- Joined
- Jan 1, 2005
- Messages
- 4,465
- Reaction score
- 1,228
- Location
- Buda, TX
- First Name
- Rich
- Last Name
- Gibbens
Adventure Quest
May 23 - 24, 2009 (Memorial Day Weekend)
Clarksville, AR
May 23 - 24, 2009 (Memorial Day Weekend)
Clarksville, AR
What better way to appreciate the freedoms we enjoy than by seeking adventure on Memorial Day weekend?
Northwest Arkansas gets a lot of attention from motorcyclists. Deservedly so. The paved roads in that part of the state almost appear to have been designed specifically for riding, with miles of twisties, mountain scenery, and not a lot of other vehicle traffic. No wonder riders keep going back again and again.
Well, I've heard the paved road aren't the only great thing about northwest Arkansas; the dual sport riding there is reported to be just as good. I've ridden the paved roads there on my street bike but have not yet had an opportunity to test out the dual sport riding, so it's time to fix that. Let's get together over Memorial Day weekend and explore the adventure riding opportunities in the Ozark Mountains.
The Plan: Meet up on Saturday morning, 8 a.m., May 23, 2009, in the parking lot of the Day's Inn, Clarksville, AR. Ride all day Saturday and Sunday. Head home on Monday.
Ride HQ: Day's Inn
Interstate 40, exit 55
Clarksville, AR
479-754-8555
Group rate: $41 per night for a single, $45 per night for a double.
To get the group rate you need to call the hotel and tell them you are with the Gibbens riding group. If the person on the phone doesn't know about the group rate tell them we worked the rate out with Ankur, the owner.
Riders Meeting: 8 a.m., Day's Inn parking lot
Sleeping: I'm staying at the Day's Inn and that's where we will meet each morning for the riders meeting. There are lots of other hotel choices in Clarksville in case the Day's Inn is full.
Maps and GPS: I've had map sets of the national forest made for this event. A set consists of four 11x17 color map sheets and is $5 per set. Or riders can buy an Ozark National Forest map from the national forest service for about $9-10. I've plotted out 6 routes on the GPS and the files are posted on my web site.
What should you ride? Your dual sport bike. Will there be routes suitable for both the big adventure bikes and the dual sport bikes? Not really, at least not in my limited experience. The non-paved roads in the area seem to consist of easy class 1 dirt / gravel roads and hard, rocky class 3 dirt roads. There isn't much class 2 riding. For this reason, if you want to ride off-pavement I recommend a dual sport bike, not one of the big adventure bikes. While you can ride an Adventure bike on class 3 it is a heck of a lot of work and not much fun, in my opinion. I'll be on my DRZ-400, not my Wee, for this very reason.
What if all I have is a big Adventure bike? Should I stay home? Well, you could stick to the pavement. Seriously, the paved roads in northwest Arkansas are world-class twisties and are destination worthy all by themselves. Or, if you don't mind riding class 1 dirt/gravel, then there are ample dirt roads to play on. But, if you want more of a challenge and are looking for class 2, then this isn't the ride for you.
My intent is not to discourage adventure bike riders from attending. It is simply to let you know that the non-paved stuff in this area is pretty much either easy or hard, with little moderately difficult (i.e. class 2) available.
Routes: I've planned 6 different routes for us to explore. I haven't ridden any of these routes yet, so this will be a ride of exploration. Here are the routes in .gpx format. Right click and save to your hard drive. When you open any of the routes, don't recalculate them. Quite a few of the roads are not on the map so I used direct routing (vs auto routing) on these routes. If your GPS recalculates the route you will most likely not display correctly. The 6 Routes
Who's in? If you plan to attend please let me know and I'll add you to the attendance list.
Richard
Stuntman Jeff (the rider formerly known as Tiger Jeff)
Rick M
Tourmeister
bigdon55
revog
ole buddy
Okie
Hood Ornament
Sean
Gary
Calgary-Yogi
ajvanderlee
je2000 (tentative)
Texas DR
iphorde
stingray
jagster (maybe)
six50rider
jbay
mff
Baja Boo Custer
Norman Thornhill
Norbx40
Norton Mike
Norton Steve
AttoirRe
flcbrxx
Terry
John
Joe
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