xr650rdriver
03-31-2008, 09:51 PM
The spring Arkansas trip did occur this weekend, even with the rain. After all was said and done, there was just 4 of us with no valid reason not to go so we met up Friday in Daisy state park. The group consisted of me and my XR650R, Wastrel and his DR650, Nduro and his new KLR650, and Roy88ale and his near new KLR650. If you do not know, Wastrel and Nduro are brothers which made for some very interesting fire side stories. (Nduro, I am still sleeping next to my hunting knife:lol2: )
Friday it was overcast and misty but not raining. Me, Wastrel, and Nduro headed out on Bear creek trail to do some exploring. After watching Nduro spin a trench with his spinning back tire on a slippery uphill, Wastrel proved to be smarter than the rest of us and headed back to camp. We managed to make it back to camp with no injuries or bike damage.
Later in the afternoon, Roy88ale showed up and went for a short ride with me and Nduro. Both Roy88ale and Nduro were troopers but looked at me like I lost my mind when we came up to the steep, slippery, rocky, and root infested uphills. Roy gave up one broken clutch bracket to the hill monster. Roy won the award for the save of the day when he caught his bike after slipping on a root in a large, deep water hole.
Friday night and Saturday morning it rained and rained. Little did we know that we didn't really know what rain was. We got a late start and headed to Albert pike around 10AM. When we got to the gravel roads, Wastrel was loving it, he really lives for fire roads. unfortunately, I had to disappoint him when the gravel turned to unimproved road for about three miles. After the fifth or sixth creek crossing, I think we all gave up on staying dry. It doesn't matter if your boots are waterproof if the water comes in over the top of them!
Later that morning, my clutch bracket sacrificed itself after I dropped it on a slippery rock as I turned around to look for Nduro.( That's right NDuro, If I wouldn't have had to look for you after you played submarine, my clutch bracket would be fine.:rofl: ) Luckily, Wastrel came to the rescue with zip ties from his bottomless tool kit. The ever resourceful Nduro decided he was going to open a clutch bracket store in Mena and retire with millions.
After riding some easy trails at Wolf Pen Gap and having lunch in Mena, I decided to take a "moderate" trail. The moderate trail ended up having alot of mud covered rocks with steep uphill and down hills. At this point Wastrel sacrificed his DR to the gravity gods and fell over on a particularly nasty downhill. Now in typical big brother fashion, Wastrel blamed his poor innocent younger brother for stopping in front of him, but I don't believe it(Take that Wastrel, I am a younger brother!) Either way, the fall took out Roy88ale too, who was minding his on business trying to avoid the chaos. Wastrel ended up tweaking his elbow and we took paved roads/gravel roads back to camp.
Headed back to camp turned out to be one of the highlights for me because 357 out of Mena is full of 15 MPH curves that were a blast to ride even with full dirt knobs on the bike. Just when you think you are going fast, Roy88ale pulls up behind you with his big KLR with its touring shield on, looking like you are taking him on a slow Sunday afternoon cruise. Just goes to show you that years of riding make a great rider.
Ok, all for tonight, I am sure that Wastrel will add pictures soon. Since I am on slow dialup, I will add my pics later.
Friday it was overcast and misty but not raining. Me, Wastrel, and Nduro headed out on Bear creek trail to do some exploring. After watching Nduro spin a trench with his spinning back tire on a slippery uphill, Wastrel proved to be smarter than the rest of us and headed back to camp. We managed to make it back to camp with no injuries or bike damage.
Later in the afternoon, Roy88ale showed up and went for a short ride with me and Nduro. Both Roy88ale and Nduro were troopers but looked at me like I lost my mind when we came up to the steep, slippery, rocky, and root infested uphills. Roy gave up one broken clutch bracket to the hill monster. Roy won the award for the save of the day when he caught his bike after slipping on a root in a large, deep water hole.
Friday night and Saturday morning it rained and rained. Little did we know that we didn't really know what rain was. We got a late start and headed to Albert pike around 10AM. When we got to the gravel roads, Wastrel was loving it, he really lives for fire roads. unfortunately, I had to disappoint him when the gravel turned to unimproved road for about three miles. After the fifth or sixth creek crossing, I think we all gave up on staying dry. It doesn't matter if your boots are waterproof if the water comes in over the top of them!
Later that morning, my clutch bracket sacrificed itself after I dropped it on a slippery rock as I turned around to look for Nduro.( That's right NDuro, If I wouldn't have had to look for you after you played submarine, my clutch bracket would be fine.:rofl: ) Luckily, Wastrel came to the rescue with zip ties from his bottomless tool kit. The ever resourceful Nduro decided he was going to open a clutch bracket store in Mena and retire with millions.
After riding some easy trails at Wolf Pen Gap and having lunch in Mena, I decided to take a "moderate" trail. The moderate trail ended up having alot of mud covered rocks with steep uphill and down hills. At this point Wastrel sacrificed his DR to the gravity gods and fell over on a particularly nasty downhill. Now in typical big brother fashion, Wastrel blamed his poor innocent younger brother for stopping in front of him, but I don't believe it(Take that Wastrel, I am a younger brother!) Either way, the fall took out Roy88ale too, who was minding his on business trying to avoid the chaos. Wastrel ended up tweaking his elbow and we took paved roads/gravel roads back to camp.
Headed back to camp turned out to be one of the highlights for me because 357 out of Mena is full of 15 MPH curves that were a blast to ride even with full dirt knobs on the bike. Just when you think you are going fast, Roy88ale pulls up behind you with his big KLR with its touring shield on, looking like you are taking him on a slow Sunday afternoon cruise. Just goes to show you that years of riding make a great rider.
Ok, all for tonight, I am sure that Wastrel will add pictures soon. Since I am on slow dialup, I will add my pics later.