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Arkansas or BUST!
By Dennis Oaks
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A member of a local club I belong to mentioned
that there was an organized off road ride in Arkansas just
south of Hot Springs. With our temps in Wisconsin in the 25-35
range this time of year and there a 55-65 range it wasn’t
a hard decision to make. Like many trips a lot of people said
they wanted to go along, but when it came down to as close
as the night before, everyone had backed out for one reason
or another. I really wanted to go but the thought of driving
down alone by myself wasn’t appealing. I loaded my van
with the bike and gear the night before thinking that even
if I decided not to go in the morning I could just unload
it right? Well morning came and I was dragging my feet (I
think giving myself a chance to back out) but I got in the
van and started to head south. Even though I was on my way
I was still thinking I can still just turn around as long
as I don’t cross the “Illinois boarder”. Don’t
ask me why but this has always been the point of commitment.
Driving down I was feeling good about my decision and thinking
about the next few days. I just love riding off road and living
in Wisconsin shortens this sports season.
Driving cross-country by yourself has a lot of advantages.
First you get to decide when you leave and this makes it hard
to be late. Then you get to choose what music to listen to.
Now what about the volume? Do you want it loud or quiet ?
Then of course I can change my mind at any given moment. Then
there is the restroom stops, do I stop here? Or wait for the
next exit? Or the next one? Or the next one after that? Sometimes
mileage becomes the goal “just 50 more miles” then
I’ll stop. Whatever the choices are, it’s still
a game you play between your brain and your bladder in a struggle
for ultimate control. I also think that I drive much better
because there is no one to distract you from the road or the
signs. The thing to remember however, you are the driver and
the navigator so getting lost is totally your fault!
I reached Little Rock about 8:00pm then stopped just south
in a town called Benton. This seemed to be about 45min from
the riding area. I was driving for about 12 ½ hrs by
now and the directions from the main road were “ turn
right by the big white rock then left after the fourth pot
hole“ -- I decided to get a motel and navigate this in
the daylight.
Arriving at “Camp” it didn’t look much different
from the pits at an average off road race, maybe a few more
motor homes but the “feel” was still the same. Standing
outside and looking around there were mountains and forest
as far as I could see. An “off road Paradise” I
guess describes it best. I was not sure of the exact count
but I know there were 100+ riders there from as far away as
Ontario Canada willing to drive like myself to enjoy the sport
of riding.
I met up with a few guys I knew from Wisconsin, Erik, Dan
and Mark, and this is always good when so far from home. We
went out for a “warm up” loop that was 3 miles long.
This loop was good for warming up the bike and warming up
the body for what we were going to put it through. The loop
was nice but not real difficult but still single track just
the same. I was thinking while riding this loop about the
long drive down, the time it takes to get the bike ready for
a ride such as this and all the stuff you're not supposed
to so you can enjoy yourself.
We finished the loop and returned to camp to top off the
tanks with fuel. Now we headed out on the second loop that
was 11 miles. As we began this section there was a low wet
marsh like area about 100 feet wide that looked like 100 motorcycles
tried 100 different lines, 20 of which might have been successful.
If you could have seen inside of my helmet I had a smile that
stretched from ear to ear. A warm sensation went through my
entire body (no it wasn’t my brain giving in to my bladder)
but a thought that Malcolm Smith wrote in an article I recently
read. He was thinking of all the work and prep before a race
in Baja and asked him self what he was doing there? He said
after 15 mins of riding “Oh yeah now I remember”.
Looking into the marsh and mud I knew this was going to be
fun and at that moment I began to “enjoy the ride”.
We rode some great trails that day and all turned it up every
now and again. I think that for Mark this was a good learning
experience for true off road riding and he did great with
his new Ktm 200. The loops consisted of a 26 mile and another
20 mile which we all found our way through (sooner or later).
That night we all stayed at the camp and I enjoyed a steak
dinner with Erik, Dan and Mark. (Thanks Guys!) Afterwards
we all sat around the camp fire telling stories about trips
we had taken and places to ride. The guys went to bed early
and I sat there with the neighbors who I named Jim-bob and
Jethrow. These guys are true rednecks but I have never laughed
so hard at the stories of stupid stuff they have done. My
stomach hurt and my eyes watered for about 2 hours when I
woke up the next morning I just started laughing again thinking
of what they had told me.
The second day we all went for a morning ride but I could
see the guys were pretty tired and didn’t want to ride
too hard in the afternoon. I wandered around talking with
some guys and a guy kept getting pointed out to me as the
local “fast guy”. His name was Jeff and had that
southern accent . A real nice guy and invited me to ride with
them. When asked where I was from I told them Wisconsin but
gave them no other information but that I was a chicken farmer
that rode around on the farm once in a while. I figured that
if they kicked my ass I wouldn’t have to go back to camp
with my tale between my legs. There were 6 guys in the group
including myself and I rode in back as to not hold anyone
up? They new these trails well and we rode on stuff that was
awesome! They told me that the property consisted of 62,000
acres !! All I could think about is “don’t lose
them!” We rode back in on some dirt rode for a few miles
to the trail head. I could see from the look in there eyes
that this was going to get ugly…..
When they took off I just rode careful and kept pace. These
guys could ride and the speed was getting faster as they began
to fight for position. I couldn’t hold back as this was
do or die, so I made my move working my way up through the
group. The trail was bruttle and I was thinking they have
done this just to see me cry. Well I knew the chicken farmer
story wasn’t going to hold up as I now had move up behind
Jeff. I made a move on a rocky up hill climb jumping over
a fallen tree that he was riding around then I hit the gas!
I knew he was eating rocks as they came spinning off my rear
tire but I was not going to give him the chance to catch me.
We went down and up twisted lines through trees and rocks
and then I came up to a road. I had no idea where I was going
from here so I stopped. When I turned around 4 out of the
5 guys were right there but no Jeff? A few moments later he
pulls up with his hand guards bent and nasty neck cuts from
a vine. He looked at me and said in that southern drawl, “Chicken
farmer my ass!!”
I just busted out laughing as did the rest of the guys -
it was pretty funny. The roosters had all shown their feathers
and had nothing to prove now. I was accepted in I guess and
they stopped trying to kill me. We rode from there through
some beautiful country and up some great hill climbs. Our
45 mile ride got us back to camp about 6:00 and I felt great
getting to ride with a bunch of fast good o’l boys. Made
some new friends down there and hope they don’t forget
the chicken farmer from Wisconsin too soon!
Dennis
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