Riding for pie

[Kemp]

Two weird "holidays" in a row - May the 4th (Star Wars) and Cinco de Mayo - prompted me to christen an official holiday in my honor.

I celebrated it this weekend. I call it, "Mike Rides for Pie Day".

A great thing about it - it can (and should) be celebrated more than once a year.

The inaugural holiday started with a rough idea of a destination - the Skylark Cafe in Leslie, AR, about 65 miles from where I live in Conway. The direct route wasn't that exciting, so I launched to see which meandering route I could take to get there.

I decided I would wind my way north and west over several state highways to Arkansas 27 just north of Hector, which is a twisting ribbon of relatively unoccupied asphalt. Lots of elevation changes, too, which meant when I stopped at a scenic overlook where I never had before, the scenery wasn't very visible.

27 kept up the fun for several miles until it dumped me in Marshall on Highway 65.

I proceeded north on 65 for about 10 miles, crossing the Buffalo National River and stopping at Coursey's for some smoked summer sausage, bacon and smoked Swiss cheese. It's a "must stop" for when we visit family in Missouri, and if there's one thing I like as much as pie (or more), it's bacon.

I doubled back on my path back through Marshall to my lunch destination in tiny Leslie, AR. The Cubano sandwich was delicious, but I lost all interest when they brought out my slice of strawberry pie.

I also dropped a text to check in with my wife. It appears I have picked a soul mate.

I left Leslie headed toward Mountain View with the possibility of hitting a rarely-traveled road, but realized I had made a tactical error: I forgot to fill up at Leslie and was in no-man's land as far as gas pumps go. I decided I might be able to make it the 30 miles to Mountain View, and found a station about 10 miles into reserve.

I chatted with a local rider who was admiring my Tracer, which shows his good taste, and we discussed his desire to trade in his V-Strom 650 for a cruiser. Not sure how it would handle the gravel roads he lives down, but to each his or her own.

Having gorged on delicious pie and equally tasty roads, I headed back home, but not before taking an obligatory shot of my Tracer at one of my usual stops in Clinton:

After a few miles on U.S. 65, I decided some less populated state highways made for a better ride back to my house, so I adjusted my course accordingly.

All told, I made it back home with a ride of just under 300 miles (296, I think), a full stomach and a much better attitude. Time to find another spot to celebrate my holiday.

[2and3cylinders]

#1 Born to ride, ride to work, work to ride for frozen custard.

Though strawberry pie is a great substitute! 

#2 I recommend you get a dark tinted helmet visor because you seem to get a sunburn through your clear visor.

Great ride report except I have no clue of your locale so the route narration is lost on me and presumably others not familiar with your neighborhood. However, I hope some day soon to visit.

 

 

[Kemp]

2 hours ago, 2and3cylinders said:

#1 Born to ride, ride to work, work to ride for frozen custard.

Though strawberry pie is a great substitute! 

#2 I recommend you get a dark tinted helmet visor because you seem to get a sunburn through your clear visor.

Great ride report except I have no clue of your locale so the route narration is lost on me and presumably others not familiar with your neighborhood. However, I hope some day soon to visit.

 

 

I definitely need to remember the sunscreen.

[2and3cylinders]

2 hours ago, Kemp said:

I definitely need to remember the sunscreen.

I still recommend a dark visor!

[Xstoff]

3 hours ago, 2and3cylinders said:

I still recommend a dark visor!

Well, dark visor is good until it starts to get dark outside!

On another occasion, I also had that issue while riding in broad daylight but under dense forest... Opening the visor was ok until I started to get dust in my eyes!

[Kemp]

5 minutes ago, Xstoff said:

Well, dark visor is good until it starts to get dark outside!

On another occasion, I also had that issue while riding in broad daylight but under dense forest... Opening the visor was ok until I started to get dust in my eyes!

I think that's what I'm reluctant about, although my eyes are more sensitive to light after my lasik surgery. I was wishing for a pair of sunglasses, but that wouldn't help the rest of my face. Maybe I cough up the dough for a photochromatic visor. But, for a Shoei, it's as much as I've paid for entire helmets. Ugh.

[2and3cylinders]

I LIKE FLIP-UPS AND ALL OF MINE HAVE A DROP-DOWN INTERIOR SUN VISOR; AS DOES MY FULL FACE.

BUT SINCE YOU HAVE PANNIERS, JUST CARRY A CLEAR ONE IN ONE OF THEM OR A TANK OR PILLION BAG

SORRY FOR THE CAPS

 

OH AND YOU MENTIONED SRARWARS, OBVIOUSLY YOUR BETTER HALF IS A MANDALORIAN FAN...

[PhotoAl]

Thanks for the ride description. I go thru Memphis and Jonesboro on my way out west. Springfield MO is 600 miles and a long 1st day.  Been looking for a shorter trip in May/June if I can catch a break.  I've gone to Utah a couple of times in June but don't think I have enough time this year.  Places like this would be great for a 4 or 5 day trip.

[Xstoff]

2 hours ago, 2and3cylinders said:

I LIKE FLIP-UPS AND ALL OF MINE HAVE A DROP-DOWN INTERIOR SUN VISOR; AS DOES MY FULL FACE.

BUT SINCE YOU HAVE PANNIERS, JUST CARRY A CLEAR ONE IN ONE OF THEM OR A TANK OR PILLION BAG

SORRY FOR THE CAPS

 

OH AND YOU MENTIONED SRARWARS, OBVIOUSLY YOUR BETTER HALF IS A MANDALORIAN FAN...

I used to have a Scorpion Exo 1000 which had the inside sun visor...

My Arai doesn't have that... but I love it more 😅

So it's sunglasses/sunscreen and clear visor for me 

[duhg]

 

[1moreroad]

I was up there on 2 wheels last weekend, too, around Mountain View.  A little different experience.

 

[TomTracer]

4 hours ago, PhotoAl said:

Thanks for the ride description. I go thru Memphis and Jonesboro on my way out west. Springfield MO is 600 miles and a long 1st day.  Been looking for a shorter trip in May/June if I can catch a break.  I've gone to Utah a couple of times in June but don't think I have enough time this year.  Places like this would be great for a 4 or 5 day trip.

Heading N out of Hardy, AR really slows the trip. I love riding much of AR,  but gotta be patient.

[1moreroad]

14 hours ago, PhotoAl said:

Thanks for the ride description. I go thru Memphis and Jonesboro on my way out west. Springfield MO is 600 miles and a long 1st day.  Been looking for a shorter trip in May/June if I can catch a break.  I've gone to Utah a couple of times in June but don't think I have enough time this year.  Places like this would be great for a 4 or 5 day trip.

Crowley's Ridge is fun.  Cross at Helena instead of Memphis and ride up through the National Forest then the Ridge roughly parallels AR-1 just a little to the east.  Good way to get to Jonesboro.  There is also a lot of good riding on Farm to Market roads west of Cape Girardeau between the AR-MO state line and Tom Sauk state park.

[Kemp]

16 hours ago, PhotoAl said:

Thanks for the ride description. I go thru Memphis and Jonesboro on my way out west. Springfield MO is 600 miles and a long 1st day.  Been looking for a shorter trip in May/June if I can catch a break.

I've not ridden Crowley's Ridge, but I understand it's a pretty entertaining ride. I drove portions of it years ago, and need to get back over to try it on two wheels.

If you've got a few days, I definitely would recommend you do a little exploring in Arkansas. Some of the more entertaining roads can be found west of U.S. 65 and north of I-40; just pick a road and go! With four or five days, you could make a pretty fun trip out of it.

[Kemp]

15 hours ago, duhg said:

Every day is a good day for pie!