Day 17 - Austin, TX to Leesville, LA

We were thankful for a good night's rest after such an exciting weekend, and were a little slow to get moving! Today was our last day in Texas. We woke at 6:15am and left at about 8:20am. It was about 66 degrees when we left and our mileage would be 374 miles. 

We forgot to mention that on Saturday morning, Rob noticed that a critter was curious about our trailer, leaving its paw prints in the pollen dust overnight. What animal do you think this is? The print is about an inch in size. 

The skies were heavy and gray, and the air felt humid. Rain was not expected today on our route. We said goodbye to Austin, even though we didn't make it into the city this time.

Soon after, we couldn't figure out why there were stretches of narrow concrete strip in the median, like a sidewalk. Anyone know?

This place had cool classic vehicles.

A safari park with zebras!

Buffalo!

The first half of the day was really intense with wind gusts and traffic. We learned what Houston traffic is like and vowed to take a much wider berth next time. Despite, there were neat things to see along the way. 

Cars in a glass building waiting to be purchased.

A temple or mosque of some kind along Interstate 10. We couldn't read the sign.

An oversized truck taking up a lane and a half, without an oversized load escort!

We stopped for the first time of the morning at 11:20am in Humble, Tx. We had been riding 3 hours straight and needed fuel and lunch. We got both at one location immediately off the highway. Rob wanted to stop at a Buc-ee's but we couldn't find it. Surprising since they are usually very obvious. Fueled up and fed, we pushed on. We navigated onto other highways and byways, with much less traffic and wind as the day went on.

In one Texas town we stopped next to this colorful truck. About 30 minutes later we saw it pulled over in Louisiana by the Louisiana police. Guess they were still doing Texas speed limits of 75 in the 55 Louisiana zone!

Entering Louisiana. East-bound crossing Sabine river.

Whitecaps on the water, it was so gusty! 

We arrived at our hotel in Leesville, Louisiana around 3:20pm. Rob got the bike cleaned and covered, then we relaxed in the hotel until dinner. We walked right next door to Toups' Kajun Kitchen, thankful for something good so close by. We shared a grilled chicken po boy sandwich, fries and a salad. We got a Raspberry doughnut cheesecake to go for dessert.

Day 16 - Austin, TX Day 4

Race day! We got up at a similar time as Saturday and were rolling out of the hotel around 8am. This morning was in the 60s and the wind was already blowing at about 10mph. We arrived at the track at around 8:30am and parked up front again. Our Lot D upgrade was so convenient, right in front of the entrance to all the action and very close to our seating section. 

Today we watched all the action from our seats at turn 15. It wasn't too crowded yet when we arrived, which is typical. Many fans come in for the MotoGP race and leave. We watched all three morning warmup sessions, each 10-20 minutes. The race officials check the track before and after each race. Here is one of the safety cars. It careens around the track checking for traction. They use BMW vehicles for all the support vehicles. Michele especially liked the white BMW with the big spoiler.

The corner workers are responsible for removing any debris on track and alerting the safety officials of any issues that need inspection. It was cool to see all this in person. The first race was Moto2 at 11am. This is the mid-weight class of riders on 765cc triple Triumph powered bikes. 

Once that was done we had over an hour break until the main event. Everyone swarmed to the food vendors. The first place we stopped in for food was a chicken place but they were out of chicken!  So we went over to the BBQ place and got a pulled pork sandwich. While standing there, Michele noticed the chicken strips were restocked. Rob said we weren't getting back in that line because they could run out right when we got up front, and we'd miss the race standing in all these lines. The prices at this track are astronomical, worse than anywhere we've ever been. Easily three times more than what things should cost. Now that we've done this once, next time we will bring our own food. Worst case, we eat it from the cooler of the trailer in the parking lot! We ate our lunch at our seats and finished just in time for the start of the MotoGP race. At 12:51 there was a flyover. At 12:52 was the National Anthem. The lady we saw practicing did a great job! After a sighting lap, the riders lined up on the grid and took off at 1pm.    

MotoGP bikes are 1,000cc four cylinder engines (the premier class). Moto3 is 250cc single engines (the lightweight class of riders). Here's a sampling of shots from the whole day.

Coming down the back straight at turn 12. This is a heavy braking area. MotoGP riders are doing over 200mph down the straight and have to slow down to 30-40mph for this turn.

Coming towards us at turn 15. The MotoGP bikes are so loud we can feel the roar of their engines in the stands. 

Riders who crash get their bikes transported back to the paddock area, as well as taken care of by EMS personnel (if necessary) within seconds. EMS are stationed around the track and there is a Medivac helicopter. When riders crash, they usually are not hurt (they wear airbag leather suits), but they usually don't re-enter the race since they'd never catch back up. During practice and qualifying though, they will re-enter the session if time is remaining on the clock. 

Two riders battle it out at turn 15. At the top right of this photo near the red/white paint is a bump. You can see it at the dark spot. Many riders adjust their racing line to avoid or lessen it, others didn't seem bothered.

A rider Marco Bezzecchi (#72) crashes coming out of turn 15 in front of us, but is okay!

At the end of each race, most riders wave to the track workers (who come out to the edge of the track) and to the fans in the stands, whether or not they win. Usually all of the MotoGP riders wave, and most of the Moto2 riders, but few of the Moto3 riders do unless they win. 

During Moto2, American Joe Roberts stopped at our turn, got off his bike, crawled under the fence, and tossed his gloves into the stands for lucky fans! In the picture below you can see him getting ready to toss his glove. We were super jealous we weren't further down to catch one. 

He finished in 8th for the race, which was his best finish so far at this race track. We thought Joe was very classy and gracious to his fans for stopping by, given that he didn't even win the race. Michele says he's her new favorite rider. Here he is coming through turn 5. His number is 16.

Everyone cheered for Cameron, the American rider who was in pole position, but he crashed out right at the end! We couldn't believe it! 

After the MotoGP race, we watched Moto3 and stuck around for the MotoAmerica race that started at 4pm. Right before that race Michele surprised Rob by getting him a funnel cake. He'd been teasing her and talking about getting a corndog and funnel cake all day long, but she said it was a stomachache for sure. We learned that powdered sugar and wind don't mix. A big wind gust blew the sugar all over us and everyone near us in the stands! It was still delicious. 

The winners today were Tony Arbolino (his first win in this class) in Moto2, Enea Bastinini in MotoGP, and Jaume Masia in Moto3. Below you can see Enea #23, behind Australian Jack Miller, who had led the race for many laps and ultimately finished 3rd.

In MotoAmerica, the winner was a familiar face to us from MotoGP - Danilo Petrucci from Italy who was in MotoGP last year. He just started in this American series at Austin and won his first two races. It was great to see him off to such a great start and such an experienced rider promoting professional racing in the U.S.! He rode over to turn 15 and waved his thanks to the fans. Michele thinks he probably saw her waving back at him. 

What a great day! We compared this track to the two others we've been to. Facilities-wise, this one is by far a bigger, more organized and cleaner venue. There were ample trash and recycling bins and bags every 50 feet, so there wasn't trash strewn about. There were many food vendors located all around the track and usually with different food choices (though none healthy or reasonably priced). Michele found flushing toilet restrooms right behind our stands on Saturday. Traffic was well organized with police direction, far more so than at Indy or Assen. Assen did not have any and it took hours to get out of the “parking lot” (actually a nearby farmers field). There were shaded tents and seating areas outside of the stands, so it was possible to cool off if one got hot sitting in the stands. What Indy did better was the hospitality package, which was half the cost of Circuit of the Americas (COTA) and parking right next to the grandstand inside the security area. Indy was also much closer to us! We're so disappointed MotoGP does not race at that venue anymore. We didn't get the COTA hospitality because the cost was so high and the seats weren't in a good spot. Assen was just cool to be at a track in Europe and be among fans who were so enthusiastic about the sport (there were close 100k fans at that race!).

We got back to the hotel around 5pm and walked over to Cracker Barrel for dinner. Michele says their biscuits are her most favorite food, especially with apple butter. There was a 45min wait for a table so we ordered our meal to go. We were back in the hotel eating our dinner 30 minutes later and both enjoyed those biscuits for dessert.

Tonight, the wind was still blowing at around 20mph and gusting over 30mph. Rob parked the bike in a different direction so the wind pushed it towards the kickstand, just in case. The wind is expected to continue through the night and all day tomorrow. Our plan is to leave at 8am and make it to Leesville, LA as we begin our way back home.

Day 15 - Austin, TX Day 3

Today the track opened at 8am. We decided that we did not need to get there right when it opened given the previous day’s smaller crowds. We left the hotel around 8am. The morning temps were a bit chilly again at 54F. When we arrived at the track the parking lot was pretty empty and we were able to park up front as on Friday. 

The official name for the race is MotoGP Grand Prix of the Americas. It started with the first three Free Practice (FP) sessions that we watched from our seats at Turn 15. Funny thing, we went to our seats from yesterday, but the docent said we were in the wrong section! We were nine sections too far over to the right. The ticket reads T15-6 which means turn15, section 6, not section 15-16. We walked back and found our seats. They were actually even better of a view, more to the left facing the braking zone for turn 15 so we could see the riders head on. We could also see more of the back straight in the far left of the photo below. We picked our seats months ago, so we didn't remember the exact location in the stands. 

This track, unlike Indy and Assen, checked for assigned seats both Friday and Saturday. 

After the three classes had completed their FP3 sessions, we walked over to turn 6 and set up our chairs in the shadow of a crane truck being used as an elevated platform for a TV camera. 

We watched the two qualifying sessions for Moto2 and MotoGP Free Practice 4 and both qualifying sessions. The wind had started to pick up at this point. It was the warmest day in the upper 80s with no cloud cover, so the wind was welcomed for the temps though it made tricky track conditions for the racers. We needed to check in for our track lap at around 4:30pm which was shortly after the last qualifying session for Moto3. We packed up our chairs and watched Moto3 qualifying from our seats at turn 15.

The qualifying sessions were really good. The races tomorrow should be a good show. Andrea Mingo is on pole for Moto3, Cameron Beaubier (an American) in on pole for Moto2, and for MotoGP, Jorge Martin is on pole. The crowds cheered loudly for Cameron. 

After Moto3 qualifying, we made our way back to the bike and figured out where to check in for our track lap. We pre-registered online signing waivers, so we quickly got our wrist tags for the event. Rob convinced them to let us take the trailer on the track! He said since we drove it all the way from Virginia, it can handle this track. They kind of didn't really know what to do about the trailer and Rob said it's the same width of the bike. They looked at each other and said ok, as long as it can make turns. We thought that was funny! Since the bikes would not be lining up until 6pm, we moved the bike near the line-up location and hung out for the next hour and a half.

Around 6pm, they started to line everyone up. We got in line and over the next hour, we would crawl and wind our way through the parking lot traffic. They organized us out onto the main circuit road where we waited again for regular traffic. Many of the guys around us had sport bikes that radiated the heat from the  engine right up at them. They also sit very close to the hot exhaust pipes which also add to their discomfort when sitting still in traffic. They were sweating and burning up sitting there. Rob's Goldwing doesn't have this issue, as the radiators are huge and the fans blows the hot air forward. Around 7pm, we finally got started on our parade lap that was escorted. We entered the track at turn 6. The Garmin GPS promptly told us we were going the wrong way! I guess Garmin doesn’t know that this track is counter-clockwise. Michele got video of the whole lap. Ask her and she'll show it to you!

It was a very leisurely pace that took us about 7 minutes to complete at 30 mph. The MotoGP riders lap this 4.3mile track in about 2’03” at speeds that get over 200 mph! It was really fun going around turns 12-15 where our seats are located. Rob commented at how much tighter some of the turns are than they appear from the seats. The track was also very clean, no debris along the sides. Before this year, this track had a lot of significant dips and bumps due to ground settlement issues below the surface. The riders complained last year that they would not be back unless it was entirely dug up and fixed. The track was improved and resurfaced in a long section. Rob said he didn't notice any bumps from the comfort of his Goldwing! 

As we rode down the front straight past the Grandstands, the lady who would be singing the National Anthem on Sunday was practicing in the middle of the track. We all moved to the right, then started heading up that steep turn 1. Michele was surprised it wasn't nearly as steep going up it as it looked from the Grandstand area. The downhill side of turn 2  was super fun, but would be scary at racing speeds! 

We got back to the hotel area at about 7:30pm. We decided to make a quick stop at the pizza place we ate at on Thursday to order a pizza and salad to go. 

Today was a really long day but so fun. The wait in line for the track lap was worth it and riding the track was the highlight of our day. Tomorrow is race day!

Day 14 - Austin, TX Day 2

The Circuit of the Americas track parking opened at 9am and gates at 9:30am. When we woke temps were mid 40s and 56 when we hit the road. We bundled up in our jacket liners for the ride over. 

Usually Fridays are much less crowded at the track since it is just all practice sessions. We got in our lot D just fine and front parking spots were open. Rob noticed a 1987 Honda Hurricane parked next to us. He had this same bike as his first bike, but his had the 1988 bodywork. It is a rare-ish bike now. 

We got through the gates just fine using the mobile ticketing system. In the Grand Plaza everyone is greeted by this huge metal monster in a pond that breathes fire. They were changing out his propane when we arrived.

We found our grandstand, turn 15, and walked up to our seats. Michele was happy that the seats were plastic seats, not metal bleachers. They had backs to them and were more comfortable than bleacher style seats. Our seats are in a really good section to see the action. We can see everything from the back straight coming into turn 12 all through the entrance of turn 16, plus a few other areas in the distance up the hill. The scoreboard and a big screen were also in front of us. 

We watched MotoGP and Moto3 first practice sessions. After the MotoGP session, Michele walked back out to the bike because Rob forgot his earplugs. It is very loud when the bikes are on the track! While she walked back, a stunt biker was doing big aerials on his stunt bike. 

After the morning sessions, we walked around to the other side of the track and got lunch. It's a bit of a hike to get over there, across two pedestrian bridges over the track. Then we hiked up the hill over to see steep turns 1 and 2, and then to turns 3-5 in the serpentine section. A few riders got a bit squirrely coming out of the steep downhill. At the end of the day we sat at turns 17-18. There were MotoAmerica practices, but we were too tired to stay for those, and the sun had been on us all day. Rob was the photographer today and took 1,500 photos.

We thought it was really funny that a fan brought his Lamborghini with his camper. We're pretty sure he didn't pull the camper behind it. The RV site is at the back of the track facing a long straight track section between turns 2 and 3. 

View of the approach up the steep hill looking on the front straight. The main grandstands are the white building at the far left. The hill doesn't look as steep in this view. The distinctive observation tower is to the right.

After turn 1 (a hairpin left turn), they head down the hill into turn 2 (a long and fast right hander).

Tomorrow is a long day of more practice sessions, then qualifying in the afternoon. We finish with our parade lap starting at 6:30pm. 

Day 13 - Austin, TX Day 1

Today we had just three objectives: go to the track to check the route for the weekend, pick up our parade lap tickets and do laundry. We had breakfast around 8:30. Our hotel, the Fairfield Inn, has a really good free breakfast. We got out the door around 9:45. 

We picked a route to the track that avoided the toll roads. The route was pretty straight forward and only took about 25 minutes. When we arrived at the track we were not entirely sure where we needed to pick up the tickets. The track map was not so helpful. We made an assumption that the front entrance of the grandstands would be the place to start. We saw a door to the main office, but the only folks around were busy setting up booths and had no idea where the ticket office might be. After wandering around the grand stand area for 30 minutes and getting frustrated, Michele left a voicemail with the sales guy that she spoke with last week to buy the parade lap tickets. He called her back after about 5 minutes and said the ticket booth is open between parking lots B and D. We hopped back on the bike, rode over to lot D and found the ticket booth. We got our parking passes and confirmed the correct lot where we would be parking for the weekend, which is lot D, upgraded with our parade lap ticket. As a side note, while wandering around, Michele peeked inside the track and could not believe how steep turn one is!  On TV it looks much flatter. 

With tickets in hand, we made our way over to the laundromat called the Washateria just a few miles from our hotel. It had good reviews for being clean and a newer facility. On the way, we stopped at a Subway and got lunch since we would be awhile at the laundromat. Michele went inside to order and a man in line asked about our Goldwing. He said he has a “hot rod yellow” Goldwing. He went in the showroom, got one look at it and signed the papers on the spot. 

Off to the laundromat. Michele forgot to bring a roll of quarters on this trip so she quickly learned how heavy $20 in quarters is. There were plenty of available machines of various load sizes and we filled up two. We went back outside and Rob suggested we move the bike since we were downwind from a guy smoking in his SUV. He moved the bike upwind at the other end of the parking lot row. We set up our camping table and tried out our new lightweight REI chairs (comfy!). Rob noticed that there was shade at the side of the building. We moved everything once again since we had another 30 mins left on the dryers. Here’s our fancy setup at the side of the convenience store!

Today Michele wanted to visit Lake Travis recommended by Ange and Dan, but we just didn’t have enough time. We will keep it on the list for the next trip. 

With all that done, it was after 2pm, so we just relaxed back at the hotel and watched movies on TV until dinner. We walked over to Double Dave’s for pizza. Their garden salad was really good also. Texas is in the 5% range for covid infection rates so that is a big improvement over the past month. We are surprised that more people wear masks in Texas than they did in either Alabama or Louisiana. After dinner, Rob watched pre-race interviews by the MotoGP racers on TV. 

We have a busy three days ahead at the track with practice sessions, qualifying, our parade lap on Saturday, and the races on Sunday. MotoGP has three classes of racing, and there are support races this weekend with MotoAmerica and North American Talent Cup races, so the schedule is packed all day long. We usually walk around the track, visit vendor booths, and take pictures from different track sections. There will be more pictures tomorrow. 

Day 12 - San Antonio to Austin, TX

Our route today was all about the journey, taking us through parts of the Texas Hill Country. Our mileage was 370 miles, ultimately bringing us into Austin. After yesterday's scorching temps, we dressed for the predicted 78 high temps for the day. Once we hit the road before 8:30am, we quickly realized that the very gusty winds were quite cold out of the north. We began the day on I10 in rush hour traffic, but it was moving. We turned off to TX-16 West and traffic was much more sparse. The scenery started to change to scrubby trees on the outer suburbs of the city. 

After 30 more minutes, we were both cold and also needed to fuel up the bike. We stopped at a gas station that was also a market and taxidermy business. It was much nicer than it sounds, and clean. Michele put on a fleece and her windproof jacket liner. Rob stayed with what he had on. A decision he would regret as the temps never warmed up. We would both have been better off with jeans instead of shorts under our riding pants, and possibly the heated jacket. We didn't realize that we ride a majority of the day above 1,500 feet maxing out at 2,300 feet, all while the wind was super gusty. Despite being a bit chilly at times, the scenery was amazing! 

We were not expecting so many curvy roads and low mountains. After so much highway driving on this trip, it was a nice change to have some twisty roads. 

This is the Guadalupe River that we crossed over and rode parallel to for awhile. In places it was emerald green in color. 

During our ride we had to stop for some construction work. While waiting on the pilot truck to escort us, of group of 7 motorcyclists caught up with us.

As soon as we got through the construction, Rob pulled to the right side of the road and waved the on by. We didn't want to hold them up on their ride.

We came across this field of flowers. We believe they were blue bonnets. Looking it up later, we think it is part of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower center. It looks like a neat place to visit if we come back.  

At Noon we stopped for lunch at Rio Ranch Cafe in Kerrville. It was definitely a local favorite as the parking lot was busy as was inside. As we pulled up, Michele noticed a SUV pulled up in front of another taxidermy business that was across the parking lot. On a platform in front of the grille was a gigantic turkey! We assume they were having it stuffed. Inside, we found a table and ordered a grilled chicken sandwich with sauteed mushrooms and melted Swiss, and the tomatoes and lettuce were fresh. Service was quick and attentive. We would definitely eat there again. After lunch a man asked if we rode the bike from Virginia. His son lives in Norfolk. He invited us to visit the saloon he owns “on the highway” but we forgot the name and didn’t know which highway he meant. 

Rob put on his windproof liner after lunch as the temps were still below 70F. A little before 1pm, we were back on the road, continuing along the Hill Country Trail. 

We found Utopia on today's ride.

We also saw the Bandera county court house.

We saw quite a few wineries around Fredricksburg. The number of wineries reminded us of all the wineries that have been growing in Northern VA. Looks like Texas is trying to put their mark on the winery business also. There were also a few impressive breweries and a vodka distillery.

Michele likes looking at the names of the ranch gates. The ones so far on the trip she's liked best are Broken Horn Ranch and Two Toes Ranch. Rob asked what happened to the other eight toes? 

Today we saw a new animal of the trip - buffalo! 

We also saw a Stonehenge like structure.

About 45 minutes from our hotel, traffic really started picking up as we approached Austin. We pulled into our hotel in Buda, Tx (pronounced Byooda according to Rob’s coworkers) at about 3:30pm. We checked in and rested a bit before walking over to the Cracker Barrel for dinner. Michele saw a billboard for chicken and dumplins’ at the beginning of the trip and it’s been on her mind ever since. She ordered the Wednesday special instead, baked chicken and cheesy broccoli. 

Tomorrow we will do errands and maybe a little sightseeing.