West Texas?

[bongHit]

so wednesday evening i felt the urge to get on the road. i live in dallas and decided to go to palo duro canyon - just south of amarillo. i was planning on camping at palo and driving back the next day.



i woke up early, packed the r1150rt and got on the road at 6:10a. here's my route:



114W to 81N - rhome, tx

287N - bowie, tx

loop 335 south - amarillo, tx (signs for palo begin here)

27S - amarillo, tx

217E - canyon, tx.



i arrived in amarillo at 10:50. a total of 360 miles - so far - in 4 hours and 40 minutes. this equates to an average of 78 mph. btw, i stopped one time to gas up in vernon, tx (180 miles into the trip).



so i hiked around palo that afternoon. it was about 105F on the canyon floor. needless to say, sweating my tail off got a little old so i thought i'd find a nearby motel in amarillo. however, on my way i got the urge to see lubbock - a town i've never even been close to. so i took 27S and stopped in tulia, tx to recover, gas up, etc.



while sitting at the grandy's and after replenishing myself for about an hour, i decided to just make the trip a long day of touring and head back to dallas. here's the route from tulia:



86E - tulia, tx

70S - turkey, tx

82E - dickens, tx

114E - seymour, tx and home



i arrived home at 9:45p after traveling 825 miles. here are some stats for the entire trip:



miles: 825

fuel: 21.7 gallons

avg mpg: 38

avg mph: 52.4



note the avg mph includes all minutes btw 6:10a and 9:45p.



i was most impressed with the beemer. this was my first 600+ mile day on it. the electric windshield was a real help. i kept it pegged at 90-95 the entire day. the bike enjoyed every minute of it. i did have a few periods 100mph+, but 90-95 was perfect for me and the bike. the 6-speed tranny on the 1150s is awesome. at 95mph the engine is humming at 4500 rpms - about 60% engine utilization. i made very few stops. the first was 180 miles into the trip in vernon. more frequent stops in the afternoon just in order to keep hydrated. while my rear held up well, i'm still considering the corbin seat.



i saw a lot of cops all the way to amarillo on 287. watch out for them. i didn't see one cop from tulia all the way home. most of the roads are straight and made for hauling ass - very few capsules and they were very courteous of bikers - pulling over on the shoulder to let you pass, waving... the whole nine yards.



i'll post some pictures when i get the chance.



i had plenty of time and felt good enough to do a 1000 mile day and get my iron butt association license plate holder. next time i do this, i'm going to set out with the intention of doing the saddlesore and documenting the trip a little better so i can send in the proper documentation to qualify. if none of this makes sense, see www.ironbutt.com.



i'll stop now...