2009 Labor Day in Arkansas

[TypeSH]

Who was the guy from Friendswood that had the oversized DRZ400 tank that they said would give me a good deal on?

 

[Tourmeister]

Who was the guy from Friendswood that had the oversized DRZ400 tank that they said would give me a good deal on?

I think it was Joe. He was one of the KTM riders.

 

[Tourmeister]

Well, I did not get many pictures this trip. Between just riding and forgetting, and then having my battery die on me, it just wasn't meant to be. However, here are the pics I did manage to get.

Joe "JoeZmarly", Roger "Rsquared" and Raul "Outlander" all arrive around 8:00am Friday morning and we start loading the bikes on the trailer. By about 9:00am, we are on the road heading North. Conversation in the truck is entertaining as usual on trips like these. We solve the problems of the world, but unless people are willing to pay us a few Trillion bucks, we're keeping the solutions to ourselves... The run up to Russellville takes about seven hours and we find the Best Western after a few wrong turns in town. The signs were confusing and I had three navigators offering directions We arrive to find Kenny "flcbrxx" and Calvin "multisurfacerider" already settled into their room. There is some discussion of obtaining beer, but the nearest place to get it is over 20 miles away... Mental note: bring beer next time So we decide to suit up and ride North on Hwy 7 to see if we can find Mack's Pines where the rest of the group is supposed to be staying.

It is nearly twenty miles up Hwy 7 to get to Mack's Pines. Once there, I am kind of glad we decided to go for the Best Western. I don't know what the cabins run, but they look small and not so great. However, the camping looked decent if you don't mind the road of RV air conditioners. When we arrived we found Darren all set up and cooking dinner!

I'm digging the sticker job on his bike!

We hang out and visit for a bit. Two other guys from Marshall are camped nearby. Also, Richard "Pigtrail" and Chris "Dirtrideroader" show up a few minutes later. It seems they have been out abusing themselves on nearby dirt roads. Soon though my stomach starts to rumble and I mention heading back to town for some dinner. The nice thing about where we are staying is that there are many places to eat right by the hotel. We agree to have everyone meet in Dover in the morning at 8:30am at a gas station. Then we suit up and head back down the highway. I take the lead and enjoy the twisties on the way back.

We opt for the local steakhouse for dinner. I'll give it three stars out of five. The burger had potential but was a bit over cooked. I don't like them real dry. Roger pulls a piece of wire out of his mouth, about an inch and a half long It looks like a bristle off a grill brush. The waiter looks terrified and soon the manager comes out. Roger did not make a stink and was cool about it, but I think he did get his meal for free when it was all over. Afterward, we head back to the hotel and I stop in the lobby to check the weather radar... There is a good bit of rain in the area North of us. Rain is predicted for tomorrow as well. This should be interesting...

Saturday morning rolls around far too early. I barely slept at all. It was one of those nights where I toss and turn, waking up to see the clock every 20-30 minutes. The mattress was killing me and the pillows were monster thick, like 4-5 inches even after compression. However, I did at least sleep enough to treat Raul to some quality snoring When I roll out of the room, the skies look pretty intimidating. the local radar shows some big storms to the North and West of us, heading our direction.

We mull around for a bit, then decide to suit up and take our chances. As we are getting ready to roll out, someone notices that my front tire is flat Sure enough, it is squishy. I just mounted the tires Thursday night, so I guess I may have pinched the tube, although, we were being extra careful in that regard when doing the tires. So we shut down the bikes, strip off the gear and get to work.

It starts sprinkling as we get the gear off, so I park under cover

Then the rains come...

Another check of the radar shows that it may be raining for a while. We pull my tire and pull the valve stem core out. There is actually still a good bit of air that comes whistling out. Rather than pull the tube, we decide to just put the core back in and air it up to see if it hold pressure. Perhaps some grit got into the core seal when I was installing the tires the other night and kept it from making a good seal Worst case scenario, it goes flat and we just fix it on the side of the road with a spare tube. So I get the tire remounted. John "Irondawg" has not had breakfast so Raul, John and I head down to the breakfast room and hangout for awhile. Meanwhile, Calvin has taken his truck to head up to the meeting place to let the other group know we aren't coming.

Sometime around 10:30am or so, the rain stops and we decide again to take our chances. It seems I am to lead the ride so based on the current radar, I make the decision to head South and ride on the South side of the Arkansas river. It seems most of the storms are staying North of the river for some reason. Also, I've never ridden this area and the map of the area looks interesting. The plan is to head South on Hwy 7 to get to the other side of the river and then gas up before heading West into the Mountains. We are all suited up and ready to roll when Raul discovers his DR650 won't start

He immediately starts digging into the wiring looking for a problem

Everyone lends a helping hand

After a few minutes, it is discovered that the negative screw on the battery has come completely free of the terminal. It gets screwed back in and the bike fires right up without problem Might be a wee bit embarrassing, but that beats having a serious problem any day!! A few minutes later we are finally heading South!

We stop in Dardenelle for gas. I pull up to the pump, hop off the bike and seconds after removing my ear plugs I head a horrendous roaring sound. I turn towards the road just in time to see a large logging truck sliding towards the intersection and about to rear end a small car. His front wheels are cut hard to the right and at the last moment, he veers into the parking lot of the gas station. For a split second, I am relieve that he missed the car, but in the next instant I am horrified to see John sitting on his bike in what could be the path of the still sliding truck. John does not see or hear it coming and I am screaming at the top of my lungs trying to get his attention. The truck misses John and glances off the steel signpost for the gas station. I don't think John even sees it until it is a few feet from him!

This is where it came to rest. John was between the truck and the blue DR.

There are a few moments of confusion and then we realize everyone is okay. The truck driver is fine. The truck and sign are basically fine. Life goes on... That could have been reallll ugly... Relieved to have escaped disaster, we finish gassing up the bikes and start our ride. We run SW on Hwy 27 to Chickalah. The road starts out as one of those little lane and a half country roads with rough/broken pavement. I love little roads like this. As we head West though, the skies start to get ominously dark again. I stop to confer with the others as to whether or not we should try to loop back and try to get South of the impending storm or just punch through and try to get behind it. Since we are already geared up, we decide to press on and get behind it. The road soon turns to gravel/dirt as the rain starts coming down, stinging my nose and cheeks. Other than just heading West, I don't really have much of a plan. I try to find the squiggliest looking roads on the map, string them together, and see what we find. Sometimes this results in "roads" that have seen little traffic in many years, other times it is just nice wide and well maintained unpaved roads.

A typical wide maintained road

We eventually find our way over to Hwy 309 at the start of the South end of the Mt. Magazine Scenic Byway

The road is damp so the fun factor will be a little diminished. Before we start up the mountain, I warn folks about the first corner. It is a decreasing radius left hander that climbs as it turns. It is here that I had my first ever bike accident. After over 40K miles of riding, I low sided at low speed in this corner on my beloved VFR 800 while leading a large group ride Given the wet pavement, I want to make sure no one pulled a repeat of my stunt. We make the corner without incident and then start the climb up the mountain.

The road is full of fun twisties. The pavement is wet in places and dry in others. So I settle for a nice relaxed pace, not wishing to test the traction of the D606 knobbies on wet pavement. About half way up the mountain we are running up a long straight and the road vanishes into a white cloud. Visibility drops to maybe 50 feet. I am having flashbacks to riding on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina where it is quite common to ride through clouds and have visibility go from perfectly clear to white out in seconds. A minute or so later we pop out and we are above the clouds. The sky is sunny and clear and the valley below is enveloped in a thick white mist. Massive thunderheads loom in the distance, reaching high in to the sky. We reach the first scenic overlook an stop for pictures and a break.

You should have seen this guy drifting the tight dirt corners with us...

Not much to see from here...

There is another mountain range just behind those clouds... really...

Joe taking pictures of the clouds

John and Raul

There are the other mountains...!

Yours truly with his beautiful steed

This is actually carved out of wood

After shedding the rain gear, we continue heading up 309 North, past the Lodge, and down the North side of the mountain. The plan is to look for some dirt roads that head back to the West around the end of the mountain and then start looking for a place to have lunch. At the base of the mountain, we pick up Greenbench Rd., and run along the bottom of the mountain heading West. At Wicked Creek Rd., we turn South and head for Hwy 10, coming out right near Blue Mountain. We turn West and run down 10. I'm hoping we might find something to eat in Magazine. By the time I reach Magazine, I am pretty well ahead of the rest of the group and I pull into a gas station to ask a local about places to eat. He informs me there is nothing in town, but there is a good Mexican place in Booneville just up the road. As I pull back onto the road, the rest of the group rolls in behind me and we head for Booneville, with a slight detour on some backroads South of Hwy 10. The guy's directions weren't real good, but once in town I find the place after a little wandering. It's worth the effort because the food is good. The hot sauce is HOT...

Getting ready to head in for lunch

Our destination... doesn't look like much

Plates cleaned, everyone takes a stretch...

After lunch, my first thought is that we'd run up Hwy 23, do the "Pigtrail", which is the section just North of Ozark, and then head East on 215 back toward Russellville. However, once I get to looking at the map and realizing exactly where we are, I see that route is pretty far out of the way. So instead, I spot some interesting looking roads that wiggle their way back to the East, running North of the area where we have ridden this morning. We head North out of town on Hwy 23 to the start of Pisgah Mountain Rd., and turn East. This is a fast running road that parallels Six Mile Creek and runs along the Northern base of Turkey Ridge, a low lying ridge line that runs East/West.

It has turned into a beautiful day. The rain has kept the dust down and made the roads almost perfect. The temperature is maybe in the upper 80's to low 90's and so long as we are moving it is quite pleasant. The humidity is cranking though, hehe. I can live with that. We reach Hwy 109, head North a short bit, then pick up Calico Mountain Rd., and continue running East to Zelon Young Rd. I had expected to encounter some water crossings today, especially given all the rain in the last few days, but everything is quite dry. There are places where it is obvious that there was some serious run off in the last day or so, but the creeks are virtually dry. We run Zelon Young down to Robert Hill Rd., and cross Short Mountain Creek... bone dry... I stop for a break in the shade and we discover a slight problem...

It would not be an official dualsport ride without this picture...

A nice damp road... TRACTION!!

No... It is NOT my bike... this time

"Houston... We have a problem..."

It would appear that Kenny has lost a foot peg. Fortunately, and unlike myself, he knew when his came off and found it, including the bolts. Another rider found mine out in Big Bend and mailed it to me later So it looks like we will be having another impromptu maintenance day.

Time to break out the tools

We came from the right road, the one to the left beckons... dark, steep and narrow, but we are getting pressed for time

The "creek", looking South

Taking care of Kenny's bike

While standing around, we discover yet another slight problem...

Calvin seems to have taken a rock to the headlight... Had to be from John...

Calvin and John like to run about 10-15 mph faster than I do. Rather than drive them nuts, I have been waving them around me all morning and then we'd catch up to them at the next intersection. Whenever those guys would take off, they would be roosting and chucking rocks clean over my head! I'm just amazed it is Calvin with the busted light and not me! Anyway, Kenny gets his foot peg reinstalled, but there is little doubt that the internal threads on the mount are toast. Hopefully they will hold to get him back to the hotel. So we get rolling again. A short bit later we pop out on Hwy 309 again.

Looks like it could be fun

:We run back down 309 a real short bit and hop back off onto Red Bench Rd. Don't ask me about the "bench" thing on the road names around here. I don't have a clue We run East along the Northern base of Rich Mountain to St. Louis Valley Rd., and keep heading East, eventually picking up Sorghum Hollow Rd., and working our way Southeast around the mountain. We pick up Carter Mountain Rd. and loop around Carter Mountain, then cut South to CR 39 for the run back over to Hwy 27. Once back on 27, we just back track to Hwy 7 and then head up to Russellville. Once in town, most of the guys head for the hotel, but Calvin, Raul and I follow John out to their cabin on the lake at the State Park. His wife, Lupita, and the kids are there.

Lupita and John

The state park is really nice. The cabins are right next to the marina and the lake. They are little one room cabins with a loft, small "living room", kitchen and bath. We hang out a bit to visit, but then head back into town to go by the local Honda dealership, one of those big "Tier 5" dealerships that has everything. It is a nice place and they do indeed have some of everything!

Can't see much use for this around here Maybe up North somewhere?

I can think of LOTS of uses for this around here!!

While we are looking at dirt boots to replace Calvins boots, which are literally falling apart, a salesman comes up and enthusiastically asks whose DR650 that is sitting out front?! Raul proudly answers, "Mine." The guy immediately says, "I've got a great KLR for sale if you want to get a real bike!" Harsh... We rib Raul about that for the rest of the weekend, hehe. Calvin decides to hold off on getting new boots and we head on back to the hotel. After cleaning up a bit, Raul and I head back out to John's cabin for dinner. They are doing a cookout on the grill. We get in some good visiting and a fun political debate. However, before it gets to late, we head back and call it a night.

Before hitting the sack, I run up to the front desk to see if they have any pillows that are not so thick. I am informed that they do not and that it is the result of some policy that requires them to have all natural pillows of a certain thickness... huh? Fortunately, the guy at the desk is a clever fellow and goes off to find me a blanket, one of those real soft fuzzy ones, and I fold that up and slip a pillow case over it. It's perfect! Despite the mattress, I actually sleep much better. Of course, it does not hurt that I am pretty tired from a lack of sleep from last night and today's riding.

[To be continued...]