Wandering aimlessly.....

     So, instead of daily updates this time around, I waited till the kind of middle of the trip. It has been a very nice trip so far. I had no plans overall, but I have had a really good time. I did end up in Arkansas. I decided to do a bit of scouting for a trip that The Kel and I are thinking about in a couple years.

     First off, I think I actually might have blown this cute little redneck mind. I was sitting next to my bike, looking at a good old fashioned paper map, and he walks up and asks if I am lost. I respond, no....I know where I am, I just don't know where I am going.......he looks at me and says "well, you are in Dardenelle..." I thank him and continue looking at my map. He then asks me where I think I might be going. I respond "I have no idea, but I have 4 more days to get there". He stares blankly at his feet for about a minute. Then he looks at me and asks if I have been to hot springs yet. I answer that I have a hotel room there. He says "Well, Hot Springs is right down that highway about 80 miles or so" and walks quietly to his truck and drives away. I really wanted to laugh, but then it dawned on me that there are so few people in the world that are just so inherently nice that they feel bad if they can't be helpful and I could possibly have just ruined his day.

     I have also managed to put my finger on the difference between the R1150 and the R90. While I was going up Mt Magazine today, with all of those really tight and fast curves, I noticed that there is a small delay between steering input and steering action. I really didn't notice it exactly before, but I had been on the R90 for a couple weeks, and then jumped on the 1150 and took off. It is really only noticable in real tight twisties but it was odd. Day one was a straight run up to Denton to see a friend of mine from college. She just got her MC license, and had her first wreck. A bruised knee and a broken finger later, she is now looking for her own motorcycle. This is just more proof that motorcyclists are either stubborn as hell, or downright dumb. Having taken that slide a couple times, I feel like I qualify for the latter. Later on that evening, I went to spend the night with other friends from college.



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Day two was a direct run up into Oklahoma. My original intent was to see how far north I could get before I lost interest, it turned into playing in the Ouachita Mountains. On the way out of Dallas, I stopped and visited my nieces. I thought they were going to explode when they saw me outside their house. It was a total surprise visit. After that, I rolled directly up US75 into Oklahoma. I made it into a little town called Mcalester around 5:30. I really did not plan to stay the night there, but the nearest hotel rich cities were two or more hours away, and it was saturday night. The last thing I wanted to do was get caught without a place to sleep in this area. All of the hotel parking lots I passed were filled with motorcycles, so I figured it would only get worse as I went on.



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Day three was a beating. watching the weather in Mcalester, I saw the great yellow and red "amoeba of doom" marching slowly across Oklahoma toward me. My plan was to get up at 5:30 and roll out at first light. Hopefully miss the storm. I left at 6:15 and the storm was visible in the west. I picked a fairly direct route, and very fun, to get to hot springs through Talihena, OK. I managed to stay almost exactly 25 miles ahead of the storm the whole way. If it wasn't for one wrong turn, I would have beat it by 50 miles. On the bright side I found a great dirt road that The Kel and I need to go back and visit. Ark 63a, no idea where it goes, but I bet we can find out..... Once I got through Mena, AR and over the Ouachita mountains, I was clear of the storm. It hit the mountains and turned north. I made it into Hot Springs much earlier than I had intended, and pretty exhausted. Checked into the hotel, scheduled a spa visit, and surfed.



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Day four has been great. Started the day with an 85 minute massage, and then rode up to Mount Magazine. I wanted to see what the area looked like because we are thinking about taking the Merry Band of Idiots up there for a trip at some point. Ark 7 is as much fun as I remember. Ark 309.....I had to stop halfway up and take a couple pictures. I did not have time to take a solid breath let alone look around. I was very busy with the very tight, very fast, changing elevation curves. I almost poo'd. Starting at Havana, AR at 480 foot elevation and going up to the top at 2300 foot or so was interesting. At the overlook, you are looking down on the town. I could not make out the gas station from there. I want to do it again. Maybe next time on the R90, that would be crazy.



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Ok, fallout time.  Getting up early and headed somewhere new tomorrow.

Dave

Day 4, Little things revisited.....

    More little things.....wow.....  If you get enough little things, the big things get drowned out and you don't even notice them anymore.  This trip started kind of odd for me.  The night before we left I got an odd urge to look up my old friend Russell on the internet.  I do it every once in a while, but I don't look that hard.  This time I found him.  A part of me kind of wishes I didn't.  It turns out he died in 2009.

    Russell was a very good friend, a surrogate big brother, a very good mentor.  We spent a lot of time travelling, partying, and doing things best not committed to paper.  He fell off the map back in 1994 when I moved to Austin and he moved out of state.  He was a tattoo artist and a biker.  One of the things I always thought of when I travelled was that I could run into him at any random Denny's or coffee shop, or gas station somewhere in the country.  Maybe we would be going the same direction and ride together, maybe we would just ride off in different directions.  There is a slight possibility that he may even punch me in the mouth for not keeping in touch better.  Either way, that was always a possibility that was ahead of me when I started my bike.  I started off this trip with a bit of sadness over that new discovery.  This time I knew for a fact that I would not run into him in somem dive restaraunt.  The Kel summed it up best when she called him Shrodenger's Biker.  If not observed, he is both alive and dead, around the next curve, or not.....  Now I know.  He is not. 

    This would have been a sad moment for me, but while we were riding the Talimena Skyway we were passed by a pair of riders.  One on an old Moto Guzzi, one on a newer R1200GS.  We let them pass at the beginning of the ride because we were going fairly slow.  We actually met up with them at a scenic overlook and chatted for a few minutes, but let them go ahead of us because we didn't want to slow down ther pace.  We eventually got in to the Queen Wilhelmina Park Lodge, and started getting gear off so we could hit the restrooms and get some lunch.  About that time, those same two guys pulled up and started shucking gear.  I got to talk to the guy on the GS for a bit.  It turns out that the guy on the Guzzi is a bit older and much more experienced rider, the guy on the GS was younger and fairly new.  The older guy was leading the trip and showing all of the out of the way places, and fun that could be had, and the younger guy was following along trying to absorb everything as fast as possible.  That was when it dawned on me that even though Russel died, he really wasn't dead.  He is still out there in the form of every other pissy old biker that is pulling a rookie around with him showing him how to squeeze a bit of fun out of life. 

    After we got inside to get a table, they were totally empty except for one couple.  I dumped my gear on the table to hold our spot.  When we got a good look at the other couple in the restaraunt, it turns out that it was The Kel's Dad and his travelling companion.  500 miles away from home, in an empty restaraunt, and who do we see?....Dad.....wow.....talk about a bit of exploding head syndrome.  We ended up spending much longer at lunch than we expected, and then took a bit shorter route back to the hotel.  Very good roads up here, must come back soon.

    To close it out, we are heading back early.  Our house alarm has been going off every day at 5:30.  No idea why, but it has.  Today was the third false alarm in a row.  It is going to take us 2 days to get home, but that means we will just have one more false alarm before we get there.  Then we can figure out what is up with it.  This is where the little things come in.  Most people would see ending a vacation early as a disaster.  It does kind of suck out loud.  Either way, I got some awesome riding in, saw some beautiful scenery, met some awesome people, and closed out a chapter of my life.  I guess now instead of looking forward to running into Russel on the road somewhere, I should just look forward to turning into a slightly shorter version of him.  I guess that is a fair trade on some level.  Who knows? 

Here is the video for today:

Some footage from my bike.....



Some footage of The Kel



Here is the picture set for today:


Here is the route for today:



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Day 2 and 3

     Yesterday we just kind of poked around Paris, TX.  Kel had never seen the Texas Eiffel Tower or the Jesus in cowboy boots.  I got a few pics, they are up on yesterday's entry.  Today we are in Poteau, OK.  The ride up was pretty much straight through the center of the Choctaw Nation.  There is some very nice scenery up here.  When I get a bit of time, I am going to put some video up of the ride today.  The video is kind of shaky, but it isn't bad.




     We ended up fighting some wind today, but it was worth it.  Tomorrow we are going to explore the Ouachita National Forest.  That will be cool.

     The best part about the ride today was the fact that my mind has finally cleared.  The noise has finally died down and I got the chance to just hang out in my head and not think about anything but the ride.  Basically, we hit the break over point.  It will take us more than one day to get home no matter what we do.  That means we are gone.  I like that.

     This morning in Paris, we hit the cold front.  We rolled out at about 65 degrees.  After a couple months of 100+ degree days, that was downright chilly.  We actually pulled our wind liners out for our jackets.  They didn't stay on past about noon, but that is not the point.  WE USED THEM!!!!!!!  YAY!!!!!!



     Here is todays route.



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Day 1, a bit late.......

Day One,

    It was a very nice ride today.  We managed to get out of Austin about 8:30 or so.  Road trips have a tendency to take on a theme.  Regardless of what you try to force on it, it will develop on its own.  I have a sneaking suspicion that this trip has already picked its theme.....The little things.

    When I first started riding, I really enjoyed the fact that once you get moving you are on your own.  The only things that really matter are the day to day events that affect whether or not you get home alive.  All of the stuff at home, all of the stuff at work, all of the silly stuff that pollutes your brain and distracts you from just being alive.  When you ride, especially for distance, your entire life is on the bike.  One minute you are admiring the view, the next minute a deer comes out of the brush and sends you sliding down the road.  Any little thing can get you.  Things as small as a bird hitting you or an odd little crease in the the asphalt are all it really takes.  Understanding this, and accepting it, gives you a sense of freedom from the daily noise and lets you really think with a clear head. 

    Getting your brain into this mode makes you notice little things.  The little things that could be deadly, the little things that could be a trip ender, or little things that make you laugh so hard you total your underwear.  Today was all about the little things.  The Kel blew the zipper on her riding pants, she also lost the back half of the sole from a boot.  We also ended up getting trapped for about 15 miles behind a truck pulling a mobile home that was shedding insulation the whole way.

    Now we are sitting in Paris, TX.  Tropical Storm Lee is hitting the gulf coast and making a big mess with high winds and heavy rain.  Our plan is to spend the day around here and shoot some pictures locally.  Then on Monday, we will look how the weather is doing and see where we want to go.  I will get some pics up tomorrow, right now, it is time for bed.

Here is the route for today:


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Here are some pictures:

 


Have fun,

Dave

All that way, and I got a Jolt cola......

I am a dork.....just a flat out dork. I rode 400+ miles to Pop's Route 66 and i froze up while looking at the selection of drinks. I got a Jolt cola.....I am a dork.

The ride started out fairly well, it was very cold this morning and pretty windy. I made it to the OK border at around 10:00. Here is the shot as I leave holy ground:




The first thing that I always see that lets me know I am riding in Oklahoma is the red dirt that washes over the road and leaves all of the bridges stained red. The big sign saying you are now entering Oklahoma is a big clue too......

The other thing that clues me in that I am in Oklahoma is the incredible amount of bug goo that appears on my visor:




When I finally called it a day at the Hotel, this nice little girl behind the gounter pointed out that my visor was covered with bugs......I can't believe she actually had the nerve to say something about it. After she got me situated with a room, she cleaned my visor for me. Now that is service......


I stopped off at the OKC BMW Dealership. There is actually a very nice dealership there. It kind of makes the one in Dallas look....dinky. The staff is very nice, and they have a great decompression facility. I have noticed that I am pushing about 120 miles between gas stops. Here is the bench in front of OKC BMW:




I finally came to understand how the very short stopping distance for a motorcycle is not really a benefit. I almost took a pickup up the tailpipe on I35 coming through OKC. The truck in front of me decided that it would stop short and I didn't have much of a choice but to follow suit. The pickup behind me, however, did not have a very good stopping distance. I have determined that the most disturbing sound in the world is anti-lock brakes doing their job heard echoing in your helmet. I managed to get onto the shoulder before the pickup went through the spot that I was sitting just before. He missed me by a mile, but I don't think he even noticed, he had his arms locked and his eyes closed. Wow. I am a lucky SOB. I love solo roadtrips.......they are so good at providing perspective.

oh well.....Here is the route for the day:


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And God said...."Let there be roller coaster......"

And there was Arkansas SH-7, and it was GOOD! That was the most insane road I have seen in a long time. Think 2222 between Mopac and 360, only 200 miles long. There were sections where you lost so much elevation in a curve your ears popped. There was a series of four S-curves that were so tight they were marked at 20mph. The road turned into sensory overload a lot more quickly than I would have believed. After hitting 7, I have to believe God loves roller coasters. If you are going to ride this little slice of heaven, the big thing that I will tell you is that you have to trust your bike. Some of those curves, even as marked, the only thing getting you through them alive is your bike's sense of self preservation.

There were a few scenic turnouts along the way.....we took a couple. The pictures are at http://public.fotki.com/dave-d/hot-springs/.



The only real downer was the 10 miles we were caught behind a semi haling chickens....They were in open air cages, and the stench was unreal. The feathers were coming off of the truck and flowing back around us, so we got some souveniers to remind us of that joyful aroma.

A bit of trivia for the day, some butterflies can sly while they have sex. I saw two of them locked together flying across the road. In fact, they were still locked together when we stopped and I wiped them off of my visor. That was nasty.......

Here is the route, click on the "view larger" link to see the actual route.


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Oh well, tomorrow is the run down Route 66.

Ya'll have fun now, y'hear...

Dave

Killing off a day in Hot Springs....Later that evening.

We got to spend the day puttering around Hot Springs, it was fabulous. Wagner's is cool. Their shop is exactly that....a shop. Wagner's is not a showroom. Mike runs the place with Felicia. She handles the customer service, he makes the bikes go. Mike is an old flat track racer with the personality that is appropriate to them. He got a kick out of the Ural that is going solo, then he spent a lot of time going over Kel's bike examining the setup. We hung out, had coffee, got some spare parts (just in case), and headed for lunch.

Lunch was at this nice little restaurant in downtown Hot Springs. It was this little Cuban place called Renaldo's. It was awesome. 5 star food at Chilli's prices, and service that I have never seen before. When the server found out about my problems with onions, she took my plate back and informed us that one of the drizzles that the chef had used had onion in it, so she had him re-make it.

Then came the bath-house.......We went to the Arlington Bath-house. If you have never been to a bath-house, you gotta try it. Basically, they are going to pamper by force, if necessary.

First you go into the tub. The tub is about 3 feet deep by 4 feet wide, by 6 feet long. It is filled to the middle of your chest with hot mineral water. Then they turn on this turbine that looks like an outboard motor that hangs in the tub. Once you get good and poached, they pull you out of the tub and throw you into a hot room and let you bake for about 15 minutes. After pulling you out of the hot room, you are put on a table and covered with hot towels, then wrapped in a cold sheet. Once the towels cool off, you are put in a shower. The shower is called the "needle shower". After all of this, it is finally time for a 30 min massage with hot oil. All of this together takes about two hours and ran a shocking $60. You can't get a kind word from a massage therapist in Austin for $60.

Oh well, tomorrow is the run to Eureka Springs. Time for bed.

Wahoo....

Dave

Killing off a day in Hot Springs....

I have often told people that distance riding is "Brain Draino". After about 300 miles on a motorcycle, you have worked your way through all of the thoughts that have been percolating for weeks. Everything that needs to be sorted has been sorted, everything that should be pondered has been pondered. If 300 miles hasn't doen it, you do 300 more miles. Don't come back till it is stacked and sorted. I don't listen to music on the bike. It isn't that I think it is necessarily dangerous, I just don't like to add distractions during the sorting process. You really find out what you are made of when you are trapped inside a helmet for 6 hours with nothing but road noise and your own thoughts. After about an hour, you are in a groove with the bike, and there is not a lot of work that needs to be done to keep the bike up and rolling, except for the occasional curve. You just roll and think.

Today, we hit the hot springs and get a massage, I am really looking forward to this. After the full body overhaul, I am heading to Wagner's Cycles. Wagner's is the Ural dealer near Hot Springs. I want to check in and let everybody know I made it. Wag's is where I get parts for my bike, so I talk to them often but I have never actually met any of them. They all know I am the idiot that likes to do distance on a Ural, so they asked me to swing by if I got up their way. Well, I am gonna......

Keep the shiny side up....

Dave

310 miles of hell followed by 20 miles of heaven

So we start out this morning from Dallas, it is probably around 8:00. Its cool, 70 degrees or so. Fog is rolling off the fields across the road, so I get cold fog. The first couple hours were not that bad, long straightaways with a few gentle curves thrown in for variety. After Texarkana, the road was quite likely the most boring road I ever saw in my life. It was one of those concrete jobs with the very well defined seams in between the sections. Almost an hour of that and I am about to go crazy. The droning of the motor, the rhythmic thump-thump-thump of the seams. Then it hits me, a grasshopper, right in the adam's apple. Talk about "the one with your name on it, that thing had my name, home address, phone number, and a sketch. Talk about leaving a mark, Kel saw my neck when we stopped and thought a bee had stung me. It was just a grasshopper, but it was not pleasant.

The thing that I love about long rides like these is there is so much time to think, and very little to think about. The problem that I always run into is that I never remember the incredible revelations that come on the road.

We got a preview of Ark Highway 7 today. It looks kild of like the willow city loop only with pine trees and a lake in the middle of it. If I can figure out how to do it, I will embed the route below If you hit the "View Larger map", you can actually see the route we took.

Have fun,

Dave


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