{"id":63004,"date":"2026-10-08T04:46:51","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T04:46:51","guid":{"rendered":"urn:motra-oct3:MOTRA:4"},"modified":"2026-10-09T21:36:51","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T21:36:51","slug":"motra-motra-october-2005-the-great-r-a-t-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/motorcyclesontheroadagain.com\/?p=63004","title":{"rendered":"Backroads \u2014 The Great R.A.T."},"content":{"rendered":"

Originally published in Motorcycles On The Road Again, October 2005.<\/em><\/p>\n\n

If you took a trip from Chicago to Cheyenne, then to Denver, Albuquerque, Amarillo, Memphis, Nashville, Louisville and Indianapolis before returning to Chicago it would be a 3,100 mile trip.<\/p>\n\n

That is how far it is just to Ride Around Texas \u2014 over 3,100 miles!<\/p>\n\n

Earlier this year our staff, along with 10 guest bikes, set out to do a Ride Around Texas (RAT) \u2014 following the perimeter of the state and staying (for the most part) just inside the state line.<\/p>\n\n

Conclusion: Texas is a really, really big state!<\/p>\n\n

The Great RAT as we called it was one of those things that you do “because it is there” and it is a once-in-a-lifetime trip.<\/p>\n\n

Sure, everyone knows that Texas is an incredibly large state. But to experience its vastness from the seat of a motorcycle makes it all the more real. From the southernmost point to the northernmost point of the ride was over 800 miles, the east to west span exceeded 850 miles.<\/p>\n\n

The temperature ranged from the low 40’s in Canyon to 106 in Study Butte, luckily for us the weather held good for the entire 10 days and we had bright sunny days and never got rained on.<\/p>\n\n

Idea #1. A Ride Around Texas. Ever since I heard about another group that did this I knew it was something I had to try. A chance to see a whole lot of Texas and to get a real feel for the diversity of the state.<\/p>\n\n

Idea #2. Extend an open invitation to all bikes and all bikers to join the magazine for all, or part, of the trip. Sounds risky, taking people you don’t know and inviting them to spend 10 days with you. But with a strong belief that all bikers have common ground in their love of riding we decided to try it.<\/p>\n\n

So, a couple of months before the trip date we sent an email to over 5,000 bikers with an open invitation to join us. At one point it looked as if we would have 50 bikes on the ride but as time, schedules and other considerations kicked in the list settled down to about 10 bikes for the entire trip and another 15-20 that would join for a portion of the ride \u2014 and not just Harleys either, Triumph, Yamaha, Gold Wing, BMW, and the Honda Valkyrie were all represented.<\/p>\n\n

Day 1, Houston \u2014 Center 360 miles<\/p>\n\n

Coffee! Give me coffee! After a year of planning, only to have the earlier trip cancelled due to heart surgery, the day had finally arrived to begin my dream trip. The Great RAT ride. (RAT is the acronym for Ride Around Texas) Not across Texas, not through Texas but AROUND Texas. The goal was to follow close to the border around the entire perimeter of the state \u2014 a total distance of over 3,100 miles. May 13th, 8:00 a.m. exactly and we give the signal to “head ’em up, move ’em out!”. (Okay, maybe you are not old enough to have watched the old wagon train series with a much younger Clint Eastwood as “Rowdy Yates”.) Our initial ride had a total of 9 bikes, although 3 would be riding with us for this first day only.<\/p>\n\n

We had chosen a counter-clockwise path around Texas, we wanted to save the Big Bend and Davis Mountain loop riding for near the end of the trip.<\/p>\n\n

The route this first day would take us slightly southwest in order to pick up the Blue water Highway from Angleton to Galveston. The first scheduled stop was in Angleton to visit Goe Harley-Davidson, make sure everything was okay and give the die hard Harley riders a chance to pick up a souvenir T-shirt from one more Harley store. Howard Goe was his customary gracious self and welcomed the group with a pot of fresh coffee.<\/p>\n\n

Another half hour beyond Goe’s we topped the bridge leading into Surfside and were greeted by a stunning view of the Gulf of Mexico. From here we had about a 35 mile ride along the Blue water Highway with almost a constant view of the ocean.<\/p>\n\n

At the Galveston ferry landing, after a brief stop for photos along the seawall, we were ready to load up for a free ferry ride across the Houston Ship Channel to the Bolivar Peninsula. We were joined at the ferry by Ken and Peggy Lanterman who would make the trip with us.<\/p>\n\n

To our left as we rode onto the Bolivar Peninsula was the 117′ lighthouse built in 1872 and manned until 1937. Another 25 miles along the coast and then time to make a turn to the north and head up towards East Texas.<\/p>\n\n

Cowboy HD in Beaumont was a “must stop” for some of the group before having a good seafood dinner at Baytown Seafood. The after lunch run from Beaumont to Center was an afternoon of noneventful riding through the pine forests of the area. Following a morning of ocean view riding we were now treated to roads that seemed to slice canyon-like through the tall pines, bayous, swamps, creeks and lakes. Beyond the Big Thicket National Preserve we followed a route that took us between the giant lakes of the Sam Rayburn Reservoir and the Toledo Bend Reservoir \u2014 truly a fishermen’s paradise. By the time we arrived at the Best Western in Center we had done about 360 miles and were looking forward to cooling off beside the pool.<\/p>\n\n

Day 2. Center to Gainesville – 317 miles.<\/p>\n\n

The second day of a trip is always interesting it is then you see who can be ready on time and who is always running late and holding everyone else up. With this group we were in for a pleasant surprise \u2014 the departure time of 8:00 a.m. arrived and everyone was ready to roll and everyone continued to be ready on time for each day of the trip. Thanks, gang!<\/p>\n\n

This morning would take us through East Texas almost to the Oklahoma line \u2014 with a lunch time turn to the west. East Texas provided more good riding through the pine forests. As we rode along I kept noticing all of the side roads leading off through the trees and thought how much fun it would be to just come up here and wander around the back roads for a few days.<\/p>\n\n

At New Boston we picked up US 82 for a run that would carry us west to Gainesville for the night. This first part of US 82 was right through the heart of Texas’ horse country. There were well-kept ranches with grassy pastures that almost looked like golf courses and some of the “purdiest” horses you could ever see. It was still early spring so we got to enjoy seeing a lot of young colts frolicking in the pastures, playing like a bunch of kids.<\/p>\n\n

Obviously this area was settled by people who came west and wanted their town names to remind them of where they had come from; Atlanta, Paris, New Boston, Mount Vernon, Naples, Linden, New London, De Kalb, and Omaha. The other thing that surprised us in some of these counties was their method of naming county roads with a 5-digit name \u2014 CR 44880, CR 44900. Did they think they were going to have so many roads that they would run out of names if they used fewer digits?<\/p>\n\n

A late lunch at Paris preceded an afternoon of riding the grasslands across these great prairies, zipping along at modern highway speeds we wondered what the early settlers thought as they spent day after day in their wagons crossing this area with a view that never seemed to change. After Paris the long, rolling hills, occasional curves and near perfect weather made for a very pleasant afternoon of riding. This was another 350-mile day so by early afternoon we were checking into the Best Western in Gainesville. We had been down to 6 bikes today but tonight Mark, Sandy, Dean and Patti would be riding in directly from Houston and joining us.<\/p>\n\n

This was another picture perfect evening by the pool, the weather for tomorrow was looking perfect and the group had really been starting to know each other and become friends.<\/p>\n\n

For dinner we decided to try Luigi’s, an Italian place close to the motel. We were not disappointed at all. The hot bread was absolutely delicious and the food was outstanding. Tonight’s dinner was going to set a high standard against which to measure other meals during the trip.<\/p>\n\n

Day 3. Gainesville \u2014 Canyon 357 miles<\/p>\n\n

Uh oh. In spite of the crystal clear weather the evening before this was looking ugly! The group took one look at the skies and resigned themselves to the fact they would probably have to ride through rain today. It had also turned out to be almost unpleasantly chilly. A quick ride up through Wichita Falls and then northeast to Red River. One of our riders, Jim Borg, had arranged for the Red River Harley-Davidson to open up this Sunday morning just so our group could visit the shop. Coffee, orange juice and doughnuts had been brought in to welcome us. After a morning of chilly, rain-threatening weather this was a welcome sight.<\/p>\n\n

The visit to Red River Harley-Davidson was a lot of fun and they certainly made our group feel welcome but with miles to go, and the weather looking nasty we had to get on the road again. Our route would now take us to Vernon where we would pick up US 70 all the way to Plainview. As we left Vernon the weather began looking even worse and the temperature continued to drop. It was just spitting rain when we stopped for gas in Lockett and to find out where a good place to eat was. The lady’s response was “Thar’s a restaurant in Plainview, for sure (150 miles) and I think there might be one in Paducah (50 miles) but I ain’t shore they are open on Sunday.”<\/p>\n\n

We were hungry, the rain had stopped and the roads were good with no traffic other than us. We made it a very quick trip to Paducah where we arrived at Cracker’s Restaurant just as they were getting ready to close. The owners were great and welcomed our group in as they worked to cook more food to put on the buffet line. This was good, home cooking at its best, and almost unbelievably inexpensive.<\/p>\n\n

After consuming too much good food it was time to make a 100 mile ride to Plainview. The one thing we were constantly reminding the group of was that gas stations would get further and further apart and it was important to top off their tanks frequently. This would turn out to be a lesson some would learn easily and some would learn on the side of the road out in the salt flats of West Texas while pouring gas from a plastic gas can.<\/p>\n\n

The ride to Plainview was a very pleasant Sunday afternoon motorcycle ride. Plainview was the point at which we would turn due north and head towards the upper reaches of the Texas Panhandle. Plainview to Canyon was a non-stop 60 mile ride up I-27. The weather in front of us looked like a “blue norther” was headed our way. The temperature had become a little unpleasant again. The entire group just wanted to get to Canyon, stay dry and get warm. This was no time for stopping!<\/p>\n\n

Too bad I had ignored one of the things I learned when I turned fifty \u2014 “never pass up a chance to use the restroom!”<\/p>\n\n

Canyon was one of our first of several anticipated stops on the trip, this was where we would get to see the Palo Duro Canyon and we were really looking forward to it.<\/p>\n\n

One thing to be glad of, in spite of a full day of threatening weather we hadn’t gotten rained on, we had dodged a big bullet with that one!<\/p>\n\n

Day 4. Canyon \u2014 Pecos \u2014 377 miles.<\/p>\n\n

Monday morning broke foggy and cold \u2014 right at 40 degrees. The 8:30 a.m. start seemed almost unreasonable in this weather. The ride out to Palo Duro gave me the chance to try out the heated grips and heated seats on my new BMW. Wow, they were great! It was easy to see how a person could add heated clothing and be able to ride in almost any kind of weather.<\/p>\n\n

The Palo Duro Canyon is a surprise. The land is flat and you just don’t expect the sudden change in terrain when you get to the canyon. The first view of the canyon will elicit an audible gasp from just about anyone. The view is just awesome! Even this day, with the overcast skies and the cold weather it was stunning. The photo ops at the overlook on the rim provided a chance to capture some great pictures. But we were anxious to ride the road that snaked down to the floor of the canyon. Even on a motorcycle this was some white knuckle riding we descended along the edge of sheer drops. The group reassembled on the floor of the canyon to breathe a collective sigh of relief. The sun was finally beginning to break through a little as we rode the loop around the floor of the canyon. No bridges here, we crossed one low water crossing after the other. The views continued to overwhelm us as each turn brought on a totally new vista.<\/p>\n\n

After a couple of hours and aware of how far we still had to go today, we sent Chris, our photographer, on ahead to find a good vantage point from which he could record our ride back up the serpentine road leading out of the canyon. Palo Duro Canyon is one of the “must see” places in Texas.<\/p>\n\n

From the Palo Duro Canyon more plains and grasslands brings you to the Hereford area \u2014 the largest concentration of feedlots in the entire state of Texas. You won’t need a map to find Hereford, Texas all you need to do is to “follow your nose”. (Note: I don’t care how many cans of air freshener you have they ain’t gonna help!) Next time you sit down and enjoy a huge steak you can probably thank the people of Hereford for making it possible \u2014 or at least making it much larger.<\/p>\n\n

We had an opportunity to meet some of the locals when we stopped at Baldo’s Mexican Restaurant in Hereford for lunch and they were a friendly, welcoming bunch of people \u2014 and some of the most delicious Fajitas that I have ever tasted!<\/p>\n\n

After a long, leisurely morning in the Canyon the day was starting to get away from us. We realized that it was after 1:00 p.m. and we still had almost 300-miles to ride. When we left Hereford we headed due south towards Odessa and what we hoped would be warmer weather.<\/p>\n\n

This afternoon was an afternoon of riding “hell bent for leather” to avoid being on the road after dark. There is so much wildlife in the desert that night riding was not something we wanted to do. Although the scenery didn’t change much the weather sure did as we clicked off mile after mile and noticed that the temperature was constantly increasing. The plan was to go to Odessa and then head west to the Monahans Sandhills State Park. Because it was going to be too late for the State Park to be open we opted for a shortcut at Andrews that would take us on a more direct route to Pecos and avoid I-20. This turned out to be a good change in the route. The road passed through the heart of some of the sand hills. This is not “bleeding heart liberals” country and these sand dunes had been sliced and diced by all manner of dirt bike, dune buggy, quad runners and anything else that man can invent to have fun on sand with.<\/p>\n\n

The road was lined with wild flowers and the cactus and the mesquite were in bloom. This had been a rainy spring and the desert was arrayed in all its glory.<\/p>\n\n

Just after 5:00 p.m. we pulled in to the Best Western Swiss Clock Inn at Pecos. The cold weather of earlier today was now just a memory wiped out by the blistering sun that we had been riding almost directly in to for the past hour. Pool time!<\/p>\n\n

In Pecos Tim Jackson and Henry and Judy Morton joined us, they had been riding the Texas Hill Country for a couple of days and had cut across the state to join our group in Pecos.<\/p>\n\n

Day 5. Pecos \u2014 El Paso \u2014 250 miles<\/p>\n\n

About 60 miles out of Pecos we left Texas for a few miles to take a side jaunt into Carlsbad, New Mexico. With 80 miles already behind us this would be a mandatory gas stop because the stretch from here to El Paso would be through some very sparsely populated areas. Since my BMW has a range of 300 miles on a tank I decided not to gas up. Mudbug figured he could make another 160 on his Harley and also decided not to gas up \u2014 although I reminded him he had already ridden 80 miles and we had 160 to go and I hadn’t met a Harley yet with a range of 250 miles. Oh well, his call.<\/p>\n\n

The actual Carlsbad Caverns area outside of the town of Carlsbad is a very touristy spot. We knew we didn’t have the time to spend several hours underground so we bypassed the cavern area and headed straight for Guadalupe Mountains National Park. I had seen pictures for years in Texas Highways magazine and was looking forward to riding through the mountains. What Texas Highways did not say in the articles was that the views shown were all accessible only by hiking or horseback. Basically, the only choice you have in a vehicle is to park at the base of El Capitan, look up and enjoy its grandeur! This was a big disappointment to say the least.<\/p>\n\n

One area of the Guadalupe Mountains National Park that is accessible is McKittrick Canyon. This was home to one of the early settlers and the canyon, tucked in against the mountains is very scenic. It was also an area that had water and was much cooler than the rest of the area \u2014 a natural place for someone to want to live. The canyon provides a lushness rare in this part of Texas.<\/p>\n\n

Just past the park headquarters is a scenic overlook with a grand view of the valley to the west, the salt flats and the majesty of the El Capitan peak. It is easy to see why the early travelers in this region used El Capitan as a landmark by which they navigated the Chihuahuan Desert.<\/p>\n\n

‘How much further to El Paso?” Mudbug asked. “About 110 miles”, I replied, “Why?” “Because I don’t think I have enough gas to make it”<\/p>\n\n

A quick look at the map didn’t look hopeful, names like Dell Jct. and Salt Flat identified extremely small dots. There was nothing to do but to keep going. Thirty miles later things were looking even more bleak as we stopped for a break beside some abandoned buildings which we quickly dubbed the “Motel Mudbug” and assessed the fuel situation. Mudbug and Dean were perilously low; John with his small tank on his Triumph was almost out.<\/p>\n\n

We decided to use the 3 gallon can we had with us to split among those with the most critical shortage. If anyone ran out we could transport one bike on the trailer, if any more ran out we would have to send the truck on ahead to find fuel.<\/p>\n\n

Just past Salt Flat it was a very relieved group that spotted a small store\/gas station at Dell Jct. They had only one grade of gas, regular. The price anywhere else would have been considered exorbitant but out here, in our situation, it seemed like a great bargain. This time no one had to be asked to gas up!<\/p>\n\n

A special thanks to Derek and Rosy Cummings who live out here and operate the Dell Jct. store and gas station. It must be a lonely existence but they are providing a much-appreciated service.<\/p>\n\n

Beyond Dell Jct. was a long, straight road. According to my guesstimate the road was over 30 miles without a hint of a curve or turn of any kind. At the end it was capped with a long, uphill grade that had us running directly into a strong headwind. The steepness of the grade combined with battling the headwind dropped the speed of the group to a point that it was a struggle to run 60 mph \u2014 except of course for my BMW K1200 LT that took little notice of the incline or the wind.<\/p>\n\n

That was followed by some serious foothills with curvy roads and “oops, I didn’t mean to change lanes” kind of crosswinds.<\/p>\n\n

After battling the crosswinds the group was tired and hungry, it had been about 8 hours since we ate in Pecos. Out there, though, there was no choice but to press on. Finally as we got to the eastern reaches of El Paso we found a restaurant, “Salsa’s”, that met our two criteria; 1. It was open. 2. It had air-conditioning.<\/p>\n\n

The food was outstanding, the iced tea was cold and the place was cool. “Let’s just stay here.”<\/p>\n\n

After a long rest break at Salsa’s we had to move on to our stop for the night. This was a go to the pool, go to dinner and go back to the pool kind of night.<\/p>\n\n

Day 6. El Paso \u2014 Alpine \u2014 330 miles.<\/p>\n\n

Today would be fun, today we would ride the Davis Mountain Loop \u2014 about 100 miles of exciting mountain riding.<\/p>\n\n

But first, we had to get from El Paso to Van Horn. A route that took us east on I-10 for about 80 miles of trying to avoid getting run over by speeding 18-wheelers. It was like an arcade game only it wasn’t any fun at all. Never again will I take I-10 east from El Paso if there is any other feasible route!<\/p>\n\n

Lunch at Van Horn, a fast run across the desert to what we called “Sunshine Roadside Park” so named because there wasn’t a hint of shade of any kind. We were now 20 miles from Marfa and several of the group decided to make those 20 miles very quickly as you will note from one of the photographs of the speedometer. “Professional drivers on a closed course, please do not try this at home. “<\/p>\n\n

The Davis Mountain Loop was even more than we hoped for with long sweeping curves, abrupt turns on the tops of hills, choppy hills, animals in the roadway and hairpin turns. Much more about this ride in later issues but mark this down as a “must ride” area.<\/p>\n\n

After completing the loop and enjoying a short visit to the McDonald Observatory we headed back through Ft. Davis and then made a beeline for Alpine. John and I were riding together when we found out that the signs with pictures of deer on them were there for a reason. A large buck stepped out directly in our path and stopped in our lane to stare at us. It became necessary to decrease the speed of the bikes in a very short time period. This was when I became very impressed with the anti-lock brakes on my BMW. Luckily, we avoided having a “grilled” deer, when we got close he leaped off the road and ran up among the trees. We, on the other hand, decreased our speed and made the remaining ride to Alpine in a more leisurely fashion.<\/p>\n\n

Day 7. Alpine\u2014 Marathon \u2014 250 miles<\/p>\n\n

This was one of the days where the mileage was very deceiving, 250 miles is not especially difficult on a motorcycle. Unless those miles include some of the best motorcycle roads in the entire state, scenery that is unbelievable, a long stretch of dirt road due to construction and a day where the temperature would reach 106 degrees.<\/p>\n\n

Hwy 118 between Study Butte and Alpine is 78 miles and is a fun road for riding. In the past I had always taken the long way around \u2014 Study Butte to Lajitas to Presidio to Marfa to Alpine. The Presidio route is not only farther, it is hotter and the riding from Presidio to Marfa can get rather boring.<\/p>\n\n

Study Butte to Lajitas and then part way along the river road towards Presidio is a biker’s dream ride. The scenery is great and the roads challenging. This area was thoroughly covered in our Big Bend issue. A few copies are still available.<\/p>\n\n

Between Lajitas and Study Butte we stopped for lunch at Miss Tracy’s. This place is a favorite among bikers who visit the Big Bend. The food is good and the iced tea is cold! It is a little hard to find but it is about 1\/4 mile off the road on the west side a couple of miles south of Study Butte \u2014 ask any local.<\/p>\n\n

At Study Butte the thermometer on my bike showed it to be 106 degrees in the shade! No one would argue the point it was hot!<\/p>\n\n

The Chisos Basin in Big Bend National Park is at a much higher elevation and we knew it would be a lot cooler up there and it is worth the trip in any weather. The upper reaches of the park were rich shades of green and the views going in were incredible. Sandy commented that the ride in was so beautiful that it had brought tears to her eyes.<\/p>\n\n

Once in the Basin be sure to hike about a half mile to get the best view of “The Window” which is an opening among the mountains that provides an awesome view of the desert and the mountains to the west.<\/p>\n\n

The trip from the Big Bend National Park to Marathon and the Gage Hotel is across 80 miles of desert, cactus, tumbleweeds, road runners, buzzards and other stuff that will either stick you, sting you or bite you.<\/p>\n\n

The oasis at the end of the day was the Gage Hotel (see the Big Bend issue). The Gage is my favorite place to stay in Texas. This was no exception. They have fine dining that would be outstanding in any large city, but to accomplish that way out here is truly a remarkable accomplishment.<\/p>\n\n

Day 8. Marathon \u2014 Laredo 365 miles<\/p>\n\n

The plan was to get an early start from the Gage Hotel so we could make it across the desert and get to Del Rio (160 miles) before it got too hot. But, after a late night of relaxing by the pool, the early start just didn’t happen. Besides the only place to get breakfast didn’t open until 7 am.<\/p>\n\n

As it turned out it was just as well, there was still so much early morning fog between Marathon and Sanderson that it was slow going and dangerous \u2014 there seemed to be crowds of buzzards at least every mile and they were dining on the wildlife (especially deer) that hadn’t made it across the road. We frequently saw deer along the side of the road and after our experience at Ft. Davis we had a newfound respect for how quickly deer can turn into a major problem for a motorcycle.<\/p>\n\n

Sanderson was a mandatory gas stop (after the experience at Salt Flat the entire group had become true believers about the need to gas up frequently) and then it was a long stretch of mesquite, cactus, wildflowers and the occasional freight train. The only mechanical problem of the entire trip surfaced about 75 miles into the desert when we stopped at a rest area. Ken had scraped a speed bump in Sanderson and broke the retainer spring on his kickstand. In a stroke of incredibly good luck one of the other riders happened to have a new spring in his saddlebag. A quick repair was made and no one was the worse for wear.<\/p>\n\n

There are two “must stops” between Sanderson and Del Rio; the first is Langtry home of Judge Roy Bean’s Jersey Lily Saloon from which he became known as “The Law West of the Pecos”. TxDOT maintains an impressive visitor center and museum in Langtry. From either direction Langtry is a good place to stop, cool off, enjoy a little bit of Texas’ history, and get a cold drink. In addition to all of that TxDOT provides the cleanest restrooms West of the Pecos and the only ones for a hundred miles.<\/p>\n\n

The other “must see” is the overlook just east of the Pecos River bridge. The bridge, 1,310 feet long and 273 feet high is the highest highway bridge in Texas.<\/p>\n\n

If you are coming from the west make a right turn to the scenic overlook just as you are completely clear of the bridge. After years of drought and low water in the Pecos the water level was much higher and it provided a cool, refreshing view after so many miles of desert. For the rat pack this was the first of many points where our riders would begin to drop out and head for other destinations.<\/p>\n\n

The Chili’s Restaurant in Del Rio was the lunch stop and another point from which some of our riders would take alternative routes. When we left Del Rio the core group was down to Ken and Peggy, Phyllis, Mud Bug, Chris and I. John had left Marathon about dawn to make a fast run to Laredo before the weather got hot. Mark & Sandy and Dan & Patti were heading to the Hill Country, Joe was planning to head home and Jim was turning north towards the Metroplex. Henry, Judy, Gerald, Jo Vick and Tim had made their own run out of Marathon.<\/p>\n\n

So with a group that had now dwindled to Ken & Peggy, Mudbug, Phyllis, Chris and myself we set out for Laredo. It was a HOT day and we had to endure many miles of road construction, the kind of road construction where they stop you on some stretch of super-heated asphalt and make you wait while traffic is being released from the opposite direction. If the ride from Pecos to El Paso had been my personal favorite the ride from Del Rio to Laredo was pure torture.<\/p>\n\n

Not to take anything away from the Laredo area, but now we had traveled several thousand miles, were tired, had seen the best that Texas had to offer, ridden the greatest roads and enjoyed some very comfortable weather. With all of that in front of us it had been easy to endure the bad times. Now that the best of the trip was behind us this stretch was beginning to feel like punishment.<\/p>\n\n

After what seemed like an interminable afternoon of riding we finally got to Laredo and checked in at the hotel. John was already there looking much more refreshed and clean. We scrubbed off the grime of a hard day on the road, put on clean clothes and headed to a local Mexican restaurant for our last evening together.<\/p>\n\n

Day 9. Laredo \u2014 Houston \u2014 373 miles.<\/p>\n\n

The best route from Laredo to Houston is US 59, a highway that is almost certainly one of the best roads in the state. There were now four bikes and six people and today we got an early start. We were like a horse headed to the barn and nothing was going to stop us. The attitude today was “keep up, catch up or call me later”. The group would really thin out this morning as John left us at Beeville in order to ride to Corpus Christi and then follow the ocean back to the Houston area. Phyllis also departed here to take a more direct route home.<\/p>\n\n

This route is steeped in Texas history \u2014 the names are right out of a history book; Cuero, Gonzales, Goliad…<\/p>\n\n

A final note: The trip had been planned for 10 days with the final night being in Harlingen, but some kind of flu bug had bitten a couple of us and that, along with the dwindling size of the group, made us decide to cut off one day and make the run from Laredo to Houston. There is a lot to do and see in the Brownsville area, everything from the sea and sand of South Padre Island to the sights and sounds of crossing the border into Matamoros.<\/p>\n\n

The entire lower Rio Grande Valley area will be featured in a future edition and we will be inviting a group to travel down there with us.<\/p>\n\n

Farewell. To all who joined us on this trip we want to say thanks and we are very glad that you came along with us.<\/p>\n\n

Bart summed it up best “I was very apprehensive in signing up to ride for 10 days with a bunch of strangers. That apprehension was for naught. I learned once again that bikers bond very quickly. After just one night of relaxing, dining and drinking together we were old friends. Bikers are generally some of the nicest people you can meet. “<\/p>\n\n

And, finally, a frequently heard remark from Mudbug, “That’d make a good gumbo!”<\/p>\n\n\n

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Originally published in Motorcycles On The Road Again, October 2005. If you took a trip from Chicago to Cheyenne, then to Denver, Albuquerque, Amarillo, Memphis, Nashville, Louisville and Indianapolis before returning to Chicago it would be a 3,100 mile trip. That is how far it is just to Ride Around Texas \u2014 over 3,100 miles! … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":900716,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[149],"tags":[177,133],"class_list":["post-63004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-backroads","tag-b026","tag-motra-october-2005"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclesontheroadagain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclesontheroadagain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclesontheroadagain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclesontheroadagain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclesontheroadagain.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=63004"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclesontheroadagain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63004\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":900324,"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclesontheroadagain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63004\/revisions\/900324"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclesontheroadagain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/900716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclesontheroadagain.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=63004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclesontheroadagain.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=63004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclesontheroadagain.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=63004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}