Big Bend has always been one of my favorite places to ride. For those of you who don’t know, Big Bend is an area in West Texas right on the Mexico border. It is an area comprised of a National Park, State Park and the Davis Mountain Range. It is basically the foot of the Rocky Mountains. Most peaks range somewhere between 5000-8000 ft and the vegetation is pretty sparse. The whole area does bloom into beautiful colors in the spring time.
My wife and I set out on Thanksgiving Day for a 400 mile trip to Alpine, TX which is in the center-ish of all the great riding places in the Big Bend area. It was pretty chilly so we got nice and bundled up for the ride. We pulled out of Lampasas, TX about 8:15 AM and made a pretty quick trip out to Alpine. We arrived at our hotel about 3:30 PM and got settled in for the night. Being Thanksgiving night, nothing was open. We were stuck eating Thanksgiving dinner at a Chinese restaurant which was pretty good considering the small town we were in has little in the way of ‘foreign’ culture. We spent the night at the Radisson Motel which was surrounded by smaller mountainous hills.
Friday morning we hopped up and got out the door by 8:30 AM or so and begun an 80 mile trek south toward the National Park. Our goal was to end up in Studde Butte, TX and ride to Presidio, TX which is about 80 miles NW along the Rio Grande. The canyon run is very fun and has some great scenery. Unfortunately upon our arrival in Studde Butte I noticed the mid section of my rear tire going very bald and beginning to fray. I began calling around for a cycle shop and we spent about two hours in Studde Butte trying to find someone with a tire. Being the day after Thanksgiving and in the middle of nowhere we had some trouble. I finally got a guy by the name of Fred on the phone. Fred doesn’t own a shop but he happened to be about 100 miles from Studde Butte and he owns a CBR 1000 RR which has the same rear tire size as the Busa. After some negotiating he offers to put his tire on my bike for $100 and balance it up and get my on my way. I could hardly turn down the offer. Tina and I headed up to Presidio, though on a slower pace than we would have liked. We then turned north to Marfa, TX to meet Fred and get my tire. Between Presidio and Marfa I rolled 10,000 miles on the Hayabusa!
It turns out that Fred was in the Army back in the 80s and was in the same unit I am currently in and worked out of the same building. We have a great time hanging out with him and meeting his family while he got me back on the road. I ended up paying him $160 for the tire and mounting because I just didn’t feel that $100 was fair to him. Glad to have met him and his tire has been great to ride on. We finally made it back to Alpine, TX around 8PM and got some dinner and sleep.
With the threat of run on Sunday getting greater by the hour. We decided it best to pull out of Alpine early Saturday morning and ride through the Davis Mountains and make the 6500 ft climb to the McDonald Observatory and then start heading east to get home before the rains. We stopped in Fort Davis, TX for some gift browsing and pictures around down town. And then began the switch back climb into the mountains to summit at the McDonald Observatory. The ride was most excellent… except for the occasional scream I would hear from my wife through our intercom as she pushed through her comfort zone.
After taking some pictures from above us began the journey north out of the mountains and then back East toward home. Just short of making it out of the mountains we stopped for some pictures. The spot was perfect and would make for some excellent photos. Unfortunately I didn’t realize the wind was as strong as it was. While I had my back turned about to snap another pic I hear a sliding crash and I turn and there is my bike lying on its side. The combination of the slight downhill slope and the wind was just too much for the kickstand. My fairing paint in bad shape, my Buell peg mod snapped in half, shifter lever broken, mirror loose and clutch level in half we continued the ride north. We stopped about 30 minutes late in Kent, TX and I put my rear peg on the front. Holding my leg up was wearing me out too much.
Trekking home we stopped in San Angelo, TX for the night. We had beautiful weather into the evening time. This morning we woke up to the cold front just sweeping in from the North West. We took the scenic route battling light rain and some decent winds at times and arrived home safely a few hours ago.
I have attached some pictures from our 1200 mile journey.
My wife and I set out on Thanksgiving Day for a 400 mile trip to Alpine, TX which is in the center-ish of all the great riding places in the Big Bend area. It was pretty chilly so we got nice and bundled up for the ride. We pulled out of Lampasas, TX about 8:15 AM and made a pretty quick trip out to Alpine. We arrived at our hotel about 3:30 PM and got settled in for the night. Being Thanksgiving night, nothing was open. We were stuck eating Thanksgiving dinner at a Chinese restaurant which was pretty good considering the small town we were in has little in the way of ‘foreign’ culture. We spent the night at the Radisson Motel which was surrounded by smaller mountainous hills.
Friday morning we hopped up and got out the door by 8:30 AM or so and begun an 80 mile trek south toward the National Park. Our goal was to end up in Studde Butte, TX and ride to Presidio, TX which is about 80 miles NW along the Rio Grande. The canyon run is very fun and has some great scenery. Unfortunately upon our arrival in Studde Butte I noticed the mid section of my rear tire going very bald and beginning to fray. I began calling around for a cycle shop and we spent about two hours in Studde Butte trying to find someone with a tire. Being the day after Thanksgiving and in the middle of nowhere we had some trouble. I finally got a guy by the name of Fred on the phone. Fred doesn’t own a shop but he happened to be about 100 miles from Studde Butte and he owns a CBR 1000 RR which has the same rear tire size as the Busa. After some negotiating he offers to put his tire on my bike for $100 and balance it up and get my on my way. I could hardly turn down the offer. Tina and I headed up to Presidio, though on a slower pace than we would have liked. We then turned north to Marfa, TX to meet Fred and get my tire. Between Presidio and Marfa I rolled 10,000 miles on the Hayabusa!
It turns out that Fred was in the Army back in the 80s and was in the same unit I am currently in and worked out of the same building. We have a great time hanging out with him and meeting his family while he got me back on the road. I ended up paying him $160 for the tire and mounting because I just didn’t feel that $100 was fair to him. Glad to have met him and his tire has been great to ride on. We finally made it back to Alpine, TX around 8PM and got some dinner and sleep.
With the threat of run on Sunday getting greater by the hour. We decided it best to pull out of Alpine early Saturday morning and ride through the Davis Mountains and make the 6500 ft climb to the McDonald Observatory and then start heading east to get home before the rains. We stopped in Fort Davis, TX for some gift browsing and pictures around down town. And then began the switch back climb into the mountains to summit at the McDonald Observatory. The ride was most excellent… except for the occasional scream I would hear from my wife through our intercom as she pushed through her comfort zone.
After taking some pictures from above us began the journey north out of the mountains and then back East toward home. Just short of making it out of the mountains we stopped for some pictures. The spot was perfect and would make for some excellent photos. Unfortunately I didn’t realize the wind was as strong as it was. While I had my back turned about to snap another pic I hear a sliding crash and I turn and there is my bike lying on its side. The combination of the slight downhill slope and the wind was just too much for the kickstand. My fairing paint in bad shape, my Buell peg mod snapped in half, shifter lever broken, mirror loose and clutch level in half we continued the ride north. We stopped about 30 minutes late in Kent, TX and I put my rear peg on the front. Holding my leg up was wearing me out too much.
Trekking home we stopped in San Angelo, TX for the night. We had beautiful weather into the evening time. This morning we woke up to the cold front just sweeping in from the North West. We took the scenic route battling light rain and some decent winds at times and arrived home safely a few hours ago.
I have attached some pictures from our 1200 mile journey.
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.... but its all about riding.. and it didn't stop my ride so for that I was happy.
