Eureka Springs

[david h]

Eureka Springs, Arkansas, 5th Annual Hillbilly Dual sport Tour, March 30-31 2007

The rides will be similar, but some different roads. Approx. 200-210 miles per day and any dual sport bike with knobs or at least 50-50 tires will be fine .
Location is the Travelers Inn 1 800 643 5566, same as last year. Rate is 42$ for a double bed room.
We will have the use of the meeting room again for breakfast and gatherings.
tell them you are part of the dual sport group (motorcycle scum) and we will be put in the building next to the meeting room.

I realize this is early, but people have been asking so I went ahead and picked a date. Mark you calenders and come join me in Eureka, David Hemphill

[2wheeler]

I'm in!
I love Eureka Springs. It's like Colorado beautiful and twisties
that'll mix up the Tazmanian Devil. (If you think Ark paved roads are
twisty....do this ride and see some county and logging roads in Ark.)
Merry Christmas all.

This will be a fun ride...
Daniel

[Littlegeneral]

David, count me in--I had such a GREAT time last year that I can't wait. Do you plan on gathering on Thursday and riding Friday and Saturday? Also, for all you guys who might want to come to Texas, take a look at this site: http://www.texasadventure.net/index.htm Some of us have already signed up and received our ride guide. The guide by itself is worth the sign-up fee. It ought to be a lot of fun and a good ride.
REL The Little General

[troy]

Also, for all you guys who might want to come to Texas, take a look at this site: http://www.texasadventure.net/index.htm

That looks like a good ride! So many rides, only so much time.

[Gooz]

I'll be there!

[Kware]

Daivd, I'm in. I called and got one room for Fred and I. Hopefully Marion and Duane will join us. We should be in sometime Thursday afternoon, however I am not sure when at this time.

[david h]

Kevin, if we pass on the road are you gonna wave to me after I wave to you? Some Harley riders just don't seem to see me. as big as I am it must be more than not seeing me! (':lol:')


Glad you can come ride with us, David H

[MacWildcat]

I'm planning to attend also. May have at least two other persons interested. Hopefully I can have all my repairs done by then! Still don't have everything fixed from the November trip.

[Kware]

Yeah David, I'll wave at you. I haven't had enough time on the Harley yet hold back the waves. I sure hope our Colorado group all shows up. Fred has committed, just waiting to here from Marion and Duane. Fred is going to visit Duane in Texas sometime in the next few weeks. I can't wait for the day I can winter in Texas.........

[carlrf]

Is anybody riding down from KC that might want someone to ride with?

[MacWildcat]

I have been preparing for the Arkansas ride just a couple weeks away. As I started gathering my stuff together I thought I might pass along some things I learned on past Arkansas trips.
Food and Water On the routes, food and water are far and few between. Be sure to pack some water and snack food. It's a good possibility we may not be near a food stop when lunch time rolls around. It's always good to take snacks for a few energy breaks.
Cool Mornings The last two times we rode down there, the temperatures were chilly in the morning ( 30's). This year with daylight savings time, we may be chilly first thing in the morning. A good pair of cold weather gloves and something to cover your neck really helps. We tend to ride higher speed roads at the beginning of the routes.
Rain Gear It's spring time, we could see some showers. Also double as good wind protection on those cold mornings. There is also a few creek crossings that could be deep.
Protective Gear If you have it, it's probably a good idea to wear it. If you happen to take a fall on these roads, it's not dirt. Usually it's marble size rocks on top of solid rock.
Visor/goggle cloth Expect some dust if its dry. Seems like the goggles need cleaned every time we stop.
ATV trail sections The ATV trails are basically wide single track trails. If you are uncomfortable with mud holes and rock step climbs, you might want to bypass these sections. Once you commit to these sections you are in them to the other end. Three of us went through them last fall on DR650s with semi-knob tires. Personally I wouldn't want to try them on anything heavier. There are good work-arounds so it shouldn't be a problem if you want to bypass a section.

We'll be pretty careful to not lead folks into anything without a word of caution. The goal is to keep it safe and enjoyable for everyone.

[carlrf]

Made reservations for Wed, Thur and Fri nights. Plan to meet some friends at WhiteRock Mountain Saturday evening. Now all I have to do is decide what to pack and what to leave. Never been on a dual sport trip!!! Should I wear or pack the MX boots, pants etc or will the street boots and HT overpants work? Hard to tell what weather I could encounter five days on a bike. Oh crap, getting nervous now! Looking for a partner!????

[MacWildcat]

I would highly encourage whatever protective gear you have (MX boots). I have witnessed a few DS minor get offs with some painful injuries. Not alot of room for error if you miss a curve/corner on these fireroads.

[troy]

Oh crap, getting nervous now!

Not to worry, David only loses on average 1.7 riders each year. Your odds of survival are pretty good.


When it comes to what clothes and gear I'm going to wear for a long weekend ride adventure, I don't worry much about it until a couple days before the trip. Then I check the weather forecast for the area, which by that time, should be relatively accurate, and pack accordingly. Of course, this means you need to already own all the gear you'd possibly need whether the weather will be hot, cold, or wet. You of course would not want to wait until 2 days before then rush out trying to buy the gear you need.

My Arkansas spring riding experience tells me it can be a tad chilly in the mornings, but I'd rather be cold for an hour or two then enjoy the rest of the day as opposed to being warm for the first 2 hours then overheated the rest of the day. So I tend to ride with a lighter jacket. HOWEVER, a lighter jacket usually means less protection, so your protective gear becomes more important.

I know I personally don't really like having all that gear on, and for a "backroads" ride, it sometimes seems silly to be geared up like a motocrosser. However, one spill, and you're glad that gear is on. So even on backroads rides, you may see me in motocross boots and a chest-protector in addition to the helmet and gloves....and knee pads/braces.

While at http://www.motorcyclecloseouts.com last night, I noticed on the racks a chest protector that was a lot slimmer than your standard motocross-style protector. I thought it would be great for wearing under your jersey/shirt/jacket for dualsport riding. I wear a 661 Pressure Suit, but they are a bit pricey at $225.00.

As for stuff to pack, here is a not complete list of some things experience has taught me:

• Basic tools. At least enough to remove and tighten screws, the common bolts, and enough to remove both your front and rear wheels.

• Zipties. These are great for reconnecting the fairings you rip off and lose the screws and LOTS of other purposes. A handful take up very little space and weight next to nothing.

• A small spool of safety wire. This has saved our butts on the trail many times.

• Tubes. This is something you really should have with you on a trips into the woods. Carry both front and rear tube---or just carry a front tube. You can use a front tube (21") in both your front and rear tire. Is it recommended to use a 21" tube in your 17" KLR rear tire? No, but it works when you have no choice---and works just fine actually. I like to use the buddy system--have a buddy carry a front tube and you carry a rear tube. Make sure at least one of you carries tire irons! Somebody will need an air compressor, pump, or CO2. Again, not everybody on the ride needs to carry all this stuff, so if you can team up with people who do carry some of this stuff---it's less for everybody to carry. I see Kware (Kevin) is on this ride. He actually has an air compressor on his XR650. He's saved my butt once before with that compressor! Thanks, Kev!

Oh, and I'll mention this since it's your first big dualsport ride. I've seen "newbies" show up with either no water or a bottle in their pack. You'll want a LOT more water than that. Most of the guys will have a camelback style bladder with water. It's nice to be able to hydrate without having to stop. Pack some energy bars or trail mix or something to snack on between meals.

And know that you will have a great time! The guys you are going to be riding with are "salt of the earth". They'll not make any rider feel left out. I feel like an old pro now, but to think just a little over 1.5 years ago, I was new on the dualsport scene myself. Thanks to the guys I've met here, I have several friends and some wonderful dualsport adventure memories.

[carlrf]

Thanks for the feedback. I have all the stuff mentioned on my bike already, except the water, even the aircompressor and tire irons. I do worry about being overdressed if it warms up. Should be interesting!

[david h]

Troy is a big worry wart--------

Most of us ride with cut off jeans, sandals , and a tee shirt. it's important to have sleeves on the t shirt so you can roll them up to hold you smokes. By doing this you are well protected at the shoulders. Something else important is a back pack to hold at least a six pack. In case of a high speed get off the beer will protect you, and heck if you happen to get hurt the beer will make you feel better.

Now if you believe what I just wrote, I have some ocean front property over here in Lawrence for sale.

ATGATT-- all the gear all the time

David h

[MacWildcat]

If you take a look at the Eureka Springs ride thread, I wrote a small novel on what you could expect on this ride and what to pack. In our small groups we're usually so over-geared that can can rig some sort of repair if someone breaks down.
If we can't get you going, we'll leave a bottle of water and one bullet. If we're not back in a month, you know what you have to do!

We a pretty good bunch about helping each other out as much as we can. See you in E.S.

[carlrf]

[quote="MacWildcat"]If we can't get you going, we'll leave a bottle of water and one bullet. If we're not back in a month, you know what you have to do!

Could we arrange two bottles of water? I am a thirsty kind of guy. I would be out of vacation by then!

[david h]

The ride was a good one! just a few minor aches and pains from get offs and the over working of muscles for a few of us. Its very hard to write a ride report for this ride cause their were so many different groups riding different routes. Friday we all rode the same route or at least we were supposed to. Due to one reason or another the groups ended up riding very different routes after the first 50 or so miles. I think almost everyone had a great day. 60 degrees for the start and 78 for the high, no rain. Very little dust compared to what we usually get. Friday night it rained some so the roads got a little slick in a few spots. 2 routes were given out so people could choose the hero or easy route. 55 degrees for the start, and 68 for the high. 80 percent chance was the weather mans guess, but we only got a few sprinkles. No dust this day.

This was the 5th. Annual Hill Billy dualsport ride and 69 riders signed waivers to ride. Among those were 5 or 6 women riders. there were also 5 or 6 women who came as spectators and shoppers and were not counted in the 69, but added lots to the overall feel of the event.

This ride started with 2 riders the first year , 5 the second, 15 the third, 37 last year. Who knows what to expect next year? Next years ride will be on March 27th. 57 rooms have been reserved and it is first come first serve. On Friday night we had all but 2 rooms out of 57 booked. The motel is very happy Smile as you would expect, and said the rates for rooms will be the same next year as this year ( 47.45$ for a 2 bed room, including tax.) if they are not full up by about March 20th the motel will open it up to the public. so if you snooze you lose. I would much rather be next to motorcycle scum than Wink the general public !

I would also like to print a retraction about the Oark General store that I posted. I was told by a friend that they had no way to cook except an electric skillet, and the natural gas line was capped off. That was all true, but what he didn't know was they were just starting a 16,000 $ kitchen remodel. The remodel is now done and the store looks great. The Byrds of Byrds Adventures have recently purchased it and are trying to make it a better place. Our Ride had problems with getting gasoline there in the past, but Mrs. Byrd has said that won't happen again. http://www.byrdsadventurecenter.com/ This is a link to their services. They have lots to offer including a cabin that holds at least 10 people at about 20$-24/ night/ person, located on the Mulberry river
by Turners Bend on 23 highway. This cabin is located right in the middle of motorcycle heaven!

I look forward to reports coming in from some of the riders to get there take, David H

[MacWildcat]

What a great time! Great weather, great road(?) conditions, and great ride partners. I lead a group both days, 8 on day one, 5 on day two.
On day one I decided to lead a group in a reverse route direction to alleviate some of the potential route congestion. 60 or so riders on the same route can be a little like rush hour traffic. Not to worry, after a few miles into the ride, some folks found out they were creating new routes. Attempting to follow a GPS route in Arkansas definitely tests your GPS prowess. Riding even though I had been along to pre-ride the route, riding the route in reverse seemed like a totally different ride. We had one rider go down that ended up in a visit to the local med. clinic in Jasper. Luckily it wasn't as serious as it first appeared. To play it safe, the roughed up rider and his ride pal took pavement back to Eureka Springs. We rode some good sections that had us holding on tight in more than one sense (can you say pucker factor?). Mike from Iowa was riding a Triumph Tiger, he did a great job with that big bike with street tires. 6:30 pm found us 1 1/2 hours away from Eureka, so we opted to ride to the King's river bluff and catch pavement back to Eureka. Even with the abbreviated route we covered 212 miles on Friday. Got in at 7:15 pm - 11 hour day. Our group included riders from Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Iowa, Illinois, and Idaho!

Day two, our group we headed to the White Rock Mountain area. More comedy along the entire route with groups puzzling the GPS coordinates. With the rain Friday night, the roads had water holes and muddy sections, even with the wet conditions we could maintain a 45 mph pace on good sections. I had a flat at White Rock, quickly fixed as a group effort Mike lost a front fender, not too swift with water holes and mud. I even heard someone tried to submarine across a river. To make up time, we skipped the 1st ATV section and headed to the 2nd section. Great section with one water hole that resembled a small pond. We made our way to Catalpa, great food and atmosphere. We were the last group through Catalpa, so we hot-footed it back toward Eureka Springs (hope the speed didn't cause any soiled shorts). After a fuel stop in Huntsville, we grabbed pavement back home. Another good day of riding with beautiful scenery.
I would be game for a casual ride sometime this fall. If anyone is interested, we can keep in touch through this website. Thanks David for all the prep work.