Hey all,
Got a new VFR lately, ordered some crap for it and am looking to take a shakedown trip to the Ozarks over Easter weekend. I've been lurking on this site ever since I bought the bike trying to gather information on the ins-outs of sport-touring (read: learning lessons from hearing about other's mishaps rather than first hand experience), so I figured I'd put the call out to some like-minded individuals. Here's your open invitation to come enjoy the warmer weather and scrub in some new shoes. (I kinda live by the "why the hell not" code of ethics.)
I'm planning currently on leaving from OKC Thursday morning and running a combination of slab/state highways to get up near Table Rock Lake (Branson area or just perhaps NW Arkansas.) I don't want to dedicate TOO much to a riding plan, would rather kinda see the sights and not pressure myself to run 600+ mile days, just some nice twisties to get accustomed to the feel of the bike, perhaps get some ideas on whether or not I need to get anything for comfort and to make sure my bags I've ordered don't suck to badly. Checking out some of the local caverns and stuff is on my list of things to do provided they're not flooded.
Hell, I'd be happy as a pig in sh!t to just plan on meeting up with some folks either on the way or at the destination for the first night, so if you're not based in OKC but would still like to bump around the Ozarks Fri and Sat, call it out!
Haven't decided on where to stay yet, and plan to be headed home from wherever I wind up going pretty early Easter Sunday.
Anyway, typically I'd wrangle some of my riding buddies into going along with me, but they're all being pansies, so I figured it might be kinda fun to see if I could get a couple ST.N folks interested and maybe get a chance to get to know some of you. So, if you're interested in a weekend run with no itinerary (yet) and don't have a problem planning to take a ride with someone you don't know, post on here and let's make some kind of plans. In my mind I'm seeing this...
Day one: Ride out, get cabin/campsite, food, a couple beers and relax a bit. (weather be damned short of hail)
Day two: Couple hundred sublime backroad miles, lunch, maybe some local stuff (caverns or local attraction).
Day three: Repeat day two.
Day four: Blitz home in time to watch the OKC Thunder pound the hell out of Toronto.
I've checked into accommodations near the Branson area mainly because I love the roads around there and there's a lot to do if the weather goes to hell. There's some cabins right on Table Rock Lake (
www.watersedgetr.com) that I've stayed at before and they're reasonably priced... if you prefer a tent, I've camped there before and it's a pretty nice spot to wake up. Plenty of trees and hey, the showers/bathrooms are actually NOT awful.
DISCLOSURE: I'm not a squid. I have no issue whatsoever in letting someone ride on ahead if I feel that the pace is out of my comfort zone, and really don't mind doing my own thing. Mind you... my pace isn't slow, but I'm not one to take unnecessary risks either.
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