River Road Ride

My Dad and I both recently purchased 2011 Kawasaki KLR 650 motorcycles.  These are “Dual Sport” motorcycles made to ride both on and off road.  We both love riding motorcycles and traveling together.  We've taken a few trips in the past and would like to do more of that once I move to San Antonio.  Yesterday we set off on a mini-adventure.  The bikes are both new so you have to go through a very deliberate "break-in" process which involves varying speeds, lots of shifting and heating/cooling cycles.  This means you regulated to a lot of riding in town or on access roads.  We headed north on the access roads of Interstate 35.  The access road speed limit is 50 mph most of the time which is close to the max speed for the bikes during break-in and there are several stops, perfect for cycling through the gearbox.  We then turned left onto Loop 337 in New Braunfuls.  It's a nice two-lane road which makes it easy to let the cars pass by.  The real fun began once we reached River Road.  It's motorcycle utopia and runs thick with bikes all summer long.  Despite it being early January, we saw lots of riders out enjoying the last of the nice weather.  It was near 70!  The speed limit on this road is usually 30 miles per hour and there are LOTS of fun twisty turns and gentle rolling hills.  The road follows alongside the river (hence the name, "River Road") and is encased on both sides by tall, rocky limestone cliffs.  It’s a very scenic road so you have to be careful not to get distracted by the beauty.  We stopped several times along the way and rode slowly over the small bridges to take it all in.  I was starting to get hungry by this time and spotted the “Country Girlz” burger stop.  It’s a nice little restaurant with covered, outdoor picnic tables and a drive thru.  The food was good and the prices are reasonable.  We also scored a bonus with a free cup of coffee for my Dad (Senior citizen special)!  After lunch we rode the bikes over a railroad tie, through a small field and back onto the road (we had to get in a little “off road”).  FM 2673 is a nice 60 mph two lane road with slow rolling hills.  The stretch of FM 3159 between FM 2673 and 46 is great motorcycle ride.  It’s a perfect blend of wide open views, lazy curves and changing elevation.  For the last leg of the trip we took 46 back to 3009 (pronounced “3, double O, 9 locally).  This has been a motorcycle favorite for as long as I can remember.  Our ride ended up being around 85 miles long and was a perfect way to spend the day!  I can’t wait to get the bikes fully broken in so we can hit the curves with a little more authoritie!