April 3-6, 2008: April Fool's Ride in Arkansas!

[Stu]

Troy,

I'm not any kind of guru but I am opinionated & I'd love to give you my free opinion about your fab bike.

Hank,

My back went to hell as well so I will supply the pain meds (or craft beer, your choice) for us. And, I had a financial squeeze that screwed my mind up. However, I am going to take the All American approach and just Defer Payments!!

See Ya Both!

Stu

[troy]

After looking at the forecast and realizing there is a possibility we could get rained on a little, I have decided to cancel the trip. I don't want to get my new Husky muddy. I'll be sending refund checks soon.



Just kidding of course. RIDE ON!

The lodging is VERY FULL. Some last minute riders have come out of the woodwork. This weekend, I will remove the names from the list that have not paid in order to make room for people who are chomping at the bit. Right now, this is:

NOT PAID:
---------------------------------------------------------------
Daryl (Oklahoma crew) (no word)
Josh (Daryl's son, Oklahoma crew) (no word)
Russell (Oklahoma crew) (no word)
Allen Wright (Check is on the way)
Mike Bishop (Not 100% committed yet)

If you know Daryl & Josh, or Russell, please let them know they will lose their spot if they don't pay or communicate something to me. If they don't plan to attend, it would help me to know that their spots are open.

[troy]

Those of you who are jumping in with payment at the very end need to understand and be OK with the fact that for $170, you may be sleeping on a couch, or your own air-mattress or cot. We now have 35 people wanting beds, and we may only have 32 beds plus some couches. The lodge charges me the same per head regardless of whether you are on a couch or have a queen bed in a private room.

Early committers get the first pick of the lodging--only fair way I can think to do this. So if you are last to pay but first to arrive, don't bother picking the fanciest bedroom--you'll be kicked to the couch.

Personally, I am now considering tent or RV camping on the grounds to ease the pressure a bit.

At this point PLEASE stop inviting your buddies and your buddies' buddies!

IMPORTANT
By this time, hopefully most of you have worked out a plan for getting to the lodge and who'll you'll be carpooling with. It would help me plan the lodging a bit if you'd reply to let me know with whom and when you will be arriving. Also, when do you plan to leave?

With 35 people and a lot of us being riding buddies, there is no way we'll all be together as far as lodging goes, but I want to try to keep people together that really want to be...for example, we have a couple father & son duos coming. I suspect they'd like to be in the same lodging. (Maybe not!) We have a husband & wife coming, I suspect they'd like to share a room. I am bringing a couple friends who are new to the group and even new to off-road trail riding. I'd like to hang with them if I can.

Remember, all the important information regarding the lodging, routes, etc can be found in the first post. If you do not see your name on that list, it means we have not made room for you.

This trip is the most fun I have on a motorcycle all year! Ride with you very soon!

[devro]

This trip is the most fun I have on a motorcycle all year! Ride with you very soon!

Troy 'ol boy,
If you have to go through this much work to have the most fun on a motorcyle in a year you really need to re-assess you priorities!

But I love ya for what you have done for this ride!

I'm paid up, I'm camping: don't worry about me.

devro

[troy]

Thanks, Devro. You camping on site at the lodge or elsewhere? I and some others are considering camping at the lodge property--they have nightly camping fees and RV hookups. We have more people than beds, so looking for ways to alleviate the pressure a little.

[rxcrider]

NOT PAID:
---------------------------------------------------------------
Daryl (Oklahoma crew) (no word)
Josh (Daryl's son, Oklahoma crew) (no word)
Russell (Oklahoma crew) (no word)
Allen Wright (Check is on the way)
Mike Bishop (Not 100% committed yet)

If you know Daryl & Josh, or Russell, please let them know they will lose their spot if they don't pay or communicate something to me. If they don't plan to attend, it would help me to know that their spots are open.

Troy, Randy posted this a little while back:
"Russell & Daryl cant come 'til Satuday morning because of school responsibilities on Friday. They are gonna stay somewhere else, I guess."

Josh goes with them by default so it is only the rhyming couple (Randy and Sandy) showing up for the whole event and staying in your posh palace from the original group of 5.

[troy]

Well Troy, it looks like Sandy and I are the only ones coming for the whole weekend. Russell & Daryl cant come 'til Satuday morning because of school responsibilities on Friday. They are gonna stay somewhere else, I guess. So there will be only 2 of the original 5 staying at the lodge, I hope that this does'nt create any problems for you. It was unexpected by me for sure.

See ya'll in a few weeks, Randy.

(Thanks for pointing this out to me, rxcrider.)
This is not a problem, and although unfortunate for them to miss 2 great days, it helps alleviate our lack of beds. So then they are out for at least one of the catered meals...did they expect to be a part of Saturday's meal? I'm going to assume not and that they will not be paying anything..this is not a problem. Thanks.

[twotaildog]

Hello, my name is Kevin Naser, and if it's OK I would like to go riding with you all. I'm from Omaha, NE. The only name I recognize for sure on your list is Terry T., whom I ridden with many times. I've been to a couple of RL Lemke's Fall Color Tours, so it's possible I may have met some of the rest of you there, but I have a lousy memory for names so please forgive me if I should recognize someone's name and I don't. Troy, I just paypal'd you the $25 from twotaildog@yahoo.com. I reserved an RV spot for my camper at the Mulberry Mtn Lodge campground. I'll probably drive down on Monday and just hang out for a couple of days. If any of you notice a black toy hauler trailer with Clifford the big red Dodge truck parked next to it, please knock on the door, I'm pretty sure there'll be beer in the fridge. I'll be bringing my beat up old KTM's, a 1999 300exc for the trail rides and a 2001 640 Adventure for back-up.

I'm looking forward to riding with you all.

Kevin

[devro]

Troy,

Thanks, Devro. You camping on site at the lodge or elsewhere? I and some others are considering camping at the lodge property--they have nightly camping fees and RV hookups. We have more people than beds, so looking for ways to alleviate the pressure a little.

Mulberry was suposed to send me a map of the camp cround/RV hookup sites so I could reserve a few spotes for a few of us, but they didn't. I'm not home much and my window of getting the map and making reservations was small.
So, I'll be camping and if Mulberry does not have a spot for me I know of about 50 other spots in the area I can set up my pop-up and generater.

My hope is to be camping at Mulberry with a hook-up but I guess I'll not know for sure until I get there Thursday.

Don't worry about me, Jeff Gaston, Chris White and David Barclay. We'll be able to take care of ourselves.

Thanks for your concerns, pray for dry weather and ride long!,
devro

[troy]

Hello, my name is Kevin Naser, and if it's OK I would like to go riding with you all. I'm from Omaha, NE. The only name I recognize for sure on your list is Terry T., whom I ridden with many times. I've been to a couple of RL Lemke's Fall Color Tours, so it's possible I may have met some of the rest of you there, but I have a lousy memory for names so please forgive me if I should recognize someone's name and I don't. Troy, I just paypal'd you the $25 from twotaildog@yahoo.com. I reserved an RV spot for my camper at the Mulberry Mtn Lodge campground. I'll probably drive down on Monday and just hang out for a couple of days. If any of you notice a black toy hauler trailer with Clifford the big red Dodge truck parked next to it, please knock on the door, I'm pretty sure there'll be beer in the fridge. I'll be bringing my beat up old KTM's, a 1999 300exc for the trail rides and a 2001 640 Adventure for back-up.

I'm looking forward to riding with you all.

Kevin

Kevin, I may not be able to get you in on the catered meals--we put our headcount in 3 days ago, and have changed that number 3 times now. We have to simply cut it off at some point. I'm waiting to hear back if we can get you in on the Fri & Sat evening meals. I hope you'll come and ride either way. Sounds like you get to spend the entire week down there ya lucky bastage. Look forward to meeting you.

Btw, Omaha is not too far North, if you want to ride some trails this Sat, come down to Perry Lake's ORV area at 2PM this Sat. Some of us will be there taming the trails. Perry Lake is between Topeka and Lawrence, KS to the North.

[devro]

Kevin,
I'd split a BBQ sandwich with any friend of Terry's.

devro

[troy]

Kevin, I may not be able to get you in on the catered meals...

Word is you are in for the food.

[chadman]

My crew was asking about lunch. Will these rides take us past a food stops or should we pack our own lunch? Chad

[troy]

My crew was asking about lunch. Will these rides take us past a food stops or should we pack our own lunch? Chad

Ha! Yes and Yes. Yes, we "plan" to have a lunch stop on both Friday & Saturday. However, this is definitely an adventure, and one break down or one river too deep to cross that is 20 miles down a trail can mean a really late lunch or even cutting the route short to get home before dark and completely missing lunch. These things are not likely, but can happen. So I pack at least 2 snack bars and usually a peanut-butter & honey bagel sandwich--just in case. I don't mind throwing away the bagel sandwich if I don't need it.

[devro]

Or bring a small caliber gun or fishing pole along with quick-start charcoal and prepare your lunch on the trail!

No guarantees that we even get back to camp before dark, much less a lunch stop. Lunch stops are nice but not too important to me, they take up too much riding time.

Please do bring the desire to ride, water, a well prepped bike, tools, all-weather gear and any parts you think you may require.
I will also have in my pack a 2 inch thick P-B-J sandwich. I never thought of throwing it away if I didn't eat it Troy, what a novel idea! I think I'll get out my back-pack tomorrow and clean some of those old ones out.

devro

[Nobiman]

We're getting close now! I got the final things done on the KLX today and am gonna do the mighty 525 tomorrow. Troy, to answer your question about arrival times, we'll be rolling in early AM (9ish) on Friday morning if all goes as planned. The rest of the crew is anybodys guess, I cant seem to get a straight answer from 'em this time around. It makes no difference anyway since they are not staying or eating at the lodge with us.

Hopefully the rains will take a break for the rest of the week, the water crossings were bad enough last time with only average rain. I suppose I could throw in the 10 paddle sand tire from my KX 500 just in case, that way I could attempt to just wheelie across the water whilst keeping the 5-2-5 wound out tight!

Are we there yet?

Randy.

[MoRidin]

I just ordered a new tank for the 450. I was unsure of my range and I am leaving for Moab the week after Arkansas and I know that my 60-70 mile range was going to be a problem there. Rocky Mountain had great prices on Clarke tanks, so it seemed like a no brainer.

So...the magic brown truck should be here Tuesday...

Gear and such is alreayd packed up. I cannot wait for this ride!

[twotaildog]

Word is you are in for the food.

Excellent. Thanks for getting me in Troy. Sorry I was late to jump in. I guess I have trouble with commitments. Thanks for the Kansas ride offer too, I won't be able to make it since I'm taking all next week off, but please keep me in mind for future rides. I'm really looking forward to getting away from work next week and doing some riding. A man needs to spend a little time in the woods once in a while just to keep his sanity, you know what I mean?

Kevin
http://www.twotaildog.com

[KC]

I'm really looking forward to getting away from work next week and doing some riding. A man needs to spend a little time in the woods once in a while just to keep his sanity, you know what I mean?

Dude, I know EXACTLY what you mean! I had to play "hookie" last Friday and take my DRZ out into the country to clear my mind and regain my composure. I was ready to quit the I.U.E.C. (International Union of Elevator Constructors) after 15 years of dedication. I guess I'm glad I didn't quit...not many good paying jobs out there for a blue-collar man.

For most of us, three more days of work 'til we ride!
To quote Nobiman:
"Are we there yet?"

[chadman]

Ok, good news, bad news.


Good news:
I bought a new 300 XCW(E) today

Bad News:
I won't have it ready to ride on this trip I am bringing the 525 on this trip for one last ride before I sell it. If you know anyone looking for a 2005 525 EXC you can check it out on this ride.

Chad