I was up at 5:00am in anticipation for this ride. Mike and I had been planning this Ozark trip since late January. Ever since, it has been one long waiting game these passed few months. Let me start off with a quick summery for everyone.
- Total Miles: 1874 ( give or take a few miles)
- Damage: 4 - Dropped Bikes
1 - lost nut
1 - fuel line
1 - carburetor gasket
1 - bent break lever
1 - head light
1 - broken kickstand
- Favorite Quotes:
"I feel like a freshman at camp, I can't find shit" --Flounder (Chris)
"Whats the matter Chris, can't get it up?" --Tape Worm (Jim)
"She can put stiletto's on and walk all over me..." -- Boots - Roster:
Mike (Capie - road captain)
Kevin (Pelon)
Steve W.
Steve H. (Princess - cause it is the only thing he answers to...)
John (Boots - we all know the story)
Jim (Tape Worm - cause the dude never stopped eating...)
Chris (Flounder - because he is...)
Robert
Jason (Tumbleweed - cause he like to hit them on the road...)
myself
Finally the departure day came, like I said I was up at 5:00am ready to go. I felt like a kid on Christmas morning, I couldn't wait to get going. The plan was to meet at Starbucks and then head out at 7:00am. Well I got there at 5:45 got me a coffee and donuts and waited for everyone to show up. Finally the boys started to trickle in one by one, as each person showed up the energy and excitement level built until we were all ready to burst (kinda like a virgin at the prom ;-) ). We had a quick rider meeting, kickstands were up and we were off on five days of freedom. Freedom from the MAN!!
Getting out of town was interesting, as we rode along I noticed the other people around me rushing off to work, the stress in their faces from daily life. Sad part is we (the 10 of us) will probably look the same when we get back home and go back to work. It amazes me how rarely "we stop and smell the roses" and enjoy the day.
The first half of the day was pretty uneventful and boring, long straight roads with little to see along the way.
The first stop along the way (besides for gas) was in Paris Tx. to see the Eiffel tower, while we were riding in we were all looking for a huge tower with a cowboy hat on it. Turns out, not as big as you think, wonder how many woman think that... anyway. After we took pics we headed to the HD dealer for a quick look around and then we went to a restaurant called Ta Molly's. It was good eating, we tried to get the new guys to pick up the tab but we couldn't convince them that it was a good idea.
We gassed up and headed north in to Oklahoma, about an hour after we got into the Ouachita National forest the ride got GOOD! I'm talking about 25MPH U-turns taken at 40MPH, 15MPH S-turns that snake you up and down a mountain taken at 30 MPH this was what we came for, the TWISTIES!!!!
We climbed up the mountain about 2500 feet and pulled off to the side of the road for photo-op and to take in the scenery, it was beautiful up there. The air was crisp and cool and the valley below had beautiful green trees that you can see for miles. After our breather, we saddled up and headed over to our camp site for the night at Queen Wilamena state park.
This is a very nice park, however it sits on top of a ridge and the wind blows constantly. I'm not talking about a nice breeze, I'm talking 20-30mph winds. Fortunately our camp sites were in the trees at the bottom of a slight hill so the wind was blocked a little but it still made for some challenging tent pitching... (clean up your dirty minds).
After we got our camp sites setup and ourselves cleaned up we headed up to the restaurant and ate.
Princesses brush with death: While we ate dinner and talked about how great the riding was the second half of the day I found out that one of our guys was almost hit by a car head on. While riding the twisty roads through the mountains the majority of the roads are 2 lane with limited visibility most of the time so when you have the opportunity to pass a slower vehicle you take it quickly. With 10 bikes spread out over about an 1/8th of a mile the last few riders sometimes don't make it and the guys in the front will radio back whether the road is clear or not, so the people in the back can catch up with the group. On this particular incident Capi radioed back and said
"I'll let you know when it is clear" what Princess heard was
"...it's clear" so he gunned it coming over a blind hill passing an 18 wheeler. He was almost passed when a car was coming head on. Fortunately he clear the truck safely with inches to spare. After this a couple things happened, Capi no longer said "I'll let you know..." anything he just said it's clear or not and Princess had to change his shorts after that.
After dinner we sat around the camp fire, the lies and stories started. One of the best parts of this trip is the comradery at camp. Two of our guys brought tents that were smaller than they were. Matter of fact the biggest guy (6'3") on the trip brought the smallest tent. His toes stick out the end. Of course, we all mocked them the whole trip. Our two new guys (Tapeworm and Flounder) were heading off to bed, and Flounder was hanging up his bag of food on a post to keep it away from the critters and we hear
"Whats the matter Chris, can't get it up?" You could of heard a pin drop followed by an outbreak of laughter and loads of jokes about them. They deserved the ridicule that they received. After some Jack and cigars we all turned in for the night. That night while I laid in bed all I heard is the wind blowing through the trees, it was great to finally unplug and relax.
Next day we woke up to low hanging clouds and a heavy mist on the mountain. We broke camp and ate breakfast and we all thought we were in for a slippery ride down the mountain, however we got about a 1/4 mile down the hill and it cleared up. Immediately the road started to twist and turn we were already in for a great ride for the day. We drove for about an hour or so and Capi pulled the group over cause Flounder lost a nut that held his shifter linkage together. We borrowed a nut from another part of his bike and got him back on the road. As fortune would have it, in the next town there was an O'riellys parts store we stopped and picked up some extra nuts to fix his linkage and discovered that his fuel line was leaking so we picked up a couple feet of fuel line to fix his bike later when we got to camp.
B - double E - double R - U -N Beer Run: I have come to the conclusion that we are all a bunch of alcoholics. While driving through Arkansas there are a lot of dry counties. When we got to Russellville we found out that 40 miles down the interstate was the next county which was NOT dry. So we drove 40 miles out and 40 miles back to pick up beer and whiskey. We are a sad bunch.
After our quick run for beer, we jumped back on our original route and twisted our way into the Ozark mountains. We reached our camp site early afternoon, we stayed at a place called
The HUB which caters to bikers. It was a neat place that has a hotel, a big field for camping and a restaurant on site. After setting up our camp sites and unloaded the bikes, we relaxed for a bit and then walked up to the restaurant for a bite to eat. Turns out the food was very good, and the service was great. The place is fairly new and we (the 10 of us) were pretty much the only ones on site. The owner of the place had a cooler full of ice cold beer that he set out for us and just asked for donations which was very cool cause the county was dry.
While we were setting up camp Flounder and Tumbleweed gave up on their tents, mainly cause they brought tents that were smaller than they were and couldn't fit their stuff and themselves in the tent. Also they had those cheap tent stakes that wouldn't hold the tent down. They decided to split the cost of a room so their sensitive selves had a place to sleep. After we got settled in Flounder was going to work on his bike and change out his fuel line.
I told him that if he pulled his bike into the shade I would help him work on it, then I told him to pull it right into the "circle of trust" where we were all sitting. This allowed everyone to mock him while he worked on his bike. We got the fuel line changed fairly easy, when I say "we" I mean Flounder who worked and the rest of us drank beer and managed his work. Once we got the bike back together it wouldn't idle right and it sounded like there was a vacuum leak. At first we thought it was a cracked head gasket, after pulling everything off and troubleshooting the noise we found out that the gasket on the back of the carb was not seated properly. Finally after fixing that it was more beer, horse shoes and conversation about the days ride.
Next morning, it was breakfast and then off for some killer rides through the Ozarks. When we got to Branson we looked for a HD dealer so we could pick up a new gasket for Flounders bike. Found out there was not a dealer in Branson like we thought so the next closest was up in Springfield. We blasted up to Springfield to the dealer and picked up the part and then headed back down to Branson to pick up where we left off. We went on a ride called "The Perry's Ferry" ride.
Basically the ride took us north into Missouri and then back down into Arkansas. Besides the KILLER twisties on this ride there was a unique feature of this ride where you have to take a Ferry across a lake up there to get to the other side. While we were leaving Branson we were waiting at a light and an old lady was coming around the corner and she slowed down and told myself and Pelon "I love you" our jaws dropped open and then Pelon yelled back, "I love you too!" It made for an interesting story around the camp fire later that night.
Watch out there is debris on the road, oh wait it's not: While we ride in a big group we use hand signals to pass information about road conditions and stuff using hand signals. One of our signals that we use is to kick our foot off the left or right side of the bike to let the person behind us know that there is debris on the road so they can avoid it. While we were riding Flounder say someone put their foot up on their highway pegs and he thought it was a debris signal so he kicked out his foot but then realized what the guy in front did so he created a new sign. He took his hand and waved it down by his foot as if to say "never mind, no debris" He waved it off. He then proceeded to make up several more hand signals like "look at the dear" which is when he makes antlers with his hands on his helmet. Freshmen, they are entertaining to say the least...
After we got back to Harrison we stopped off for some lunch and planned our next ride. We decided to head over to Eureka Springs and loop back to camp. The ride was nice and twisty, when we got to Eureka Springs we found out that there was a rally there so the place was packed with bikers from all over. We saw a HD store so we stopped in to look around and rest for a minute. After a break we started to head back to camp which was about an hour or so ride. It was an AWESOME ride back to camp.
That night while we were all hanging around camp, Robert had walked over to the parking lot to call his wife, while he was on the phone a couple drove in and the girl on the back was topless. WTF!!! NICE! She stopped and asked him if she needed to "put these away". Not sure what his response was, but I am sure his mouth was open and he was drooling on himself. After he got off the phone he walked back over to camp and told us about the whole thing. Later on we built a fire and hung out. The topless girl and her boyfriend walked over and hung out with us along with some other locals. After a while everyone started to leave and it was just the 10 of us again.
Jack Ass Award: I hesitate to tell this story, but it is only fair.
Next morning it was time to to pack up and start heading south. After I got my camp packed up and on the bike I was pulling my bike out of the field onto the parking lot. I thought I was gonna be cool and spin my tire on the wet grass, and if you haven't guessed it yet, I lost control and dumped my bike on the ground. I don't feel too bad, I wasn't the only one that dropped my bike however, I am the only one who deserved it. Other honorable mentions in the bike dropping category was Capi on the first day he was waiting on Pelon and forgot to put his kickstand down and his bike fell over. The Tape worm parked his bike on an incline and his kickstand doesn't lock so his bike rolled forward and fell onto Capi's bike. Final drop goes to Robert who parked his brand new ultra on a hill and dropped it. Fortunately for everyone there was no major damage to any one's bike. Tape worm tore his seat, Robert bent his break lever and my engine guard got a bit tweaked.
The next stop was in Hot Springs where we would spend our final night. Instead of taking the direct route over to Hot Springs we took the scenic route down which ended up being around 200 miles. The ride down was great, just like every other ride we took this weekend. The original plan was to camp at the KOA there which is just a few miles out of town when we got there we setup our tents and then we went into town for a bit to eat. While we were in town we found out that there was a 60% chance of thunder storms that night. We got on the phone and called the KOA to see if they had some cabins available. Fortunately they did so we booked them and packed up our tents and stayed in the cabins that night.
Billy Bob is that you?: While we were in town we ate at a cafe there on main street and for the life of me I can't remember the name of that place. Anyway it was pretty much the only place open down there, so we went in and sat down. Our waitress showed up and started to take every ones order.l Our waitress sounded like Billy Bob Thortons character on Sling Blade.
"What can I get you to drink mmm hmmm..." Not sure what her deal was, she was all jittery and shaky, must have been from all the crack she smoked that day. When she started to bring out our order every thing was a cheese burger and she got everything mixed up . It was actually kind of humorous after a while. Then when we went to pay every ones total was different, not by a lot but it was off just a couple of cents here and there. We just left it alone and headed over to the bar across the street. After a few rounds we headed back to camp to pack up the tents and then move into the cabins. That night we relaxed and hung out talking about the great ride and great time we had. I believe that Flounder said that it was the best riding he has ever done. Granted the furthest he has ever taken his bike is down to the Wag-a-Bag and back home, regardless I am glad that everyone had a good time.
It got to be around 10pm I guess when we all started to get a little hungry so we order some pizza from Domino's and Boots placed the call to order them and put on his thick Brooklyn accent (where he's originally from) and proceeded to give the girl on the phone a hard time, while we were all laughing in the back ground. The pizza hit the spot, after that it was off to bed.
Next morning we were all pleasantly surprised that there was no rain yet. We finished loading the bikes and headed out. Everyone was in agreement to get as far as we can as fast as we can to we can reduce the amount of time we would spend riding in the rain. We had a quick gas stop and then jumped on the interstate and started home. We got to Texarkana without any rain so far, so we stopped for some gas and for a quick bite to eat. For a while I thought we were gonna be lucky and make it home without hitting any rain. I was dead wrong, we got about 60 miles east of Dallas when it hit and it came down hard. We drove about 30 miles and finally had to pull over cause visibility was so bad for everyone we could only see the tail lights of the person in front of us, it was bad! After we regrouped and filled up we took off again, fortunately the rain let up right before we got to Dallas and held off until we were south of Dallas. It actually stayed clear until about Hillsboro when it started up again. We made it to Waco and pulled off for a break and to have a final dinner together at the Elite Cafe before we spit up and headed our separate ways. After dinner we hit the gas station and then pressed on in the rain. It pretty much rained the entire way home till we got to Georgetown where we got a break. From there people started to split off from the group heading in different directions until it was just the guys who live in the same sub-division as me.
This years ride was awesome, we experience every type of riding you can on a trip, twisty, rainy, long and straight, it was a good time for everyone. Friendships were made and the bond between brothers grew stronger. I can't wait for next year and the time we will have then. More pics of the ride are
here.
The plan was to go down to the hill country, not the hill country west of Austin that I ride all the time but the hill country that is south of I-10, and run the three twisted sisters. We decided Kerrville would be our base for operation and we would ride from there. While we were planning the trip we asked some friends of ours (Alex and Jamie) if they wanted to make the trip with us. We have heard them talk about wanting to go down there several times but there is never enough time to run down there for a day and make the run. This time we were staying the night so we had plenty of time. Needless to say they accepted our invitation, not because of our sparkling personalities but, who would turn down a weekend in the saddle?
The Sporty gets drafted: Alex and Jamie both ride, however they only have one bike. Last time they made the twisted sister run they rode two up and Jamie told Alex this time she wanted to ride her own bike. Their plan was to rent a bike however it was going to cost way to much. During bike night, I offered the use of my Sportster to them if they wanted to use it. They weren't sure if they wanted to take it cause it has ape hangers and is only an 883. (HEY! quit picking on the 883's this bike road 3,338 miles to Sturgis and back!) After bike night we ran back to the house so they could sit on it and test it out around the block. When Alex got back he was like "MAN! that is comfortable." So, the sporty was drafted into action. I have to confess I was a little nervous about letting someone borrow my bike even if I was with them. Two reasons for this, one I NEVER let anyone ride my bikes and two over the years the sporty has developed a "personality", meaning you have to treat her just right or she won't work for ya.
Saturday morning came and the plan was to meet at the Starbucks for coffee and breakfast then head out from there. The route was simple, 1431 west, 281 south, sandy road west, 290 west, 16 south. First stop we made was in Sandy Texas. Mainly cause we wanted the photo op with the sign for my S-N-L Sandy. This stop took all of two minutes and then it was on to Fredricksburg for a quick break. After our break we saddled up and headed south, we were in Kerrville in no time. We stopped for fuel and one last bio break cause it was going to be a while before we stop again.
Once we got south of Kerrville the ride starts to get good. Immediately the view turns from good to great, the road starts to tighten up, the turns get sharper, the hills get steeper, your heart starts to pound a little, and right about now that grin comes over your face. We took 16 down to Medina and that is were we started the twisted sisters loop which consists of TX 335, 336, 337. We headed down 337 and found an over look and decided to stop for a quick photo op and to grab the camera for Nez to take some photo's while we were riding. She took pictures of everything, road shots, herself, patches on my vest, her boot she got everything. I guess she was a little bored on the back of the bike.
When we got to hunt we made a quick pit stop at Stonehenge, Jamie and Alex have never seen it so we stopped. When we got there and parked Jamie asked "What are we doing?" I asked " what do you mean?" she replied "Are we lost?" I said "no its right there" and pointed across the street. Jamie had a duuuuuhhhhhhh moment.
Next morning it was not raining, however it rained a little during the night which was ok with me. We got up and had some coffee and breakfast and then headed to Leaky, we decided to take the "fast" route over, but it turns out the fast route was an absolutely beautiful ride. The scenery was unbelievable great wide open spaces and hills, I love it down there.
