Night Ride

After a long, though good day at work, I realized that I needed to fill the FJR up with gas. I knew the wife was home, watching the Spurs beat up on the Denver Nuggets, so I decided to take the bike out for a quick ride around the "loop."

It's not the same "loop" as found in East Central Florida, and it's a little shorter. But it's a lot more exciting when done at night with the possibility of deer jumping out in front of you.

MAP

I take loop 1604 to Nacagdoches (2252), and hang a left on 3009 towards Garden Ridge. Shoenthal Road is pretty during the day, but I usually skip it. I hang a left at the light at 1863 and wind my way through small elevation changes and curves. I wander into a residential area (more like side streets that lead into residential areas) and look for Smithson Valley Road.
Turning left onto SV Rd, it turns into Bulverde Road, which can take you back to Loop 1604. Or you can exit left onto Evans Rd which passes Green Mountain and intersects Nacagdoches.

The loop used to be much more fun, but Bulverde/Smithson Valley Rd has seen a lot of growth over the past two or three years. I could go down that road at 5PM on a weekday and encounter very little traffic past Evans; today, I rarely go that way until after 7:30 - just to avoid road raging commuters. It's also sad that the green hills have been replaced with rolling suburbs, and another beautiful two lane road has been claimed by sprawl.