Saturday, May 21, 2005

Home after a 505 mile day
Downtown Heavner, OK
Look at the winding road! Oh what fun!
213 miles from home to Panorama Vista
At the Panoramic Vista on Talimena Scenic Highway

Trip Log - 83 BMW R100S - 5/21/05 - 505 mi.

Dallas to Atoka, OK then East on 43 to Lake Sardis
Scenic Highway 1 (Talimena Scenic Drive) to 259 to Heavner
Lunch at Downtown Cafe
270 West past Lake Wister to Wilburton
South on 2 to Lake Sardis
East on 43 to Daisy where Eddy Isom helped me patch my rear tire tube
in 95 deg temperture in the middle of no where!
South on 69 to 75 to Dallas.

Saturday, May 07, 2005

Trip Log 05/07/2005

Home to 902 at Howe off 75N (leave 7:45 am)
902 to Collinsville for breakfast at the Main Street Cafe
902 to Gainesville to meet up with CMA at Town Square at 12:00
After Town Square event back to Collinsville, TX
377 North to 82 West to Muenster
North on 373 to Illinois Bend to 677 to bridge to cross the Red River into Oklahoma
Turnaround and go back West on 2953 to 2634 to 103 South to Nocona
83 East to 59 South to Bowie
101 South to Bridgeport
114 East to Hwy 51 South
Hwy 51 South to Weatherford and I20 East
I20 East to I30 to Home (Arrive 7:00 pm)
365 miles

Run for the Son

Saturday May 7, 2005 was a 365 mile day.
The compromise of having inexpensive goods is not having any manufacturing jobs!
A train on a spring day.
And the CMA (Christian Motorcycle Association) arrives!
Town Square in Gainesville, Tx
Great little place for breakfast or burgers in Collinsville, Tx

Friday, May 06, 2005

The Dixie House Cafe

The Dixie House Cafe at 6200 E Lancaster Road in Fort Worth cannot be beat from a food taste, quality, service, quantity and price stand point. I strongly reccommed you to go out of your way to eat there. They are open until 2:00 in the afternoon except on Fridays when they are open until 8:30 pm.

Riding the trains to Boxers by Bruce

Pantego is a nice mature community nestled between Arlington, TX and Dalworthington Gardens / Fort Worth TX. This is where all my maintenance is done by Bruce of Boxers by Bruce. He is a meticulous and fair mechanic who used to work at Perry's.

The mission was to pick up my new (new to me) 1983 BMW R100S without bothering anyone for a ride or to borrow or rent a truck or use a taxi cab. I learned how to utilize public transportation when I lived in the San Francisco Bay area from 1998 until 2001 and actually liked it. There you could take your bicycle to a lot of cool places though.

Well I was pleased to see the light rail system of Dallas when I returned from the Bay area but disappointed that there are no bike carriers on the front of buses like they have in Fort Worth. With this knowledge of utilizing public transportation I was now ready to tackle the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex!

Arlington has everything, ie. Six Flags over Texas, Ranger Stadium, the new Dallas Cowboy Stadium, High taxes and NO BUSES! This is where the plan to ride the train to Richland Hills and then Ride the "T" (Fort Worth) buses as close to Pantego as I could get came about. Which as close as I could get was about 4 miles. I nice walk.

Slamming the alarm off every 7 minutes about 3 times and I was finally out of bed and ready for my adventure. By 6:00 I was walking to the Pearl Street DART light rail system. By 6:15 I had purchased my premium one day fare for $4.50 which would take me all the way to my final destination.

I got on at 6:20 and off at Union Station at 6:30 in time to grab a cup of java before the 7:02 TRE which heads west to Fort Worth. At 8:15 I got off the TRE (Trinity Railway Express Train) at Richland Hills and had a 5 minuite wait while the Bus driver on the Route 40 bus finished reading his newspaper. I transferred to Route 2 who was waiting for me at the transfer stop. I got off route 2 at Handley and Lancaster at 8:30 and really, really needed a bathroom. I walked east on Lancaster towards 820 adding an extra 1/2 mile to my walk to Pantego and found the absolutely best place to have home cooked breakfast that I have ever ate at and about this time I was getting pretty hungry.

The Dixie House Cafe at 6200 E Lancaster Road in Fort Worth cannot be beat from a food taste, quality, service and price stand point. I strongly reccommed you to go out of your way to eat there. They open until 2:00 in the afternoon except on Fridays when they are open until 8:30 pm.

Well I had a great breakfast and I was treking on foot to Boxers by Bruce by 9:10 a.m
Wow, this seems much longer than 4 miles. Wheew it is getting hot! It is time to peal some of these clothes off. Finally I stop at Pioneer Parkway and Park Springs to buy a coke at a conveinece storeand I see a Jeep Cherokee filling up with gas that has a Harley Davidson plug stuck in his trailer hitch receiver. I walk in buy a coke come back outside and start to drink my coke while acting exhausted, which was very easy because I was, and the man begins to ask me if my bike broke down beacuse I was carrying my helmet. I explained the situation and he offerd me a ride. I was very gracious and accepted. However to my surprise in about 200 yards we were there. Arrival time 10:30 a mere 4 and 1/2 hours later!

Future recommendation is to buy Bruce breakfast at the Dixie House Cafe!

Just got the 83' BMW R100S Home

With 53,775 miles it rides like a brand new one. Actually I belive it is smoother and faster than my 2001 RT 1100
83 R100S without Tank Bag
1983 BMW R100S - Rear view
1983 BMW R100S - Front view
1983 BMW R100S - Side view

Monday, May 02, 2005

1992 BMW R100GS "Bumble Bee"

A dual sport bike will take you to places like Batopilas, Mexico ! Click on the April archives for more details about motorcycle travels within the interior of Mexico.
Back to the black top again on Talimena Scenic Drive! 56 miles of up and down curvies from Talihina, Oklahoma to Mena, Arkansas!
Don't be riding the backwoods during these dates! Especially not around Redneck Lane!
But if your Dual Sport takes you here then you might be in Red Neck Country!
One of the nice places a on/off road bike will take you!
This is my dual sport. A 1992 BMW R100GS "Bumble Bee"
For Dual Sports take the 48 / 6 off road route across 270. You can go for miles across Arkansas on the dirt with all kinds of rivers, streams, wildlife and stocked fishing ponds.
From Mena cruise 270 East but you have to take 188 East into Lake Ouachita! Its real Curvy!
Lake Ouachita Arkansas in the spring

Life without motorcycles ?

Well the riding season is upon us and we have already had some great rides for 2005. Check out the April archive for what it was like to travel on motorcycle to Mexico in the Grand Canyon of Mexico, "Copper Canyon". It is time to ride before the summer lets out with all the bugs, heat and vacationer's! Send me stories of your new rides and adventures to share with fellow adventurists'.