Sunday, January 03, 2010

2010 Run for the Border

So this is sort of an emerging tradition. Three times now in the last 4 yrs I've made my run for the border as part of my way to bring in the new year. One year the weather was pretty cold and wet so I skipped it but as long as it's clear and reasonably mild (> 38 degrees or so) it's turned into a great way to sorta let go of the previous year on the ride out and look forward to the new year on the way back. Cheesy symbolism? Yeah, but a lot of life is that way.

Depending on mood, weather and what I had for breakfast, it takes about an hour and a half to get to Muenster, TX where the good riding begins.

Muenster itself is a neat little town of about 1500 people with a strong German Catholic history Wiki-linki.
Between Rohmer's and The Center Restaurant you can easily get your schnitzel fix.



Heading north on FM 373 will take you to FM 677 letting you enjoy nice elevation changes along with some fast sweepers. This will lead you past Illinois Bend where you can take a right and cross the Red River on Taovayas Indian Bridge.



From there I headed back into Texas and caught FM 2953 east to FM 2634 and then FM 103 south into Nocona, TX.



I wish I could say that I then proceed to mosey on down through Forestburg, Slidell, Krum and Ponder but in all honesty... it was too dang cold. So I headed straight east, caught I-35 and booked it south.

It felt like a short ride, but it let me try out my new video camera and test the fit of an EXO-700 helmet on a longer ride. Both were successful I think, but the quality of the 1080p HD video really suffered in the translation. Hopefully that will improve with experience.

Maybe for 2011 I'll plan a trip to Arkansas or Louisiana. After all, a run for the border is a somewhat cheesy symbolic experience right?