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General Category >> Ride Reports >> East Texas Tour
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Message started by catroad254 on May 4^th, 2009, 9:49pm

Title: East Texas Tour
Post by catroad254 on May 4^th, 2009, 9:49pm

I thoroughly enjoyed doing this tour. Richard and Vicky Reed did a great job scoping out the routes, parks and rider needs before we started which made this a great ride. As mentioned in Thomas'es report we ended up getting washed out on Sunday but as with many long rides it all made for an epic adventure. Half of us stuck it out in tents during all of the rocking and rolling on Saturday night including high winds, heavy rain, nearby tornadoes and flooding. Vicky is a graeat cook and she and JoElla are definitely tour angels!

PS: If Richard tells you a route is flat - do not believe him!

Corsa Ken

"The East Texas Tour
Four of the Clowns rode on Thursday and and a fith rider joined in on Friday and Saturday. Thursday was Winnesborrow to Daingerfield and Friday was from Daingerfield to Caddo Lake. Then on Saturday we rode from Caddo to Atlanta ,Tx, When we got to Atlant SP , about 2 1/2 hours from finish riding the storm move in. Sunday was a washout and came home early.
The Guys that rode the Tour
Richard R
Jim A
Ken J
Jerry L
Corsa Ken
Thomas J

Then of the Ladies that went as a support cars and hauling or stuff.
Vicky R
JoElla J
We has a good time and the food was great, Thanks Vicky!"

Title: Re: East Texas Tour
Post by Killer Bee on May 4^th, 2009, 11:00pm

Corsa Ken, very cool ride. Glad you enjoyed yourselves & arrived safe & sound. I'm sure Sat. night was a real treat in a tent. I look for ward comments on this ride.

How did the Corsa do. Any mechanicals/flats?

-Steve

Title: Re: East Texas Tour
Post by catroad254 on May 5^th, 2009, 8:41pm

Zero problems with the Corsa, but I wasn't hauling a load like some of the guys.

Corsa Ken

Title: Re: East Texas Tour
Post by richardr on May 6^th, 2009, 9:15pm

Here are some pictures of the East Texas Tour. As you will see the parks are beautiful and the women picked out ideal camp sites. Although there were a lot of hills, none were extremely steep or long. We were also very fortunate in that we never rode against the wind.

Here are Ken J, Jerry, Tom and I starting on the tour Thursday morning from Winnsboro. The added day was Ken J's idea and worked out great, since we were not able to ride the final day (Sunday). Corsa Ken and Jim joined us Thurs evening at Daingerfield SP.

http://i463.photobucket.com/albums/qq358/richardreed1129/100_1940.jpg

http://i463.photobucket.com/albums/qq358/richardreed1129/100_1942.jpg

The first day's ride was about 43 miles almost directly west. About 1/3 was chip seal and only minor hills for the first 30 miles. About half way through the ride, I received a phone call from Vicky, that a tree branch had fallen on our car and broke the windshield. Fortunately we were able to continue the tour and got it replaced Monday morning.

http://i463.photobucket.com/albums/qq358/richardreed1129/HPIM1261.jpg

Here is our camping site in Daingerfield SP Thursday night with Jerry, his tent, trike and trailer. The second picture is of Tom & Joella J with their roomy tent in the background.

http://i463.photobucket.com/albums/qq358/richardreed1129/100_1948.jpg

http://i463.photobucket.com/albums/qq358/richardreed1129/100_1953.jpg

For supper we had delicious beef stew with chocolate frosted yellow cake for dessert.

http://i463.photobucket.com/albums/qq358/richardreed1129/HPIM1277.jpg

This is our Mazda5 Friday morning completely full of food and people's camping items. This is with Jerry and Ken J pulling their own camping gear in trailers and having the Tom and Joella's truck with their camping stuff, the HUGE cooler and Joella's and Vicky's trikes.

http://i463.photobucket.com/albums/qq358/richardreed1129/100_1954.jpg

Friday's ride from Daingerfield SP to Caddo SP was south east for about 45 miles. Again the roads were great, but with more hills. The first 2 pictures were taken by Ken J during one of our stops. The 3rd picture was taken by Vicky. If you are wondering where Corsa Ken is, he was normally at the next camp site by the time we were half way.

http://i463.photobucket.com/albums/qq358/richardreed1129/HPIM1290.jpg

http://i463.photobucket.com/albums/qq358/richardreed1129/HPIM1292.jpg

http://i463.photobucket.com/albums/qq358/richardreed1129/100_1980.jpg

When we arrived at Caddo Lake SP, we found out the camp site was down a very steep hill. With the exception of Corsa Ken, we opted for a ride in the minivan while the pickup carried our bikes.

http://i463.photobucket.com/albums/qq358/richardreed1129/100_1986.jpg

http://i463.photobucket.com/albums/qq358/richardreed1129/100_1993.jpg

http://i463.photobucket.com/albums/qq358/richardreed1129/100_1994.jpg

Our camp sites were right on the lagoon water front. That night was very warm, humid with a lot of swamp noises from the frogs, insects and owls.

http://i463.photobucket.com/albums/qq358/richardreed1129/100_1977.jpg

http://i463.photobucket.com/albums/qq358/richardreed1129/100_1967.jpg

http://i463.photobucket.com/albums/qq358/richardreed1129/100_2006.jpg

Here is Corsa Ken at his tent site.

http://i463.photobucket.com/albums/qq358/richardreed1129/100_2002.jpg

Here we are getting ready to leave Caddo Lake SP on Saturday morning.

http://i463.photobucket.com/albums/qq358/richardreed1129/100_2016.jpg

Tom
http://i463.photobucket.com/albums/qq358/richardreed1129/100_2018.jpg

Jim
http://i463.photobucket.com/albums/qq358/richardreed1129/100_2021.jpg

Ken J
http://i463.photobucket.com/albums/qq358/richardreed1129/100_2022.jpg

Saturday's ride from Caddo Lake SP to Atlanta SP was about 47 miles due north with a nice tail wind. It threatened to rain, but held off until that evening. Corsa Ken arrived a couple of hours before the rest of us.

http://i463.photobucket.com/albums/qq358/richardreed1129/100_2036.jpg

Again another beautiful camping site. However as Vicky was heating water for spaghetti, it started to sprinkle. After consulting the weather reports on the I-phone and Blackberry, we decided to hault dinner, button up for some heavy rain.

http://i463.photobucket.com/albums/qq358/richardreed1129/100_2041.jpg

We headed into Atlanta to Pizza Hut. About 5 minutes after we sat down, the rain let loose. The rain let up after dinner, so we went back to survey the damage. Tom & Joella's and Jim's tents were flooded beyond use, so they decided to take the hotel option. The rest of us decided to take our chances in our tents. Ken J moved his tent to higher ground. That night 3 heavy thunderstorms rolled through. Although the rain was heavy, the wind was light.

The next day we shuttled the car drivers to Daingerfield SP, where they left their cars. Everyone packed up and all went home, but Vicky and I. We spent our last camping night in Daingerfield SP. It turned out to be a beautiful and dry evening.

Title: Re: East Texas Tour
Post by shellenefoster on May 7^th, 2009, 6:41am

Great pics, thanks for sharing. Looks like y'all had a ton of fun!
Shellene

Title: Re: East Texas Tour
Post by Bud_Bent on May 7^th, 2009, 8:55am

Yep, it does look like y'all had a blast. Nice photos.

Title: Re: East Texas Tour
Post by Patti on May 7^th, 2009, 10:44am

Really enjoyed these photos. What a fun trip. Sorry I couldn't make it, but one of these days the kids will be grown and I'll have more time for me again (Ihope!)

Title: Re: East Texas Tour
Post by Don on Nov 18^th, 2010, 10:03pm

Hi Guys,

Does anyone remember the miles of this route. im thinking if you guys do it or something like it again im going to try to be ready. if not i might try it as a solo trip either this spring or next fall. Most of the roads look like they have decent shoulders on them for safety.

Thanks in advance and Great Photos!
Don

Title: Re: East Texas Tour
Post by goldentouch on Nov 20^th, 2010, 7:45am

Don I have been looking at a similar route since I live between Wills Point and Canton. Maybe we can get together some weekend. I have a new trike I am truely enjoying. I am not fast.

Title: Re: East Texas Tour
Post by richardr on Nov 20^th, 2010, 9:31pm

Here is what I have in my notes:

Day 1 Winnsboro to Dangerfield State park - 43 miles
Day 2 Dangerfield to Caddo State park - 45 miles
Day 3 Caddo to Atlanta State park - 46 miles
We then got rained out so we didn't ride back to Dangerfield. If we had, it would have been about 43 miles.

We also thought about riding between Bob Sandlin state park and Dangerfield. That would have been about 32 miles.

We had a great time and would like to do it again. Maybe this spring, but it depends on work and other obligations.