Uncle Dave's Eureka Hillbilly Ride

After the excitement had been building for months, I headed out for the "2009 Uncle Dave's Eureka Springs Hillbilly Ride". An event put together mostly on www.rideok.com, with some help from local members of www.advrider.com.


My riding buddy Scott showed up at the house Thursday morning with Bill, a great rider (and writer) from Norman who joined us for the journey to Eureka Springs. Bill was nice enough to point out that my chain was "strung up like a banjo". A point that Scott had mentioned before, but less eloquently. So I loosened that up and off we went, eastward.

We followed OK 62 all the way to the state line, where we intercepted AR 62. Convenient, huh? The rain, cold, and wind wasn't so convenient. We stopped frequently, had some great BBQ in Okmulgee, and averaged about 27 mph counting all the stops. So it took us about 10 hours to make the 273 miles to Eureka Springs.

Once there we unpacked, ate some sandwiches, and met some great people. I would guess there were between 80 and 100 dual sport riders there, from OK, AR, MO, KS, GA, MS, and TX. I think that covers it, those are all the states I heard of.

 

  

 

 

 Friday morning brought a 6:30 wake up call for the 7:30 riders meeting, where Scott and I teamed up with a group of six others for a scenic tour of Eureka Springs, followed by some fun dirt riding. In our group were James and Kay from Edmond, Gary, Endo Connie, Steve from Olathe, KS, and Bob from Yukon (I think).

We rode through the narrow streets to the very nice Crescent Hotel:

 

Then we hit the dirt:

Sometime mid-morning, we came upon our first water crossing. Things went pretty well until Steve stalled in the water, then James and I had a little "incident":

After the swim, James was quite cold, so we broke for lunch. Then the group split while James and Kay returned to the hotel for dry clothes, and Gary led the rest of us on another dirt run. Thanks to James for being very cool about the whole "getting run over" thing!

Friday night brought us back to the hotel, then to dinner at Catfish Cabin in Eureka. Very good fish! Then on to the campfire for some BS and off to bed.

Another early morning and meeting Saturday. Then Gary led our team to the top of White Rock "Mountain". Very pretty up there. We were minus James and the ladies on Saturday, as they were off shopping.

Then we rode off the hill and headed out to Oark to the general store and cafe.

Lunch was awesome. And big:

Then we went dirting again, on the way to see the Catalpa cafe. Scott was accosted by a sweet little doggie, which caused him to sacrifice his bike and safety to save the little guy. I didn't get pictures, but hopefully will get some from Gary soon to add...(and now, an update!!!):
Scott down!
And then heroically crossing a nice deep stream:


Afterwards, it was off to the Cliffhouse restaurant to take in the view from the overhanging patio.
Then back to the hotel for dinner and sleep.

Sunday morning brought cold and wind. So we headed out early, saying goodbye to the Traveler's Inn and Arkansas.

We rode home at a 45 degree angle against the constant crosswind. But it was worth it.