Riding the Three Twisted Sisters

[mjptexas]

For those of you not familiar with the Texas Hill Country, this is considered by many at THE MUST RIDE in Texas.



I've done parts of 337 many times, 336 twice but never 335.  It's a 185 mile ride from Austin just to the northern end of 335.  I got a kitchen pass for Friday night and rode to Kerrville so I'd be reasonably fresh of a ride Saturday.  This is the map of the route I took from Kerville:



Including the ride from Kerrville I covered about 200 miles riding the 3 roads. 
The ride from Kerrville to Leakey is an interesting ride too.  You take 27/39 west through Hunt Texas and 83 south into Leakey.  The ride is a nice warm-up for what's ahead.


Leakey is the cross roads for two of the sisters.  I took this one west:


To here:


337 is broken up by 2 small (very small) towns.  I consider the section from Leakey to Camp Wood the second most scenic.  You climb several hundred feet up the side of the hill and have some spectacular vistas.
 
At Camp Wood I headed north and caught this one just a ways out of town:

I had never been on 335 before.  About ten miles of it is literally carved into the side of hill, and again with a climb out of several hundred feet.  The scenery is spectacular as you look down into the valleys and canyons.  Unfortunately there are no places to pull out and enjoy the view.  It's a very narrow road with a shear rock wall on one side and guard rail on the other.

When I got to the end of 335 I had a short run east on the highway to here:

I think 336 is my favorite road of the three.  Part of the ride is along a high desolate plateau followed by a descent down into a river canyon (steep and narrow in a couple of places) that brings you back to Leakey. The nice thing about 336 is there are several places where you can pull over and admire the view.

Once back to Leakey I headed east on 337 to here:


This is my favorite section of 337.  At Vanderpool I always take a short detour to the Lone Star Motorcycle Museum.

http://www.lonestarmotorcyclemuseum.com

I consider it not so much a museum as a way for Alan Johncock to share his collection with the world.  There is an interesting article about the museum here:

http://www.motorcycleclassics.com/classic-motorcycle-touring/lone-star-motorcycle-museum-texas.aspx#axzz31RAJDHdN

If you are lucky you'll catch Alan at the museum.  He is always happy to talk with anyone about the collection.  His collection includes 4 Vincents with a pristine Black Shadow and Black Knight and arguably the finest collection of single cylinder Nortons outside of Barbers.

I then continue east on 337 to here:

This is the first part of the Three Twisted Sisters I ever drove down, probably 26 years ago.  My image of Texas was changed forever after that first drive on 337.

Evidently Verizon doesn't have any deals with the local small providers as I spent about 6 hours Saturday with this:


Once the Cali was back in the garage Saturday night I had covered:


And amazingly enough I got some pretty good gas mileage:


Some general somewhat random observations:

• During the entire 200 miles I probably met less than 20 cars (outside of the towns that is).  I met at least a 3 times that many motorcycles
• The Cali was amazingly comfortable.  My only issue is the ongoing windscreen saga, which I will address in a different post.
• I know there are a lot of great rides in this country, but this one really has to be near the top.  The roads are fun, the scenery is great and there is no traffic.
• Riding for 20-30 minutes at a time through this beautiful area and not seeing another soul is a borderline religious experience.

If for whatever reason you find yourself passing through Texas on I-10 you owe it to yourself to take a day and ride the Three Twisted Sisters.  It's an experience you won't forget.

[Guzzistajohn]

Oh #%$@ I thought you were talking about my wife and her sisters ;D

Nice report, I have always wanted to go down there and ride.

[LowRyter]

whooooa Mike......next time I'm down there..for sure   ;-T



took the Cali, not the Griso   :bike

[rodekyll]

Nice scenery, but where are the hills?

[Jim Rich]

Nice report, it is a special place that I long to get back to...  Thanks for posting.  My favorite loop in the area is N. out of Camp Wood up 51 to Rock Springs then down 335 back to Camp Wood.  But all the roads out there are great entertainment.

[SmithSwede]

That motorcycle museum has great Australian meat pies.  Highly recommended.

[oldbike54]

Nice scenery, but where are the hills?

Kinda makes our's here in Okiehomie look special , huh ? ;D
Dusty

[mjptexas]

Nice scenery, but where are the hills?

All I had was my camera phone is lousy at scenery pics.

Here's another article with some pics that gives you a bit of a feel for the area.

http://strictlygs.com/content.php?11-The-Three-Twisted-Sisters-of-Texas

[Waterbottle]

That motorcycle museum has great Australian meat pies.  Highly recommended.

An old saying here in aus, beef pies are made from "Lips & A holes" , chicken pies are "Beaks & Feet"  ;D :D

[dilligaf]

Nice scenery, but where are the hills?

More like bumps.  ;D I rode that area with my son in law and friends on our way from Weatherford, TX to Big Bend National Park some years back.  I enjoyed it very much.  TX has miles and miles of nothing but flat making TX Hill Country something like a motorcycle oasis.    :BEER:
Matt

[190 Octane]

I rode the 3 sisters with a group of friends about a month ago.  Wow, did that sound dirty.

We took pretty much the same route, but stayed in and started from Camp Wood.  We also took 16 form Medina to Kerrville, it is another great road.

BTW my AT&T phone had service the whole time, usually 4G.  My friends with Verizon did not, guess you can't believe everything those big red maps promise.

[oldbike54]

UH OH , a cell phone provider comment , should go like an oil comment , a "slippery" slope indeed  ;D( I do like my ATT service ) Drizzling and windy here , entertain me  :BEER:
Dusty

[biking sailor]

We took pretty much the same route, but stayed in and started from Camp Wood.  We also took 16 form Medina to Kerrville, it is another great road.

 :+1  Wife and I spent a week down there in mid March of this year.  We rode the area and I was thinking the same thing, 16 between Kerrville and Medina was a really enjoyable ride. 

[rodekyll]

More like bumps.  ;D I rode that area with my son in law and friends on our way from Weatherford, TX to Big Bend National Park some years back.  I enjoyed it very much.  TX has miles and miles of nothing but flat making TX Hill Country something like a motorcycle oasis.    :BEER:
Matt

I just thought it was amusing that the op was emphesizing the hill country, but didn't have any hills in the pictures.  I've driven the area (not on a bike) and thought the 'hills' were leftover from the freeway construction.

I tell the story of an eastbound trip along the I-10 corridor.  I don't remember if I was on that actual road or one parallel to it, but I was going from Bakersfield to San Antonio.  Also, sorry -- I don't know exactly where on the road this happened,  It was hot and mirages were popping in and out of the ripply air.  The road was pancake flat.  Up ahead, a mirage was bouncing close -- far -- close.  A road sign.  It must have been 20 or more miles away, over the horizon from me.  It jumped around for about 15 minutes after I could see the actual item in the distance.  When I finally got close enough to read it, I almost had to stop the van. I was laughing so hard.  It read "CONTINENTAL DIVIDE".   ;D  :D  ;D

But the really humorous part is that when I tell the story to texans, they don't understand why it's funny.

[oldbike54]

RK , that Continental Divide sign may have been a billboard for a Motel  ;D Seriously , the Hill Country does have some pretty good roads , the area around Lake Travis can be quite entertaining , and if one gets bored , the bars in the 6th and Congress area in Austin provide some of the best live music anywhere . Johnny Winter and SRV were both regulars,
as well as Kinky Friedman , and all of those hot Female performers like Marcia Ball and Angela Strehli ." Keep Austin Weird "  :D
Dusty

[biking sailor]

Here's a pic from a turnout.

[biking sailor]

Yeah, I got a pic of that sign also!  (Mine was a little more "off-road", or "off-the-side-of-the-road".)   ;D

[oldbike54]

It is pronounced Laykey , funnier to say it like it looks though  :D
Dusty

[190 Octane]

It is pronounced Laykey , funnier to say it like it looks though  :D
Dusty

When I'm not looking at it spelled out, I can pronounce it correctly (Lake-E), but whenever I see it I always end up saying leaky.

[oldbike54]

When I'm not looking at it spelled out, I can pronounce it correctly (Lake-E), but whenever I see it I always end up saying leaky.

:D Here in Oklahoma we have the Ouchita Mtns (no laughing from you Colorado or Alaska boys) AND the Washita River, both pronounced the same way . A tourist once asked me about the Ouch ee ta Mtns . We also have a town named Tahlequah (Tsa La Gi in Cherokee) that I have heard pronounced Ta lee kway , Ta lee Q , Ta lee kwa , and Tah lee kwah  :D :D
Dusty

[MGrego]

I have been wanting to ride in this area of the Texas Hill Country for some time now, so this past weekend armed with a Butler map I made a plan and headed down to check it out ...



Great weather on Saturday



Thunderstorms overnight had cleared out by Sunday AM, but had left behind lots of debris on the road, mostly downed limbs and fallen rocks.  My planned route was blocked by water over the road near Medina. I just did a u-turn and stopped to get a quick picture, obviously I didn't cross that...



Eventually I found an alternate route to Leakey, where the "Twisted Sisters" route begins.  The scenery started looking good.

Closing in on Leakey there were signs along the road that said there was loose gravel on the road. The Norge started feeling clumsy, must be the loose gravel the signs warned about. Standing up on the pegs seemed to make it better.




Just before entering Leaky the Frio River was over the road.  Several trucks and a few Harleys were stopped in the road watching the water.  It doesn't look very deep in the pic, but the water was moving very fast.  None of the bikers were going to try it.  It was now much later in the day than I intended to begin the Twisted Sisters route....

While stopped at the river I noticed my rear tire was completely flat !  No wonder the bike felt awkward and heavy the last couple of miles....  Put the bike on the center stand and a quick exam revealed the puncture.  Fortunately, I had a tire plug kit and a small electric air compressor my wife gave me as a Christmas present.  10 minutes later the tire was plugged and aired back up.  Not entirely trusting the plug repair, I made the decision to head back home rather than test the plug on twisting mountain roads with no repair services for miles...

I think this was the trip that wasn't meant to be --- but I'll be back !

[jbell]

Smart move.  Many times it's not the height of the water but that the road below it has washed out or pot-holed into a tire trap that captures the vehicle till the water is high enough to wash it away.  Hope you have better luck next time, it's a great ride.  Used to be on Sundays, the OST in Bandera was the gathering place for breakfast and then head out for your day's ride.

[mjptexas]

I have been wanting to ride in this area of the Texas Hill Country for some time now, so this past weekend armed with a Butler map I made a plan and headed down to check it out ...

...Just before entering Leaky the Frio River was over the road.  Several trucks and a few Harleys were stopped in the road watching the water.  It doesn't look very deep in the pic, but the water was moving very fast.  None of the bikers were going to try it.  It was now much later in the day than I intended to begin the Twisted Sisters route....

While stopped at the river I noticed my rear tire was completely flat !  No wonder the bike felt awkward and heavy the last couple of miles....  Put the bike on the center stand and a quick exam revealed the puncture.  Fortunately, I had a tire plug kit and a small electric air compressor my wife gave me as a Christmas present.  10 minutes later the tire was plugged and aired back up.  Not entirely trusting the plug repair, I made the decision to head back home rather than test the plug on twisting mountain roads with no repair services for miles...

I think this was the trip that wasn't meant to be --- but I'll be back !

A prudent move.  Low water crossings in the Hill Country will be very treacherous for the next couple of months.  Some of the crossings that are usually dry will have water in them, and, under the water will be black algae which is the slipperiest substance known  to man.  Had a buddy that went down in one last year and broke his collar bone. 

[Lesman]

You left off the very important ride on  16 from Kerrville to Medina. It could be consider another sister. I love the Hill Counrty.

[PJPR01]

You left off the very important ride on  16 from Kerrville to Medina. It could be consider another sister. I love the Hill Counrty.

Bingo...it's a great entrance especially in the fast drop section.

I prefer the older and younger sister, not so much the middle one!

 

[MGrego]

I had a good run this past weekend through the "Twisted Sisters".  I only saw a handful of other motorcyclists and even fewer cars and pickups, which was really nice -- No water over the roads on this trip thankfully !












Had to stop for a quick pic in Luckenbach on my way home...