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Arkansas Fall Color Ride – 2007

Joined
Nov 16, 2004
Messages
1,066
Reaction score
242
Location
Bella Vista Arkansas
First Name
Jerry
Last Name
James
Day One
Plano to Eureka Springs
411 Miles – Cold & Overcast.


The bike was loaded and Jamie and I were ready to go on Friday morning. We were meeting Jackie & Rob at the Café Brazil in McKinney for breakfast at 7AM – 7:15AM. I opened the garage and it was a little chilly. The news said it was 40 degrees. It seemed colder than that. We got all bundled up, we had a few layers on and Jamie had her electric vest turned up to baking. We rode up and the guys were already there. We had a good surprise as well. Alta had come to wish us well and to have breakfast with us. It was cold, but we were all looking forward to a wonderful weekend.

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The truck had some frost on it to start the day.

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The boys getting dressed and ready to hit the road.

We did the slab thing to Paris. We jumped on 121 and then hit 82. Got to Paris and took a hot chocolate break. It was cold, but not as bad as it could have been. I have to say that I do like the idea of having a seat warmer and hand grip warmers, like Jackie and Rob had. I am sure it made there ride a tad more comfortable. I also realized that I need to purchase a full windscreen for my Trophy. That little windshield is fantastic in the summer but not so much in colder weather. Jamie had her heated gear so life was good for my passenger.

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Still cold, but spirits were high. We were hoping the rains would not come as it would be really cold with some moisture added to the mix.

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Jackie smiling, he knows we have a fun filled weekend ahead.

We took 195 then jumped on 295 – 63 – 8 to Mena. We ran into some people heading to Eureka Springs for the BMW Lonestar get together. Some very nice bikes were in the group. Saw a GT like Robs with a Remus pipe, very nice.

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Did not get many names, sorry about that fellas.

We ran out of Mena and headed up 23. The weather stayed overcast the rest of the day. We never got rained on so that was a good thing. The forecast had said that we would have sun by the end of the day, but we never saw it. The ride was uneventful. Going up 23into Eureka Springs is always a fun time. It was just a start to a weekend of curvy roads. I love Arkansas.

We stayed at The Ozark Inn across the street from the BMW get together. We had a bunch of bikes in the parking lot as our hotel had some over flow from the place across the street. They were having a dinner for the BMW guys, but we headed down the street and had some catfish and just tried to knock the chill from our bones. 400 miles in chilly weather does a toll on your body. I was never freezing, but it took a while to lose the chill. We had a nice dinner headed back to the room to get some rest. Our room had a full size Jacuzzi…. NICE! It only took us an hour to get it filled and to get the instructions down. Jamie shot some water across the room, gave the TV a nice bath hehehe. The rooms were clean and the company was great. What a great day.

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Some of the guys at the hotel. Robs bike put away for the evening.

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The Jacuzzi, the two nozzles under the fountain have great distance and velocity when turned on.

Day Two
Eureka Springs to Hot Springs via Push Mountain and a bunch of twisties.
335 Miles – One of the best days ever – Weather was awesome and the riding top notch.


We got up and met out front ready to get breakfast around 7:30. It was already warmer than the day before (46 degrees) and the sky was clear. The day was set up to be a great one! We walked across the street and kicked some tires. We headed out, got to breakfast before the rush and was on the road by 8:30.

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I think Jamie would have rather had a hair dryer. Here she is drying her hair and her air hawk

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We walked over the Waggoner and looked at the BMW’s in the parking lot.

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Morning coffee never tasted so good.

We had a 380 mile route planned but we decided to cut 50 miles off and just get to Mountain Home as soon as possible. This was a great choice on our part. We hit 341 (Push Mountain) the sun was shining, :sun: life was good. The start was a little shaky, as they have chip sealed parts of the start to 341. You would have goiod road then cheap seal and good road almost every 100 yards, This lasted a few minutes. Once we were past the cheap seal…. WOW!!! What a fun road. Very technical and twisty. I have been to Deals Gap, this was every bit as nice and fun. :rider:

We were half way thru Push, when Jackie turned up the heat. I will take this time to say that he was awesome. The 25 – 30 mph corners were swallowed up by him and the RT. He was riding like he was on a rail. I like to think that I am pretty quick in the tight stuff. Jackie walked off and left us like we were standing still. It was a joy to watch. So smooth, so quick and he did it is a safe manner, just fun to watch. I think he really likes the RT. :clap: :clap: :clap:

I had a little scare as a guy on a Concours, passed us in a corner, not 2 feet from our bike in a corner in our lane. YIKES!! :eek2: It scared the **** out of me. I was not the same the rest of the way. He passed the rest of the group, using the same technique. He could ride, but I wish he would have passed in a different manner. He was gone and out of sight in a heartbeat. Hope he was safe and sound at the end of the day.

This did not put a damper on the day as the riding was awesome and the road was great! We will be pack to Push Mountain.

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The bikes ready for the fun of the day.

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On the way to Push Mountain.

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Rob turns on to Push Mountain

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It was beautiful, the colors were not all out, but it was a nice day.

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More color

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We stopped at 27 – 14 to catch our breath and to smile!

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We met a few nice guys from the Chicago area while sitting around. They were great guys and heading to Hot Springs as well. They had some nice machine.

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I thought this was a cool pic – ART??

The fun was just beginning as 14 was just as much fun as push. It was unbelievable how many curves were in our route. I have to say it was one of the funniest days on a bike that I have ever had. I also could not believe the lack of traffic, cars were very rare.

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Fun was had by all.

We stopped by a single lane bridge on 14, to admire the few and smile more. Jackie was all smiles as he was in a zone. We all asked ourselves if we should just move to Arkansas.

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Notice the angle of the drive, this would be an issue later.

The place to park was gravel filled and at a very steep angle. It was hard to find a good place to park. Jackie was having issues as he could not find a good place to park. He backed up and was going to park on the other side of the road when it happened. Gravity happened. Shortness happened. He went to pull up the steep drive slipped on some gravel and then the RT just fell over. Rob and I ran over and helped him pick it up. The mirror had popped off, but we found out that they were designed to do this (That was very neat). The bag took the most damage as did his side cover. The crash bars get a D- as they bent and really did not protect much. We made sure Jackie was alright, The bike was fine. It was a bummer it happened but that would be the worst thing to happen all trip. He was fine, so all was well.

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Bags got some scratches

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Head took some of the brunt

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Jackie was fine. He has the high speed, twisty stuff down pat. Now we need to make him taller hehehe.

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view from the bridge

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Jamie, Jerry, Jackie and Rob

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Sexy!

We jumped on 74 or 27 I dunno they were all good roads. We rode a good 200 + miles in twisty fun roads. We did notice that the time was getting away from us and cutting those 50 miles out at the beginning was a good thing. We road thru Russellville and it was getting a little dark. We stopped at Nimrod Dam and then headed for Hot Springs. We got there around 6:30 PM we were beat but the day was fantastic! This day will remain as one of my favorites on a bike for a while. We stayed at the best Western – Stagecoach, not a bad room. There were many bikes in the lot. We walked next door to Rocky’s had some pizza and beer and watched the Rockies get beat (Boooo…) We headed back to the room to get a hot shower and just enjoy relaxing. I can’t say it enough it was a wonderful day with great friends.

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getting a little dark

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view from Nimrod Dam

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the gang again.. Love Jamie’s helmet hair.. hehe

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pretty shot

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I made it safe and sound

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The boys

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my beautiful wife and bike..

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The end of a great day!

Day Three
Hot Springs to Plano
395 Miles – Beautiful day and a great way to end the trip!
No Rain! Whoo hooo


We got up and hit the road around 8:30. Rob took us to some nice little roads before heading back to the metroplex. 259 was the last of the play, but we all made the best of it but using up more of the sides of the tires than the middle. We took our time, enjoyed the weather and just had a great day. We stopped in Paris to fill up for fuel. Jackie left us here to head home. Our friend Travis was at the station and had a very bad back tire. He was limping back to Dallas we hope he made it home safe.

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Jackie looking smooth

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Rob enjoying the day

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:eek2: Yikes.. 90 miles from Dallas.

I will wrap this up, I hope you all enjoyed the story of our journey. I want to say that it is a pleasure riding with our friends. Riding a motorcycle is a great experience and enjoying this with good friends in amazing. I hope they feel the same way. I also want to thank my wife for wanting to ride, actually for loving to ride. She is my heart and soul and I love building these memories with her. Thanks again Rob and Jackie it was a pleasure riding with you all.

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The ending totals for the trip.. Can we go back next weekend?? See all of the pictures here: Picture Gallery
 
Nice report! Thanks for the road updates! We will be hitting Push Mountain this weekend. We'll also be heading further North up in Missouri. So hopefully we'll see more colors from the trees.
 
Jackie how much trouble are you in with Alta for dumping "HER" BMW? Is she going to let you come out and play? Glad your ok. Looks like you guys had a great trip. The bridge looks familar....

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Nice report! Thanks for the road updates! We will be hitting Push Mountain this weekend. We'll also be heading further North up in Missouri. So hopefully we'll see more colors from the trees.

Scott - I think you guys are going to hit it right on the nose. The colors should be great for you all. The roads were all good. Push mountain, was a little odd at the start but smoothed out in a big way.

Have fun on your trip and ride safe.
 
Jackie how much trouble are you in with Alta for dumping "HER" BMW? Is she going to let you come out and play? Glad your ok. Looks like you guys had a great trip. The bridge looks familar....

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Looks like you parked on the correct side. hehehe

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Jackie how much trouble are you in with Alta for dumping "HER" BMW? Is she going to let you come out and play? Glad your ok. Looks like you guys had a great trip. The bridge looks familar....

She's fine, stuff happens. You know most of us will drop 'em now and again (more often for us "short" people) and there may be some "scratches" as a result, but it didn't detract from the trip. As Jerry mentioned it was one great trip and especially the ride on Saturday was about as good as it gets.
 
Scott - I think you guys are going to hit it right on the nose. The colors should be great for you all. The roads were all good. Push mountain, was a little odd at the start but smoothed out in a big way.

Have fun on your trip and ride safe.

We had a great time. The colors were great on many trees in many places, but I think it will peak sometime this week or next.
 
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