The seeds of this West Texas motorcycle ride were sown in December 2019 when my best friend Reed and I joined EagleRider Club. Members pay a monthly subscription fee for credits towards motorbike rentals, which will last for months and offer substantial discounts compared to independent rentals.
In addition to the discount, being a club member allows us to fly to a new area and rent motorbikes that are different from the ones we ride home. We live in Connecticut, so flying to Dallas saved us a 3,200-mile round trip that would have taken a few days per head. Instead of toiling for miles just to get to Texas and back home, we took our time leisurely exploring the roads and sights.
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To beat the heat of the Texas summer, we planned our trip for mid-April. Reed and I are BMW riders, but for this trip we rented two brand new Harley-Davidsons: a Street Glide for me and a Heritage Softail Classic for him. There’s something special about riding on the open road in a big American V-Twin. We were old men who wore cloth riding gear and modular helmets, so we barely Easy rider Rebels. When we see a BMW GS in a hotel parking lot with the words “Adventure Before Dementure” on one of its baskets, we can empathize.
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We ran a clockwise lap about 2,300 miles in nine days. From Dallas, we headed south to Austin, the vibrant capital of Texas. The Harleys are stable and comfortable, the torque is luscious, the horn is good and loud, but the gearbox is a bit clunky. After touring the Texas Capitol, we headed east to Round Top, a small tourist town known for its antiques. We were very disappointed to find the antique market closed when we got there, but I managed to snap a picture with a high-distance runner as much as me – everything is really bigger in Texas!
Driving improved west of Austin when we reached the legendary Texas Hill Country, an area popular with motorcyclists. Endless hills turn many FM (Farm to Market) and RM (Farm to Market) country roads into paved roller coasters. We enjoyed nice turns, clear traffic, and great views along the shores of Lake Travis and through Inks Lake State Park. After passing through Llano, we dropped our legs and stretched at the Enchanted Rock State Natural Area. In Fredericksburg, a charming historic town surrounded by vineyards, we ate hot dogs and enjoyed live music over dinner in the courtyard at a German restaurant.
Less than an hour from Fredericksburg and west of Medina, we rode the famous Twisted Sisters. The three RM trails (335, 336 and 337) are full of exciting twists and turns and are well-deserving of their reputation. Twisted Sisters is so popular with motorcyclists that there are many two-wheeler stops in the area, such as the Lone Star Motorcycle Museum in Vanderpool and the Frio Canyon and The Hog Pen Motorcycle Stop in Leakey. We went through many farms; two of my favorites are Big Bucks Ranch and Middle Age Spread.
After a night in Del Rio, we followed US 90 west along the southwestern border of the Texas Pecos Trail and just a short distance from the Rio Grande. Although our bike has the same 107 engine, the Softail’s tank holds 5 gallons while the Street Glide’s is 6 gallons. That 1-gallon difference became apparent when we went 86 miles with no service thinking we had enough gas. We were wrong.
Slowing down and snuggling behind the windshield for the last 20 miles did the trick, but headwinds meant the Softail was running like smoke as we pulled into the Sanderson. At the gas station, a woman dressed in ’50s style told us that pickle juice is great for combating dehydration. We’re curious, but we wonder if she’ll be happy at the expense of our Yankees.
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At Marathon, we turned south to our next destination: Big Bend National Park. Located in a pocket of West Texas, where the southeastern Rio Grande bends northward, Big Bend is huge, covering more than 801,163 acres (1,252 sq mi), making it a major national park Saturday outside of Alaska. In 1976, Big Bend was designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. It contains the largest intact portion of the Chihuahuan Desert, one of the richest and most biologically diverse desert ecosystems in the world.
Because Big Bend is far from major cities and the 118 miles of the Rio Grande along its southern boundary that serves as the border between the United States and Mexico, it receives relatively few visitors compared to the parks. Other countries. That makes it the perfect destination for those who love open spaces and don’t mind crowds.
That afternoon, we enjoyed Big Bend in all its glory. The 7,000-foot-high peaks compete with colorful desert flowers for a stunning backdrop. In Rio Grande Village, we learned about a tram system that transported lead and silver from Mexico through the Rio Grande to eventually connect to the railroad in Marathon. For migrants, crossing the Rio Grande may simply mean wading through low water, but crossing a Border Patrol checkpoint a few miles inland (in the open desert) is another story.
Big Bend National Park highlights include the winding road to the Chisos Basin, the Rio Grande Overlook, and the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive, which passes through Tuff Canyon on the way to the Santa Elena Canyon Overlook. Of the 304 miles of roads in the park, 123 miles are paved, 45 miles are unpaved but improved, and 136 miles are unpaved and pristine, so there’s plenty to explore regardless of the preferred surface. your favorite – or bicycle. That said, at our hotel in Alpine, about 80 miles north of the park across Highway 118, another guest recounted how the African Honda twins struggled on the roads. Big Bend’s unpaved, sandy road went down so often that they gave up and had to tow their bikes. outside.
After spending the morning at Fort Davis, a national historic site in northern Alpine with a well-preserved complex of buildings and visitor centers, we embarked on the most challenging journey of our trip. Go. We headed south on Highway 17 to Marfa and then took US Highway 67 to Presidio. From there, we head east on FM 170, known as River Road. The 64 miles of Study Butte-Terlingua winds along the Rio Grande through Big Bend Ranch State Park. With the exception of parts of the road with low water levels, the road surface is generally good – and visibility is excellent – but drivers need to remain calm as there are sudden elevation changes, diminishing radius and sharp bends. hidden crabs, and sometimes wildlife on the road.
After traversing mountains, canyons, rivers, and memorable Rio Grande landscapes, we headed north through the empty high desert to Fort Stockton, Odessa, Midland, and Lubbock, an area of Texas famous for its Basin. Permian, 86,000 squares. miles away is home to some of the nation’s largest oil reserves. We traveled for hours with oil wells scattered everywhere in all directions. To our surprise, we also saw dozens of large wind turbines towering above some oil rigs, so some Texans were clearly hedging bets. their.
Just south of Amarillo, we visited Palo Duro Canyon State Park, where we took in sweeping views of America’s second largest canyon, 120 miles long, 6 miles on average, and up to 1,000 feet deep. The sprawling canyon is the subject of paintings by Georgia O’Keefe, who lives nearby, and is the site of the battle between the Texas Rangers and Chief Kicking Wolf in the Larry McMurtry novel. The Moon Comanche.
After completing most of our loop, we headed southeast to Dallas. We follow side streets through towns like Turkey and Matador, the latter home to Bob’s Oil Well, a vestige of the days when bold roadside architecture attracted customers – on campus This case is a wooden oil rig towering above a gas station.
The sky darkened as we rode east, and in Crowell, a woman pulled over to tell us there were tornadoes hitting near our next attraction in Vernon. When an EMT repeated the warning, we stayed until the coast cleared. When we finally hit the road again that evening, it was a wet ride, but there were lots of lightning bolts shooting through the clouds in the distance so we had plenty of light to guide us. When we checked into our hotel in Wichita Falls, we were told they had heavy rain, high winds, and hail the size of a golf ball – one guest broke the windshield to prove it. .
On our last day, we raced along the state highways to Dallas, and for a long time we enjoyed the burst of color from the roadside wildflowers. Bluebonnets and Indian paintbrushes are in abundance and mid-April is the perfect time to see them. We know best not to mess with Texas, but we certainly appreciate all the amazing roads, sights, and beauty we experienced in the Lone Star State. And thanks, EagleRider, for renting the Harleys to us – they were the perfect steeds for our journey.
