Late last year, Tad Gralewski introduced me to Sport Touring when we took a motorcycle trip to the Appalachians and the Blue Ridge Parkway. (see trip report here) I knew after that trip sport-touring was defiantly something I wanted to continue doing. The only question which remained was where to go next.
Ever since college and my friend Aaron talking about Arkansas, I'd always wanted to go there. I tried to convince Tad this was where we should go for our first trip of the year, but he had other callings to the Northeast. So - I decided what the hell. I had a few vacation days to burn at work, so I saddled up my 1999 VFR800 (previously I had an F3) and headed for Arkansas. The following is a re-cap of the 5 days I spent on the road, including several pictures I took along the way. The trip totaled 2055 miles and took me from Chicago, down through central Illinois, over into southern Missouri, all around Arkansas, then back home through southern Illinois.
Day 1 - April 16, 1999 (Friday)
165 miles
It was a cold, rainy day, and the forecast called for SNOW. (yes, snow) I was almost thinking of not going, but decided to go for it. Thankfully, it never did snow, and all we got was rain. I left work around 2pm and headed for Peoria, IL where I was staying with my friend Jason. After I warmed up, we went out for a great Italian dinner in downtown Peoria, and Jason and I both had a hard time keeping our eyes off of the hostess. :) I wonder if Jason has been back there yet....
Day 2 - April 17, 1999 (Saturday)
500 miles
I got kind of a late start this morning, but that didn't really bother me. I had hoped the weather was going to warm up a bit, but no such luck. The highest temperature reading I saw all day was 50 degrees. (courtesy of the how-cold-am-I outdoor thermometer on the viffer) The ride through central Illinois along none other than the Illinois river was, shall we say, quite boring. I headed towards Quincy and crossed the Mississippi into Missouri just south of town. The ride down Rt. 79 was ok, but nothing exciting yet. I then said goodbye to the Mississippi river and took Rt. 47 west to Interstate 70, which I then took to Rt. 19.
It was still cold, but thanks to the Big King(tm) I grabbed in Troy, I wasn't feeling too bad. Oh ya - here's a good time to mention those Hot Grips I installed on my VFR. They worked BEAUTIFUL! Granted, they remained on the high setting all day, but my hands were just fine with only my summer Teknic leather gloves on. Anyway, continuing down Rt. 19, I made it to the town of Cuba which intersects Interstate 44. I filled up with gas, and enjoyed a much needed cup of coffee. The gas station attendant made some comment about it starting to get cold outside. (no...really?).
I noticed that if I took the slab for a few minutes, I could save myself a few miles, and get over to Rt. 68 which intersected Rt. 19 again in Salem. This was the first GREAT idea I had. Rt. 68 turned out to be the best road of the day. It had a few great 15 mile per hour switch-backs that helped get my blood flowing again to say the least. :)
Back on 19, I followed this into Arkansas through the Southern Missouri Ozarks. Once into Arkansas, I made my way to Mountain Home for the night. After a quick check-in, I enjoyed some good eats (and a few beers too) at the lounge attached to the Best Western. I also ended up having a great conversation with a few locals, and even caught part of Airplane the movie on the bar TV.
Pictures:
Southern Missouri Ozarks
My first sighting of the sun all day (Arkansas)
Day 3 - April 18, 1999 (Sunday)
476 miles
As I said in my previous trip report, one word summarizes the entire day - Arkansas! (ok, I said three words before) I originally had this great plan to go from X to Y to Z, etc, etc. However, those plans quickly fell apart, and I found myself not following any of my planned routes. It all started with a conversation I had with someone in the bar the night before. This guy was telling me how "oh man...I was coming down here in this big huge U-Haul on this road, and almost lost it....the road was nothing but curves." I thought to myself for a fraction of a second, "ummm...sounds exactly what I'm looking for". :) It was, and then some. The road was Rt. 14 heading south from Rt. 62 just west of Mountain Home. The first few miles sucked due to those darn tar strips (yes, I hate those things), but it quickly turned to perfect pavement and as they say, "may the games begin."
From here on out, it's hard to describe with words how EXCELLENT the roads and scenery were. I couldn't have asked for better weather (mid 70's), and my god, did I mention the roads? The viffer handled herself perfectly, and if there was any doubt in my mind that I made a mistake trading in the F3, it was now COMPLETELY GONE.
My next stop was for lunch at Mt. Magazine (Subway in my tankbag from the previous town). However, just prior to this, I had an almost incident with GAS (Tad...I did say almost!). You see, on the last trip I took with Tad, I ran out of gas. I know what your thinking, how could it happen again. I know...I was thinking the exact same thing, and about how much grief I would hear because of it. Anyway, I was enjoying myself on Rt. 16, and getting low on gas in a hurry. The closest "mid-size" town I saw on my map was probably a good 50 miles away and my low fuel light had just started blinking. For those of you who don't know, that is supposed to mean there is .8 gallons left, and with the VFR getting about 41 mpg, you can do the math. Anyway, I thought my prayers were answered when I pulled into a gas station in Pelsor, however, the pumps all had signs on them saying "NO GAS". As Homer Simpson would say, Doooohhhh!! I asked the attendant in a rather worried voice, "umm sir, where is the CLOSEST place I can buy gas at?" He said "Deer." Huuu? Oh, the town of Deer, about 15 miles up the road. So, fearing the worst, I put the VFR in top gear and cruised on the side of the road at 45 mph to conserve gas (this sound familiar to anyone?). Needless to say, I made it to Deer, and put almost 5.1 gallons in my 5.5 gallon tank. A little too close for my comfort to say the least.
I continued through west-central Arkansas the rest of the day, and ended up in Benton for the night, which was just outside of Little Rock. It wouldn't have been a trip if I didn't have Pizza Hut for dinner at least once. (however, it was a "dry" county, so no soup (or beer) for me).
Pictures:
Arkansas - A neat bridge
Arkansas - The VFR and some mountains
Arkansas - Entering Mt. Magazine
Arkansas - Lunch at Mt. Magazine
Arkansas - You can see for miles and miles
Arkansas - More mountains
Arkansas - At least it's warm out
Day 4 - April 19, 1999 (Monday)
519 miles
My original plans for the day were to take Rt. 9 the entire way from outside of Little Rock back into Missouri. However, like the previous day, that plan was out the window before I knew it. It started out with a wrong turn that had me heading towards Little Rock instead of away from it. As long as I was there, I got on the super-slab (Rt 455), and took that to Rt 40 and exited at the town of Morrilton which intersected Rt. 9 again. This turned out to work out great because the slab was moving very well (80mph+) and I saved myself probably a good hour which meant more time for more great roads. I checked my recently acquired Arkansas state map, and made my way over through Jerusalem and onto Rt. 27 and then Rt. 16 into Clinton. (no, I don't think that's where he's from). These were some MOST EXCELLENT roads, with some of the best road signs I'd ever seen before: "Crooked and Steep Next 30 miles - Drive with Care." If you've ever been to the Gap, sections of these roads reminded me of the Gap. I just love those downhill to the right, then a sharp left hander heading back uphill again sections. (hard to describe in words, but they were very tight and technical roads)
From Clinton, I again hooked up with Rt. 9 and took that the rest of the way out of Arkansas. It was also a great road that I will not miss when I go back! Once into Missouri, I snaked (technical term) my way over to Carbondale, IL. Like I said on the way down, Missouri is an ok place to ride, but doesn't even come close to comparing to Arkansas. I arrived in C'dale (home of SIUC - where I went to school) and got a hotel at the Holiday Inn. This was my most expensive hotel night, but I had plans to walk downtown and "pretend" I was still in college, so it saved me a taxi ride later that evening. Every time I go back to school part of me wishes I was back in college. Anyway, the cheap beer tasted great ($1.50 pints) and it was good to be back.
Pictures:
Arkansas - Love those twisty signs
Arkansas - The roads really were perfect
Arkansas - The famous aforementioned road sign
Arkansas - The Viffer looks so sweet doesn't she
Arkansas - My best scenery shot (as seen above)
Arkansas - My 800 showing her stuff again
Day 5 - April 20, 1999 (Slab Tuesday)
395 miles
The day was primarily spent on Interstate 57 heading back to Chicago, however I did spend part of the morning riding around Southern Illinois before coming home. My first stop was of course to drive through campus to make sure the building were still standing and everything. The picture to the right is of the new Engineering "E" building which is pretty impressive I think. Anyway, that's my VFR parked next to it. (you know, just proof that I was there...or perhaps a good photo-editing trick).
From campus, I headed out towards Giant City state park via a little town called Makanda. There's a nice section of road here, and also a good place to stop for ice cream if you're in the mood (and it isn't 9am). I then casually rode through Giant City and ended up about 30 miles south of C'dale on Rt. 51. If you've ever been to the area, you know this is about baron waste land. What better place to crack open the throttle? We had a saying when I was in college...something about it not being worth going to school if you couldn't do 120 down the back-road. Well, let's just say the viffer did about 20 mph better than that, and still had more to go. (I didn't just say that did I?)
After getting back to C'dale, I headed up Pleasant Hill Road and drove by the place I stayed in my last 2.5 years in college. My friend Aaron used to drive by on his F2 (of course with his race-ready Yosh pipe) and always honked twice and then hit the gas. Who was I to argue. (beep-beep).... :)
Finally, onto 57 and I was home 350 miles later after an almost incident w/ an unmarked state cop in a maroon Silverado pickup truck.
Pictures:
Southern Illinois - Giant City
Summary
This was a GREAT trip, and it really allowed me to relax and forget about everything that was stressing me out at work. Arkansas is a beautiful area, and if you have the means, I suggest taking a trip there. I know I'll go back. As for the VFR800, as I mentioned, she was perfect! No regrets what-so-ever. For sure it was easier to put 500 miles a day on her compared to my buzzy F3. I still do plan to invest in a Corbin on of these days however.
Till the next time!
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