Ozark Report

[Vance]

Well, here I am live and "on assignment" in Harrison, AR. Rode up yesterday with a grand total of 13 miles on the Interstate. That meant cutting across AL, MS and AR on some really interesting roads. A total of 560 some odd miles and I was tired upon arrival...I admit it.

I was joined this morning by my friends from St. Louis and we got our "business call" out of the way (including a free lunch) by 1:30. Under heavy clouds and threatening storms we set of on a 150 mile loop full expecting to get wet before our return. As we gained and lost altitude we could see BIG black clouds off to the west but we forged on. It was cool and quite windy and while we expected to get wet any minute..it stayed dry. Very curvy roads and very little traffic afforded a sporting run. We only met one trooper and I think he was checking out his new Charge in the curves going the opposite direction so there were no problems. Got ourselves all the way back to the motel in Harrison..high and dry...lucky..very lucky!

Well, we are expecting rain and storms tonight that should clear by noon and we have several routes planned for Friday afternoon and Saturday.

I will head to St. Louis on Sunday for another meeting and head home on Tuesday. If we get into some good stuff, I'll post some pictures.

Dat's it for now!

[Norwood]

From St. Louis back home, if you got time, a good ride is the Land between the Lakes in Kentucky/Tennessee.. Ft. Donnelson National Park on the South end is good stop over, ride thru the park, several bald eagles to be seen nesting and flying..

Have a good ride...

[R90srider]

You are in near motorcycle heaven Vance. Hope you have the chance to ride AR 74 east out of Jasper to Bass then backtrack to AR 123, then south to Hagarville. A great place for lunch in Jasper is the Ozark Cafe. This run is the best of the best.

[Vance]

Got in about 250 miles of "twisties" today and had a blast. Weather moved through last night with vengance but cleared today leaving open blue skies to ride under. Rode north up AR 7 and acroos Bull Shoals Lake on the ferry into MO. West on US 160 which turned out to be FANTASTIC! Went into Branson for lunch and continued west then south back to Harrison. It was still only 4 so we headed out to run AR 74 however we went west out of Jasper and over to 43 at the Buffalo River for a look at the elk herd in Boxley Valley!
Back up 43 for a ride across the ridge with beautiful vistas off either side and back down into Harrison.
You are right Bob..a great day today in what IS nearly m/cycle heaven! And the good news is ....we got all day tomorrow!
Planning to go east tomorrow and ride Push Mountain...yeee haaaw!

[dixieoutlaw]

Vance,
Quit having so much fun and get back here and get serious about chasing Martin. He is smoking all of us put together.

Gary

[Vance]

Vance,
Quit having so much fun and get back here and get serious about chasing Martin. He is smoking all of us put together.

Gary

Shooooot...I done give up! Martin is da man! Like you said last year..I can buy a jacket cheaper than earning tickets! Just kidding...when I get done playing you guys better look out!

[Vance]

Got in late Monday night from the Ozark Getaway. We had a great time and did not even get wet! Bob, I took your advice and now I can say I have visited Bass, AR...and I think that puts us in a pretty small crowd! I wanted to continue when the tarmack ran out but my friends on the Harley's were just not up to it! I think that may have been about 15 miles of some really good GS stuff!
All in all about 1800 miles for the entire trip and some of the best roads anywhere and some really good eats at the Ozark Cafe in Jasper!
Here are the pics of me and my buds! http://picasaweb.google.com/vanmar27/NWARRideMay08

[R90srider]

Hey Puddin.

You were indeed in some of the best motorcycling country there is in the U S. Glad you went to Jasper and Hwy 74 east to Bass. The mountain ridge road into Bass is one of my favorite rides. Hopefully, you had time to go south on 123. About one mile south of the 74/123 intersection reminds me of riding in the Alps with great pavement and incredible switchbacks and scenery. The Ozark Café is one of my favorite diners anywhere.

Did you run your Harley buddy out of gas ? From the photos it looks like the Harley guys may have been dragging metal.

[Vance]

Did you run your Harley buddy out of gas ? From the photos it looks like the Harley guys may have been dragging metal.

Oh yeah, that V-Rod is an eye catcher but it only has about 100 mile range. At that point we were just North of Ludwig on 21 and had run 120 something miles. The gas pump in the back ground was at a store that was closed. The only "live" person was a woman across the street where he bummed about a half gallon of gas. Next station was at Deer, AR....21 miles away! Thankfully we made it!

And oh yeah drag metal they did! We actually ran that 123 south of Mt. Judea twice! What a great ride!!!

[R90srider]

A bike that has only 120 mile range before running out of fuel has to tell you something. Like there is no place in the country where you have to ride more than 100 miles to find a bar with a fuel station close by.

[Vance]

And right you are! In fact once back in St. Louis we rode out to Defiance, MO on Sunday afternoon as the weather was spectacular! Now I don't know if you have ever been there or not but MO 94 makes an "S" turn through this little village and the traffic slows down to about 10mph to get through there. there is a bar on each side of the road there offering live music, etc on Sunday afternoon. Needless to say there were a "bunch" of bikes there mostly the HD type. Would you believe I was the only Beemer to ride into there and park and come to think of it...I didn't even see another Vision Vest in the bunch! But hey, I got their attention! It was a fun day. That road runs East West through the MO river valley and is littered with wineries along the way. Beautiful for sure!

[R90srider]

I haven't ridden MO 94, but it sounds like a good one. Wonder if it would be OK to pass the opposing HD bars though.

Speaking of S turns, Gary, Tom, Steve and I completed the All Around Alabama reckon run Monday and Tuesday and what an excellent ride it was. With very few exceptions like riding through Phenix City and encountering some impassable unpaved roads, we realized that it is not necessary to go out of the state to ride some fantastic motorcycling roads. If you want high speed S turns while riding through many tree lined tunnels and through exceptional scenery with no traffic, just head west to Waterloo and ride CR 8 on the way there and back. All of us couldn't believe how much fun that road was to ride.

Same goes for many other roads on the AAA Run, three of which will be added to the Favorite Rides section in the ABEES Travel Guide: CR 8, Coon Dog Cemetery Road and a number of county roads east of Alabama 65 to Stevenson which are already added and can be found on our website, Favorite Rides page, "Guntersville Run".

[dixieoutlaw]

Vance,
I am assessing a 10 POI penalty for riding with a bunch of Harley folks. It would have been a full 20 point penalty, but at least you had the good sense to go out of state and do this. Next thing you know you willbe showing up at the meetens waring a do-rag and carrying a big wallet with chain.
Now that you are home, get serious about chasing Martin. Glad you had a good time. We are looking forward to going to Deer in August and I ain't going with no Harley folk. Maybe even worse, it's some folks from Mississippi - you know that littl' ol' short wommin and her man.

Outlaw

[gsezrider]

Hey Vance,
A little belated but your pics sure looked good. I gotta start getting on here more. I used to canoe rivers up in that area in a previous life.

[Vance]

It is a beautiful place to ride. Not a bad road up there. Looking forward ot going back sometime for sure!