I guess I'll take advantage of the downtime created by the downpour rain we're getting right now and use the time to do my Independence Day Weekend Ride report.
Unfortunately, I missed out on Troy's route from KC to Joplin since I live down here in Arkansas and was patiently awaiting their arrival to get started riding. It's a tough deal, but someone has to do it!
I threw together a little route on Thursday night using ridewithgps.com that would allow me to ride a few fun roads between my house in Holiday Island and the One Fourteen Coffee Shop in Neosho, MO. It actually turned out to use several of the same roads that Troy was using for his Friday route as well as his return route Sunday. I guess great minds think alike.
I found this cool bluff along the way:
I guess I need to spend some time exploring north of my house since I typically go south into the Ozark Mountains. I think there are probably a lot of cool things like this bluff up in rural MO that I have been missing out on. After taking the pictures of the bluff, I realized that I was running behind schedule, so I picked up the pace so Troy and Carl wouldn't have to wait too long for me at the coffee shop.
Once I got there, we rolled out and topped off our gas tanks and headed out to run Troy's track that would eventually lead us to Roaring River State Park and then on to Eureka Springs. As Troy and Carl have already pointed out, the sharp rocks north of RRSP proved to be too much for the front tire of Troys F800, so we had a little delay:
Insert obligatory flat tire picture here:
Luckily, Troy runs TKC 80's on his bike, so the flexible sidewall and soft tread portion makes roadside repairs a little easier. Unfortunately, this particular tube replacement had to be done twice since the first tube was mysteriously pinched during the process.
After that, we finished up riding the road south into the park and directly into the parking lot of the fish hatchery. Since it was a holiday weekend, it was pretty packed but we were able to find some parking for our bikes. I didn't take any pictures at the park since it is practically in my back yard
, but Troy and Carl's pictures give you a pretty good idea of what we saw.
When we were done checking out the hatching pools, spring, and monster rainbow trout, we decided to deviate from Troy's original track and I'd take them on Butler Hollow Road, which is a fun ride that lets out a few miles from my house. Another highlight of going this way is that I could show the guys the Beaver Bridge, which is a must see attraction if you're in the area. It is 4.2 miles from the bridge to my house, so I guess I've never thought to take any pictures of it. I realized this while Troy and Carl were snapping away with their cameras, so I decided to get a few pictures myself.
From Beaver, we cruised over to my house and I gave Troy and Carl the tour. We hung out on the deck and discussed our plans for Saturday's ride and then they guys headed into Eureka Springs to go to their hotel room.
Saturday morning, Alissa and I headed to Arkansas Adventure Rider to meet up with Troy, Carl, James, and Scott. From there we embarked on our journey to run Troy's Jasper loop.
The creeks and rivers were still running pretty good:
From there we headed over to Lover's Leap to check out the view:
Onward to Osage, AR and the Pott'ry barn. Here's a good picture of the manager:
I've ridden/driven by there dozens of times, but had never stopped in. The owner was a super nice guy and he has some pretty cool stuff in there. I told him I'd come back someday when I could buy something and get it home without it breaking, so I guess I'll be returning there one of these days.
From there, we made our way over to Compton, AR to a fun road that leads down into the Erbie Trails area. Troy decided we were making too good of time, so he decided to get another flat.
After Troy got the tube replaced, we headed onward only to find a medium sized tree in the way. Luckily its pretty easy to get motorcycles around this sort of thing, especially since James had a rope saw.
That road led us down into the Erbie trail area, where the Buffalo River and many of it's tributaries run. This particular crossing is usually passable, but there was no way we were attempting it today. While it is not too bad, getting around it only rewards you with another one that is twice as long and deep!
We ended up crossing the same creep upstream and it was much more passable: (click for video)
I didn't take any more pictures after that, but we made it into Jasper for a good lunch at the Ozark Cafe and then rode the rest of Troy's loop back into Eureka Springs. All in all, it was a great day with some great riding. We need to do it again soon!
