Over 13 hours, 500 miles, all for a bridge

NOTE: Looks like smugmug was not at fault, it was a FireFox cache problem. All is well!

So, about 4 or 5 weeks ago I saw a picture of a single lane, wood deck, suspension bridge in Texas. Who knew there was one those in the great state of Texas? I didn't.

So, looks like a destination for a ride

Since I like bridges, I hit maps.google.com and see what else I can find from here to there. And I found a few other cool bridges. So with the wife's blessing, a route in the GPS, off I head.

Started out far too early, in fact caught sun rise well into the ride.


Here is an abandoned bridge south west of Cleburne on County road 1175.









At the intersection of HWY 174 and FM 56 found some cool old signs


On the outskirts of Kopperl I found an interesting railway bridge. Went up a small access road and was lucky enough to catch a train go buy.







Next, went down an interesting road looking for a small dam. According to the GPS and the signs it was a county road, but, well, not exactly well maintained, but did find a cool cemetery.


There must have been a sign somewhere that said watch your step, the following picture does not do justice to the amount of cow pies on the road.


Well, onto scope out a possible location for a sunrise picture

I could not resist turning back for this picture of an old house


And for this house




This bridge find was a complete accident, but cool none the less. It is on county road 4115.

Looking good so far

Glad ya got out for a ride Tom. Looks like a good time was had.

I need a dirty Tejas ride in the spring.

MuddySump, thanks, and I like your taste in bikes!
OzarkRider, thanks!

The next spot along the road was a bridge that looks to be long, long since abandoned. This is on County Road 213 at County Road 210. Looks like private property has swallowed this one, so not closeups possible.




So, did I mention that it was really windy??


Kinda a cool barn, here is a close up raw picture of it.


Well, another bridge on the list has been abandoned and now rests behind a fence. County Road 106.

looks like a fun ride - I am on board!
Can you give us a better idea of where you started and where you are heading for us who are too geographically challenged to figure it out and too lazy to look?

Good stuff.
Thanks

Thanks for the complements!

Getting real close, only a few more photos to process.

Here's another bridge closed to road vehicles, but accessible! It is on County Road 103. I did not have the guts to ride the Tiger over it. The bike is still a bit new, and I have yet to put the crash bars on it. I did not get a good picture, but the hill on this side was very steep. Obviously some of the people living in


Here was the road leading up to the bridge


Found another building photo worthy


And another simple bridge


Well, we are there .......

His wife let him go ride, but won't let him tell us where these bridges are. It's a secret.

If ya don't/have not already...
Post some of the nice one's in;
http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=686929
Show us your bike at the bridge

I love to hunt for/find/photograph old iron bridges as well! Thanks for sharing and check out the old bridge thread in my siginature.


Brad

Nice bike, great photos!!!

Well, I finally had the time to finishing going through the pictures and getting them uploaded.



It is the Regency Bridge, in, more or less, central Texas.

Hey, not that I need a reason for a ride, but it helps

The day started out cloudy, stayed windy all day, but by the time I got to the bridge the sky was perfect. Being an electrical engineer, a wantabee mechanical engineer, is probably has roots in why many aspects of engineering fascinate me. And thus, the drive for tour 'de bridge.


















I would suspect the time is coming short for this bridge if repairs are not made soon. There are many nails that have risen up, and a lot of the boards on the deck are showing a lot of damage. You have to be careful where you place the side stand. It looks like the bridge has been surveyed for repairs, but by the fading of the paint, it has been a while ago.



Now that the posting is almost complete, I will post the pictures in some of the pics^3 forum.

Thanks again for looking.

Well, about my wife, she is very understanding, of course, she knew what she was getting into when she married me

But, of course, one final stop on the way home

you are a wise man

The dirt road up to the bridge from the north is a nice ride. The landscape changes as you get closer to the bridge. It is a bridge worth seeing. My ride was about 500 miles fro SW Oklahoma. Guess I may ride back next spring on way to hill county. It is kind unnerving when standing on it and a suburban comes up behind you! Good report.

I've seen almost everything in your report and you did a great job photographing them. Way to go! We sure need some rain.

Nice ride report and photos!

Thanks for the complements, the ride was fun, and I enjoy sharing my pictures.

And yeah, rain would be good!

These are some pretty nice shots! Thanks for sharing.

I am not sure if I would go through so much "all for a bridge"... but now I don't have to since you already took pictures for us... lol. It feels like I've already been there.