Short ride to Hurley

We decided to enjoy the nice weather and go for a short Sunday ride. We started at home, then rode by Nixa high school, continuing on highway M until we got to Hootentown. We looked at the James River, then continued on to highway U and then highway A.

We rode past Hurley high school, and then continued on to Billings. From there, we rode home. Nice little ride!

First trip with "Little Red"

We had taken our bike in to Gene's Gallery in Springfield earlier in the week to get a couple of small repairs done.  During his lunch break, Eric picked up the motorcycle from Gene's Galler and drove to work to finish the day. He then drove back home and hooked up our trailer, a.k.a. "Little Red",  for its first trip, and then drove to Branson to pick me up from school. This was a good chance to see how the bike responded when pulling the trailer. Eric said he could barely tell the trailer was there. I think we are really going to enjoy having the trailer!



Starting mileage 69301
Ending mileage 69417

Ride to Stockton Lake and Nathan Boone Homestead

I guess yesterday's almost 400 mile ride wasn't quite enough for us, because we headed out again today for another motorcycle adventure. :) Today's trek to us north to Stockton Lake. We left the house at 8:15 AM and went north to Bolivar to eat breakfast at Smith's Restaurant. We both got the breakfast buffet, although Eric ate Kocoa Krispies. 😊

From Bolivar, we headed west and continued on to Stockton, where we drove around the lake and took some photos.  There were lots of sailboats out on the lake.

On our way home, we went through Ash Grove and visited the Nathan Boone Homestead and State Park. We did have to drive on a gravel driveway to get to the park entrance, but Eric went very slow, so we did fine. The homestead was very interesting. This is definitely a place to visit again and bring a picnic.

We headed back to Springfield, and ate a late lunch at Firehouse Subs.



Ride Info:

Starting Time: 8:15 a.m.

It was chilly enough that we had to wear T-shirts, pullovers, and jackets with liners. We both wore tights under our jeans. The temperature got up to 76°.

End Time: 4:00 p.m.

Starting Mileage: 69108
Ending Mileage: 69301

September 21, 2013 - Our first ride with friends

Today we did our first ride with another couple. My friend from school, Barb Head, and her husband Steve also ride a Goldwing. When Barb found out that we got our bike, she invited us to go riding with her and Steve. We couldn't say no! :) This ended up being a very adventurous day for us, and Eric learned a lot about riding the bike. Here's a summary of our ride:

We met Barb and Steve Head at the Ozark McDonalds at 7:30am. We drove to Harrison, AR to eat breakfast at Neighbor's Mill.  We had the sausage and egg casserole, a pumpkin and cheesecake muffin, and a cinnamon roll. The food was awesome as usual! This is one of our favorite places to eat when we go down to Arkansas to hike and such.

After breakfast, we continued on Hwy 65 to Western Grove, where we got gas. We turned south on Hwy 123 where we survived some steep switchbacks as we climbed up Mt. Judea (Eric did great on them)! We continued on Hwy 123 to Clarksville, where we ate lunch at Fat Dawgz BBQ. There was a car show going on at the town square.

We then rode on Interstate 40 to Ozark, AR, and headed north on Hwy 23. This part of Hwy 23 is called the "Pig Trail" and we saw thousands of bikers on the road. This was the same weekend as Bikes, Blues, and BBQ in Fayetteville, where there was rumored to be 500,000 bikes. It was an amazing site. We got our photo taken by a roadside photographer (Website: www.pigtrailpictures.com), which was pretty cool, even though the picture was not good enough to buy.

We went through Huntsville, and then made it to Eureka Springs where we saw TONS more bikers.
We snaked our way through the town (at 5 mph....yuck) which was super crowded. Eric did pretty well, except for one spot where we had to stop on a steep hill, another car was right behind us, and he had to start from a dead stop and turn right into heavy traffic. This is a huge challenge for a novice biker, but he did it!

We continued on to Harrison, where we ate dinner at Colton's Steakhouse. Unfortunately, our headset bluetooth units ran out of battery power.  No communication on the way home.  :( Next time, we will bring chargers to use while we eat. We finished in the dark, then drove home (fast) on Hwy 65 with lights blazing! Great ride with good friends!




Ride Info:
(We decided for ourselves we are going to post some ride info for ourselves so that we can use it to help up plan how to dress for future rides, figure out our stamina, etc. Feel free to ignore this stuff.)

Route Link

Starting Temp: 53 degrees

Start Time: 7:30 a.m.

Clothing: We wore jeans, t-shirts, running long-sleeve pullovers (Cindy pink fleece), jackets with liners. We used the chin shields in our helmets during the morning and night, but not during the day.
High temp was 82.  At peak "heat" we wore just our t-shirts and jackets without liners. Felt very comfortable. On the way home, it was 56 degrees. Wore the pullovers along with jacket liners. Comfortable except for hands being cold.

End Time: 9:15 p.m.

Starting mileage 68722
Ending mileage 69108
Total miles 386

September 15, 2013 - Our first real ride - the Jasper Disaster!

Now before you get the wrong idea, Jasper Disaster is the name of this motorcycle route in Arkansas. The ride was definitely no disaster - it was amazing! Again, we admit that this may not have been the smartest thing for us to do as novice riders, but we were so ready to ride our bike to a pretty location.

Our ride started by driving to Branson to buy plastic snakes at Dick's Five and Dime. My mom said they would scare away the birds that were becoming a nuisance on our back porch. We then rode on south to Harrison, and stopped in Ponca to hike at Lost Valley. We rode on to Jasper to eat lunch at Ozark Café, returned to Harrison to get gas, and then headed home for a nap! It was a great first real road ride. We are definitely hooked. Go Big Red!

First ride on Hwy 65

Today, Eric picked me up from school on the motorcycle! This was his first time to ride down Hwy 65, and he said it was a little scary at first. It was pretty blustery that day, so when we left school and hit the highway heading north, I was a bit nervous that I wasn't going to enjoy going at highway speed. We had decided to take the scenic way home through Bradleyville and Ava, and once we got off 65, the wind issue was much better. The road from Bradleyville to Ava was very pretty, and we enjoyed the time together very much. Once we got back to Ozark, we decided to eat dinner at Rosie Joe's Cafe. By the time we left the restaurant, it was pretty dark, so it was a good think we didn't have to go very far since we both still had on our dark face shields. Fun ride home for sure!

Riding with a passenger

After his first ride on Wednesday, Eric kept going. He, of course, read the MO motorcycle manual the day we decided to get the bike, and went to get his permit immediately. He also signed up to take the OTC beginning motorcycle safety class in October, which gives him his permanent license. On his second day of riding, he was ready to try carrying me as a passenger. Yes, we realize now that this was crazy, but he had no problems riding with me on the back. We spent another hour going from cul-du-sac to cul-du-sac with me on the back. It was a blast! The next day he decided he wanted to hit the road since he had his permit. We picked a short loop on some country roads near our house and road it over and over again in the evenings. It was 90 degrees, but we still had a blast.

Our son came home for the weekend, so on Saturday, September 7, Corey got to do the cul-du-sac ride with his dad. We were worried he might think we were crazy for getting the bike, but he seemed to think it was cool.

Eric's first ride

If you know my husband at all, you know that he is not the type of person who can wait once he's set his mind to a task. The day after our motorcycle was delivered, his friend AAron came over after work and taught Eric to ride the bike. Any of you who ever ridden motorcycles can appreciate the fact that Eric's first ride was on a Goldwing! They are not starter bikes. Needless to say, I was impressed that my hubby picked up on it so quickly. He spent an hour at home that evening riding from our road to the road up the block, and just went from cul-du-sac to cul-du-sac until he felt super comfortable. Here's a video of his first ride at the OTC parking lot where AAron was teaching him.

September 1, 2013 - Our Adventure Begins!

September 1, 2013 was a momentous day for us. It was the day we decided we needed a motorcycle. Eric and I had talked over the years about how when we retire some day, it would be fun to get a motorcycle and travel together around the country. We have ridden a tandem bicycle together since college, and saw this as a natural progression as we got older. It was our silly joke/dream for the future. Little did we know that our plan would come true well before retirement.

On Saturday night, August 31, Eric and I were just hanging out at home, trying to think of something fun to do on Sunday since it was Labor Day weekend, and our son Corey was off to his first year at college, so we had a weekend to ourselves. Every once in while, I hop on Craigslist to see if there are any cheap campers for sale. We love to go hiking and camping, but I'm kind of done with the tent, so I was hoping that maybe I'd find a bargain camper with an air conditioner. :) When my search gave me no results, I decided on a whim to look at motorcycles. A couple of Eric's work buddies ride Harleys, and Eric had been talking wistfully about his friends' bikes lately. We have been saving for our future "fun" vehicle for while, but didn't quite have funds in place for anything expensive since we weren't planning on making this kind of purchase for a few years. This all changed very quickly when I stumbled on a post for this bike, located right here in Ozark, only a couple of blocks away from our house!

It even had a trailer that went with it. I didn't even know there was such a thing as a motorcycle trailer! The owner was retired and could no longer use the bike because of health issues, and it had a price on it that was right in the budget of what we had saved up for so far for our "fun" vehicle. At this point, I nudged my hubby and said, "Hey Honey, what do you think about this?" He didn't know what I was doing, so when he saw a motorcycle on my computer screen, he instantly perked up. :)

For the next two hours, we poured over Craigslist looking at postings for Goldwings. We were open to any kind of bike, but we both had a hunch that this would be the best kind for us as a couple. We found another bike in our price range that was also close by and looked like it was in good condition. It wasn't nearly as pretty as the red one, but it still had potential.

We realized at this point that our motorcycle dream could actually become a reality, so Eric sent both listings to his friend Chuck who happens to be a motorcycle instructor and rides a Goldwing. Chuck said the price on both was great and said either would probably be good, but mentioned that the red one was loaded with extras. Even though it was older (a 2003), he said it was definitely worth considering. He gave us a list of questions to ask the owners, and wished us luck. I always tell Eric that I want him to learn to French braid my hair, so I jokingly said, "If you learn to French braid my hair, you can get the motorcyle." He hopped on You Tube, and here is the result. It's amazing what a guy will do when motivated. ;)

Eric called both owners and made appointments for us on Sunday to see both bikes.

We visited the red bike first. I think we both knew the instant we saw it that it was bike for us. Dave and Fay, the current owners, were very nice retired farmers from Iowa, and they spent an hour telling us their biking history as a couple. You could tell they loved riding and were very sad to be having to give up the bike, but due to health concerns, they couldn't use it anymore. We let them know that we had another bike we were considering, and told them we would let them know soon what our decision would be.

We traveled to Pleasant Hope to look at the gold bike. The owner was a retired military guy who also could no longer ride due to health issues. He was also very nice and helpful, and the bike was good, but it could not compare with the red one. Eric and left and headed straight to Ozark.

On our way, Eric called Dave and asked if we could have a friend test drive the bike for us. You have to realize, Eric had never ridden a motorcycle before and did not have a license. His friend from work, AAron, kindly agreed to test the bike for us. AAron gave it the thumbs up, and that was all Eric needed to make the final decision. We arranged to have Dave drive the bike to our house on Tuesday when we could get him the cash since the bank would be closed on Monday for the holiday. Needless to say, we were very excited about our new adventure that was about to begin!

We spent Monday shopping for accessories. We went to every motorcycle store in Springfield. We even went to the Harley store and sat on one of their touring bikes to make sure we had made the right decision on the Goldwing. We did! It's much more comfortable and affordable. Our accessory hunting was successful at the Cruisin 66 store in Ozark. The owner, Nan, was very helpful and got us outfitted with all of our gear. Tuesday couldn't get here fast enough!

On Tuesday evening, Dave and Fay delivered the bike to our house. We were so excited, and you could tell that Dave and Fay were glad that we would be the owners of the bike they had loved so much. Dave actually teared up when they left! Such nice people! Eric and I were now the proud owners of Big Red!