4th Annual Winter Bald Eagle Ride, January 18-21, 2013

[kendall_smith]

It's official!! Kendall's 990 has been pictured more than any other bike in the history of Rideforum. What does he win Troy?????

(It is a pretty cool bike Kendall)

You guys keep quoting my post without deleting the picture! For the record, I only posted it twice- once in here and the other in my DRZ sale thread!

On the other hand- it does look GOOD! I probably should win something for having such good taste in motorcycles!

[ajayhawkfan]

It's official!! Kendall's 990 has been pictured more than any other bike in the history of Rideforum. What does he win Troy?????

(It is a pretty cool bike Kendall)

Awards don't go to those that are afraid of a little cool weather.

[kendall_smith]

Awards don't go to those that are afraid of a little cool weather.

I'm almost afraid to say what the real reason I can't go is. Part of me wants to continue to use the "too cold" excuse.

I guess I'll 'fess up- the real reason that I can't go on this ride is because my mother-in-law is visiting this weekend and my wife won't let me weasel my way out. Believe me, I begged!

Luckily, we've already got some decent cold weather plans, so it should be fun for a non-riding weekend. I'll be at the Kansas City RV show drooling on all the shiny new stuff while you guys are wishing you would have packed more layers! At least that's what I have to tell myself.

[ajayhawkfan]

Awards don't go to those that are afraid of a little cool weather.

I'm almost afraid to say what the real reason I can't go is. Part of me wants to continue to use the "too cold" excuse.

I guess I'll 'fess up- the real reason that I can't go on this ride is because my mother-in-law is visiting this weekend and my wife won't let me weasel my way out. Believe me, I begged!

Luckily, we've already got some decent cold weather plans, so it should be fun for a non-riding weekend. I'll be at the Kansas City RV show drooling on all the shiny new stuff while you guys are wishing you would have packed more layers! At least that's what I have to tell myself.

Ohhh, the wife said "no" excuse. Never heard that one before.

[troy]

As is tradition for this winter ride, the plan may change completely! I just got off the phone with Eddie who is travelling right now. The forecast for the area we planned to ride is taking a downturn. However, the forecast for Arkansas & Oklahoma looks FANTASTIC--as in 50+ degrees and sunny the whole weekend.

So there is potential that instead of hitting the Mississippi River to see eagles, we'll head South. Perhaps through Eureka Springs or Fayetteville and down to Mena and/or Hot Springs down in the Ouachita National Forest. If we do this, the only real cold weather we'll face is the last part of coming home on Monday. At this point, no precipitation is expected anywhere until Tue.

[kendall_smith]

Perhaps through Eureka Springs or Fayetteville and down to Mena and/or Hot Springs down in the Ouachita National Forest.

You guys SUCK! I was mildly upset when I figured I was going to miss out on the initial plan. Now that you might be going to AR, I'm furious!

[ajayhawkfan]

Keep an eye on the first post of the thread for updates.

As Troy stated the weather along the east side of MO had taken a turn for the worse. I'm looking at going South. I'm working on routes now.

I'm thinking Eureka Spring Friday night. Heading towards Hot Springs for Saturday night. On Sunday head West towards Mena and then north to Fort Smith. From Ft. Smith heading home. I still have to rework the routes. There are over 200 miles Saturday and Sunday. That maybe too many dual sport miles for a winter ride. I may need to pick either Hot Springs or Mena. I'll keep working on it. (No matter how much I work on it, it will change while riding.)

Of those going, who have visited Hot Springs National Park before?

[rycomm]

I have never been to Hot Springs, but I have been to Mena. I know there are plenty of dirt and easy forest service roads just outside of Mena. I would like to see Hot Springs sometime, so either is fine with me.

Ryan

[troy]

Of those going, who have visited Hot Springs National Park before?

I have not. All sounds great.

[allkidd]

I'm good with either.

[kendall_smith]

Well- what's the plan? Those of us living vicariously through this planning thread are on the edge of our seats!

You guys are leaving in less than 12 hours and this thread suddenly died!

[troy]

Randy, is this your thread?
Russellville to Mena good roads/trails
Probably late in the game for Eddie's route planning, but do you have any must-do roads around Mena we should do?

Kendall (and others) -- pretty sure Eddie is going to take us South to sunny skies. Only cold we'll endure should be the Mon hours and worse as we get close to home.

Scotty (jasoomian) will meet us in Eureka Springs Fri night....assuming that is where we end up.

Note that some folks are heading over to Walter's Ranch this Saturday--should be great!

[kendall_smith]

Be sure to take lots of pictures and do a good ride report.

Alissa let me off the hook earlier and said she didn't care if I went. The bad news is that it was at that moment that I realized that I've only done 20 miles on my 990 and it might be kind of a bad decision to take off on a several hundred mile weekend on a more or less untested machine.

The upside is that I'm planning on spending all day tomorrow getting to know the bike by going through it and making sure it is ready to roll for next time. The peace of mind will probably be worth missing out on this trip, since I'd hate to have a silly problem that affected everyone's weekend.

You guys have fun!

[troy]

...I'd hate to have a silly problem that affected everyone's weekend.

This is not a concern since we would simply leave you for dead. It's every man for himself. We roll hard-core.

[kendall_smith]

I've heard you guys are the baddest ADV'ers in the land! I'd call ahead to AR to warn them, but I'm afraid of what might happen to me if you found out!

[allkidd]

Randy, is this your thread?
Russellville to Mena good roads/trails
Probably late in the game for Eddie's route planning, but do you have any must-do roads around Mena we should do?

Kendall (and others) -- pretty sure Eddie is going to take us South to sunny skies. Only cold we'll endure should be the Mon hours and worse as we get close to home.

Scotty (jasoomian) will meet us in Eureka Springs Fri night....assuming that is where we end up.

Note that some folks are heading over to Walter's Ranch this Saturday--should be great!

I was only in Ouachita for one day, but forest road 72 was great...felt like Colorado....very narrow with tall pines on both sides of the trail. It is about 35 miles to the north east of Mena. I've heard a lot of people discuss FR870, million dollar highway, I think that it is close to Mena.

[ajayhawkfan]

Check first post for final information.

I'll see the strong at 10:00 at the QT located at I435 and Wornall Road.

[ajayhawkfan]

I don't understand Troy's desire for me to sleep in the same room with him. It is getting creepy.

[Rusty Jug]

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1358568479.021111.jpg (24.61 KiB) Viewed 3455 times

Did he ask you to drink one of these before hand?

[rycomm]

Well, I had a long reply all typed up when the free wifi crashed and ate it all. So, I'll try again.....

Where do those strange wiggly tracks lead?


To a napping VStrom..... Street tires don't do so well in the pudding like road surface.


We did make it to the Rusy Jug five minutes ahead of our scheduled arrival time.


Deep Fried Ribs are pretty awsome, highly recommended, as is the entire Rusty Jug experience.
Thanks go out to Todd.


Troy on an excellent road south of Cassville, I think that's a freight train behind him.


No, it's just Eddie, with the deathray beam activated on the GS.


We made it to Eureka Springs just after dark, and had a good meal at the Local Flavor (its real name).
I think Troy is going to upload the ride soundtrack by Kid Rock later. After he gets Eddie out of his room.



When I first uploaded the pics, they were giant, so I resized them, and now they're kinda small, hopefully you get the idea, because I'm too lazy to re upload and re size them again.