Ride Around Texas attempt

#1
Hello,
I am planning the Ride Around Texas ride in early November. Am interested in knowing the exact gas stations that riders who have successfully done this ride have stopped at, at the mandatory stop locations. I am trying to avoid a situation where I make a stop at a gas station in one of the mandatory stop locations and the receipt does not have that town name (sometimes the receipt will have the name of the suburb).

Would it be too shameless to ask one of you to share a ride log/gpx file that shows the exact gas stops in the mandatory stop points????

Thanks.
Ani.
 

JP Handley

Premier Member
IBR Finisher
#2
Ani, google hardtxrider.com. You will find all the info you will need about the RAT. Might have to look at a few pages or blogs but you will find a .gpx file with all the stops.
 

Russ Black

Premier Member
#5
Sorry to here that. I've been planning this ride since 2016 and finally did it between Nov 10-12. got a late start and I went counter clockwise starting/ending in Galveston. I missed earning the gold by 1 hr, 1 min & 12 seconds. I had to stop between Texarkana and Paris because the weather made the road conditions very unsafe. The winds across North Texas and in the Panhandle were very strong causing my fuel mileage to suffer and blow one of the side covers off the bike somewhere near Harrold, TX. They should close the road between Orla and US 62. It was nothing but road construction with lots of one lane sections controlled by those unmanned traffic lights. I only progressed about 35 mph through there. My rear tire developed a bubble near Del Rio late in the day but I was able to get one from a local Mom and Pop store (T&T Cycles) and they stayed late to get me back one the road. Other than that, I had fun.

Don't worry about finding exact gas stations to get your DBR. I only had one pump that was out of paper that required me to go inside. I had to use the facilities anyway so that wasn't a problem. Fuel first, mother nature second, makes for happy DBR gathering. Good luck when you do attempt this ride.
 

NavyVet1959

Active Member
#7
Don't worry about finding exact gas stations to get your DBR. I only had one pump that was out of paper that required me to go inside. I had to use the facilities anyway so that wasn't a problem. Fuel first, mother nature second, makes for happy DBR gathering. Good luck when you do attempt this ride.
When I did a SS-1000 in late October (2022) loop through south Texas (Houston->Harlingen->Laredo->Del Rio->San Antonio->Houston), quite a few of the gas pumps required me to come inside the store go get a receipt... Either they were all out of paper or it was something that the credit card company was causing... Either way, it got a bit irritating fairly quickly...
 

EricV

Premier Member
IBR Finisher
#8
For others with Ani's concern, if you click on the gas station in Google Maps, it will pull up the address, hours, etc. That address is what will be on the receipt. You can double check that it's the city you want when building your route.
 

Russ Black

Premier Member
#9
if you click on the gas station in Google Maps, it will pull up the address, hours, etc. That address is what will be on the receipt.
I do this too. If the town the business is located in doesn't have a Post Office, 99.9% of the time the DBR shows the mailing address and not the physical address.
 

EricV

Premier Member
IBR Finisher
#10
I don't think I've seen a gas station in a town that didn't have a post office. So not something I have encountered at this point. Even in the West with wide open spaces, I've not noticed a gas station address that wasn't the same as the DBR. Do you have an example?
 

Russ Black

Premier Member
#11
I live in a small municipality (mayor etc.) that doesn't have it's own Post Office and is serviced by the adjacent town's Post Office. Actually I'm serviced by two different adjacent town's Post Offices depending on how the peice of mail is addressed.
I also ran into this in another state while planning for one of the 12 Ides insanity rides. A small municipality encircled by a larger municipality and the businesses DBR's display the mailing address with the surrounding municipality as the city.
Most of us have taken advantage of when the opposite occurs. A Gas Station near a town but not really in it, but the DBR shows the towns name.
 
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igneouss

Premier Member
#12
The town/city name in an address is often not within the actual town boundary. I've asked about this once of twice but never received a clear answer. Didn't pursue the issue (my case - ride around VA) as I chose DBR locations that were within the required city/town. Note that Google Maps can show you the town/city limits in most cases.
 

dmcqueeney

Staff member
Premier Member
IBA Member
IBR Finisher
IBR Staff
#13
I don't think I've seen a gas station in a town that didn't have a post office. So not something I have encountered at this point. Even in the West with wide open spaces, I've not noticed a gas station address that wasn't the same as the DBR. Do you have an example?
Eric . . .
From my experience, a few examples of misleading (for our purposes) Google Maps addresses for 24-hr stations, out west:
1. NM I-10 exit 68/(Hwy 418); Petro; GM address 14150 NM-418, Deming, NM; actually 14 road miles west of Deming
2. TX I-10 exit 159/Plateau; Exxon; GM address 158821a I-10, Van Horn, TX; actually 19 road miles east of Van Horn
3. TX I-10 exit 181/Cherry Creek Rd; Chevron; GM address 17 Cherry Creek Rd, Ft Davis, TX; actually 57 road miles north of Ft Davis
As I recall, DBRs corresponded to GM addresses (although the Chevron DBR formerly read "Kent, TX")

Somewhat thread-related, about an alternative: I wanted to start a (themed) SS1K in a specific town that had no gas station. But there was a Post Office there, so I bought some stamps and obtained a good DBR, which showed the desired address. My ride application noted that I had previously refueled, a few miles away, and started the ride with a full gas tank.
. . . Dave
 

EricV

Premier Member
IBR Finisher
#14
I guess the question remains then, if you started a ride with your first example with a receipt from the Petro station west of Demming, that gave you a receipt of Demming, would it matter at all if you were starting your ride THERE? I would say no. Unless the cert ride requires in state for another state, or you have some other specific reason to ensure you're physically inside a city limit, the DBRs address works just fine, regardless of if it appears to be inside or outside the actual city limits shown on a map. It is the correct mailing address for that location. If you put in 14150 NM-418, Deming, NM, it takes you to the Petro, (now Valero?) station. Thus making it accurate for the purposes of verifying the route.

The splitting of hairs in regards to if a location is inside a specific city or town Vs what's on the DBR only applies to a ride with that requirement. And to a lesser degree what you as a rider wants. If you needed to document you rode to Demming with a DBR and submitted a DBR that had a Demming address on it, I very much doubt a verification team would turn you down because your DBR from the Petro station at 14150 NM-418, Deming, NM isn't shown inside the city limits of Demming on a map.

IMHO, the DBR always takes precedent unless there is a very specific requirement in the particular ride being done.
 

R3Tex

Premier Member
#15
There is a NAPA auto parts store in Dell City that sells gas...don't ask how I found out :oops:. To this day my whole family refers to any gas in a plastic gas can as NAPA gas.
 

JON12A

IBAUK's retired Shop Keeper
Premier Member
IBA Member
#18
Is there a Master List of all the Inter State rides and their requirements. I wouldn't mind giving the Texas ride a go when I come across from the UK.