Doobage
07-23-2005, 11:32 PM
Friday night I partied a little hard. My wife and I were going to go on the Llano, TX ride on Saturday, but I decided for several reasons not to go at the last minute. 1. My wife hasn't been on the bike for more than 2.5 hours tops. 2. The morning ride would be fine, but the ride home would be freaking hot...I'd like her to have happy experiences so she'll keep riding with me. 3. I have a gig on Sunday and didn't want to exhaust myself.
Seeing that I was slightly depressed about not driving across Texas, my wife suggests we do a short morning ride. We head south of Houston to Freeport. It was about 10:15 a.m. so most of the coolness of the morning had been baked away, but it was hovering around 90 degrees. Not bad, but certainly not "cool". My wife had a helmet issue about 20 minutes into the ride (hair that didn't get tucked in correctly was flapping her face (we were both wearing full face helmets with the visors up on account of the heat). I got some gas. My wife gained some perspective with that. It cost $10 to fill up (I still had a third of a tank)...but my wife filled up her F250 yesterday and it cost her a record $60. Zoiks!
We got back on the road before we got too hot and things cooled down when I got up around 70i mph. We got down to Freeport and upon entering the industrial area, we drove through acres and acres of Dow Chemicals Refineries. It had some interesting smells. I was surprised at how long I could hold my breath. We got a bit further away from the messy plants (although their chaotic pipe architecture is something to behold), we decided to stop for some food as it was about noon. We found a small restaurant and ordered up some food. I like finding unusual places on the bike. The bike takes us so far away from the same old patterns when we let it and allows us to experience life just a little more in-depth. When I pass, cars, pedestrians, or other bikers, I'm surprised at how I remember their faces. We make eye contact if only for a split second, but there is that smile in the eyes that bridges the gap between us that somehow seems impenitrable when it is car to car. People typically see the car and not the driver, but on the motorcycle they see the person. The environment also plays a similar role as so many of you riders have discussed. I can think back on my ride today and recall nearly all the scents (good and bad) I picked up and tie it to the mental image, the feeling, and thoughts (those LOUD voices in my head).
Anyhow, we ate...and it was good. Fresh baked bread for my hamburger buns and my wifes shrimp po-boy. My bike meanwhile baked in the sun. We cooled down but upon sitting on the seat, it was truly hot now. Fortunately the scenery took hold and held our gaze as we cruised along the Texas shoreline with the marsh grasses on our left and the Gulf of Mexico on our right, not 100 yards or less away. One thing we noticed was that the water down in Freeport looked very blue today. Typically the water is greenish/brownish on account of the Mississippi River's silt that somehow interacts in a counter-eddy fashion that seems to cloud the beach water as far south as Corpus Christi. But today, it was blue. At one point I saw a large shadow of a bird cross the road and fly right over our bike. I looked up to the left and saw a brilliantly colored Roseatte Spoonbill (looks kinda like a Pink Flamingo). The white nimbus clouds, deep green grass marshes and the blue sky and ocean were so vibrant against the black tar we road upon and made the occasional flamboyantly colored beach house look pale by comparison.
We crossed San Luis Pass and onto Galveston Island. The water at the pass was simply incredible (it's VERY rarely this pretty). We both felt as if we were in Cozumel. As we climbed further north on Galveston island we passed by many of the very new and VERY large beach houses, er, mansions that people have been building there over the last 5 years. Serious money. Eventually we got up to the where the seawall begins and noticed that the water had become brownish greenish, clearer than normal, but not as pretty as it was just a few miles south. The other thing we noticed was the Sargasso Seaweed. It was so thick that the waves were actually dyed red. At first I thought I was just seeing the red seaweed underneath the water, but when the waves broke, you could see it was actually stained red.
We took the shorter route off the island (61rst street) since the sun had crept up to 96 degrees now, and our legs, et al, were starting to sweat. I got on I-45 and let on the throttle and got us up to 90i mph. My wife who has been somewhat pensive about speed did not bother asking me to slow down as it helped a little in cooling down, but most importantly got us home maybe 2.5 minutes faster.
It was an excellent ride. I had taken a bottle of water (20 oz) and had it in my left side Burrito Warmer (left side glove box). I had taken a bag of Tazo Green Tea and let it steep in there. Usually the glove box doesn't really get warm until you stop the bike and let it sit there for about 5 minutes. But it was warm enough and made an excellent cup (bottle) of tea. I plan on doing this on all future rides.
This will hopefully be my last ride without my digital camera (argh!).
Seeing that I was slightly depressed about not driving across Texas, my wife suggests we do a short morning ride. We head south of Houston to Freeport. It was about 10:15 a.m. so most of the coolness of the morning had been baked away, but it was hovering around 90 degrees. Not bad, but certainly not "cool". My wife had a helmet issue about 20 minutes into the ride (hair that didn't get tucked in correctly was flapping her face (we were both wearing full face helmets with the visors up on account of the heat). I got some gas. My wife gained some perspective with that. It cost $10 to fill up (I still had a third of a tank)...but my wife filled up her F250 yesterday and it cost her a record $60. Zoiks!
We got back on the road before we got too hot and things cooled down when I got up around 70i mph. We got down to Freeport and upon entering the industrial area, we drove through acres and acres of Dow Chemicals Refineries. It had some interesting smells. I was surprised at how long I could hold my breath. We got a bit further away from the messy plants (although their chaotic pipe architecture is something to behold), we decided to stop for some food as it was about noon. We found a small restaurant and ordered up some food. I like finding unusual places on the bike. The bike takes us so far away from the same old patterns when we let it and allows us to experience life just a little more in-depth. When I pass, cars, pedestrians, or other bikers, I'm surprised at how I remember their faces. We make eye contact if only for a split second, but there is that smile in the eyes that bridges the gap between us that somehow seems impenitrable when it is car to car. People typically see the car and not the driver, but on the motorcycle they see the person. The environment also plays a similar role as so many of you riders have discussed. I can think back on my ride today and recall nearly all the scents (good and bad) I picked up and tie it to the mental image, the feeling, and thoughts (those LOUD voices in my head).
Anyhow, we ate...and it was good. Fresh baked bread for my hamburger buns and my wifes shrimp po-boy. My bike meanwhile baked in the sun. We cooled down but upon sitting on the seat, it was truly hot now. Fortunately the scenery took hold and held our gaze as we cruised along the Texas shoreline with the marsh grasses on our left and the Gulf of Mexico on our right, not 100 yards or less away. One thing we noticed was that the water down in Freeport looked very blue today. Typically the water is greenish/brownish on account of the Mississippi River's silt that somehow interacts in a counter-eddy fashion that seems to cloud the beach water as far south as Corpus Christi. But today, it was blue. At one point I saw a large shadow of a bird cross the road and fly right over our bike. I looked up to the left and saw a brilliantly colored Roseatte Spoonbill (looks kinda like a Pink Flamingo). The white nimbus clouds, deep green grass marshes and the blue sky and ocean were so vibrant against the black tar we road upon and made the occasional flamboyantly colored beach house look pale by comparison.
We crossed San Luis Pass and onto Galveston Island. The water at the pass was simply incredible (it's VERY rarely this pretty). We both felt as if we were in Cozumel. As we climbed further north on Galveston island we passed by many of the very new and VERY large beach houses, er, mansions that people have been building there over the last 5 years. Serious money. Eventually we got up to the where the seawall begins and noticed that the water had become brownish greenish, clearer than normal, but not as pretty as it was just a few miles south. The other thing we noticed was the Sargasso Seaweed. It was so thick that the waves were actually dyed red. At first I thought I was just seeing the red seaweed underneath the water, but when the waves broke, you could see it was actually stained red.
We took the shorter route off the island (61rst street) since the sun had crept up to 96 degrees now, and our legs, et al, were starting to sweat. I got on I-45 and let on the throttle and got us up to 90i mph. My wife who has been somewhat pensive about speed did not bother asking me to slow down as it helped a little in cooling down, but most importantly got us home maybe 2.5 minutes faster.
It was an excellent ride. I had taken a bottle of water (20 oz) and had it in my left side Burrito Warmer (left side glove box). I had taken a bag of Tazo Green Tea and let it steep in there. Usually the glove box doesn't really get warm until you stop the bike and let it sit there for about 5 minutes. But it was warm enough and made an excellent cup (bottle) of tea. I plan on doing this on all future rides.
This will hopefully be my last ride without my digital camera (argh!).