Pic Heavy 2016 Ride Report - 40 Days Following the Front Wheel

[Wingfoot]

I would recommend Mount Magazine about an hour south of Ozark, AR. It has a much better view(s).

 

[peteg59]

Kevin, sorry to hear of your co~pilots departure, for the reason stated.
Prayers for John...

 

[DK Custom Products]

Mt Nebo is one skinny road going up that mountain. Great views but one narrow road.

Yeah, it got pretty narrow, but it was a ton of fun!

I would recommend Mount Magazine about an hour south of Ozark, AR. It has a much better view(s).

Gonna add that to the list for future roads to travel. Thank you!

Kevin, sorry to hear of your co~pilots departure, for the reason stated.
Prayers for John...

Thank you!

Kevin

 

[DK Custom Products]

Day 36-




Leaving my home away from home in Muskogee-

Headed for Arkansas.

More toll stops in OK. This is the last one.

Had the road pretty much to myself for a good bit...enjoying the open road.

Passing the turn-off for the 40 headed west, a bit down the road is the 40 headed east...

...on the 40 now, not long before I cross into Arkansas. More traffic now, including some fellow travelers.

Arkansas! Got a few hundred miles of road in this State, then a corner of Tennessee, then a 75 miles of familiar road in Mississippi before arriving home.

But first a detour to Mt. Nebo, and then Hot Springs.


I turned off the 40 at Dardenelle, got gas and headed to Mt. Nebo.


I like signs like this....they mean Fun Ahead!

Headed into the first of many switchbacks...

...in the middle of the switchback.

More in next post.

 

[DK Custom Products]

Day 36 Continued-






Coming out of the first switchback.

This is a very steep, and somewhat narrow road, lots of turns, angles, and generally a lot of fun!

Tight & Sharp...

...a road that highlights the strengths of the Tri-Glides handling.

This photo, with the car in it gives a better perspective of just how steep and sharp these corners are.

Stopped at a scenic look-out part way up the hill...

...walking back from the look-out.

At the top of Mt. Nebo...

...the views are 360*

These deer had just crossed the road in front of me...I stopped and watched them take their time walking into the woods.

Thanks to Imold....last year he suggested taking this ride up Mt. Nebo. Glad I did, was a fun road, and great views!




On the way up I had the video camera snapping photo's, on the way down I was recording video.




Click HERE for a very short snipped of video of a couple of curves.






Imold also suggested taking the 7 from Dardanelle to Hot Springs...which is what I did after coming down from Mt. Nebo.


It was a fun road and I'll post a few pics of that ride soon.

Kevin

 

[BillR]

Kevin, thanks for sharing the ride with us.

I meant to comment earlier, I really like the short videos, just enough to see what's going on. ThumbUp

 

[badintn]

Just wanted to thank you for your thread

Kevin, I'm relatively new to this forum having just purchased my first Tri 4 months ago, my third Harley to date. Your thread has really been inspiring to me and my wife, giving us the itch to plan some trips. My wife finally feels comfortable on the Trike, she just wasn't on my 2 wheelers. Thanks again for your thread and your ever willingness to offer advice to help a member out.
Brad

 

[DK Custom Products]

Kevin, thanks for sharing the ride with us.

I meant to comment earlier, I really like the short videos, just enough to see what's going on. ThumbUp

Good to hear your liking them. ThumbUp It's sometimes difficult to go thru all the footage and pick up just a bit...there is so much great riding. But it has to stay short for uploading.

Kevin, I'm relatively new to this forum having just purchased my first Tri 4 months ago, my third Harley to date. Your thread has really been inspiring to me and my wife, giving us the itch to plan some trips. My wife finally feels comfortable on the Trike, she just wasn't on my 2 wheelers. Thanks again for your thread and your ever willingness to offer advice to help a member out.
Brad

Great to hear you're both enjoying your TG. We have always done trips, but now on 3 wheels it is much easier and more relaxing. Hope the two of you get to make a lot of good memories together!

Kevin

 

[DK Custom Products]

Day 36 Concluded-




The 7, running from Dardanelle to Hot Springs is about 60 miles of some great riding.

It is a fun road with...

...curves...

...elevation changes...

...tree-lined...

...winding sometimes, sharp sometimes...

...just a great riding road. A welcome change after the straight riding of east Colorado, Kansas and Oklahoma!

Oh, and sprinkled with old bridges!

There was very little traffic between Dardanelle and Hot Springs. That changed when I hit the tourist town of Hot Springs.

This looks like a fun work truck!

Once I got thru Hot Springs, it was a hop, skip and a jump to Malvern.


I could have pushed thru to Mississippi today, but it was extremely hot & muggy, and the air conditioning of the Super 8 on the side of the road was calling my name.




Day 37 coming soon.

Kevin

 

[DK Custom Products]

Day 37-


After a little over 10,000 miles riding, thru 12 States, it is 225 miles more to get home. A bit of it on the 30, then the most on the 40, then the 55, followed by a bunch of backroads to the house.




Leaving out- just filled up with gas across from my home away from home in Malvern, AR.

The 30 is a nice little stretch of road, out of Malvern...

...I had it mostly to myself this morning.

On Interstate 40 now.

A bit of traffic.

Farmland-

I-40 between Little Rock & Memphis is pretty much a "get from point A to point B" road.


I turned the music on, put it on cruise, and stayed as far away from semi's and crazy cagers as I could.


Before I knew I was nearing Memphis.

Crossing the Great Mississippi River...

...Into Tennessee.

Taking the lower loop around Memphis.

More in next post.

 

[DK Custom Products]

Day 37-The End of this Trip...until the next one!




On the 55 now, still in Memphis, here's the off-ramp to Graceland.

Crossing into Mississippi-

Soon after, I got off the interstate and took back-roads the rest of the way home.

We have seen a great many sights this trip, but it is nice to be back home and enjoying the roads I ride regularly.

We don't have anything in the way of mountains or tight twistsy, but, near the house, we have a hundreds of miles of nicely wooded country roads with sweepers...

very little traffic, and nice road surfaces.

Home & unloaded!

This trip was one that we concentrated more on visiting family & friends, and less on putting on the miles and seeing everything possible. We had to modify our route a bit, and cut it short a few days, but still rode a little over 10,000 miles.


We made a ton of great memories, and some new friends too!


Scott & Karin in Colorado-

Favorite pics of the trip!

Kevin & Mary

 

[ol' school]

Glad you all are home safe! I throughly enjoyed your whole trip thread! Awesome pics, videos and narration! Absolutely beautiful country to have rode through! ThumbUp

 

[Ed Hobgood]

Kevin and Mary, It shows you guys are made for each other and love to ride the roads of this great country. Thank you both for all the photos and letting us follow along with you. So.. where are we going next year?

 

[flyswatter]

Really enjoyed the ride report..

 

[Gorilla]

THANK YOU Mary and Kevin.

 

[desertclassic]

I enjoyed every pic, every post. What a trip. We are heading out to Durango last week in Sept. Could be a little cool for us desert rats but the trees should be beautiful. Jim

 

[DblTrbl]

As everyone else has stated, thanks for letting us ride with you over the past 37 days or so.

Now the tough part of not having daily ride updates to follow....:Shrug:

Looking forward to meeting you both at Maggie Valley if you are still planning to go.

 

[Zammy]

Kevin and Mary, a big heartfelt thank you for sharing your adventures with us, you two could have been travel writers. The wonderful pictures and narration were both entertaining and informative, looking forward to meeting you in NC,

 

[55il]

Wow what a trip and ride you took us on. I really enjoyed the photos and ride report each day. It has been fun. Again, Thanks DJ

 

[TGCarol]

Add my thanks to the list . Your rides are inspirational. I had a great time following along.

 

[DJFaninTN]

thanks for allowing us to ride along with you on your journey!

 

[paws]

Yep, having withdrawal symptoms.
Looking forward to our next trip!
Carla

 

[Trent]

Kevin & Mary... You should see the sights on our Lowman Loop ride that we took with you when you were here. A Wildfire has burned over 78,000 acres now between Idaho City and Lowman. I had to go partway up to Idaho City last week for work, and it is a blackened landscape far as you can see on both sides of Hwy 21. So sad to see that green forest gone. They just couldn't get a handle on it. Had to evacuate Lowman a couple of times when the winds took it out of control. Sure does not look the same as it did in June when you were here.....

Update... as of tonight that fire has scorched 130 square miles and they evacuating Lowman again. They do have is 35% contained now.

I am not sure how they figure out that percentage.

 

[DK Custom Products]

I have just posted a post-trip accounting of how the Tri-Glide fared during the trip in the Project Tri-Glide thread. You can see it HERE.

Kevin

 

[DK Custom Products]

Glad you all are home safe! I throughly enjoyed your whole trip thread! Awesome pics, videos and narration! Absolutely beautiful country to have rode through!

ThumbUp

Kevin and Mary, It shows you guys are made for each other and love to ride the roads of this great country.

Thank you both for all the photos and letting us follow along with you.

So..

where are we going next year?

Really enjoyed the ride report..

THANK YOU Mary and Kevin.

I enjoyed every pic, every post. What a trip.

We are heading out to Durango last week in Sept.

Could be a little cool for us desert rats but the trees should be beautiful.

Jim

As everyone else has stated, thanks for letting us ride with you over the past 37 days or so.

Now the tough part of not having daily ride updates to follow....:Shrug:

Looking forward to meeting you both at Maggie Valley if you are still planning to go.

Yes!

We are looking forward to it!

Kevin and Mary, a big heartfelt thank you for sharing your adventures with us, you two could have been travel writers.

The wonderful pictures and narration were both entertaining and informative, looking forward to meeting you in NC,

Wow what a trip and ride you took us on. I really enjoyed the photos and ride report each day. It has been fun. Again, Thanks DJ

Add my thanks to the list .

Your rides are inspirational.

I had a great time following along.

thanks for allowing us to ride along with you on your journey!

Yep, having withdrawal symptoms.

Looking forward to our next trip!

Carla

Thank you for all the comments and encouragement!

It was a great trip, and your comments kept me on track at documenting it.

Come January we will start thinking about next years trip.

Right now we're still catching up from being gone, Plus preparing for the Maggie Valley get together, the Hot Bike Tour, and the Texas Gathering in October!

Kevin & Mary...

You should see the sights on our Lowman Loop ride that we took with you when you were here.

A Wildfire has burned over 78,000 acres now between Idaho City and Lowman. I had to go partway up to Idaho City last week for work, and it is a blackened landscape far as you can see on both sides of Hwy 21. So sad to see that green forest gone. They just couldn't get a handle on it. Had to evacuate Lowman a couple of times when the winds took it out of control. Sure does not look the same as it did in June when you were here.....

Update... as of tonight that fire has scorched 130 square miles and they evacuating Lowman again.

They do have is 35% contained now. I am not sure how they figure out that percentage.

Wow!

Just went online and looked at some of the news and photos. Sad.

Hope they get it under control soon.

Kevin

 

[dhimsey]

Mary and I have been looking forward to this trip since a few weeks after we returned from our trip up to Bella Coola, Canada last year! (see that Ride Report HERE)

We are staying in the States this year. We will be visiting family, and we'll be hitting quite a few National Parks. We have a few places that we are scheduled to be at certain times, and we have a loose route planned, but we are going to be following our Front Wheel for the next 40 days! ThumbUp

Unlike last year, I am going to try and keep the Ride Report as real-time as possible. Over the next week or two we will find out how that works out. :laugh:

We are leaving out in the morning, and just finished packing up most of the bike.

It looks like we'll be riding in plenty of 90* weather, as well as in some snow!

Here's almost all of the stuff we are taking-

Yep, it all fit!

Kevin

Kevin and Mary,

as many have said, your chronicles, photos and notes are like taking us with you. Mary takes great photos, so clear and tell a story.

In one of your posts (maybe more), you mention that Mary is a great companion and is not a back seat driver. You even mention that you occasionally lift the front wheel or drive a little aggressively around a cambered turn, and she goes along without “correcting you”.

I think that a great idea for an article would be for Mary to do a write-up of how she acquired this much trust in your riding skill and how she is able to enjoy the ride instead of trying to drive from the back seat.

just a thought, but I bet that if you put it to a vote, we’d all like the secret!

thanks for taking us along.

Dave

 

[DK Custom Products]

Kevin and Mary,

as many have said, your chronicles, photos and notes are like taking us with you. Mary takes great photos, so clear and tell a story.

In one of your posts (maybe more), you mention that Mary is a great companion and is not a back seat driver. You even mention that you occasionally lift the front wheel or drive a little aggressively around a cambered turn, and she goes along without “correcting you”.

I think that a great idea for an article would be for Mary to do a write-up of how she acquired this much trust in your riding skill and how she is able to enjoy the ride instead of trying to drive from the back seat.

just a thought, but I bet that if you put it to a vote, we’d all like the secret!

thanks for taking us along.

Dave

Interesting idea! I honestly have no idea. I could never be a passenger behind myself. I don't like being a passenger period...it scares me.

I will ask her.

Kevin

 

[cScjhb]

Kevin,

Just a side note..... Several years ago I took a friend as a co-rider down to Tucson to pick up a bike. We were both 2 wheel riders at that time. I have ridden 2 up for thousands of miles but he was absolutely the worst passenger I ever experienced. He was trying to lean and drive from the pilon. I'd probably be the same..... Jim

 

[LadyonaMission]

Kevin and Mary,

as many have said, your chronicles, photos and notes are like taking us with you. Mary takes great photos, so clear and tell a story.

In one of your posts (maybe more), you mention that Mary is a great companion and is not a back seat driver. You even mention that you occasionally lift the front wheel or drive a little aggressively around a cambered turn, and she goes along without “correcting you”.

I think that a great idea for an article would be for Mary to do a write-up of how she acquired this much trust in your riding skill and how she is able to enjoy the ride instead of trying to drive from the back seat.

just a thought, but I bet that if you put it to a vote, we’d all like the secret!

thanks for taking us along.

Dave

True love and complete faith in his skills are the only things that come to mind when I see the pictures or see them together. :friends:

 

[DK Custom Products]

Kevin,

Just a side note..... Several years ago I took a friend as a co-rider down to Tucson to pick up a bike. We were both 2 wheel riders at that time. I have ridden 2 up for thousands of miles but he was absolutely the worst passenger I ever experienced. He was trying to lean and drive from the pilon. I'd probably be the same..... Jim

Yeah, I REALLY don't like being a passenger. Hurt my knee really bad once when I bailed off the 4 wheeler when my daughter was riding and I was the passenger....she was scaring the crap out of me! :laugh:

Kevin