feel my adventure has truly begun.

Today's mileage: 500 kms (exactly!)

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As always, comments are not just welcome, but really, really, really desired. Let me know who's reading this stuff. All feedback, comments, suggestions are welcome. Tell me what you'd like me to focus on, what I've been neglecting. And what I should never mention again.

Thanks







3 comments:

  1. Nephew very very proud of you, more belly than a calabash! Your companion would just rub your tired legs dont think you need anything more.

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  2. Wish these old harley riders we down there wwith you, sounds like a wonderful adventure. Of course our heavy would have had to take the alt route, dry river bed still would not handle the weight. Be careful but have an exciting time.

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  3. I am doing all I can to keep myself safe. After all, I'm trying to save all the best stories for tell AFTER I return ... so I have to keep the rubber side down! :)

    Can you guys send me a picture of your bike and trailer combo? A lot of folks have been asking to see it :) Email to darren AT darrenbaptiste.com

    Cheers, and thanks for reading!

    ReplyDelete