The Road To Texasmac
Talimena Skyway
The road to Texasmac 2008 - the first installment
I took off a couple of weeks from work to do this and it about killed me this winter thinking about it. I was able to ride some here is Colorado but not nearly as carefree as in Appalachia where the roads are cleaner and the weather is not so vicious. I left on a Sunday for my first day, some 550 miles of superslab across south eastern Colorado and into the Oklahoma Panhandle.
It was cold as usual, with a biting wind that took all the warmth out of my body as soon as it hit me, coming out of a shallow canyon, or passing a truck. I headed east on hwy 50 along the Arkansas river not stopping for gas until the thing was running on fumes.
The Arkansas River Still in Colorado on hwy 50
Arkansas River
I was expecting nothing but flat brown Comanche National Grasslands heading south out of Rocky Ford toward Oklahoma but I was pleasantly surprised to find some nice bluffs near a place called Higbee Colorado and some welcome curves to keep me occupied for a short while. It did not last.
Higbee Colorado
I took some lunch at a Dairy Queen in Boise City OK, I was surprised to see entire families sitting down for a meal from the local DQ as if they had just come from Church - probably so. Well dressed for the most part and 4 generations strong to a booth. I did not linger as I could tell I was tolerated but not exactly welcome with my wild motorcycle outfit on. Now I had some dull drone to do to get across the panhandle for some 200 miles. It was all I could do to keep the thing strait since there were cops in odd places with radar blaring, no exactly hidden well since I could hear it for miles before I finally saw the car off in the grass some 5 miles down the road. Jebus who cares out here??? Only to find a town hidden in a sunken area not visible from the highlands, if not for the few trees I would have passed it at 70mph but the radar advertised its existence well enough!
It was like a 12 hour shift at work really - something to be endured - and that is what I did, not that it was difficult riding, I played my entire audio book of "the hobbit" something I thought I would enjoy instead of music - it passed the time well. Finally I rounded a bend and I was out of the panhandle, there were trees and green grasses and it looked like a place where people would live! No more endless rows of telephone lines. I looked down to see the town of Woodward coming up and I realized my bike was about to click over 100,000 miles on the clock I had to stop and record this great milestone in my riding career!
100k in Woodward Oklahoma a huge milestone
A few more hours and I was trying to Call GSwanson on the phone to see where to meet but I could not connect cause of some strange Oklahoma roaming rules on my cell phone, I had his address programmed into my Zumo and so I just clicked go and I was soon riding on one helluva bumpy road out in the sticks to his place. I turned up what looked like a country road to nowhere and there he was outside waving at me, I was sitting on my bike trying to call him when I got a hold of his wife, at the same time I saw him waving at me.
Gary is a great guy and his family are some wonderful people - they took me out to Cattlemans restaurant where I met their daughter and her husband for dinner. They have a busy little toddler who keeps them rather busy a very pretty young woman who has her mothers face. I don't think there are any ugly women in Oklahoma City?? We talked about Mini Racing and how much Gary's son had grown in less than a year, now a full 6 inches taller than me now! Gary says you can get a cart for 8 grand and be racing - almost like racing dirtbikes, they use carberated R6 motors.
Gary got me up early and we where off to Seminole OK to meet VFRErnie - who I forgot had provided me with a clutch cover by mail the year before. I sent him the one I ordered a month later when it arrived. OH yea Geeze how could I forget that?? what a dolt! I cant keep my own families names strait either. We met Ernie at the Brahms in Seminole and headed for the Talimena Skyway, some 150 miles away, some more slab, with a few curves thrown in for good measure, but there were some slow poke cages in the way. It did not get interesting till we were on the skyway!
Gswason and vfrErnie meet at the Brahms parking lot in Seminole OK
Three 5th generation vfrs on the Talimena Skyway
Ernie cant believe the good weather
Talimena Skyway
Talimena Skyway we met the others shortly after stopping here
Gary said he saw Rapidsnipe on his vfr riding with another group that day - we passed him on the Talimena, I saw the vfr but did not know it was him. we did however run into Dutch, Tightwad and MTX73 later on the other side. Together we had a big group of 6 riders for a while till we stopped for lunch in Mena, Ernie turned back to go home there, he had lost his glasses on the skyway at the last stop and went back to retrieve them. The rest of us headed for Magazine Mountain with Dutch in the lead, with the smell of chicken shit everywhere - guess its a big chicken raising area, lots of big coops where all over the place, when we finally were on the road to Magazine mountain some redneck pulling a trailer full of metal barrels was crowding the narrow road and going much too fast for the conditions, he held dutch and I off for at least a quarter of the way?? Idiot - I hate it when people do that - go fast cause they see motorcycles in the mirror - just drive like you normally do and don't worry about it!!!!
The two of us got around him but the others were stuck, we took off for the top and enjoyed some curves!
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Mount Magazine
Gswanson Tightwad and Mtx73 stop for a break on top of Mount Magazine
Top Of Mount Magazine
Then we headed for Russleville and stayed the night, Mike was not feeling good and decided to end the trip right there, he headed home the next morning, mentioning that he was not used to the kind of miles we where doing and he was making some dangerous mistakes. We did not argue - but we all though all he needed was some sleep, but in the morning he was headed back to Texas?? OK buddy be safe!!
Gary was still with us, tightwad, dutch and I and we headed up hwy 7 to Jasper where Gary was heading home! Tightwad was heading to Nashville then he also was going home? Lots of partway guys on this trip! It was nice having tightwad along since he could keep up with Dutch and I at a our normal pace for the most part. I have ridden with Dutch a few times and we are on par for good pace. Tightwad took a half day but he was soon right along side!
We had a scare cause Tightwads voltmeter was showing that he was overcooking the battery, but my voltmeter showed it to be fine, later his voltmeter stopped working all together. Typical long trip stuff! Nothing every works the way you want it to!
Gswanson Tightwad and Dutchinterceptor we pulled off to let a park ranger get on ahead
Lunch in Marshall AR
The Lake at Norfolk Damn the water is high
Norfork Damn
Beaverdamn Road TN
Dutch and Tightwad take pictures
Gotta Love a sign like that
We crossed the big Mississippi river at Dyersburg and bedded down at the Days Inn. then we took some crazy back roads I mixed in with some suggested roads Baileyrock gave me, passing by some weird army ordinance base, and some crazy hilly roads and into the Natchez Trace State park for what seemed like roads no wider than a sidewalk, it was challenging but fun, thank goodness no cars where coming the other way since we where using the entire road!
Centerville hometown of Minne Pearl
Brees Café in Centerville TN add this one to the greasy spoon archive good stuff
HEH
Tottys Bend TN
Pucketts Leipers Fork TN
The Lawnchair theater next door to Pucketts
The Road to Tmac ends the first leg at Baileyrocks Place
I called Baileyrock from Brees diner in Centerville and told him we where 2 hours away (accurate) but it was less than 60 miles as the crow flies, what a great day of riding!
The Video
Map of the Mount Judea road
:media: Mount Judea Video High Resolution this video is in wmv format and runs for about 5 minutes - hwy 123 in Arkansas with Dutchinterceptor leading me in the middle and Tightwad sweeper - I borrowed some of Tightwads footage to complete the video with 3 cameras. Music by Coldplay
so ends the first leg on the road to Texasmac at the Home of Baileyrock in Nashville
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