May 2-4: TAR Spring Ride

[allkidd]

May 2-4, 2014

Update April 27, 2014

It took several phone calls but Mulberry Lodge has said we can stay in the lodge Thursday night for $40 per person. ($44.80 with tax). Friday and Saturday night will then be $60 each night, includes tax, for those with a bed, (the first 10), and $50 per night including tax for those on a sofa/floor.

Rather than me trying to collect from everybody, Mulberry has asked everybody to check in and pay individually. To keep it as simple as possible, they will charge $44.80 for anybody staying Thursday night and then $60 for the first 10 to check in for Friday and Saturday. Any above 10 will pay $50 each for Friday and Saturday.

On Thursday, they will be in their office until 6:00. My guess is that most will arrive after that time in which they will be there at 8:30 Friday morning. For any arriving later, they will be in the office Friday until 7:00.

For those who want to follow my son and myself, we will be leaving Mulberry at 10:00 AM friday morning. Should be a great ride for small bikes with a combination of easy single track, (we've eliminated the more difficult ST) and remote forest roads/trails. We've tried to minimize pavement and Mill Creek Riding area.

Weather looks fantastic as there is a 0% chance of rain Thursday through Saturday and only 30% chance on Sunday! Temps in 60's and 70's with lows in the 40's.

I think that we've got everything covered but if anybody thinks of anything else let me know. You might let me know if you plan on getting there Thursday evening just so we have a rough headcount.

I'm looking forward to seeing everybody again and meeting the new ones!

NW Arkansas Ride!
Off-road, dualsport, road, whatever. While primarily an off-road ride event, folks can ride what they want. Some groups may go for a dualsport ride on forest roads while others hit the gnarly trails.

Lodging is in the BEAUTIFUL, HUGE Mulberry Mountain Lodge.

NO BEDS LEFT!, but couches and tons of floor space for air mattreses.

(B)ed, (F)loor, (N)ot in lodge Cnt | Rider | Handle | Lodge | Fri BBQ Dinner --------------------------+-------------------+-------+---------------- 1 | Randy Kidd | allkidd | B | PAID 2 | Kramer Kidd | | B | PAID 3 | Scott Baumgartner | Scott_B | B | PAID 4 | James Baumgartner | jasbaum | B | PAID 5 | Steve Tyner | bonanzasteve | B | PAID 6 | Troy Wolf | troy | B | PAID 7 | Ryan | rycomm | B | YES 8 | Mike Hix | MrHix | B | YES 9 | Steve Shearer | Bronco | B | YES 10 | Chad Hucko | | B | YES 11 | & Colleen | | (B) | YES 12 | Mike A. | Safiri | B | YES 13 | Mike Thomas | HanesAnizer | F | PAID These folks have indicated they are not staying in the lodge: 14 | Kendall Smith | kendall_smith | N | YES 15 | & Alissa | | N | YES 16 | Bob Morgan | Bob Morgan | N | YES 17 | Phil Denk | phil denk | N | YES 18 | Andy | Creekside | N | YES 19 | Rick Hofmann | rick | N | YES 20 | & Kim | | N | YES

We were in the facility this weekend and it is huge! There are 11 beds, several big sofas and plenty of floor space. The total price for 10 for both nights is $1,200. ($120 each which includes tax and facility charge) Their fee for additional guests is approximately $90. We figured the fairest way to divide this is that those on a bed pay the $120 and those on the floor or sofa pay $90.

6:30 FRIDAY NIGHT BBQ DINNER in the lodge
$15/head gets you ribs, pulled pork, smoked chicken salad (out of this world), beans, and pie or cheesecake. BBQ provided by Backwoods BBQ just outside of St. Paul, AR.

You can pay me in cash at the dinner, or avoid that hassle by paying ahead of time using your PayPal account, credit card, or bank account:

Pay $15 for Fri Night BBQ Dinner

Sounds like we will have a mix of big bikes and small. For the big there are a lot of routes posted in adv ride that can be used to plan a nice route. Assuming the big bike group has a GPS, there are forest roads in every direction that are great for the big bikes.

For the smaller bikes, Kramer has agreed to lead us in a fun track on Friday. It has every type of trail except pavement....should be a great ride.

For Saturday small bikes, Troy has agreed to come up with a fun full day track.

Sunday is wide open but one possibility would be to take back trails to Oark for lunch.

We have booked the luxurious, 5,000 sf Mulberry Mountain Lodge! The lodge has beds for 12 plus a couple couches plus massive amounts of floor space. Cost to stay in the lodge will run around $110 to $120 per person for 2 nights lodging (Fri & Sat nights).

In addition to the huge lodge, they have other cabins, but they will book up fast. April is already 100% full. They have a very nice campground, too, with shower house and RV hookups. (Kendall & Alissa!)

Many of us have been to the Mulberry Mountain Lodge. It is right in the middle of any kind of riding that you like. The lodge is located right on the Pig Tail Trail (Hwy 23). Amazing pavement, easy to rough gravel forest roads, ATV/4WD type trails, and single track are all available. In 3 days of riding we shouldn't have to ride on the same trails twice.

Note this is the same weekend our MoKan brothers plan to camp at Mulberry for their spring trail ride. They will be mostly ATV riders I believe. Many of our MoKan brethren will join us for the Fri BBQ dinner!

[bonanzasteve]

I will do a cabin as well.

[Rusty Jug]

I'm checking dates on this ride, love the mulberry place. Haven't rode the bike for 7 weeks, I'm nervous I might forget!

[Scott_B]

Couldn't make the Fall '13 trip, so I'm doing everything I can to make this work. I'd be interested in sharing a cabin.

[troy]

If we get 10+ folks, we should rent their luxury "Mulberry Mountain Lodge". It is awesome. It actually sleeps 13 (more with couples). Also, if we have 10+, I can probably have Backwoods BBQ cater a dinner for us. At 10, it's about $55/night/person and gets cheaper with more people.

I've stayed in the Lodge a couple of times and it's very nice. It has multiple bathrooms and showers plus laundry facilities. The great room is huge with a great fireplace. The glassed-in porch makes for some nice mornings sipping coffee. Not exactly "roughing it".

Btw, the Mokan Riders (mostly ATVs I think) plan to do a Mulberry Mtn trip the weekend after us....er same weekend now that we moved to May 2-4.

[Rick]

Looking forward to our move to Arkansas. I hope to do the WUDI and/or the TARKC rides.

[allkidd]

Mulberry informed me that a big wedding has booked all the cabins the weekend of April 25. Therefore, I've switched to the next weekend, May 2-4. They told me everything is full in April so May will probably fill up fast.

http://rideforum.net/viewtopic.php?p=15077#p15077

[Scott_B]

May 2-4 works for me as well. I like the idea of the Lodge if we can get 10 commitments. Otherwise, any group cabin will work.

[allkidd]

Anticiapting that there are plenty of us who would like to stay in the luxurious lodge, I went ahead and booked it for May 2-4. The lodge is 5000 square feet with 8 bedrooms and 12 separate beds.

http://mulberrymountainlodge.com/LodgingLodge.htm

With 10 of us, the cost with tax is about $60/night per person. I'm starting a list of committments to the lodge so let me know if you want to be added to the list.

[kendall_smith]

Alissa and I are tentatively planning on being there, but will be staying in our house-on-wheels. Did you get the feeling from the people at Mulberry that the RV spots will be booked up way in advance?

If so, we might want to go ahead and reserve a spot soon.

[kendall_smith]

Looking forward to our move to Arkansas. I hope to do the WUDI and/or the TARKC rides.

Ah, the dream of every Midwest motorcyclist- moving to Arkansas. Ha! That's what my wife and I would be doing if we weren't going full time RV'ing.

What part of Arkansas are you moving to?

[troy]

Kendall, REALLY hope you 2 make it in your home on wheels! The campground is very nice, and I would not expect them to run out of RV spots, BUT, call them to make sure and reserve if necessary. (479) 667-1919

Rick, (& Kim), hope you "locals" make it UP for the ride, too!

I took the liberty of updating the first post with details as Randy is stepping onto a cruise ship.

[Bob Morgan]

Looking forward to our move to Arkansas.

.......... I'm still icing my shoulder from moving you to Topeka! Dang Gypsies.

[Rick]

Kendall, We are looking at houses in the Benton area (midway between Little Rock and Hot Springs).

Bob, Considering I lived 57 years within 10 miles of my birthplace, I don't think 2 moves in one year is excessive. Hope your shoulder heals up.

Rick

[kendall_smith]

Kendall, REALLY hope you 2 make it in your home on wheels! The campground is very nice, and I would not expect them to run out of RV spots, BUT, call them to make sure and reserve if necessary. (479) 667-1919

We're planning on it. We should be ready to start heading north by May, unless this horrible cold lingers around until then! I'll give them a call soon to reserve a spot. It will be nice to camp in Mulberry with the new rig- we love that campground.

Kendall, We are looking at houses in the Benton area (midway between Little Rock and Hot Springs).

Sounds like a good plan. I think we may ultimately end up in NW Arkansas when or if we decide to stop living on the road. We've always loved that area.

[Bob Morgan]

Kendall, We are looking at houses in the Benton area (midway between Little Rock and Hot Springs).

Bob, Considering I lived 57 years within 10 miles of my birthplace, I don't think 2 moves in one year is excessive. Hope your shoulder heals up.

Rick

Shoulder never hurt I'm just jealous, I dream of greener pastures on a regular basis. Maybe I really will come and visit now!

[Savage]

Looking forward to our move to Arkansas. I hope to do the WUDI and/or the TARKC rides.

Ah, the dream of every Midwest motorcyclist- moving to Arkansas. Ha! That's what my wife and I would be doing if we weren't going full time RV'ing.

What part of Arkansas are you moving to?

Where's the thread that talks about this lifestyle move? I'm intrigued.

[MoRidin]

Thanks guys for putting this together! I will give my wife three days right of refusal, but for now, it is on the family calendar.

Looking forward to seeing the same smiling faces ready for more Arkansas smooth, well-maintained trails suitable for any dual sport motorcycle...

[HanesAnizer]

As of right now, I'm in!

[troy]

When posting "IN" please also indicate if you want a bed in the lodge or plan to manage your own lodging. They have several smaller cabin options but none of them will save you money. You could save money by camping in the excellent campground, though.