Arkansas Day Ride with Marcia

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23 AUG 09 Sunday 6:31 A.M., oh, shit the alarm didn’t go off. I had set it but not turned it on. I use my phone as an alarm clock, I got in the habit of using it when I was traveling so much. Think about it, you would rarely forget to pack it, it keeps correct time for the area you are in and is unaffected by any power outages that happen. It usually works really well, except when operator error is involved. I now have a half hour to meet up with Marcia at the Mickey Ds about 2 miles from my house. I had set the alarm for 5AM, so I would have time finish packing, to change my air filter, gas up and get a sausage biscuit before I met her. Now I was just scrambling to get there on time. Luckily I had loaded the routes in the GPSs and made notes of exactly what I needed to load the next morning. I had been up until almost 1AM that night finishing what I could.

I had wanted to take a day trip to AR for 2 years but it always seemed that something else came up or I just didn’t feel like doing it on the days I had open. I love riding in AR that’s my favorite place to ride, it’s the 250 miles through MO you have to ride to get there and then the 250 miles back usually in the dark. I had a pretty aggressive route planned, I knew I would need to modify it, but would wait until we made it to AR to see how much I would need to modify it by.

I pulled into the 66 station at 7AM and saw Marcia’s Harley at the Mickey D’s next door. By the time I got my gas and pulled over to her bike she was out and ready to ride. She said she was surprised I didn’t beat her there. I am usually the first to show up and then I can sit and think the day through. Riding with someone takes a little prep on my part. I have to remember that the clock is not important and the fellowship will out weigh the extra distance I will loose had I done it solo. I enjoy having company on some of my trips, it just causes a pretty big change in my usual riding style. I was looking forward to spending the day with Marcia, we have gone on 2 previous multi-day trips. In 2007 and 2008 I led a group of bikers on a week or more vacation. In 2007 we went to the National HOG Rally in TN then spent a few days in NC. In 2008 we went to the National HOG Rally and spent the week preceding it going through IA & MN then up & around Lake Superior on the way. We had traveled several thousand miles together, so I knew it would be fun, but Marcia has one problem…. It’s a continual joke with any group that travels with her. She has to go to the bathroom a lot. On the NC trip in 2007, the morning we left Ashville, kind of heading in the direction of home. I had some stops planned, but we were stopping a lot more. At the end of one of the stops I pulled them altogether and started my little plead. We had traveled all morning in 16 miles sections. Every 16 miles we were stopping and bless her heart, she would run to the bathroom so we wouldn’t have to stop for her later. By our 2008 trip everyone was trying to not be “the one” that made us stop. That person would be ridiculed and made fun. I knew today I would have more stops than I normally would, but that was okay. I thought if I could go 80-90 miles between bathroom breaks then we could still get some decent time in AR riding. Marcia’s range on a tank of gas is longer than mine, so if we filled every 160-180 miles all would be good.

We left the McD’s at 7:15AM after I apologized and told her the basic route we were taking down there. I wanted to go on the ferry again, so even though it was out of the way, I had planned the route so we crossed Bull Shoal lake on the free ferry. Someone should do a study on motorcyclist and their relationships with their bikes. As we are snapping pictures of the bikes before we get on the ferry, then on the ferry its almost like having children. Taking pictures as they experience something, you don’t care if you are in the picture but you have to get that Kodak moment of the kids (or bike) there. Seriously, how many people get out of their car to get a picture of it as they cross the lake on the ferry, but all the bikers had their cameras out snapping away and taking pictures for others. My son jokes that Effie is my favorite. My son is 28 and in the Marines, I tell him to learn to deal with it.

This is the first time I will get to seriously use the CB part of my J&M CB. I bought it to mainly use as an amplifier for my Sirius Radio. The ride down we discuss the Smith Restaurant that is so good and the ferry. We had both learned about them on 4 day trip we had taken with our HOG group. We discussed what an outstanding Road Captain Terry Greene had been for our HOG group. He had done it for several years and really spoiled us. He did little things that added up. During the annual ride to see the lights down on the plaza our route would only have right hand turns. It was always so congested. On trips like the Razor Back Ride we had gone on in AR, he had pre-rode it twice before he led us on it. He made it all look so easy, because he had all that prep time in before we ever showed up. Terry died of cancer over a year ago.

It was a little nippy on the way down, even Marcia mentioned that she had goose bumps under her jacket. Chatting away on the CBs on the way down was really nice. We solved the worlds problems. We did a little celebration as Effie rolled 121K miles. While traveling on US160 I saw the Methodist church and told Marcia we were going to pull in. Its Sunday morning and the parking lot is full. When I pulled up in front of their bus she knew we did not stop for prayers. This church has a bus that is such a hoot! I call it the MO Space Shuttle, because they tried to replicate one. The bus is black and white with the short wings on the side and the tail fin on the roof. I first saw it in 2005 and knew Marcia would enjoy it. It has deteriorated in the last 4 years, I guess we both look older. It was a short distance on to the ferry once we left the shuttle behind.

There was a wait at the ferry (N36 29.392 W92 47.784). It was on the far side of the lake letting the traffic off as we pulled up. That was fine it gave us some time to take pictures. And talk to the riders that pulled in behind us. We were off the ferry at 11:30am.

The first town past the ferry is Peel. Peel is named after the man that originally ran the ferry. Ages ago he had applied for a post office permit and it was granted, the decided to name the post office after himself as he also ran the local general store. The community however called itself Needmore. When they decided to file for a town charter they were denied Needmore because there were 2 other Needmores in AR. So they adopted the name of Peel because of the post office’s name. At least that is the story I heard.

After Peel it was onto Yellville, I needed a Y for my ABCs. I had picked up a "t" county in MO on the way down. I was tickled to find one. I only needed 5 more letters to complete my ABCs this year, now I just need 3. A 'z' city and a 'y' & 'q' county. Another trip to AR will get all but the 'q' county, that I need to travel to MS, might not get that this year.

Yellville was a quick stop and then on to Harrison which is the top of the Scenic Hwy 7 ride. We stopped to eat lunch at small café that was open. Harrison rolls up the sidewalks on Sundays. I was hungry for BBQ and they offered a BBQ plate, Marcia got fried chicken. After lunch we took off on hwy 7. The scenery was spectacular. Technically hwy 7 isn’t all that fun to ride, but it had several turnoffs for the views and we enjoyed most of them. Along here we started having technical problems. I could hear Marcia on the CB but she could not hear me, so communication suffered. The weather was great, could not have expected better weather.

We traveled well together. I like traveling with her because she follows from a distance and when we get into twistys she doesn't mind if I take off and zoom through them. I know to pull over to wait before I make a turn off that road and I don't have to worry about her trying to ride too fast trying to keep up. She can take them at her speed and I can at mine. win-win.

As we are on 7 we pull into one of the pull offs and a couple guys come over to check out Effie. This is really kind of normal, because she has so much stuff on her, she looks like a freak among the Harley crowd. So I am telling them what all the parts are and Marcia is telling them about her and her travels. One of the guys wants a picture of Effie. He states he likes Marcias bike better, surprise, surprise. If mine was visually appealing more Harleys would look like her. These 2 guys are from OH and on a long trip. They are heading home from here. I suggested a more fun route, including going across the lake on the ferry and riding 160 in MO toward IL. 160 is one of the best roads, it goes for miles and miles with lots of turns and hills. My theory is that when they built 160 they didn't have money. so they could level out the ground. As you ride along it is very evident that the road is banked without the benefit of a corner, many many places the road bed has compound angles going on. It really makes for a fun ride. Not a road to travel in the dark.

BTW it is really sad that THERE IS ONLY ONE HARLEY ENTERED IN THIS YEARS IRON BUTT RALLY. WTF. 35% of motorcycles in the USA are Harleys and we only have 1 (ONE) guy to take up that challenge????

Down Hwy 7 to hwy 16 west. It was the eastern part of hwy 16 that I really wanted to ride, but there just wasn’t time. The section west of 16 was very nice though, I was very pleasantly surprised. Its hard to not hit a road in southern MO or northern AR that isn’t going to be fun to ride, especially if you are used to riding in KS. From 16 we headed north on hwy 23. 23 took us to Eureka Springs from there the fun was pretty much over, now it was back to 71 and the long straight shot home. It was still light out when we got on 71, but it was 10:45PM when I pulled in at the house. We made a couple stops, on in Carthage MO to get gas and get our colder weather gear on. It was nippy in spots. We stopped a second time in Peculiar Mo to add another layer and have a hot drink. I wanted some hot chocolate, Marcia had coffee. I put my raincoat over my textile jacket to cut what wind was making it through and Marcia put on her leather chaps before we continued on the last 40 miles home. We separated on I-435 as I turned onto I-35 and she continued on to her turn off. It was a good day.

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Photos

Effie at one of the Scenic stops
We were around a blind curve, but we could hear the cars coming as we crossed the road to take these pics. One snuck up on us. I joked about being killed on motorcycle trip (with 121K miles under my belt) as I jaywalked.

Marcia and her bike
At one of our pull overs to capture that Kodak moment, I noticed Marcia has some nice background so I took this picture.

Me and Effie at the Buffalo River Canyon lookout
We stopped here for several minutes. It was a great view.

Scenery in AR
This is what it is all about, the great views and the roads they create.

Comments

[Teehaml]

Another good report
I always look forward to reading your ride reports Cindy... ride safe! Tom

[Sharing the Journey]

Looks like another great ride!

[Darrin Hicks]

Love AR
Hi Cindy! I too, LOVE riding in AR.. ever since the Spank Rally. I even purposely planned one of the legs of my NSR run back through AR. I agree, I feel that more Harley riders should have confidence in the current model's reliability and long-distance suitability to toss their hats into the IBR. I was sorry to hear about Bob L's exit from the rally, but at least it was a forest critter and not him or his Harley that caused his DNF. He was on a good ride up until then. For what it's worth, I'm planning on tossing my hat into the ring for the 2011 event on the same FLHT I had at the NSR (crash damaged mostly fixed and it's running as strong as ever)... Keep your fingers crossed ;)