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Arkansas in September - Reserve Your Spot NOW! Sep 21 through 23


Yokel

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LAST CALL!!!

*****Edit for itinerary, food plans, hotel pricing and other information as of 9/11/12 8:45 pm EST*****

Feel free to PM me with anything to add or any questions you have.

IF YOU WANT ONE, T-SHIRTS FOR THE EVENT ARE AVAILABLE FOR 15.00 EACH.

***** Itinerary... or something like one.*****

There will be a scheduling white-board or some-such available on site for you to check on in order to schedule your rides/activities.

I'm not going to say that all we'll do is RIDE as there's a good bit of stuff to do outside in the area if the weather's nice, but let's be honest, we're all kind of bike nuts.

Friday:

Morning- Get to Harrison, AR. The Hub is on HWY 7 due south of Harrison. Check in, etc.. etc.. etc..

Afternoon- Check in and find me for your swag.

Mid-afternoon- Kickstands up at 3:30p for an afternoon ride if you're there early enough to participate and care to go after riding in. Would prefer groups to stay around 3-5 riders to facilitate ease of communication, overtaking and basically looking out for one another. If you're not very experienced in group riding, the MSFUSA website has a good bit of information on courtesies of riding in a group (as well as a few threads here on VFRD). It's worth a look. Also, take time to talk with those in your group about any signals or routes. A few volunteers for leading rides would be welcome.

6:00pm- Rally up at the Cliff House just south of Jasper on HWY 7 for some good home-cookin'! We've got reservations for 6pm as of right now. I'll pass out swag to those who have missed it earlier in the day.

Night- Hang out, laugh, chat and enjoy.

Saturday:

Morning- Would like to see rides staggered for those looking to participate starting for you early birds at around 8:00 (sun should be up by then) through 10:00.

Afternoon- For those interested, group back up at the Hub for secondary routes leaving at 1:00pm, or take a good nap.

Evening- Bathe... Please. VFRD dinner at 7:00... Would love recommendations on a local establishment we can invade that is able to house 20-30 at one time.

Night- Hang out, tell lies, chat, and enjoy.

Sunday:

Morning- Jaunts for those interested starting at around 8:00

NOON- Adios awards ceremony.

Afternoon- Shedding of bitter tears as we part ways.

I'm not going to pretend that this is even remotely well organized. It's a vacation and I'm not one to give everyone a LOCKED IN schedule when you're enjoying your time away from your every-day grind. However, this is a rough outline of what I think we should be doing. The long and short of it, you'll have to fend for yourself to a certain extent regarding meals and keeping yourself entertained. I have neither the time or desire to plan your day out for you, that just puts a lot of pressure on me and invites some people to have a degree of disappointment. If there's something you want to do, DO IT. This is simply a broad-scale guide on what I imagine everyone would be agreeable to.

There will be a white-board or something of that nature posted in a conspicuous place to help with scheduling things ON SITE.

I would politely ask that you try to make the group dinners Friday and Saturday evenings. If I'm calling places for reservations for 20+ folks, I would hate for them to staff for that many customers and then nobody shows up. From someone who's worked foodservice, it's just a courtesy... Besides, you'll be hungry.

That being said, if you've got some people you think you'd gel with quite well from previous experiences on VFRD rides, work some kind of schedule out among yourselves! There's no harm in it. Just please, be available in the evenings :tour:

*******************************

Contact is Debbie at the Hub Hotel - 1-800-597-9963

Single and Double rooms available.

10 rooms are currently reserved for VFRD.COM when you call. Both singles and doubles are $60/night (2 night minimum at that price), if more than 2 people share a room it's an additional $5.00 per person. Tents on the property are welcome for $10.00 night.

Current Head Count (Let me know if this is wrong...)

Yokel (aka Jon) (My Triumph buddies chickened out.)

2thdr - Tent

Adam79 (+lady and dad)

Gadiantonrob

Gswanson

David, Adam's friend

Justin, Adam's friend

Gloryracing (willing to lead spirited group)

DutchInterceptor

Leaning (+1 or 2)

Nowheelies

Huntingguns

VcFR

HispanicSlammer

00Yeller

Maybes:

Dr.toto

Rush2112

OkieMatt

VFRurknee - High-speed escort.

HVRNAUT

ALSO- Ideally I'd like to keep the groups fairly small. Much easier to keep an eye on one another, overtake slower vehicles etc... If you're willing to lead a group, please post up and let me know. GPS is VERY helpful, although getting lost on these meandering roads is a great way to kill a day.

ALSO ALSO- PM me with your preferred shirt size if you're planning on buying one. You've got until September 4th to request something other than XL.

Just a teaser....

http://www.motorcycl...d=84&Itemid=172

http://www.motorcycl...d=86&Itemid=174

http://www.motorcycl...d=90&Itemid=177

http://www.motorcycl...id=87&Itemid=53

http://www.motorcycl...d=89&Itemid=176

http://www.motorcycl...d=85&Itemid=173

****EDITED INFORMATION ON TIMEFRAME (work schedule changed)****

For you other OklaHomies-

I'm currently planning on kickstand UP at Pops on Rt66 Friday AM at 8:00am. Route to Harrison will go from 66 through Arcadia to the turnpike near Chandler. From the turnpike, skirt south around Tulsa (construction there is just plain stupid right now) and grab hwy 412 through to Harrison. Should take 5-6 hours with a break for lunch which will put us at the Hub around 1:30pm.

https://maps.google....z=9&via=1,2&z=8

****************************************************

Hello guys and gals!

Due to my schedule sucking the proverbial butt and a myriad of other issues, I'll be missing out on all the fun this Summer/Early Fall with the sanctioned VFRD get-togethers.

That got me thinking.

There may be OTHER poor souls like me out there that WANT to go, just the timing's all wrong.

This is a testing of the water if you will... a way to gauge interest in hitting up the Ozarks in Late September. The temperatures should be good and the weather should be... well... it should be either sunny or rainy. Temps from 80's for highs to 40's for lows that time of year. http://www.weather.c...hly/graph/72601

I went with the Riders Association of Triumph this spring to Harrison, AR.... A place called the Hub Hotel. http://www.hubinfo.com/index.html The routes surrounding the area are absolutely fantastic. The hotel itself is... well... the floor in my room was concrete, I'll put it that way. The sheets were clean and they didn't mind a bunch of hooligans hanging around. (You know those Triumph guys.) They invite tents, have a cafe on site, and are a short ride from civilized life. Prices were 60/night for double occupancy if memory serves.

The dates I am thinking of are Sep 21 through 23... that's a Friday through Sunday. It's not a busy holiday weekend, so traffic should be decent, it's not PEAK riding season, so there shouldn't be a lot of pirates out. However, it IS the peak of Fall, so leaves on the roads may be a real concern.

If there's enough folks interested in meeting up, I'll call the Hotel and try to find a group rate next week. Currently on their calendar there are no events being hosted that weekend. If there's call for it, maybe I'll make a T-shirt or something... The main thing is to just have an excuse to meet some of you and enjoy the heck out of what I view as some of the prettiest country in the US.

I'm thinking everyone starts arriving Friday... Group or individual rides Saturday (would need some leaders to volunteer) then go our seperate ways Sunday.

Thoughts? Interested? Put it up here. :)

The POLL is to keep accurate tallies on numbers interested.

Thanks! Keep an eye on this thread!

*note* This ride will not be restricted to ONLY VFR's. If you have friends who would like to come, feel free to invite. While it's something I'm only asking about on this site, I think we all understand that there are loads of people out there just as in love with riding as we are.

*Secondary Note* If I'm one of the people designated to lead a ride it should be said that my pace is NOT the pace of a hooligan. I am a pretty firm believer in keeping within my limits. I would classify myself as a slow to moderate pace. Naturally, you're the one that dictates your pace, and there will be rally points set up if you fall behind where we'll wait to make sure you're good to go. If you're nervous about riding the pace of a group, don't be. Safety is always the first concern. That is not to say that someone else with a desire for a more rapid pace won't be willing to lead a group. :tour:

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Oh absolutely.

I was really happy this spring at some of the routes I went on with the RAT group. The roads were in great shape for the most part... the worst thing was that every time it seemed like I hit some amazing bit of pavement I had to stop to get a picture of something.

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The magic number is 10! Hahahaa! Figure 10 people could split into two smaller groups easily, and there's always the singles or doubles that will want to ride their own ride with the wife or whatever.

10 may qualify for a group rate as well... I plan on calling Debbie after the holiday to check.

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Here's some photos from around the Hub Hotel from this spring.

The Cafe -

gallery_23869_6426_2534520.jpg

The view up to the main hotel complex from my room while there.

gallery_23869_6426_1543085.jpg

Here's a video I made for my old man. He went with me last spring, the first REAL ride he and I had been on. The pace was pretty slow, he's not a very confident rider.

The roads are amazing. Hope that comes across. There are just beautiful little Ozark Mountain vistas around every turn. The day I video taped was pretty overcast and the lens got a bit foggy, but you get the idea. ;)

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Nice video, looks like nice roads. I've got Arkansas on my bucket list. (If I come I'll be following Johnny's Mighty Mississippi to join you. It will depend on my financial condition at the time.)

One question comes to mind: how do the LEOs view "spirited motorcycle riding"? Images of Cops On The Dragon come to mind.

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I am up for this...I like a medium to faster pace when on the VFR, and Arkansas is my favorite place to ride that is close enough to get to in one day for me. A real bed is a good thing, but I'm probably up for camping if the weather looks decent. Keep me posted! Gary, where are you?

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One question comes to mind: how do the LEOs view "spirited motorcycle riding"? Images of Cops On The Dragon come to mind.

It's never been an issue for me. Just don't ride like a squid and mind the speed limits going through the small towns. I've been going up to AR for several years and most of the trips were at track speed. Only times I got stopped was when I was slabbing back to Texass. A few times we've met cops in the twisties and they'd just flash their lights and keep going.

I can't commit just yet but I'll keep an eye on this thread.

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One question comes to mind: how do the LEOs view "spirited motorcycle riding"? Images of Cops On The Dragon come to mind.

It's never been an issue for me. Just don't ride like a squid and mind the speed limits going through the small towns. I've been going up to AR for several years and most of the trips were at track speed. Only times I got stopped was when I was slabbing back to Texass. A few times we've met cops in the twisties and they'd just flash their lights and keep going.

I can't commit just yet but I'll keep an eye on this thread.

I hope you can come Dutch...

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Hot Springs, Arkansas from Minneapolis: 850 miles via I35. Probably not a one-day trip for me. Camping sounds good to me. Less $. (This would be my third VFRD meet this year. THAT is a good year.)

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Maybe you could add options to the poll for campers vs. motel?

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2

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One question comes to mind: how do the LEOs view "spirited motorcycle riding"? Images of Cops On The Dragon come to mind.

It's never been an issue for me. Just don't ride like a squid and mind the speed limits going through the small towns. I've been going up to AR for several years and most of the trips were at track speed. Only times I got stopped was when I was slabbing back to Texass. A few times we've met cops in the twisties and they'd just flash their lights and keep going.

I can't commit just yet but I'll keep an eye on this thread.

I've been to the Ozarks once for some great riding and the constant comments about "No Leo's" so off I went to the Pig Chasing rally of 04.

Two notes from the trip:

1- I've never seen so Many Cops!!! 5 day one, 7 day two and a Trooper pulled up to our group of 8-10 saying someone called them on a cell phone saying a gang of bikes were passing wrecklessly! :ohmy:

2- I've never had some many people try to Run me Off the road! Don't know what it was, but I've never felt so threatened by nutjob drivers.

Other than those two issues the roads were great! But for me it's twice as far (with total crap between) as the GA/TN/NC triangle and offers no better riding, so I've not returned. :ph34r:

If i ever ride to CO I will surely run the Ozarks again! :tour:

BR

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If i ever ride to CO I will surely run the Ozarks again! :tour:

BR

Bwaaahaaahaaa!! :laughing6-hehe:

You've gotta factor in that you were riding with Scott Friday...his rides always seem problematic.

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If I'm not out of town for work I'm in! I'll try to keep the schedule open. I've been looking for a nice Ozark's ride since I moved to Missouri.

:woohoo:

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First part of this week I'm going to call the hub and check on group rates for 15 rooms. Will let you all know what I find. :)

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Maybe you could add options to the poll for campers vs. motel?

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Good call. You'll have to delete your current vote and put up if you're going tent or room. The poll is updated.

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I just realized I have a project scheduled for the fall that will prevent me from attending this year. I am disappointed. Perhaps next time.

Safe Riding Everyone.

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Provisionally, I am in. I should have recovered financially from the Sum Sum by then.

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Provisionally, I am in. I should have recovered financially from the Sum Sum by then.

Good news!

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2

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