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- Joined
- Oct 19, 2006
- Messages
- 8,250
- Reaction score
- 36
- Location
- Big sky country; Ronan, MT
- First Name
- Bruce
- Last Name
- Taylor
As soon as the last trip was over I started planning for the next one. This time it was supposed to be a trip to NW Arkansas to enjoy the springtime crisp air. The trip started with several but as the time drew closer the herd dwindled down to two bikes with three passengers. Yes, this would be Sandy's first long trip on the cycle. We had done a few excursions stringing short days together. But this trip would start and end with over 500 miles in each of those days. Total trip length would be five days and if the plan went through we would ride a little over 2,000 miles. 
As the day approached we started watching the weather. Forecasts called for late evening thunderstorms in OK and NW Arkansas with the cold front passing; late enough that we should be able to arrive ahead of the storms. The night before leaving the front stalled over eastern OK.
Scattered storms forecast for the afternoon. OK, we'll leave a little earlier to allow for weather should it occur. We can get weather radar over our smart phones so we can adjust the plan if needed. And I promised my mother that I would call at every gas stop so she would know where we were. Kickstands up at 0700.
Sandy ready to go.
First stop was for food, of course. The Little Czech Bakery in West, TX for kolaches.
A passerby offered to catch all three of us in a photo; thank you. L to R: Sandy, Bruce, Perry.
We made it through Dallas with little trouble and on north into OK using US69. We rode between a couple thunderstorm cells on the north side of Dallas without needing rain gear. In Atoka we found a little Mexican cafe that had a couple state trooper cars parked out front; a good sign. A good lunch and back on the bikes. North of Mcalester, OK the skies got really dark ahead and we started seeing lighting. One strike close enough to hear as soon as we saw the strike. Then we got caught by the rain.
I have a problem judging when to stop and don the rain gear. Maybe I think if I don't put it on I won't need it. Maybe I need new gear that breathes better so I don't get steamed inside. Maybe putting it on is like admitting defeat. I don't know. Anyway we got pretty wet before stopping to put on the rain gear so we got real wet. So wet that we decide to skip the pants and just go with tops. We rode on in light rain.
When we got to IH 40 we turned east. This turn put us right in line with the heaviest of the storms and before long we were riding through torrential downpours. Boots filled with water and we got thoroughly soaked. At times we would have to switch on the emergency flashers and slow down to 30 mph as we slogged on through the storm. The median and ditches along the interstate were full of water showing only a couple of feet of land between the road and the water. I told Sandy over the intercom that as long as we can see mud between the road and the water it would be OK. We had a fuel stopped planned in Sallisaw and it came just in time. We were starting to get chilled even though the air temp was only 60, the rain was colder than the air. We all agreed to take a break and let the storms blow over. 
Within a few minutes of getting settled in at the gas station the hail came down. bikes were under cover up by the front door and we watched from inside. A cup of hot chocolate and some candy bars were very welcome as we studied the weather radar. From Sallisaw we were heading north along US59 and it looked like the line of storms would pass to the east if we just waited a while. We stayed there for about 45 minutes. To stay warm we went ahead and put the dry rain gear on under out soaked riding gear to keep warm and that worked well.
Going north on 59 we rode through several areas that rivers had come out of their banks with houses about half under the water. The last stretch took about an hour and 45 minutes and we arrived at my mother's house in Bella Vista only about an hour later than the original plan.
As the day approached we started watching the weather. Forecasts called for late evening thunderstorms in OK and NW Arkansas with the cold front passing; late enough that we should be able to arrive ahead of the storms. The night before leaving the front stalled over eastern OK.
Scattered storms forecast for the afternoon. OK, we'll leave a little earlier to allow for weather should it occur. We can get weather radar over our smart phones so we can adjust the plan if needed. And I promised my mother that I would call at every gas stop so she would know where we were. Kickstands up at 0700.Sandy ready to go.
First stop was for food, of course. The Little Czech Bakery in West, TX for kolaches.
A passerby offered to catch all three of us in a photo; thank you. L to R: Sandy, Bruce, Perry. We made it through Dallas with little trouble and on north into OK using US69. We rode between a couple thunderstorm cells on the north side of Dallas without needing rain gear. In Atoka we found a little Mexican cafe that had a couple state trooper cars parked out front; a good sign. A good lunch and back on the bikes. North of Mcalester, OK the skies got really dark ahead and we started seeing lighting. One strike close enough to hear as soon as we saw the strike. Then we got caught by the rain.
I have a problem judging when to stop and don the rain gear. Maybe I think if I don't put it on I won't need it. Maybe I need new gear that breathes better so I don't get steamed inside. Maybe putting it on is like admitting defeat. I don't know. Anyway we got pretty wet before stopping to put on the rain gear so we got real wet. So wet that we decide to skip the pants and just go with tops. We rode on in light rain.
When we got to IH 40 we turned east. This turn put us right in line with the heaviest of the storms and before long we were riding through torrential downpours. Boots filled with water and we got thoroughly soaked. At times we would have to switch on the emergency flashers and slow down to 30 mph as we slogged on through the storm. The median and ditches along the interstate were full of water showing only a couple of feet of land between the road and the water. I told Sandy over the intercom that as long as we can see mud between the road and the water it would be OK.
We had a fuel stopped planned in Sallisaw and it came just in time. We were starting to get chilled even though the air temp was only 60, the rain was colder than the air. We all agreed to take a break and let the storms blow over. Within a few minutes of getting settled in at the gas station the hail came down. bikes were under cover up by the front door and we watched from inside. A cup of hot chocolate and some candy bars were very welcome as we studied the weather radar. From Sallisaw we were heading north along US59 and it looked like the line of storms would pass to the east if we just waited a while. We stayed there for about 45 minutes. To stay warm we went ahead and put the dry rain gear on under out soaked riding gear to keep warm and that worked well.
Going north on 59 we rode through several areas that rivers had come out of their banks with houses about half under the water. The last stretch took about an hour and 45 minutes and we arrived at my mother's house in Bella Vista only about an hour later than the original plan.
I don't know why, but I never get tired of reading ride reports.
I had a route planned that would hit as many twistie roads as possible along the border of Arkansas and Missouri. We started with AR340 east out of Bella vista. There won't be any photos. As with many of the roads in this part of the world there are no shoulders to pull off the road safely and I preferred to have both hands on the controls so no road photos. Let's just say the civil engineers that designed these roads did a wonderful job with banking the curves. 
