The merry band of idiots and the devil's backbone

So, we decide that there must be riding. I am definitely in need of Brain Drain-o (tm). How do I choose to clear my brain.....? By pulling a 6 bike chain to and from the Devil's Backbone. First off, I have to say that the name sounds menacing. People hear about it and talk about the number of deaths each year on it. This quickly conjures up visions of the blacktop of doom. Since I went to college in San Marcos, right at the bottom of the backbone, I had a bit more realistic view of it. I tried to warn everyone appropriately that it was not that bad.....unless it was windy. The whole stretch of road is only about one mile long, but it is along the top of a ridge with canyons on both sides. This can lead to some horrid cross winds. There are also deer in abundance. The big thing about the backbone is that it is not scary the first time through. The second time through you think you have it nailed and want to go fast. That is where you realize that all of the turns are decreasing radius turns, that are blind, with deer, and up to a 500ft drop off....on BOTH sides of the road. The nice thing about the backbone is the trip to it, not the backbone itself. From Austin, there is a lot of very nice twisty road that goes through some small towns. There are a few spots where you could collect some trees if you are not careful, but overall it is pretty much sweeperville. Here is the route:



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The running joke through the whole trip was that we were a WWII re-enactment group. There were 6 of us. Me on the Russian beast, Kel on the BMW R90/Sidecar, Glenn on the Kawasaki, Vern on the Goldwing, Gary on the Harley, and Laura on the Suzuki. For the next ride I want to pull our friends with the BSA and the Ducati, and we can have the full cast of WWII. Quite possibly the defining point of the trip was when we stopped in a parking lot to make some adjustments and the Harley was parked on a slope. The kickstand was pacing downhill so when we went to leave, Gary could not reach the ground on the uphill side of the bike. This put him in a position where he could not get leverage on the Electra -Glide. Kel's monkey had to go over and push the bike off of the stand so he could get it moving. No, we will not ever let him live that down. The Glide was what he got for wrapping his old 1400 Intruder around a cow. I guess there is a learning curve on those big Road Sofas.

We made it back in one piece, got a couple pictures, had some awesome mexican food at this little restaurant at the junction of RR12 and RR32. The pictures are included below....I know they suck, but I took them with my phone. Deal with it.






Time to get ready for my next run to the Ural campout in Waco in two weeks. This will be the first time this many Ural riders have gathered in one place in texas in a long time....ever I bet.

Have fun,

Dave