I took a ride. About a 700 miles worth of ride through the piney woods of east Texas. Started out of Dallas and went to Edom, Texas where I have some old friends who are a part of an artist colony there. I had a good visit and left after lunch down 314 to 315, a road/ride featured in Ride Texas a few months back. I had driven it several times dreaming of riding it: it did not disappoint. The road has some nice elevation changes with twists and turns tucked into the woods and farmland. I stopped a few times to refuel and hydrate and always was asked about the bike. “Nice.”
I stayed on the back roads past Palestine and Elkhart and rode down through the Davy Crocket Nat’l Forest then moved east to the Angelina Forest. I knew I wanted to run down through the Big Thicket off the Neches River so I swung over to Jasper. There I spent the night at Martin Dies, Jr. State Park. The state parks in Texas are well maintained, from my point of view, and the only disturbance I had was guys stopping by the campsite asking about the bike, how far I come, where was I headed, etc.
A cold front came in that night and the next morning the winds were strong. I had come ready for the cold and as long as I was headed south the wind proved, most of the time, to work to my advantage. But after running down the roads tracing Pine Island Bayou I turned west out of Beaumont on I-10 headed for Winnie. The wind became problematic. I will say the bike held its line, yes; I had to lean into the wind and stay vigilant, but the skidmasters did OK (yes, I'm still riding the skidmasters). This was a good, that the bike could hold in a crosswind, because I jockeyed over to High Island and shot down the Bolivar Peninsula to catch the ferry to Galveston. There are only sand dunes and the Galveston Bay and between the north wind and the Gulf of Mexico on the Peninsula, with the exception of State Hwy 87.
I am amazed the two lane state roads are now 70 and 75 mph here in Texas. I stay off the interstate because I like the back roads, but as I shot back up to Dallas from Galveston a few days later I felt safer on the super-slab because cars and trucks have a lane to pass me. I also didn't have to deal with the oncoming windwash of trucks moving at 75 to 80. I may have to rethink some of my philosophy.