Winter Ride to view Bald Eagles

[troy]

Good ride today! At a great historic hotel in Fayetteville for the night. Belly is bloated from the brew house burger and black bean hummus. Hit temps above 50 this afternoon and enjoyed about 20 miles of gravel and some really great twisty back roads.

Looks like we are in for some chilly wet stuff tomorrow. On small highways south of the KC metro we faced a few miles of snow packed roads. Had my size 10 outriggers down and speed down to a steady 25 mph. Pucker.

[bird man]

Thanks for keeping us updated. I watched your progress off and on all day and knew you were having a good time. Have taken some of the roads you took, previously. This way I can live the ride vicariosly and still take care of things that need done . ........Yes I know it is not as good as being there

[ajayhawkfan]

We are back both safe and dry. It was a lot of fun.

Pictures and more information to follow.

[bird man]

Glad you both made it safe and sound. It was fun to watch your progress all week end and know where I would have been had I been able to go. I got a lot of enjoyment out of watching your route as it unfolded. That is cool technology. Even kept checking the weather to see if you were going to get wet ,you came close today, if what was indicated by radar reached the ground.

[ajayhawkfan]

Here are some pictures and a map of our trip.

http://www.spotadventures.com/trip/view/?trip_id=239135

As I know Troy will attest, we roughed it. This was a ride only for the tough.

[troy]

As I know Troy will attest, we roughed it. This was a ride only for the tough.

It was horrible. We slept outside in the cold and had to scrounge for bugs to eat. Where did you find that photo, Eddie?! That guy could be my twin!

The best hotel in Siloam Springs, OK is the Cherokee Casino. Beautiful new rooms for $59. $49 if you have a player card--which is free and comes with $10 to gamble with. To spend your $10, you have to put at least $1 into a machine. So Eddie and I gambled the night away on our combined $22. Maybe it wasn't the whole night---more like 15 minutes. I went bust and Eddie cashed out with $26. Very nice rooms, good dining, and a Starbucks coffee counter--as long as you can stand the constant ringing and dinging of those damn machines while you eat, it's not a bad place to stay.

Kudos once again to Eddie. Not only do I see some great roads and countryside when I ride with Eddie, I learn a lot of interesting history, stay in some good places, and eat some good food.

We had a lot of sunshine on Sat and truly beautiful riding weather on Sun. Mon had rumors to be nasty, but after starting off the morning patching Eddie's flat rear tire, the weather, roads, and riding were top-notch. The last 2.5 hours or so heading back into KC were wet and a bit muddy on the gravel. All around, the weather was better than we expected.

Eddie, the Spot route line loses a LOT of detail with only one point every 10 minutes. We wound all over that country side! I want to look at my GPS track to compare.

One tip: In the Cherokee Nation, you should assume that gravel roads will dead end.

I have a few photos I'll sort through and post soon.

[troy]

Here are some photos from my camera. I left out photos that were basically redundant with what Eddie posted.

Troy's photos:
http://picasaweb.google.com/wolf.troy/2011WinterRide#

Eddie's photos:
http://picasaweb.google.com/ajayhawkfan ... 517ARAndOK#

[ajayhawkfan]

I bet our photos have people wishing they were not such wimps.

[ajayhawkfan]

I'm going to give this another try. This will be the third try to see the Eagles along the Mississippi. Year one, fog was so bad we could not see. Year two, snow and ice so we headed south (and saw a few eagles but not the numbers that are along the Mississippi).

So far only Troy had joined me on this ride. Others are welcome if you man enough.

Right now thinking mid January over the MLK Holiday.

Why am I posting so soon? So you can ask Santa for heated gear.

[fbj913]

I told the better half I wouldnt do anymore overnight trips this year so this will work out perfect! Im in!

[troy]

WARNING! There are a few risk factors when following Eddie on a ride in 30 degree weather. For example, the following could occur--hypothetically speaking of course.

• Stuck in a lame Missouri town waiting for ice to melt off the road
• Fog so thick you can't see Eddie's taillight despite wiping your visor every 5 seconds
• Travel miles through a rapidly degrading "road" with 10+ creek crossings where you have to jump off the ice shelf on one side and hope you get up the ice shelf on the other....in the dark.
• Never see an eagle

COUNT ME IN!

[ajayhawkfan]

WARNING! There are a few risk factors when following Eddie on a ride in 30 degree weather. For example, the following could occur--hypothetically speaking of course.

• Stuck in a lame Missouri town waiting for ice to melt off the road
• Fog so thick you can't see Eddie's taillight despite wiping your visor every 5 seconds
• Travel miles through a rapidly degrading "road" with 10+ creek crossings where you have to jump off the ice shelf on one side and hope you get up the ice shelf on the other....in the dark.
• Never see an eagle

COUNT ME IN!

Don't forget, skipping the eagles and heading south through ice and snow to find clear roads in Arkansas and Oklahoma. Good time, all.

[troy]

Good time, all.

That is if you like riding motorcycles and enjoy a little adventure. Not many folks like that around this forum.

[fbj913]

WARNING! There are a few risk factors when following Eddie on a ride in 30 degree weather. For example, the following could occur--hypothetically speaking of course.

• Stuck in a lame Missouri town waiting for ice to melt off the road
• Fog so thick you can't see Eddie's taillight despite wiping your visor every 5 seconds
• Travel miles through a rapidly degrading "road" with 10+ creek crossings where you have to jump off the ice shelf on one side and hope you get up the ice shelf on the other....in the dark.
• Never see an eagle

COUNT ME IN!

Pictures of those eagle things are online anyway.

[reddof]

I've read about this ride the past two years but haven't been able to go. I am going to try and arrange it this time. Sounds like a great time.

[ajayhawkfan]

Eagles on the Mississippi



http://mdc.mo.gov/conmag/2011/12/eagles-mississippi

[ajayhawkfan]

I'm going to give this another try. This will be the third try to see the Eagles along the Mississippi. Year one, fog was so bad we could not see. Year two, snow and ice so we headed south (and saw a few eagles but not the numbers that are along the Mississippi).

So far only Troy had joined me on this ride. Others are welcome if you man enough.

Right now thinking mid January over the MLK Holiday.

Why am I posting so soon? So you can ask Santa for heated gear.

Bump.

If possible I would like to leave on Friday around noon. We would blacktop it to the river on Friday. Ride along the river Sat and Sun and then take the scenic way back on Monday.

Post your thoughts.

[troy]

If possible I would like to leave on Friday around noon. We would blacktop it to the river on Friday. Ride along the river Sat and Sun and then take the scenic way back on Monday.

Post your thoughts.

I'm in. Odds are it will be too cold and miserable anyway, so I'm in!

[ajayhawkfan]

Besides Troy, anyone else interested in going?

Tentative plans:
Leave around 1:00 on Friday. Black top to the Mississippi River.
Ride alphabet highways and gravel around the river Saturday and Sunday.
Monday head back to KC on alphabet highways and gravel.

Why tentative plans only? Because the last two years I made plans and routes and weather changed them all.

[troy]

PLEASE continue 2012 ride discussion here:
http://www.rideforum.net/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1365

Eddie, I created the new thread because I felt this 2012 ride planning was buried too deep in an old thread. Newcomers would be hard-pressed to find out about it.

As details change, I'll update the 1st post in that thread with the latest info.

Also, I believe Reddof and fbj913 have said they are tentatively IN.