As you leave Dallas/Irving on Hwy 20 you soon get to Fort Worth – unlike cosmopolitan Dallas, Fort Worth is one of the most western cities in Texas. See the Stockyard Hotel, where Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker once slept, and cool your heels at Billy Bob’s Texas, the world’s largest Honky-Tonk. As you continue west, you are riding through Texas backyard, where farmlands and rough-cut, juniper-covered hills give way to treeless, sandy landscapes. You overnight in Abilene.

Out of Abilene you stick with Hwy 83 and ride via the restored frontier town Buffalo Gap. Another few miles and you arrive at Ballinger, a lively little place. From here you wind through scrubby hills before reaching the fascinating old-wool products market town of Menard. Stick with US 83 up to Junction, and you find yourself at the edge of Texas’ famed Hill Country. Pick up Hwy 290 and you are in for a scenic ride all the way to Austin, a picturesque city, Overnight.

From Austin you head back north towards Dallas. You might want to go back to Johnson City and pick up Hwy 281, which will take you all the way up to Hico. Ride via Glen Rose and Lake Whitney State Park back to Dallas/Irving, where you return your bike.