Mini-Bikes, Mega-Heat

Fresh off all the adventures in Houston, I made my way to Corpus Christi via a few long stretches of mostly boring rural road. I'd like to say I spent the day gaining all sorts of insight and road wisdom as with my last stretch, but really, I just wanted to get there. And through the occasional showers that dogged me throughout the ride. I had a set of tires on their way to meet me in Laredo, but the ETA on that wasn't until Tuesday, 8/7, giving me a few days to kill in Corpus Christi.

Arriving in Corpus Christi, I was met by my very friendly hosts Ana and Travis. Ana works with international students, and Travis is a motorcycle mechanic, so both seemed very excited to hear about my trip and the routes I was taking, and we hit it off pretty well. Having arrived fairly late in the day, I partook of some of the fantastic and fantastically cheap Mexican food that is a hallmark of South Texas, and went to sleep. Sunday, 8/4, I woke up fairly early and made my way to the USS Lexington.

I won't bore readers with more ramblings about another museum ship, but the sheer scale of the Lex was impressive to see, as was its extensive service record; over 40 years from her 1943 commissioning at the height of World War II to her retirement in 1991, she saw action in nearly every major Pacific Theater battle from September, 1943 onward. I also found an unexpected hometown connection; Nile Kinnick, the University of Iowa's only Heisman Trophy winner and the player for whom our (gorgeous) football stadium in Iowa City is named, became one of the Lexington's first casualties when he was killed in a training flight accident.

I'd planned on only spending a couple of hours on the Lex, but by the time I made it through all the exhibits, flight deck, and the huge portions of the ship that are open to the public, it was late afternoon and I just wanted to get back to Travis and Ana's and relax. I'd expected to spend a quiet night back at their place, but they had other ideas; Travis is part of a large and growing group that drag-races mini-bikes at a park outside of Corpus Christi, and they invited me along for their weekly gathering. The variety of minibikes there was surprising, and a little funny in a way; who would expect to see a bike that was barely knee-height with TWO heavily modified lawnmower engines bolted into it and synchronized?

This was grassroots motorsport at its absolute core, and I was loving it! I spent most of the meeting snapping photos of the riders and racers, and both they and I loved the results. It was yet another reminder that in the pantheon of motorcycling, there's far more than one way to have fun on two wheels.

I spent Monday relaxing and writing; after a week on the road and filling every day with something, whether it was riding or sightseeing, I needed a short break and time to catch up on thoughts and photos. Late in the day, I departed Travis and Ana's for South Padre Island; I'd decided to spend my last night in Corpus Christi camping at one of the National Park Service campgrounds on the beach, and arriving in the early evening, I was absolutely not disappointed by the view. I quickly set up my tent and dived into the warm waters of the Gulf, enjoying the tang of salt water and the crash of waves for the first time in over a year.

I dried off and got dinner going before darkness fell, and was treated to one hell of a sunset, the first I'd been able to really take in since starting out.

And soon after the sun went down, I fell asleep to the sounds of waves on the shore and the persistent, gusty winds blowing in from the Gulf across the island dunes. I was rudely awakened around 5 AM by raindrops filtering through the mesh of my tent; believing the 0% rain forecast for the evening, I'd left the fly off in order to enjoy the cooling winds, and so had to frantically grab it out of my bike bags and cover my tent up before my clothes, sleeping bag, and camera got soaked. I climbed back into my tent soaked in rain water, but with my things thankfully dry.

The sky made up for it with a spectacular sunrise as day broke a few hours later, and after drying my tent, I struck out for Laredo. Laredo would be my last stop on the US leg of the trip, the place where I'd get my tires replaced and a few final checks on the bike before crossing over. It occurred to me as the miles ticked away under my wheels and the environment around me changed from coastal grasslands to desert, that I'd already seen a huge change, from the forested mountain foothills of Tennessee, to the Cypress swamps of Mississippi and Louisiana, and now to the southern desert. It felt like the quintessential South Texas experience; large stretches of sand and mesquite trees, with the gaps filled in by several species of cactus, the long gash of the highway as the only indicator that humans had, in fact, been through this inhospitable landscape. And the heat.

My goodness, the heat. I was doing 75 mph on the highway, and the thermometer on my bike was reading 106; I'd never experienced anything like it, much less ridden a motorcycle in such conditions, and I was rapidly sucking down the contents of the water reservoir in my tank bag. I arrived in Laredo without melting, and temporarily left my bike in the care of Johnny Gregory's Motorcycle Service; a true mom-and-pop shop, they got my tires changed very quickly, along with making sure my wheels and chain were in good shape. Highly recommended to anyone passing through Laredo!

I write this on Wednesday morning, 8/7; in an hour or less, I will pack up the bike, eat a quick breakfast, and push off for the last time in the United States this year, and for close to a year altogether. As far as I have come already, it feels like the "real" adventure is about to start, and I'd like to thank everyone who's followed my journey thus far for reading my thoughts and ramblings. I can't wait to share the coming adventures with you all. Into Mexico!

Mileage: 1,482