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Stevo Sneaky Snake South

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KsTeveM

KsTeveM

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Joined
Dec 8, 2014
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Location
San Marcos, Texas
First Name
Steve
Last Name
Pylant
Weather looked good this past weekend. I could squeeze in a day ride. I haven’t done that in a while. Since the adventure bug bit me several years ago, I like to do at least 2 day rides and that usually takes me into the Hill Country because.....well it’s the Hill Country and I like the dirt when you get out even further west. And I have some cool people to stay with out that way. I also think that once you commit to ride for a few days, you don’t mind the time involved to finally get far enough away from the bigger cities/counties to get on some nice dirt. But truth be told, I can get to dirt much faster leaving my house and going south. So that’s what I did. Out the gate, meandered on some backroad pavement.

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Stop when I feel like it, look at what I feel like looking at.

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I didn’t have a prescribed route, which is abnormal for me. Every now and then I just adlib, which is what happened on this ride. My general idea was to avoid any bigger cities while hitting as much dirt as I could. Leave my house which is in between San Marcos and Seguin, head south towards Nixon/Gillett, roll northeast towards Shiner, head north towards Waelder, work my way west back home in the Zorn area. So off I went, meandering south of Seguin, Nockenut area. Or is it NockEnut? It’s the former, but I like saying it all goofy.

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Ahhh, dirt. It's funny I feel more secure on the dirt and actually ride faster.

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I jumped a nilgai in the Gillett area but he was shy and ran off too quick. They are so goofy looking, like a gray giraffe with a quarter of the neck. He was hanging out with a herd of longhorns. This guy wasn’t shy, perspective isn’t good in the pic, but he was pretty stout…..and giving me the stink eye.

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I started getting into the heart of the eagle ford in these parts. This landscape is forever changed that is for sure. And a lot of big houses and barns are in these parts that weren’t here 10 years ago. Funny how that works.

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It’s been a couple years since I rode down this way, I think I was on my 701 last time. Lot less oil field traffic this run, like hardly any. These dirt roads have finally recovered a bit. And you don't have to worry about eating an 18 wheeler every 5 minutes.

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There was a 25% chance of rain. Well I can tell you, I 100% got rained on. It wasn’t awful, didn't last long and I liked the dust being settled. Things were a little snotty here and there along the southern edge of my ride, had to stay on my toes, or my knobs as it were.

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A ride like this still has quite a bit of pavement involved but I was able to stitch a lot of good dirt into it. I hate all the stops, turns, jig jags involved, but part of the game for the seeker of dirt. This ride doesn't have the topography of the hill country but it is still pretty in its own way.

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I stop every now and then and get off the bike, look around. I like contemplating past lives and the effort that went into settling an area.

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I use my GPS to look for dirt roads, drop waypoints for about 30 miles of riding in the general area I want to go, knock it out, regroup and drop more pins. This method no doubt ensures I see some new stuff since I am doing it on the fly. But I was still surprised how often I was on familiar roads I have done before. Long stretches of dotted lines still attract my brain whether planned or on the fly.

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Have to watch the bigger rivers and plan those moves to make use of bridges. This was one such spot in the Cuero area.

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Some really nice oak trees out here. And all day I didn’t see hardly any ice damage. They didn't get the temps/moisture down here I guess.

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I was thinking about how cool some of these dirt stretches are. I didn’t see a single rider all day. I think most riders overlook this zone. I bet the hill country was buzzing with riders this weekend.

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I’m running my smaller gas tank on this run. I bought a huge tank a couple months ago but in my troubleshooting of the mayonnaise in my coolant system, I took it back off. The bike didn’t make mayo the first couple rides I went on when I got it, wanted to make sure it wasn’t something I altered, pinched etc. So, the fuel thing. I didn’t feel like riding into Nixon, nor Cuero…..I felt I could get to the Shiner area without it. I got smack in the middle where there is no gas, Concrete area, and my low fuel light came on. Doh, I knew I should have brought a fuel bottle!!

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How far can you go? Oops, I already went 110 miles. I googled Shiner, 20 miles away. That’s probably not a good idea. Yoakum was 10 miles…….

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They picked me up, will be a little bit for the rest of the report. Or maybe that is a complete fabrication? If breaking down out there would result in them picking me up, I would have bought a Sam's sized bottle of mayo, rode a 100 miles into the middle of nowhere, and squeezed it into the radiator myself.

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So you're not going to tell us if you ran out of gas or not. Depending on how long that fuel light had been on, 10 miles to Yoakum seems doable.
 
Used to be an awesome texmex restaurant in kingsbury called Ray's cafe. Mama Ray would have the kids in charge by now if it still exists. Oye...that was some first rate comida.
 
Where were we, oh yes, tip toing towards Yoakum. Still stitching in dirt and trying to take it easy on the rpms. I wasn't certain when the gas light came on.

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Have you ever rolled into Yoakum on fumes? Me neither. Have you ever got gas next to a Dairy Queen and walked over and got some ice cream? Yeah, me neither. BTW, this tank is 3.7 gallons, I pumped in 3.5. No I did not get a triple truffle blizzard, I don’t ride a KLR.

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Gas solved, I can put my mind back to dirt. I plotted my next moves, while not eating ice cream.

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Right out the gate, the forces that be were trying to stop me. I’m pretty sure that sign is for cars…..and KLRs.

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I walked it and made note of the soft mud right under a layer of crust in spots, picked my line and cleaned it on the bike. Kind of fun. Not sure if it was because I was doing something I wasn’t supposed to do or because it was a fun little maneuver. Sad we Texans have to resort to this sort of thing. And last issue, if you bobble the exit, you will impale yourself on the rebar.

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And back on “good” dirt. Texas style good dirt.

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And back to checking out some history.

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And back on some good dirt.

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And some more history. This one really made me daydream about living at that time and the light that institute must have been out here in the middle of nowhere.

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Goofy little steel mesh bridge. Made me think about being careful in the wet. On that note, make sure you guys square up on cattle guards and funky bridges. You don’t want to have your front slide out. Eating dirt is one thing. I also saw somebody on the gas as they crossed a wet cattle guard years back, they spun out the rear and almost high sided at a 90 degree angle. Situational awareness is key out there, give bridges and cattle guards your full attention. That way if they look like a good jump, you can romp it before you hit them. Safety first.

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Annnnnd more dirt.

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I like old bridges. This one surely had Model Ts and probably wagon traffic in its day. Maybe hauling moon shine?

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Pretty cool how nature has been working on this guy, trying to take back over. And it looks like it will win.

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This is my Pulitzer award winning shot. The old bridge, the tree taking over, the sun peeking out between the branches…..and if you look for it, the Super Enduro in the background all in one shot. I’m for hire if you need me to ride with you and take pics. You have to pay me in Hawaiian Tropic and Coors Light.

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Onward, you got it, more dirt. Really turned into a pretty afternoon.

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Is this what they call a Texas sky? Just looks normal to me.

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Got into a cool little zone that had pine trees here and there. Makes, sense, I’m probably only about 25 miles from Bastrop the way the crow flies. This soil obviously works well for them.

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This next patch of dirt, I’ve been running it for years. Probably the best “public” dirt in these parts, cause the county doesn’t maintain it. In the last year or so, signage and gates have gone up but the gates have remained open. You know the old guy in your neighborhood when you were a kid that would yell at you for riding your bike through his yard….and using his hose to get a drink……he moved out here.

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It’s only about 4 miles long, but really fun. Gates were open on both ends and it was glorious…..sand, pine trees, jumps, wheelies…..hypothetically, cause I turned around.

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I usually stop in this little town, McMahan, and get a cold beverage at the old post office. But it was getting late and I needed to scoot on home. I probably could have made it….but I didn’t want to play that gas game again, so I filled up for the third time today and pushed on. Be glad when I can put my super tanker tank back on.

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This old bridge is in better shape than the last one. I wish all counties kept the old bridge intact, next to the new ones they build.

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This ride is winding down, stitching in pavement, crossing 183, and still catching some dirt. I was surprised I was tired and ready for it to be over. Looked down, approaching 250 miles for the day. Decent chunk of miles and good to do frequently to keep your mind and body in the habit. Knocking out 250 miles going 70mph in a straight line is easy. What I did takes twice as long, if not more.

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Last stretch of dirt in these parts, decent road and it means I’m only about 10 miles from the house. That’s about all I have to say about this ride. Thought some others might enjoy seeing what you can do closer to home for folks that live in the Austin, San Marcos, New Braunfels areas. I made a note (note to self), I’m going to run this general route again in the Spring when things green up and the flowers start doing their thing. Might even make it a two day ride, I know some peeps that live southerly and I might could stay in their dog house. Me thinks there is more dirt in my future down south!!!

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As always, Steve, good riding locations, good story telling, and good pics. I also took a long ride Sunday with my riding buddy who is breaking in his brand new KTM690 Enduro. You know better than anyone that it's a good idea to have a fellow rider accompany you on such rides because anyone on a KTM is rolling the dice as far as break downs are concerned.:trust: We're in Abilene, but I took him to some big hills just east a few miles. At one of our stops, he looked around and said..."man, this could be the hill country"...and he was right. We rode until dark, and I find I'm enjoying and appreciating this XR650L more each ride.

Your unauthorized route around the construction site was cool. Funny, we hit a stretch of I-20 as it got dark to get back home. As we rounded a bend, there was traffic backed up as far as I could see. No problem, right? Even though we were at one of those points where the embankment is high and steep right after a crossover, we just hit the gas and hill climbed that baby like nothing. About 100 yards back at the crossover there was a dirt road that I was familiar with, and we continued our homeward bound travels. Sometimes all you need is a dirt bike, right?:D
 
KsTeveM said:
Pics or it didn’t happen!!
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Opps... I thought you were talking about your gas situation, but I now i think you were commenting about @TNC ride. Got no pics of that.
 
KsTeveM said:
Pics or it didn’t happen!!
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LOL!...Yeah, I have gotten terrible at taking pics of my rides. Over many years they just end up in an album that doesn't get looked at..."album?...yes, showing my age...or they sit in the computer. I've gotten to a point where I'm just enjoying the ride and rarely even think of photos anymore. It's kind of liberating to tell the truth. Believe it or not I was heavily invested in film photography back in the day with a nice Nikon equipped kit. Even won a couple of city wide photography competitions and had some photos make the local paper over time. "Photography"..."newspaper"...yes, the language of dinosaurs. :lol2:
 
Liberating…..I get it. It crosses my mind, especially when I’m on good stuff. But over time the rides blend together. And unless something went wrong, you forget the nuances of each ride, each day, each cool hour etc. Pics really take me back. I agree, we need to get better at “album” making. Forums are cool, as long as you don’t lose your content. And I like the concept of making a coffee table book out of the big annual rides. Something for me to work on, a better account of my exploits. I wish forums had an archive button. Long live TWT!
 
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NICE! BTW, there is some cool camping available buy reservztion at Medina River Natural Area if you need something down that way. Has a pavilion you can sleep under so no tent required.
 
Nice write-up and pics. Enjoyed reading some of the details of local history about the schoolhouses and cemeteries and early settlers. By sharing the historical sign photos, those things probably got more eyeballs than they have in the last year or more. Also nice to see some familiar spots from our ride last fall. Glad to see you're enjoying that super enduro, but just remember, as indicated in the photo above it takes two to get the Hawaiian Tropic bus to stop - so call me next time and we'll hit the dirt together.
 
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