Small group ride & camp - late May

[Manfred]

Between 4 and 6 from Houston will spend a week in northern Arkansas, enjoying the twisty roads, local chow, and camping. Details on routes and camp grounds in the attached spreadsheet.

A couple of us attempted something similar (but in motels) a couple years back, but engine failure on one of the bikes messed up our plans. (http://brogdensmuse.menofhonorministry.org/Bikes/Captains_Log.htm)

[Jetfixer]

Looks like a good trip. I like the spreadsheet itinary, good idea! I'll be in Ar the same time on a dual sport trip. I hope the weather will be nice.

[WingnutMike]

I can't read the attached spreadsheet. I plan to make a solo trip to AR sometime around late September. I haven't decided a route yet. Let us know how the trip went and details.

[Manfred]

I can't read the attached spreadsheet. I plan to make a solo trip to AR sometime around late September. I haven't decided a route yet. Let us know how the trip went and details.

Here's a list of the routes and camp sites we'll be using:

Begin Route End Distance Cum May Lodging
Home http://snipurl.com/9fia8-dawg Hot Springs 457 457 23 http://hotspringsrv.com/
Hot Springs http://snipurl.com/gn71n-dawg Eureka Springs 205 662 24 http://www.ironhorsestables.com/
Eureka Springs http://snipurl.com/ao501-dawg-dawg Eureka Springs 240 902 25 http://www.ironhorsestables.com/
Eureka Springs http://snipurl.com/b0cnp-dawg Buffalo River 172 1,074 26 http://snipurl.com/am1mg-dawg-dawg
Buffalo River http://snipurl.com/b0cxh-dawg Buffalo River 173 1,247 27 same as above
Buffalo River http://snipurl.com/b0d07-dawg Petit Jean St Park 245 1,492 28 http://www.petitjeanstatepark.com/accommodations/camping.aspx booked
Petit Jean St Park http://snipurl.com/869n9-dawg-dawg Hot Springs 222 1,714 29 http://hotspringsrv.com/
Hot Springs http://snipurl.com/8ugaq-dawg-dawg Home 406 2,120 30

[Trailace]

How many more days before you head out? Your going to have a great ride.

[Manfred]

Rick,

We bug out from Houston on May 23rd and plan to arrive back home on the 30th. I'm eager to get it started!:twisty1::tent4:

[Trailace]

Have a great ride.

[Manfred]

About 13 hours 'till lift-off! Packed up ('cept for toothbrush) and anxious to hit the road. Will keep a dairy and take pix.P^

[TJ Willy]

Y'all be safe and have fun! Keep us posted when you can.

[Trailace]

Good luck have fun and be safe.

[Manfred]

Got back a day early - had a great time, little more than 2,200 miles. My riding buddy ran off the road - AR-9 heading toward Melborne on Wed. Slight damage to his Harley, messed up his knee. His wife drove up, arrived Thurs afternoon. They rented a trailer, we loaded it up and they were off around 3 PM. I went on to Pettit Jean park, shorter route than planned. Rode from there to Houston today - getting about 150 miles of AR9, 16 & 27 on the way home. 550 miles in 11 hours. More later, with some pix.

[Trailace]

Sorry to hear about your friends get off but it sounds like he will be OK. We will be waiting for some Pics and the story.

[TJ Willy]

Looking forward to the trip report.

Sorry about your bud... :( But it sounds like he will be ok. :) Bikes can be fixed... Knees are a little harder. :sick

Man... I have been reading about a lot downed riders during road trips as of late. The TAT has been consuming people left and right. :(

[Manfred]

My bud's knee is not too good: torn ACL, torn Achilles tendon, and one other thing that I don't recall. Surgery next Wed - 2 weeks after the wreck.

Saw a sports bike down on my way to work - residential street. Lots of emergency vehicles. sigh

My trip report is written - sifting through pix. Should have it on line in a couple daze.

TJ Willy - I love your avatar!

[Manfred]

All righty then - here's the trip report (http://brogdensmuse.menofhonorministry.org/Bikes/Arkansas_Part_Deux.htm). Hope ya'll enjoy it.

[Mr. Guy]

Nice report, I always thought the GPS is to much of a distraction. I leave mine off until I'm lost. Then use it to find out where I am. Works for me anyway.

Guy

[Manfred]

Nice report, I always thought the GPS is to much of a distraction. I leave mine off until I'm lost. Then use it to find out where I am. Works for me anyway.

Guy

I'm thinkin' it makes sense to have one but turn it off when on a demanding road, such as AR state highways. On more relaxed roads, such as Texas state highways, it would be no big distraction.

[Mellow]

They are only distractions if you make them one. Many have audio output which will give you turn by turn directions. However, when I didn't have that as an option I put one in a place that would be as close to my line of sight as possible so my eyes weren't drawn away for long.. I would also customize it so my 'distance to next turn' was always there... if I knew I was 50 miles from my next decision point, I knew I had some time and didn't have to look at it.

When it was new, yes, I immediately realized the newness of it was very dangerous but it doesn't take long at all before you understand it and look at it no more than you look at your dash to check speed/gas.

[Mr. Guy]

To me, getting a little bit lost is half the adventure, so I'll leave mine off anyway.

Guy

[Manfred]

Regarding GPS use on bikes - ain't it nice to have the choice? I am seriously thinking about getting one, but I may not. I agree with Mellow that a GPS (among many other things) is a distraction only to the degree that one let's it be.

As my friend demonstrated - our primary focus must be on the ride.:bike1:

[Bug Dr.]

Thanks for the ride report. I enjoy riding many of those roads often and rode a couple of them today. There are a few that you missed.....guess you need to come back again sometime :D
Thanks again for the write-up,
Mike

[Manfred]

Of course I missed some of the good roads - the kind folks that laid out those roads provided too many for mere mortals to ride all of them in any given week :-)

I do intend to return and make another dent in the daunting task of riding every good road in Arkansas.