Texas in October

[rocker59]

NTNOA Lake O the Pines Rallye and GRIT Lindale Rally!!!

 

 

 

The plan came together that Michael D and Gordon, of Tulsa, would meet me in Mansfield, Arkansas Saturday morning 3 October. From there we'd head South towards Lake of the Pines near Jefferson, Texas for an afternoon at the North Texas Norton Owners Association 25th Anniversary Rallye.

 

My day started early. I finished loading my Nero Corsa and departed Fayetteville for Mansfield about 0715. It's a pretty easy run. I-540 over the Boston Mountains, then US-71 South from Fort Smith. Map Link

 

 

I arrived at our rendezvous point in Mansfield a little early at 0840 after travelling the 85-miles from my house. A 60mph average! Michael D on his EV and Gordon on his Norge arrived from Tulsa at 0915 and we topped off our tanks for a run down US-71 towards Texas!

 

Any US Highway on a Saturday is going to be busy and this day was no exception. Lots of traffic and a half dozen LEOs between Mansfield and our next stop, De Queen. Nice curvy road and a beautiful day, though, so I settled into a relatively subdued touring pace. Map Link

 

We arrived in De Queen about lunch time, so we topped off our tanks after travelling the hundred miles down US-71 and asked the attendant where a good local place to eat might be. "Easy", she said. "Ranch House. It's my favorite". Well, it's unusual to get such a quick and sure response from a convenience store clerk, so I figured it must be good.

 

 

Any cafe/restaurant whose parking lot if filled with muddy pickup trucks at lunch must be good. It was, and our waitress Shirley was a hoot! Sorry no pics from inside, but this is the place to stop in De Queen if you're hungry. Good food. Local atmostphere. Friendly folks!!!

 

After a great lunch, we mounted back up and departed US-71 for a great little road , AR-41, that would take us to New Boston, Texas, and points South! Map Link

 

AR-41 South!

 

Michael D following me through the curves.

 

Michael D and his '98 EV.

 

Michael D and Gordon close behind on AR-41.

 

After another hundred miles we arrived in Jefferson, Texas. We topped off with fuel and then headed over to the NTNOA Lake O the Pines Rallye to take in a little British moto action...

[rocker59]

Sam Wheeler's Norton streamliner was a feature bike this year.

 

One never knows what he'll stumble across at a motorcycle gathering. A replica "Then Came Bronson" Sportster.

 

Nortons by the lake.

 

A cool Trident tracker!

 

Commando!

 

More Nortons.

 

Nice Ducati single.

 

A little MV.

 

A beautiful Ariel Square Four.

 

Vincent!

 

 

Another Norton.

 

Vintage American Iron.

 

 

An Enfield twin.

 

This MKIII was ridden down from Bentonville, Arkansas by the owner of Bentonville BMW.

 

The absolute coolest and craziest bike at the rally. It was ridden in from Colorado. The fairing is a cut-down Hannigan GT. The headlight is from a late-model Indian. The bike has inverted forks, triple disk brakes, single throat/dual injector efi (yes, electronic fuel injection). Unbelieveable what this guy has done.

 

 

 

After a few hours of fun, we departed Lake O the Pines for Hawkins, which would be our campsite for the night.

[rocker59]

Lake O the Pines.

 

Skies were darkening. It didn't look good. Yep, rain was definitely on the way to Northeast Texas!!!

 

I about wore my riding buddies out with all the turns, but Farm Road 726 was a great little route from LOP to Gladewater. From Gladewater, it was US-80 to Hawkins and our campsite at Lake Hawkins. Map Link

 

FM-726.

 

 

Well, it rained on us the last few miles into Hawkins and it looked like it would be raining for awhile. We found the campsite on the lake that was set aside for us. Luck would have it that the rain slacked long enough for us to quickly set up camp. It's a good thing we did that, because just minutes after moving all my stuff from the bike to the tent, the monsoon (remnants from a tropical depression) set in and would not slack up for the rest of our stay in Texas!!!

 

There were a few hardy souls camping by the lake with us. Dan, Bill and his wife. I think that was it. Six of us nutty enough to sleep out in the rain... Dave and Nicole were hanging at the campsite visiting (and providing beer. Thanks Dave!) and after a bit, we all got together and walked across the road to a little dive honky tonk bar for beer and burgers. Convenient! Good food and cold beer on a dark and rainy night.... We all had a good time, then about the time that the house band tuned up, I decided to head back to the tent and get some shuteye. Most followed. A few stayed to listen to the band. They'll have to chime in about that...

 

Here I am in my tent listening to the rain coming down...

 

More to follow...

[rocker59]

So, it rained all night Saturday Night... Yep... Gordon said it quit for half an hour but I didn't notice... We're talking inch an hour torrential tropical rain here. I guess I'm glad I didn't look at the weather closely before hitting the road. I might've had second thoughts... Well, my The North Face Rock 32 tent I'd purchased back in May did its thing and kept me dry all night!

 

At some point in the early AM, I heard some cursing over Michael D's way. Yep, he woke up with a few gallons of water in his tent. I had pitched my tent on high ground (relatively speaking), on the concrete RV pad at our campsite. After looking outside at the mudhole the campground had become, I was glad.

 

A quick look around my tent. Yep. Still dry after over 12 hours of constant rain!

 

About 0830 Gordon came over and said the rain was going to get worse so we'd better pack up now. I crawled out of my tent and looked over Michael D's way. Yep. It's been raining...

 

Michael D greeted me all cheery on this grey and rainy morning. Everything he had got wet overnight!

 

My camp, just before packing it up for the ride over to Lindale.

 

No pix of Gordon's setup, but he had one of those cool hammock tents and he said it worked great! Quick to pack up, too... He had to wait on Michael, and I, and got soaked in the process!

 

From Hawkins, it was a short, but very wet ride over to Faulkner Park outside Lindale for the annual Guzzi Riders in Texas rally. US-80 to Mineola, then US-69 toward Lindale. I sure wish I'd known about the Old Dallas-Shreveport Road. Nothing like a "wild goose chase" in the pouring-down rain. My riding buddies are lucky! Map Link

 

We missed the entrance to the park and had to make a U-turn on US-69. In the process, we lost Bill and his wife. Later they showed up after Dan called with directions. They were smart and went for coffee!

 

Nine bikes made it to the GRIT rally this year. The weather was that bad...

 

Georgeanne, the Texas MGNOC Rep had a great location setup for us! Nice and dry!

 

Mike Bui of Houston, Michael D of Tulsa, Todd Haven of MPH Cycles-Houston.

 

Ace Mallot and J.N. Smith. Ace won long distance rider award, coming down from St. Joe, Missouri to the Lake O the Pines rally and the GRIT Texas rally! J.N., as usual, won the oldest rider award! He ain't skeered of a little rain!

 

Lots of coffee, bread, pastry, etc. for the few hardy souls in attendance!

 

Highlight of the day was the really great spaghetti lunch! This is what I rode 350 miles for!

 

Mike Bui and I digging in!

 

Good times! Well, that's all the pictures I have. It was raining so hard all day that I didn't want to risk damaging my camera. Georgeanne really put out a lot of effort for the event. Too bad the tropical rain storm kept everyone away! I ended up winning the dirtiest bike award and taking away the 50/50 prize! I also picked up a GRIT T-shirt and GRIT bandana that were for sale in the pavillion.

 

Michael D, Gordon, and I suited up and headed back North towards home about 2pm. North on TX-37, we rode together through some heavy rain from Lindale to a fuel stop in Mt. Vernon. From Mt. Vernon, we rode through Paris and on to Hugo, Oklahoma where we parted ways. For Michael D and Gordon, it was The Indian Nations Turnpike to Tulsa. For me, US-271 to Fort Smith. Map Link

 

I had never ridden the whole of US-271 between Hugo, Oklahoma and Fort Smith, Arkansas, so I thought "why not today?". I could've saved some time and miles by running TX-37 and US-259, but I've BTDT! US-271 is a great little highway in Southeastern Oklahoma. It's lightly travelled. No truck traffic because many bridges are only rated for 20-tons. That's the only downer. Several of the bridges are under construction, so the work zones did slow me down a bit. The rain slacked off after my fuel stop in Clayton, Oklahoma then it got a little cooler. Damp and cloudy with temps in the 50s. Not too bad, but 330 miles of it and the rain had me glad to arrive home! Map Link

 

Six hours and a little more than 300 miles had me back home in The Hills...

 

Great weekend despite the rain! A bad day on a motorcycle beats a good day most anywhere else, no? It was a great 700 mile weekend! ;-T

[rocker59]

Michael D just sent me the link for his photos: Michael D's Photo Link

 

Thanks for the pics Michael D!!! Enjoyed the trip!!! See you next week in Oklahoma.