Sometimes,... as I'm riding one long strip of tarmac from one mountain range to the next,... passing 30 or 40 miles of nuttin'...
I think about the old West... and how I will pass, in half an hour,... a cowboy's hard day's ride..
... but, I'm still bored...
So, I think a little more...

They did have it tough... really tough...
...but, they had no idea what 75mph wind felt like...  
...no idea what a PaloVerde beetle smacking you in the throat felt like at highway speed...
...no idea of the mental focus you need to maintain, when your ride doesn't have the sense to step around a fresh dead skunk in the road...
They pressed their knees into the warmth of a 1,000 pound furry beast,... while we press out knocking knees into an ice cold steel tank of volatile fuel...

They could even sneeze without thinking,...
"Uh oh,... this ain't gonna' be pretty."..  ...


Any other thoughts?....

On 473, up in the hill country, there are these signs.
They are about 7/10th of a mile apart.. ON THAT ROAD.  Makes you wonder what route the cowboy had to take for doing what ever it was that needed doing that would make it time for that 2nd cup of coffee in that hollow.  

Some of the boys of Hill Country Ride 2015 may remember that stretch of road.

There is a joint up the road that has a few Harleys, a dozen or so pickups and a couple of horses out in front of an evening.... Nice thing about horses... they can find their way home, improbable DUI arrest and they don't fall over when you pickup the kick stand and drop the hammer when it's still in neutral.....