Ok, folks - here are a few photos of the rally for your enjoyment and / or amusement. I had a fantastic time with some really great people.
I had the honor and privilege of leading the Thursday morning ride on a loop route featuring AR 341 - AKA Push Mountain Road - with our lunch destination being the Printing Press Cafe in Calico Rock (really cool place for lunch). The photos are from a stop along AR341 at a biker friendly store appropriately named 341 Market.
Friday found the group headed north toward Mountain Home, with lunch at Buffalo Point overlooking the Buffalo River - a National Scenic Riverway and a very popular float destination. The ride was marred a bit by Mikey's incident - fortunately not as serious as it easily could have been. I wish Mikey a speedy and full recovery, and hope you'll be able to attend the event again next year. Arkansas' first responders were fantastic, and the very attractive young lady who attended to Mikey had some of the group (I won't mention any names) feeling a bit jealous... A few of the group continued onward to lunch, while a few others made sure that his bike got transported back to the cabins. Those that were able to continue were treated to a great lunch, followed by a nice ride on a cool, cloudy day up to Mountain Home, then back south to Mountain View via AR210 and scenic AR5. Along the way, Marty experienced some issues with his Special (gunk in the fuel tank), but we managed to get him and his bike to the Angler's Restaurant parking lot, just a few miles from Mountain View - then a short trailer ride home to the park, where repair were successfully affected. Here are a few photos from a stop along the way at Big Flat.
And - a few photos from the restaurant at Buffalo Point above the Buffalo River.
The restaurant at Buffalo Point and the view from the bluff -
Saturday's ride was planned to head to Jasper and the Ozark Café for lunch. Unfortunately, we found that only valleys and hollows were free from fog. Any time we climbed out of a valley, we were socked in - at times, visibility was near zero. For the group's safety, the ride was called off about a third of the way along, as conditions were not improving. However, every cloud has a silver lining - in this case, it was lunch at Skylark Café in Leslie, where the fare was excellent! Here are a few photos of the group enjoying a great lunch.
After a final meal that evening at Mi Pueblito restaurant in Mountain View, we enjoyed listening to a live band in the town square for a while, then returned to the cabins for a final session of storytelling - ALL true, of course!
In summary, this rally is one of the high points for me every year. The riding is fantastic, the food is delicious, the venue is just about perfect - but by far the best part of it is the company of a really great bunch of individuals - it doesn't get better than this! I hope to see you all again next year, and maybe meet a few new folks.