Chasing your shadow down East Texas freeways is glorious. Especially on roads you have never ridden
before.
That was me last Thursday night. I was on highway 90 headed northeast to the
Piney Woods of East Texas. My
destination was Village Creek State Park in Lumberton but the real story is the
ride: A 300 mile loop around Southeast
Texas and the Upper Texas Gulf Coast in the cool breezes of early November.
Here is the route I took.
Purple is Thursday night and Red is Friday morning.
I left work about 2:30 and shot straight out 90 towards
Liberty. The highway was fantastic and
the only downside was getting owned by a guy on Goldwing that I didn’t see coming
in my rearview. I don’t like going much
over 70 when loaded down.
I got to the State Park just before 5 and set up camp. I had just finished up just as a guy in a huge fifth
wheel travel trailer backed into the site next door. I figure he might have been about twenty feet
from my tent. I picked everything up and
moved it to a much more secluded spot. I
never felt like I was in the woods though.
It felt more like camping at Stephen F Austin park, that is to say that
it felt like camping in a friend’s front yard.
But Thank God the State Park had one of these:
The evening was nice and relaxing. Dinner from a pouch and a movie (Hunger Games)
on my phone in the heated tent.
My air mattress died so I didn’t get great sleep. Up the next morning. Since I’d done the bike camping thing before,
I figured it would only take an hour or so to get packed up and ready to
ride. It took two and half hours. I am
going to get bigger bags. Things pack up
great in the garage but at the campsite, it’s a different story. I need to be able to stow and go.
After I got everything packed and on the bike, I realized
that I didn’t have the bike keys! They
were STILL IN THE GODDAMN TENT! The
tent that was packed under two bags, a chair and 3 ropes.
I was headed south to Beaumont. Grabbed I-10 over to Winnie (worst stretch of
the ride) and then took 124 South to High Island. I loved that road. Long and flat with green fields and a few
muddy brown canals. The sun was set to
ultrabright and everything looked clean and vibrant.
I am a coastal person. As I got closer to the ICW (Intracoastal
waterway) I could feel my batteries begin to recharge (they run on salty air). I noticed a very unlikely looking bridge in
the distance. Surely I wasn’t expected
to ride over that damn thing. No, surely
not.
It looked much steeper from down the road. |
Once I got on the bridge though, it was actually quite exhilarating
and I had to fight the urge to stop at the top and get off. I’m doin’ it next time (and there WILL be a
next time as this is the way I will go on the big ride).
South of the channel lies High Island.
Anybody familiar with this area will know about the
oil boom that occurred in the early 1900’s.
It’s pretty much why Houston is what it is.
These "Nodding Donkey" oil pumps are pretty common around here. |
High Island gets its name from the salt dome it sits on. From Wikipedia:
A salt dome is a
type of structural dome formed when a thick bed of evaporite minerals (mainly
salt, or halite) found at depth
intrudes vertically into surrounding rock strata, forming a diapir. It is important
in petroleum geology because salt
structures are impermeable and can lead to the formation of a stratigraphic trap [where oil and gas
collect].
Salt Domes are also used to store Natural Gas. Back in ’92, the one near Brenham
exploded. A little boy was killed and we
heard the explosion 70 miles away in Houston.
Finally, I made the eventual turn west towards Crystal
Beach
I’d been to Crystal Beach countless times, but never from
this way. I love coming at familiar
towns from different directions. It’s
like having old friends do something that surprises you (in a good way).
Bolivar after Hurricane Ike |
The community is coming back nicely. The area will always have a storm wracked
look to it though. It’s just the nature
of life out here. Every 20 years or so,
the Gulf rises up to reset the land.
I passed through Crystal Beach to my favorite part of the
ride, the Ferry from Bolivar to Galveston.
Everyone should ride this Ferry at some point!
image from Bolivar Chamber of Commerce |
You can see some interesting ships on this ride. A few years back, J and I saw the USS Texas (attack
submarine) launched from the Port of Galveston to Galveston Bay.
You can't tell but I'm smiling :) |
Nice view though. |
Over the causeway to connect up with Highway 6. I’ve
never been on this road before. It
skirts Houston to the west and goes all the up past 59. The first bit was really cool. Did you know that there was a military dirigible
(think nazi-sub hunting blimp) base in Hitchcock back in WW2? I didn’t.
Santa Fe is about where the magic ended. Then it was just solid traffic and stoplights
all the way up to Richmond. I took
Richmond to Eldridge because I lived there during College. Nice to see the old neighborhood. I took Eldridge all the way home.
What a great ride. I
didn’t feel the same level of sadness that I felt during the first
camping ride. I’ve gotten better at
this. The packing, the prep work, the being alone. Its getting easier.
I still missed my wife and kids and I felt a
little guilty that they weren’t experiencing what I was. But it was much less pronounced than last
time.
I found areas in my packing and
gear approach that will need work.
I got
a taste of what the coastal ride will be like (fucking glorious) and hardened
myself to long days in the saddle (5.5 hours from camp to garage).
If anything, riding along the coast surpassed my
expectations. More please!