Our original plan to get an “alpine start” and ride by moonlight was tempered by dinner the night before and the need to get fuel and breakfast the next morning. 5am found us getting ready to ride and by 5:40 we had made it almost 2 miles to the Exxon for gas and What-A-Burger for breakfast.
Mototex on his KTM 950 took the call to lead us through the early morning darkness. We had used Friday afternoon to familiarize ourselves with the section we would be riding in the dark so our most difficult challenge was coping with the 50 degree temperatures. Four bikes riding the darkened lanes was a surreal experience, especially for me riding sweep and watching the headlights against the road and forest. We all of us enjoyed watching a beautiful red sunrise.
We had decided to tough it out in the early part of the ride so we wouldn’t have to stop and take off gear as the day heated up, but by the time we reached the Weches cemetery cold fingers brought out the glove liners for a couple of us.
Mototex led us the rest of the way to Apple Springs where we stopped for fuel. There was a group of high schoolers selling baked goods for a fund raiser and RollingJ was the first to go over and support the local economy with a purchase. (The cookies were good!)
I led through the next section down to Moscow. During our ride in August the section along Sailor and Hamilton road was completely torn up by the logging trucks and it was the first section where we expected to be slowed by road conditions this time. Rain from the previous week and local traffic had packed the sand and instead of finding a foot of fluffy sugar we found solid ground with good traction. Since we had been led off course by the GPS in past we ignored any suggestion to cross fences or run off into the brush and kept to the road and other than wet feet from the water crossing we made Moscow without any trouble.
The ride from Moscow to Colmesneil was quick and uneventful. We had agreed to stop for fuel once we had passed 75 miles and those stops would be our only breaks. This choice was the only downside to the ride because to keep pace we left many a Kodak moment behind.
At Colmesneil we encountered a problem that was to plague us the whole way. It seems that Exxon keeps track of how often a credit card is being used at their stores and frequent use requires face to face authorization with the clerk in the store. This first happened to me at Colmesneil, but Silverbullet was caught by the same problem by the time we reached St. Augustine.
Mototex led the next section from Colmesneil to The Stump for lunch where we stuffed ourselves before heading off toward Hemphill and fuel. The section of road up to Sandy Hill Cemetery was in good shape and riding through the open cuts gave us some perspective on the land that we had missed in the more forested areas in Crocket National Forest.
RollingJ led us through the beginning of the final leg from Bean’s Camp back to Rusk. We started with a spirited run through the potholes down 9 Mile road. I stopped to video some of our ride but sadly the quality makes it not worth sharing.
By the time we neared St Augustine we I was running low on gas so we decided to take the short detour into town. There we had the problem with the Exxon gas pumps that we had experienced earlier. Mototex took over and led us up and along the caliche roads through the oil fields.
The caliche was a major problem and those at us at the back of the line were catching a lot of dust. It was here that we ran into a hunter on a four wheeler who was doing all he could to keep ahead of us. Sadly he just didn’t have the horsepower to get the job done and we passed him two by two, unintentionally turning his camo a stark white with the dust.
There was surprisingly little traffic. Few dogs chased us and apart from a couple of incidents, deer were seen but no real threat. All but one driver that we caught allowed us to pass once they realized they were blocking the narrow roads.
We stopped one more time in Garrison for a final fuel stop then rode on through the dappled light of sunset and into the darkness, negotiating the last few dusty roads in the cool evening air. As a group we were torn between finishing up quickly and taking our time on this last stretch. In balance we kept about the same pace we had carried throughout the day. We had talked about going back to the Exxon in Rusk to complete the circle but decided that idea was overkill.
Other than me leaving Colmesneil without buckling my helmet and RollingJ leaving his camelback in Garrison we rode the whole trip cleanly. Weather during the ride was pleasant and we had no breakdowns to slow us.
We rode with a minimum of stops for sightseeing, routing checking or other business. In the end our overall average speed was 35 mph and our moving average was 41.5. We were on the road for a little over 12 hours and spent almost 11 of that in the saddle.
It was good to see everyone at Rusk and nice to meet a few faces I had known only form the internet. I’d like to say thanks to Timbercat for organizing the trip. Also thanks to RollingJ, MotoTex and Silverbullet for sharing the ride.
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