2012 Arkansas 500

Well, just got back early this morning from the second, annual Arkansas 500 dual sport ride. Big thanks to Scotty, his lovely wife, Tanya, and all the other great folks that chipped in to make this such a great event.

The trip started Thursday morning early with Joe(JFink) and Chris(Cas442) coming by to pick me up for our ride to Eureka Springs. We picked up Rick(Trailace) on the way up, and made it there without incidence.





Jeff(JMN) joined us as well, and the two Dallas guys, Ron(Arlo) and Phil(Toejam) came in just after us. We stayed at the Comfort Inn, and would recommend this hotel to anyone staying there; clean, comfortable rooms at a good rate. Pretty good breakfast too! The main topic of discussion was of course the weather, as all week long, rain had been predicted for the entire weekend.

We drove over to the starting point, the Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge which is just around seven miles south of Eureka Springs. Our ride hosts, Scotty and his wife, Tanya were there waiting to greet us, and after a few hellos to all the riders we knew, a brief rider meeting, and a photo op., we broke into groups, and were off.



Three other Texans, Joe(Dr.Z), Larry(Buelligan), and Brian completed our group of ten, and we became known as "group 3" according to the starting sequence.

It was just a short trip down Hwy. 23 before we hit dirt, and what a great start to the ride! Here's a video showing the twisty start through the trees:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqOoJHczHbM"]2012AR500.1a.wmv - YouTube[/ame]

Had a great time also and thanks again Scotty. Great people and a great ride! Made it back to the truck just intime to miss the rain. Thanks again for leading the way Rick. It was a great group of riders and thanks Rob for the gas...lol Thanks Joe for driving the whole way. This was my forth DS ride and I would say it was the best so far. Chris

Me too....

Let's see some pictures.

Rydah...was that Jamaican you were speaking at those fellers there at the crossroads?

_RG_ said:

Rydah...was that Jamaican you were speaking at those fellers there at the crossroads?

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LOL, only when I'm angry, or talking to my family back home. You missed a good one, bud.

SwampFox said:

Me too....

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Another day one excerpt:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKaBH2nOKFI"]2012AR500.1b.wmv - YouTube[/ame]

Here's some of the street flavor we enjoyed:

[ame="http://youtu.be/OMacnk3FtlY"]2012AR500 2a - YouTube[/ame]

Here is a collage of Team Texas (aka Team 3).



Our fearless leader Rick (Trailace) ... check out the legs



Rydah in one of his better moments.

Thanks, Joe. Don't think even Photoshop could help that one.

C'mon, fellers. I know there were a lot more Texans on this ride; post up!

I'm going to post up my ride report, finally! We are coming up on four more weekends of events at the refuge and it has kept me really busy since my feet hit the ground here Sunday night.


Everyone started arriving at Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge around 7 AM. I got up around 5:30 to finalize all my plans and load gear. Here are some photos of the riders unloading. I am horrible with names so there will be none.







Then someone ( let us know who you are ) threw down a box of locktite! Wow, I needed that.


After everyone was ready, we had a short rider meeting. I did my best to get everyone to stick together. I guess you've heard what happened there...... I think Doc's idea of different colored duct tape would work but seems too regiment. I want everyone to have some adventure! ......safely. We all got together for some photos......



The above group became known as group four - my group. We stayed together. We must have been magnetic because others seem to join us. Afterward I found out why and how. Below is a photo of DZRCharlie's group, group 1, I think?????



Below is Oleary's group 2 - A bunch from all over the mid west!



Rider meeting photo...



Then we all got together for an all skate shot....



I did not take many photos on the ride. The challenges of keeping everyone on course made photo taking second priority. So I will apologize for that now. The first group left the refuge about 8:45 with the last group leaving around 9:10. We rode south from Turpentine Creek on hwy 23 for 4 miles then turned onto the gravel and into the Madison County Wildlife Management Area. We continued south to the Kings River just west of Marble, AR, where we found Oleary's group sitting just off the bridge on the south side. I stopped on the bridge and waited for my group to gather. Just after our sweep rider, Gary from Pottsville, AR., came into view I seen a truck approaching our group so we pulled off the bridge to allow him to pass. Here is where I learned a new lesson....continue reading.

Oleary's group was headed to Marble, just about a mile away, for gas as some of his riders had small tanks. I was lucky, my group all had after market tanks and had at least 120 mile range. (This is very important for DS RIDING. Get a Big TAnk!) I took off telling all my group to follow, well, a good part of Oleary's group followed me!???? (Lesson for leader....do not pass another group....even if they are stopped! My bad, won't happen again.) Well, on with the report. After leaving the Kings River bridge I rode for about 30-40 minutes before stopping. At this point I realized we had a few additions to our group and tried to call Oleary. No service, darn. We pushed on toward our Devil's Den destination. We crossed Whorten Creek on 74 and continued south to the War Eagle River crossing just north of Petigrew. Just south of Petigrew we entered the National Forest in one of my favorite places. We pressed on, stopping only for re-grouping. When I reached the top of Morgen Mountain Road and the turn to Fly Gap I stopped to see how the troop was doing and ask if they wanted a break at Turners Bend. Everyone agreed to the idea and we left route. I figured we could head up Fane Creek Road afterwards and rejoin the route at 4 corners (which, by the way, has 5 roads and should be called 5 corners). That is what our group did. Then we pressed on to Devil's Den after accidentally skipping gas refill at Winslow. By then we were having such a good time riding and everyone was sticking together great, I guess I just forgot. This left us at Devils Den friday night with some riders needing gas badly. We only had to make it 20 miles to Natural Dam. I'll pick up there with the report tomorrow.....
Photos at Devil's Den......

Since the weather was bad, I decided to rent the pavilion. I thought it worked well even without the rain.
Here is a photo of my "GRIP". A while ago my wife Tanya told me to get a grip. I took her advice and hired Kyle, my GRIP. He rode and drove the sag wagon and help facilitate meals. Thanks Kyle!


My wife Tanya was sure a big help too......






A little history for you history buff's!

I can't forget my nephew, Dillon....look close he is in the tree....


That's all for today. I will post the second day report tomorrow.....

I think everyone was out riding last weekend. What perfect weather for camping and riding. Arkansas really rolls out the red carpet for bikers too. Good group. I think that water is a little cold but in about 6 weeks I would rather be in it than riding!

Nice RR.

scotty said:

Then someone ( let us know who you are ) threw down a box of locktite! Wow, I needed that.

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That was "Dirty Sanchez" A rider from Baton Rouge LA (rode a big KTM) - BTW he is a Locktite Salesman.
And a great guy to ride with.

The shorter guy shown here on the Right (this way you can recognize him next ride -)

Thanks Dirty Sanchez for the goodies! In the heat of getting everyone ready to ride I forgot to ask who put them out! I should have known...thanks!

Nice report!
Maybe next year for me.

The 2013 Thread is HERE

http://www.twtex.com/forums/showthread.php?t=82119