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Is this ride starting in Fayetteville, Ozark MO or Ozark AR? I was not at the meeting so it is not clear to me. I maybe bow hunting but want to keep options open.

BTW, I do have the nuts to take a 1200 (or I am nuts) because I am the GS GIANT! LOL

ajayhawkfan wrote:Is this ride starting in Fayetteville, Ozark MO or Ozark AR? I was not at the meeting so it is not clear to me. I maybe bow hunting but want to keep options open.

BTW, I do have the nuts to take a 1200 (or I am nuts) because I am the GS GIANT! LOL

Heck yeah Eddie, come on down and show us how it's done. It is starting in Fayetteville, AR on Friday morning.

So, my boss, a rider (street) as well, had a question I couldn't answer pertaining to our upcoming adventure. If it rains, or is supposed to that weekend, are we still on for the ride or will we move the ride to the other weekend we were considering? I figure that some moderate trails become impassable on big bikes, but I have been wrong before. I thought I would ask and get everyone's take on the issue.

Foster wrote:If it rains, or is supposed to that weekend, are we still on for the ride or will we move the ride to the other weekend we were considering? I figure that some moderate trails become impassable on big bikes, but I have been wrong before.

The TARKC Godfather (Randy, allkidd) needs to vote, but I can tell you that rain does not stop the riding in the St. Francis forest. There is only 1 or 2 inches of dirt on solid rock. I've ridden down there on 3 day weekends where it rained almost the entire time and had "flooding rains" the week before. We got muddy, but the trails were very rideable.

Of course, getting up a slick hill on a KLR650...well, yeah, wet trails increase the difficulty level.

That said, I'm hoping for nice weather, although a little sprinkle to keep the dust down is welcome.

Considering folks have to plan for Fri off work and weather forecasts are kind of a joke anyway, it's very unlikely the dates will change.

ajayhawkfan wrote:Is this ride starting in Fayetteville, Ozark MO or Ozark AR? I was not at the meeting so it is not clear to me.

I thought I'd made it clear in the first post (I edited allkidd's original post). Then I reread it and son-of-a-gun if I didn't put Ozark, MO in there. Doh! It's Ozark, AR. I fixed the post.

Start in Fayetteville, AR. I'm working on a local connection there for a friendly place to leave our trucks and trailers.
Fri night in Ozark, AR.
Sat night in Clarksville, AR.
Sun back to Fayetteville and home.

NOTE that Google Maps is broken for "Ozark, AR". It brings up Ozark, MO! Ozark, AR is just S of Hwy 40 W of Clarksville.

allkidd wrote: Saturday
After breakfast, we'll ride down to the Mount Magazine area--the highest point in Arkansas.

Do you have a "kickstands up" time for Saturday morning? My brother and I are going to have to meet up with you at this point, and are trying to work out the logistics.

There is a great place in Fayetteville for the night.

jasbaum wrote:

allkidd wrote: Saturday
After breakfast, we'll ride down to the Mount Magazine area--the highest point in Arkansas.

Do you have a "kickstands up" time for Saturday morning? My brother and I are going to have to meet up with you at this point, and are trying to work out the logistics.

9am? 10am? As long as we know to expect you and you've go one of our phone numbers to coordinate, we'll make it work.

Disclaimer: I actually wrote that--not allkidd. I abused my admin privs to edit his post to put the latest details in the first post. I'm out of control like that.

I'm not sure we can get that detailed in the plan at this point--I like to get explicit about first day kickstands up--after that, it's all up to how the adventure unfolds! However, assuming we even make it to Ozark Fri night (quite likely!), I imagine we'll get up, eat a quick breakfast at a nearby cafe and roll----probably heading down the road no later than 10 AM--hopefully closer to 9 AM. (I'm more of a 7 AM kind of guy, but compromise for the needs of the cry babies around me. )

ajayhawkfan wrote:There is a great place in Fayetteville for the night.

Hey! I recognize my old Vstrom in that photo. Good times.

Just a little over a week until this one is on! I can't wait!

I'm assuming that everything is still going to go on as initially planned. Thought I'd bump this thread to see if there was any new news.

James and I spent last weekend tuning up both the bikes and the trailer. Also, it looks like we'll be heading down on Friday afternoon instead of early Saturday morning. Our new plan is to meet up with the group on Friday evening in Ozark(AR), and be ready to ride Saturday morning.

So my plan is to drive as far as I can Thursday night. Where I end up is going to be a function of when I can leave. If it's after work, then Joplin is probably about it. That will leave plenty of time for breakfast, driving the last bit, and unloading my bike.

All that said I've got room on the trailer for 1 more bike easy, a couple more with some effort and a couple of chocks. Let me know if you are up around Weston, or on the way south, and want to ride with me.

I updated the first post with minor details...the main thing is we now have an official starting place where we can park our trucks and trailers. I sent a PM with details to those of you that have shown serious interest in this thread. If you need the address, and I did not already send it to you, PM me.

Regarding the routes, it's looking GOOD! If any of you have specific thoughts regarding route preferences, please post here ASAP or PM, email, or call me or Randy (allkidd). Tonight I completed a great route option for Fri. It includes a lot of the best the area has to offer and enough challenging ATV trail sections that I think everyone will be satisfied. Some folks will probably get in over their head...but that's how you get better! NOBODY will be left behind! No worries!

We'll be riding a small amount of highway (including the BEST part of the Pig Tail Trail, Hwy 23), easy gravel roads, rugged forest roads, abandoned logging roads, gnarly Jeep roads, and easy ATV trail. We'll see cool rock formations, waterfalls, a beautiful Ozark lake, and enjoy the view from the overlook on White Rock Mtn, the 2nd highest point in AR....and this is just Friday!

Friday has us running approximately 67 miles to gas then 72 miles to gas. Most of us should be able to make that work. I'll have an extra liter of fuel plus the ability to transfer gas from larger tanks to those that need. My KTM EXC450 can go 70 something on a tank...so I should be OK.

SHB1129 wrote:James and I spent last weekend tuning up both the bikes and the trailer. Also, it looks like we'll be heading down on Friday afternoon instead of early Saturday morning. Our new plan is to meet up with the group on Friday evening in Ozark(AR), and be ready to ride Saturday morning.

Excellent! Glad you brothers were able to make this work!

Motel headcount?!
Motel for Fri & Sat nights...how many folks? I count:

Troy
allkidd
bonanza
shb1129
jasbaum
ozarksrider
foster
fosterbum
kendall_smith


Who else? We need to book the motels to make sure we got a place to sleep!

I'm in for sure, but Alissa will not be coming on this one. Do we need to call and reserve our own rooms or will we be doing that as a group?

ozarksrider wrote:So my plan is to drive as far as I can Thursday night. Where I end up is going to be a function of when I can leave. If it's after work, then Joplin is probably about it. That will leave plenty of time for breakfast, driving the last bit, and unloading my bike.

All that said I've got room on the trailer for 1 more bike easy, a couple more with some effort and a couple of chocks. Let me know if you are up around Weston, or on the way south, and want to ride with me.

Long time, no see. Looking forward to riding with you again. I think I'll be heading down early Friday morning, but if anything changes between now and then I might ride with you. If someone else takes you up on your offer, don't worry about saving it for me.

troy wrote:

Foster wrote:If it rains, or is supposed to that weekend, are we still on for the ride or will we move the ride to the other weekend we were considering? I figure that some moderate trails become impassable on big bikes, but I have been wrong before.

The TARKC Godfather (Randy, allkidd) needs to vote, but I can tell you that rain does not stop the riding in the St. Francis forest. There is only 1 or 2 inches of dirt on solid rock. I've ridden down there on 3 day weekends where it rained almost the entire time and had "flooding rains" the week before. We got muddy, but the trails were very rideable.

Of course, getting up a slick hill on a KLR650...well, yeah, wet trails increase the difficulty level.

That said, I'm hoping for nice weather, although a little sprinkle to keep the dust down is welcome.

Considering folks have to plan for Fri off work and weather forecasts are kind of a joke anyway, it's very unlikely the dates will change.

Somehow, the TAR Godfather has been derelict in his duties....I not sure how but I've overlooked this discussion for the last couple of weeks. I'm really excited for the ride especially considering how many of us it appears can make the trip...should be a great adventure. Here is my 2 cents on the discussions that I've overlooked:

Rain-my experience has been that rocks pretty much ride the same regardless of whether they are wet or dry.
Also, the pain/pride factor is the same whether falling on wet rocks vs dry rocks. Most likely, over a 3 day period in the fall it will rain so bring rain gear for sure and it helps to have some rain x for your goggles. The bigger concern is navigating the many streams when there has been a lot of rain...shouldn't be a problem this year.

List of participants-add Steve Tyner to the list (I think it is Bonanza something on here), anybody else? Scott...seems like at the last TAR meeting you were thinking that it would work? Todd...can't remember if it was 2 or 3 years ago that we went on a similar ride...for you I think it was 1 or 2 kids ago...you probably deserve a weekend away! Edie...this would be easy compared to the GS Giant obstacle course...also, I bet Troy would be willing to break is sacred rule and share a room.

Jasbum-I'm glad it appears that it will work for you and your brother...by pavement we will never be too far from Ozark.

Room reservations-there are 3 motels in Ozark...I just called 2 of them and they both indicated that as of now they have a lot of rooms available. Ozark Inn-$55 single and $60 double...Oxford Inn-$69 for all rooms. Clarksville has about 8 motels and I called a Best Western and they indicated all rooms are available and should not be a problem for that saturday night. Reservations or not I'm okay either way....the only problem with reservations is that we are then locked into making it to that destination. To give us a sure meeting place to meet Jasbum and his brother, maybe we should make reservations for Ozark on friday night and live on the edge without reservations Saturday night. By the way, does everybody know that Saturday night Clarksville is totally dry?

Saturday route-I've got Saturday's route from Ozark to the Huckleberry trail to Mt. Magazine completed and as soon as I find where it automatically saved it I will post the track. I think everybody will really like Mt Magazine, the highest point in Arkansas. The only certified hang gliding site is here...hopefully, there will be some hang gliders as it is really cool to see them in thermals way higher than the launch site.

Saturday morning leave time-as far as I'm concerned the earlier the better to get more ride time...how about kick stands up no later than 9:00.

Any necessary, final logistical issues, we can talk about Tuesday night at Charlie Hoopers!

Where will you be staying Thursday night?

It looks like jasbaum and I are back to riding down early Saturday morning, as his work schedule doesn't allow him to fly back Thursday night as we'd hoped. We're still planning on meeting the group in Ozark by the planned 9am departure.

James is in San Diego all week, but I'm planning on being at Charlie Hooper's on Tuesday, so we can get everything squared away then.

ajayhawkfan wrote:Where will you be staying Thursday night?

So far, we don't have an "official" lodging place for Thur night because not very many folks plan to come down Thur night. Randy & I, at least, are going down BCOD Fri morning. (Butt Crack Of Dawn)