A Ride Report for OSS

For all of you where it is cold and have marginal roads conditions to ride I thought I'd post this ride report (also because OSS requested one).

First I'd like to say that my recovery from colon cancer is going well. My last Chemo treatment was December 11th and the doctor gave me a clear return to work of January 15, 2018. I've been on the road for the last twenty three days searching for work.

I'd like to prelude this report by saying it really started last night. I have been here in Austin Texas for two weeks now. I have a close friend who I served in the Marine Corps that lives here that I have been visiting as well as interviewing for work in San Antonio, Waco, and here in Austin.

So last night we decided to go down to the Rainey area and then over to Sixth Street. Rainey is an area around Fourth Street that started out as small food trucks and now has grown to more sit in and DJ music. We stopped in one of the places for a beer and to scenery watch. Met a group of Brits dressed like the Queens guard and asked what they were doing (thinking they might be a show). The young man says "We are celebrating the Queen. He is getting married." Well cool so John and I met the Queen. Didn't know if we should congratulate him or give him condolences. So I asked to see a picture of his finance and he got a big congratulations from me and John.

Then off the Sixth Street. Temps were in the mid 50's and the crowd was just starting to show up. Sixth Street is just south (?) of the University of Texas so for those looking for people watching entertainment it can be interesting. We finally found a place that has some seats next to a window for the express purpose of people watching or scenery. Now since 2007 when I had chemo and radiation for mouth and throat cancer I can not drink much if any alcohol. But for some reason this night I drank three beers. Why is all of this important is because when I woke up this morning I was planning on heading back to Amarillo and quite frankly I didn't feel like driving so I now have this ride report.

Headed out around 11:00 am this morning for points west out of Austin. I was on my what I call "The Great Escape." A 2014 Ural M70 Retro Solo. No fairing, no saddle bags, just a comfortable seat. Old school type motorcycle. Fueled up at a local place and reset my trip odometer and again point my front wheel west. It was a beautiful 64 degrees. Clear blue skies and little or now wind. Because of my past chemo I am cold in nature so I've dressed accordingly.

I worked through some traffic of FM 1431 (Farm to Market) and when I finally got out by Veterans Memorial Park it opened up. When you get to Largo Vista it turns into two lanes. For those of you haven't been out this way and think Texas is flat you will be in for a surprise.

This section of road out to Marble Falls is a nice mid-speed twisty road that can be a lot of fun. With the Ural it was easy to roll in and out of the curves. "The Great Escape" weighs only 385 pounds. I put a set of Avon M26 Road Master tires on it and it is a nice zipper bike.

After Marble Falls I continued west to Kingsland and Lake LBJ. Then south to Llano and Coopers BBQ. Just one of the many 4 to 5 star BBQ places we have here in Texas. Stopped and talked a couple riders. "The Great Escape" is a brand neutralizer. Everyone wants to know what it is and how old it is. Gives me a chance to talk to riders without the motorcycle brand getting in the way.

Headed back pretty much the same way except for a couple side roads that seem to interesting to ride. The stretch between Marble Falls and Largo Vista is always worth redoing and in this case there wasn't anyone to impede me so I had a great brisk ride through the curves. When done it was 268 KMS (166 miles) over about 4 hours.

These rides have become important to me. They may not be the grand thousands of miles sitting in the seat like I use to do but, as I have said many times "The wind sooths the soul." A it is a great time to work through personal issues. To search yourself and maybe come up with answers to many of your own personal like needs. Great for my recovery from colon cancer and I believe it helped me resolve some questions that have been pondering (as my friend DDT would say).

So I hope this helps some of you fill you PMS issues for a couple days. For you OSS.

Charlie Morse
Land Elephant