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- Joined
- Dec 29, 2003
- Messages
- 4
- Reaction score
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- Location
- Riata Ranch (Houston)
- First Name
- Robert
- Last Name
- Hardy
Well I took the week off to spend time with the family during Spring Break.
But I figure since I took the whole week off, I could get away with taking the first 2 days for myself
So on a whim, I decided to map out a route to Arkansas and hit the famous scenic 7 and 9 byways. I could really only get away with being gone 2 days (my wife is understanding about this sort of stuff to a point - 3 days would not go over well).
After checking the maps I decided if I rode 12 hours both days I could resonably make the trip. I know this is probably not the safest of plans, especially since I planned to do the trip by myself. But I have really been wanting to do this trip and everthing was falling into place so I figured what the heck. I would give it a shot and if I got too tired, I would just stop short and come home. The real point was to ride for 2 full days anyway.
So I booked a hotel in Bryant ( closest vacancy I could fnd to Hot Springs, AR) printed out some maps, packed a duffle bag and hit the road.
I left at 5 am Saturday morning and headed up 59 north.
This was the 2nd worse part of the trip. 2 hours in the dark, cold, fog of deer country.
Light was just starting to come up by the time I hit Lufkin. I continued on to Nacadoches and stopped there for my first real break (prior stops were just gas and gos). Ate breakfast at the Waffle house. This is a real luxury for me when doing this kind of trip. I seldom stop for more than 10 minutes. Usually a lot less than that. I litterally gas and. go. Never even getting off the bike.
The next time I stopped for more than gas was El Dorado, Ar. I got there by 11:30 and stopped at the tourist info center and picked up a brouchure of motorcycle routes. Found my way to scenic 7 and started the real meat of the trip.
The first part of scenic 7 coming out of El Dorado was pretty dissapointing.
Pretty much just a highway through some trees
I stopped at a little dive of a truck stop for a heat lamp warmed pizza and a red bull. While sitting enjoying my gourmet lunch on the curb, a Mercedes comes flying in and parks off to the side of the gas station. A woman gets out, her face and shirt covered in blood. She is holding a jacket to her face, also soaked with blood. As she walks by I asked her if she was ok, but she just rolled her eyes. Seemed like a lot of blood for a nose bleed. When she
came back out of the truck stop she had a fistful of paper towls and as she walks by she mumbles, "the f#$%er punches me and wont even go get me a tissue". She gets back in the car and they drive off. Presumably still happily married ?!?!.
I head back down scenic 7. It soon left the highway and became a little rural road winding through the country. Now it was getting more interesting. Tons of those fun little 30mph curves and good road surface.
I rolled into Hot Springs at about 3:45pm. I went by the Hot Springs Harley dealership hoping to pick up a Tshirt to prove I was there. Got there at 4:01. They had closed at 4:00
I had riginally planned to take hwy 5 over to my hotel in Bryant. But it was getting late and the weather was starting to look iffy so I slabbed it over via 270/70 to I-30 to Bryant. Plus I was starting to have battery trouble. Every time I stopped, it sounded a little less eager to start. You know that sound when you hit the starter, and it makes a grunt and stops for a second pause and then kicks over and starts.
Checked into the hotel (Comfort Inn - $99) and was glad to get off the bike and be on foot for a while. Location seemed great at first. Walmart and lots of restaurants within walking distance. I went to Walmart first hoping to score a new battery but none in stock that would fit And the Harley dealership was going to be closed Sunday. I opted for one of those chargeable battery packs that you pre-charge and then if needed can supposedly plug it into a cigarette lighter for a jump start. I had wired in a cigarette plug before the trip so I figured it was worth a shot. I never ended up needing it Has anyone ever used one? Do they really work?
Was time for some real food so I walked to a Mexican restaurant. Was packed but figured I would sit at the bar. Walked in and there was no bar? What the heck? What kind of Mexican restaurant does not have a bar. Well it turns out the kind that is in a dry county !!!!!! Oh man was I bummed. I really needed a beer (or 6). I was not about to get back on the bike and ride any more that day so I had to do without. Keep that in mind if you make this trip. Bryant is DRY! So is Benton I think. But Hot Springs is not.
Started day 2 at 7am and hit the road by 8. The one redeeming quality of Bryant is hwy 5 that goes from Bryant to Scenic 9 byway. Very much like riding through the SH forest here. Got to 9 and took it North up to Petite Jean State Park. Cut across to Scenic 7 and then back south to Hot Springs to complete the 200 mile loop. I wish I had the writing skills to do that loop justice. Just an amazing route. Steep climbs and decents, so many curves that they would be better off posting signs warning you a stright section was coming up. Even though it is in the middle of nowhere, there were plenty of places for gas (even on a Sunday morning in the bible belt). The only down side of that route is the perilous left handers. Perilous because there are a lot of yahoo cagers with no skills, drifting over the center line pretty regularly. You learn to stay well right of center on those
Wished I had allowed more time for the trip. Hot Springs Village (north of Hot Springs City) looked really interesting. Would have liked to stop and walk about a while.
Slabbed it all the wya home. I30 to Texarkana. 59 back to houston. 59 sounds boring but it was surprisingly a real nice ride. No curves but fairly scenic and great surface from Texarkana to Nacadoches.
59 from Lufkin to Houston sucks. Worst part of the trip. I was tired, nothing to look at, lotd of traffic and the wind was so strong I felt like I was riding a sailboat.
All in all a great trip I would do again in a heartbeat. Although I would love to give myself an extra day. 1300-1400 miles in 2 days is pretty demanding and does not allow a lot of stop and smell the roses time.
If you do this trip, 3 days would be perfect. day to get there, day to explore and a day to get home. But if you only have 2 days and enjoy just being on the bike as much as I do, go for it. It is a doable 2 day trip.
Robert
2001 XL1200S
But I figure since I took the whole week off, I could get away with taking the first 2 days for myself
So on a whim, I decided to map out a route to Arkansas and hit the famous scenic 7 and 9 byways. I could really only get away with being gone 2 days (my wife is understanding about this sort of stuff to a point - 3 days would not go over well).
After checking the maps I decided if I rode 12 hours both days I could resonably make the trip. I know this is probably not the safest of plans, especially since I planned to do the trip by myself. But I have really been wanting to do this trip and everthing was falling into place so I figured what the heck. I would give it a shot and if I got too tired, I would just stop short and come home. The real point was to ride for 2 full days anyway.
So I booked a hotel in Bryant ( closest vacancy I could fnd to Hot Springs, AR) printed out some maps, packed a duffle bag and hit the road.
I left at 5 am Saturday morning and headed up 59 north.
This was the 2nd worse part of the trip. 2 hours in the dark, cold, fog of deer country.
Light was just starting to come up by the time I hit Lufkin. I continued on to Nacadoches and stopped there for my first real break (prior stops were just gas and gos). Ate breakfast at the Waffle house. This is a real luxury for me when doing this kind of trip. I seldom stop for more than 10 minutes. Usually a lot less than that. I litterally gas and. go. Never even getting off the bike.
The next time I stopped for more than gas was El Dorado, Ar. I got there by 11:30 and stopped at the tourist info center and picked up a brouchure of motorcycle routes. Found my way to scenic 7 and started the real meat of the trip.
The first part of scenic 7 coming out of El Dorado was pretty dissapointing.
Pretty much just a highway through some trees
I stopped at a little dive of a truck stop for a heat lamp warmed pizza and a red bull. While sitting enjoying my gourmet lunch on the curb, a Mercedes comes flying in and parks off to the side of the gas station. A woman gets out, her face and shirt covered in blood. She is holding a jacket to her face, also soaked with blood. As she walks by I asked her if she was ok, but she just rolled her eyes. Seemed like a lot of blood for a nose bleed. When she
came back out of the truck stop she had a fistful of paper towls and as she walks by she mumbles, "the f#$%er punches me and wont even go get me a tissue". She gets back in the car and they drive off. Presumably still happily married ?!?!.
I head back down scenic 7. It soon left the highway and became a little rural road winding through the country. Now it was getting more interesting. Tons of those fun little 30mph curves and good road surface.
I rolled into Hot Springs at about 3:45pm. I went by the Hot Springs Harley dealership hoping to pick up a Tshirt to prove I was there. Got there at 4:01. They had closed at 4:00
I had riginally planned to take hwy 5 over to my hotel in Bryant. But it was getting late and the weather was starting to look iffy so I slabbed it over via 270/70 to I-30 to Bryant. Plus I was starting to have battery trouble. Every time I stopped, it sounded a little less eager to start. You know that sound when you hit the starter, and it makes a grunt and stops for a second pause and then kicks over and starts.
Checked into the hotel (Comfort Inn - $99) and was glad to get off the bike and be on foot for a while. Location seemed great at first. Walmart and lots of restaurants within walking distance. I went to Walmart first hoping to score a new battery but none in stock that would fit
And the Harley dealership was going to be closed Sunday. I opted for one of those chargeable battery packs that you pre-charge and then if needed can supposedly plug it into a cigarette lighter for a jump start. I had wired in a cigarette plug before the trip so I figured it was worth a shot. I never ended up needing it Has anyone ever used one? Do they really work?Was time for some real food so I walked to a Mexican restaurant. Was packed but figured I would sit at the bar. Walked in and there was no bar? What the heck? What kind of Mexican restaurant does not have a bar. Well it turns out the kind that is in a dry county !!!!!! Oh man was I bummed. I really needed a beer (or 6). I was not about to get back on the bike and ride any more that day so I had to do without. Keep that in mind if you make this trip. Bryant is DRY! So is Benton I think. But Hot Springs is not.
Started day 2 at 7am and hit the road by 8. The one redeeming quality of Bryant is hwy 5 that goes from Bryant to Scenic 9 byway. Very much like riding through the SH forest here. Got to 9 and took it North up to Petite Jean State Park. Cut across to Scenic 7 and then back south to Hot Springs to complete the 200 mile loop. I wish I had the writing skills to do that loop justice. Just an amazing route. Steep climbs and decents, so many curves that they would be better off posting signs warning you a stright section was coming up. Even though it is in the middle of nowhere, there were plenty of places for gas (even on a Sunday morning in the bible belt). The only down side of that route is the perilous left handers. Perilous because there are a lot of yahoo cagers with no skills, drifting over the center line pretty regularly. You learn to stay well right of center on those
Wished I had allowed more time for the trip. Hot Springs Village (north of Hot Springs City) looked really interesting. Would have liked to stop and walk about a while.
Slabbed it all the wya home. I30 to Texarkana. 59 back to houston. 59 sounds boring but it was surprisingly a real nice ride. No curves but fairly scenic and great surface from Texarkana to Nacadoches.
59 from Lufkin to Houston sucks. Worst part of the trip. I was tired, nothing to look at, lotd of traffic and the wind was so strong I felt like I was riding a sailboat.
All in all a great trip I would do again in a heartbeat. Although I would love to give myself an extra day. 1300-1400 miles in 2 days is pretty demanding and does not allow a lot of stop and smell the roses time.
If you do this trip, 3 days would be perfect. day to get there, day to explore and a day to get home. But if you only have 2 days and enjoy just being on the bike as much as I do, go for it. It is a doable 2 day trip.
Robert
2001 XL1200S
