A solo trip through NW Arkansas

[Mr. Guy]

:tent8: Hi All,
I'm all packed up and ready to go. I'll be leaving on Sat. morning and heading to Ar. taking 2 lane highways and maybe some gravel thrown in for good measure. The plan is to stay at Rush Landing Campground on the Buffalo National River, it's near the East end. However, as I'm sure you understand, plans are subject to change. Do other wives out there not understand this, as mine doesn't. I try to explain to " I go where the road leads me."

That doesn't cut it usually, so I just call when I know where I'll stop.

Ride report and campground review to follow.

Thanks, Guy

[Trailace]

Have Great time.

[Jetfixer]

Have a great trip Guy! I'm off on a solo trip to Big Bend Tx this weekend. Gotta love it!

[Trekker]

Looking forward to your report. Have a great ride!

[GoldWingGL]

Sounds like a great Trip, i need one of those...lol

[msscull]

Hope you have a great trip!!!

[ozarkrider]

Next time ya head thisaway send me a note. I'll take ya to the secret roads. Some real good 'uns not far from where you're camping.

O'Jay

[Mr. Guy]

Hi All,
Well I made it home, now to put my thoughts to paper, so to speak. I left home headed east on US 62, which like most highways in Ok. is pretty straight and flat so not much to say about that. Lots of farm land so I'll skip a little. Traveled down highways US62, US266, US64, then N on US59, and E on Ok101. Finally Arkansas, were 101 changes to Ar220. Now I'm starting to find curves, lots of them, and some not well marked. Somewhere along in here Ar220 changes to Ar282, I'm not sure where, I didn't see any signs. But I managed to reach Ar59 and turned N. Only 4 miles to Ar162 and east to US71. This used to be the main between Ft. Smith and Fayetteville until they opened I-540, so now US71 is almost completely empty of any traffic with lots of smooth wide curves. When I reached Ar74 I headed east again, a little 2 laner with not many signs and in some places no center stripe ether. When traveling this stretch you'll come to a stop sign, the first you come to, with a little white house across the intersection. There's no sign here to tell you which way to turn,on a guess I turned right, which turned out to be right. The next stop sign is Ar16, which I turned right on and headed east. I've ridden this stretch many times lots of curves, lots of forest. Through here you will travel through the Ozark National Forest for a lot of miles. After passing the intersections with Ar23, Ar21 and Ar7, all of which are nice roads themselves, I finally reached Ar27 and turned left headed north.

http://lh3.ggpht.com/mrguy001/SPDNFjMsvJI/AAAAAAAAARQ/ZtShyoTKogE/s720/3Ark.%2027a.jpg

I almost missed as you approach it after a tight curve, and slamming on the brakes I start my turn only to notice lots of sand on the new road. Somehow, by the grace of God I'm sure, I've heard He watches out for fools, children, and scared motorcyclist sometimes, I spotted a clear path and managed to reduce my speed enough to ride straight through it. Kept my bike up and my shorts clean, I was a happy camper. If you ride through here in the winter, keep a sharp eye out, they sand this road well, as there are lots of steep grade and sharp curves here for the next 30 miles. When I reached Ar14 I turned left, north, and headed toward the Buffalo. About 6 miles after you cross the river, there is large sign at the turnoff for the Rush Landing campground.

http://lh6.ggpht.com/mrguy001/SPDM_Jftk5I/AAAAAAAAAQ4/DP6Ti-GnKFc/s720/4bike%20and%20camp.jpg

I'll do a review in campground reviews shortly. After arriving where I would spend the night, I went to check the water facet, it was shut off for the winter. So back on the bike, I head back to the last store I saw to get some water from their facet, which they were happy to supply. The man at the store said it was to cold for him to ride yet, I said he must be smarter than I was. Now back to camp. Set up camp, heated up some MRE chillimac, some spiced apple cider and went to bed about dark. Put on the ol head lamp and pulled out a Louis Lamour and read for a couple hours. This is were stuff started to go wrong. About 9:00 I thought it's getting cold, so I pulled out my trusty blanket, put it over my sleeping bag and went to sleep. I woke up at a little after midnight shivering and thought, damn it's cold, so I put my riding suit back on, got back in my sleeping bag and started thinking, always dangerous, why is this bugging me so bad. Then I realised, this is probably the first time I've done a dead of winter camp out in 10 or 12 years. Not since my son was born maybe. He's now 14. What made this crap so much fun back then. Heck there's good motels not 30 miles north of here. Why am I torturing myself like this. Did I do this in my 20's to prove to myself that I was a man or something, that I could take what nature could dish out and I could come out on top. And if a wife, kids and a mortgage don't prove it, why am I out here now. Maybe to prove I'm not old yet, that there's still some kid left in me. Now I know most you would say it's no big deal, and sitting here at the computer now I would agree, but damn I was cold. Besides, I made it, no big deal. But its weird the stuff you think of at midnight. It's funny, you never expect a life changing experience, but I always learn something about myself on a bike or backpacking trip. Never in the car with wife and kids though, not enough time to think I guess. So in the morning I wake up to find frost, of course.

http://lh4.ggpht.com/mrguy001/SPDMs6AsByI/AAAAAAAAAP8/x56e0V4f2Rc/s720/8frost%20on%20bike.jpg

Heat up some water for oatmeal and more cider, and start packing up the bike. Sometime in the night, a car pulled in to camp. So I pack up and leave as quietly as I can. Back out on Ar14 I head north. When I come to US412/US62 I say "Hey, I live just north of US62" so I decide to follow it all the way home. I ride though Harrison, Berryville, and into Eureka Springs.

http://lh4.ggpht.com/mrguy001/SPDMmHwD5tI/AAAAAAAAAPk/sGbq5i_opdc/s720/13Eureka%20Springs.jpg

Being one of my favorite towns in this area, I hang around here for a while. While here I visit some of the shops that were open early on a Sunday morning, not many, but at least they were warm, did I tell you I was cold. After a suitable warm up I headed out again on US62. Just west of town there are a few tight curves here, although the rest of 62 is not well known for them. It's a fairly dull ride till you get to the Ok line, then a few more curves between there and Tahlequah, which by the way is the capital of several Native-American tribes. After this it's back to boring straight roads all the way home. Again I must say thank you for this wonderful forum, and thanks for tolerating my rant here.

Guy

P.S. All the pics at:http://picasaweb.google.com/mrguy001/ArkFeb9102008#

[Trailace]

There is nothing like a cold damp night to make you feel old. Thank for taking the time to share your trip with us. Come on spring!:D

[Tx White Knight]

Thanks for the report Guy, just remember sometimes our minds write checks our bodys dont want to cash :D

it will be warm soon :tent8:

[sandman]

Good write up Guy,

Sounds like you had an interesting ride. My first sleeping bag let me down and I spent a night trying to find the right combination of clothes to stop the shivering. Once you get warm it's hard to get out of that bag when morning comes. I love those mummy bags.

Glad you had a good ride.

Somehow I missed welcoming you to the site, WELCOME!

[markar]

Sounds like a good time Guy. I rode from Yukon, OK to the southwest AR area last weekend. I had planned on camping but changed my mind at the last minute and just got a cheap motel in Waldron, AR.

We (wife and I ) used to do a lot of camping and hiking in the Ozarks mountains region, spent 17 days out in Dec. of '92. Not sure I could do that again, sleeping in the cold doesn't agree with me so much these days. It always sounds like fun when I'm planning but when the time comes to do it, I don't follow through!

Mark

[Trekker]

Good write up Guy. I remember camping in the dead of winter up here on the north coast and not thinking too much of it back when I was in my 20's...... can't do that anymore!

I've even noticed I don't like ANY cold temps anymore.... what used to be invigorating is now just too damn cold!

But, what doesn't kill us makes us stronger... or at least smarter. ;)

[Mr. Guy]

Just want to say thanks for your kind words. My biggest problem while riding was cold hands. You may have noticed from the pictures, I replaced the stock handguards with some barkbusters, alum. bars only. Well I've already got the large handguards on order and will put them on as soon as they get here. Live and learn I guess.

Thanks again,

Guy

[Mr. Guy]

Well my new handguards came in and they're on the bike. It's only been a week since I froze my butt off and I'm thinking of my next trip. I've been reading the reviews of the Big Agnes bags and pads, it's got me thinking "Maybe if I had one of those I won't be so cold." Is this like maternity amnesia were you forget how bad it was so you'll do it again. Or am I just looking for an excuse to buy more gear.

[Mellow]

Yes... LOL

[Trailace]

Well my new handguards came in and they're on the bike. It's only been a week since I froze my butt off and I'm thinking of my next trip. I've been reading the reviews of the Big Agnes bags and pads, it's got me thinking "Maybe if I had one of those I won't be so cold." Is this like maternity amnesia were you forget how bad it was so you'll do it again. Or am I just looking for an excuse to buy more gear.

I just order some bigger handguards this week hope, to have them in time for Big Bend next week.

Hey what tires you running on the DRZ and what was you total miles on this rids? If you know.

[Mr. Guy]

Hi Rick,

I'm riding on Kenda K761s frt 90/90-21 rear 120/90-17. About a 80% street tire, but just fine for gravel and packed dirt at the slow paces I ride. Around $110 a set from American Motorcycle Tire. I usualy get about 5000 miles out of a rear. I put on near 800 miles on my trip last weekend.

Thanks, Guy