Palo Duro Canyon

So Wednesday evening I felt the urge to get on the road. i decided to go to Palo Duro Canyon - just south of Amarillo. I was planning on camping at Palo and driving back the next day. I woke up early, packed the R1150RT and got on the road at 6:10a. Here's my route:

114W to 81N - Rhome, Tx
287N - Bowie, Tx
loop 335 South - Amarillo, Tx (signs for Palo begin here)
27S - Amarillo, Tx
217E - Canyon, Tx.

I arrived in Amarillo at 10:50. A total of 360 miles - so far - in 4 hours and 40 minutes. This equates to an average of 78 MPH. BTW, I stopped one time to gas up in Vernon, Tx (180 miles into the trip). That's the farthest I've gone in one leg - so far.

I hiked around Palo that afternoon. It was about 105F on the canyon floor. Needless to say, sweating my tail off got a little old and I thought I'd find a nearby motel in Amarillo. However, on my way I got the urge to see Lubbock - a town I've never even been close to. I took 27S and stopped in Tulia, Tx to recover, gas up, etc.

While sitting at the Grandy's and after replenishing myself for about an hour, I decided to just make the trip a long day of touring and head back to Dallas. Here's the route from Tulia:

86E - Tulia, Tx
70S - Turkey, Tx
82E - Dickens, Tx
114E - Seymour, Tx and home

I arrived home at 9:45p after traveling 825 miles. Here are some stats for the entire trip:

Miles: 825
Fuel: 21.7 gallons
Avg MPG: 38
Avg MPH: 52.4

Note the Avg MPH includes all minutes btw 6:10a and 9:45p.

I was most impressed with the beemer. This was my first 600+ mile day on it. The electric windshield was a real help. I kept it pegged at 90-95 the entire day. The bike enjoyed every minute of it. I did have a few periods 100mph+, but 90-95 was perfect for me and the bike. The 6-speed tranny on the 1150RT is awesome. At 95mph the engine is humming at 4500 RPMs - about 57% engine utilization. I made very few stops. The first was 180 miles into the trip in Vernon. More frequent stops in the afternoon just in order to keep hydrated. While my rear held up well, I'm still considering the corbin seat or the Russell Day Long.

I saw a lot of cops all the way to amarillo on 287. Watch out for them. I didn't see one cop from Tulia all the way home. Most of the roads are straight and made for hauling ass - very few capsules and they were very courteous of bikers - pulling over on the shoulder to let you pass, waving... The whole nine yards.

Here's the map and some pics...

click to enlarge