Chicken Ride 2008

The Chicken Ride is so named because of the award presented to any participant who does something stupid or screws up in any way during the trip. Since this is an annual ride, the person that ends up with the chicken on one ride starts with it on the next. On Thursday, May 1, 2008, I was concerned about the weather for Gary's annual Chicken Ride, which was to start Friday morning. Severe weather dominated the news in Shawnee, the Kansas City area, and the entire region. During the night I was awakened by strong winds and rain. I found out the following morning that areas north of Kansas City received the brunt of the storm.

On Friday morning, May 2, fifteen riders met for the ride. It was cloudy, about 52 degrees, and the streets were still wet. It was enough to dirty up all of our clean motorcycles.

Mel retained the chicken from last year's ride. (Mel is so attached to the chicken that he bought himself a chicken suit in which he was recently photographed:)

We departed for Archie, MO at 8:20 AM. It remained cool and there was an occasional light drizzle. We had a great breakfast at BJ's Restaurant and then we waited for Rod.

Rod previously had electrical work done on his motorcycle and trailer. The morning of the ride he realized that the wiring was screwed up. Braking activated his trailer turn signals and signaling a turn activated his trailer brake lights. He waited for the dealer to open up at which time he had the problem corrected. He then took off for Archie, MO. Since we had to wait for him he was awarded the chicken. Mel reluctantly presented the chicken to Rod.

As we ate breakfast the sun came out and the rest of the day was beautiful. We rode east on county road B out of Archie to highway 7 east. We took 7 all the way to Camdenton, MO, where we stopped for gas. From Camdenton we followed 7 east and south to highway 17 south, to highway 32 east to Salem, MO.

Somewhere between Licking and Salem on highway 32 Larry rode off the right side of the road into loose gravel, nearly losing control and crashing. Witnesses to the event were surprised he didn't go down. Fortunately, due to skill or blind-ass luck, he was able to maintain control and reenter the highway. Unfortunately, he earned the chicken. We stopped in Salem, where Rod presented the chicken to Larry.

We continued east on highway 32 out of Salem, to highway 72 south, to highway 21 south, to Ellington, MO. We had an early dinner at Hall's Restaurant where some riders pigged out on the buffet. Most of us, however, had the famous ranch burger. The burgers were very good, even though the buns were slightly stale.

After dinner we rode south on highway 21, to highway highway 60 west to Van Buren, MO. We spent the night at the Landing Motel, which is somewhat pricey but has a great view of the Current River. From the balconies (which run the length of the motel) we sat outside, enjoyed the view of the river, and engaged in lively conversation over adult beverages.

On Saturday morning, May 3, we awoke to a mostly sunny day in the low 50's. We rode to downtown Van Buren and ate breakfast at the Float Stream Restaurant. The breakfast was excellent. One of our group, Rob, gorged himself on the "Fisherman's Breakfast", which consisted of a pound of ham, three eggs, hash browns, and biscuits and gravy. He ate the whole thing. We parked our bikes around the town square.

When we left the Float Stream Restaurant it was cloudy and still very cool. We rode east on highway 60, to highway 21 south, to Arkansas. By the time we got to Arkansas the sun was shining bright and it warmed to the low 60's this day. We picked up highway 115 south, which took us into Pocahontas, AR. We took a bathroom break at a park along the Black River. This area has some interesting history that we read about on plaques near the parking lot. The Black River, like many waterways in the area, was out of its banks.

From Pocahontas we traveled west on highway 62 (and 115), to 115 south and west to highway 167 south, to highway 25 west, to highway 92 west, to Greers Ferry, AR. East of Greers Ferry we saw the aftermath of a tornado which passed through recently. Trees were bent over or snapped off, roofs were gone, trees were dropped onto homes, and one mobile home appeared as though it exploded.

We gassed up in Greers Ferry and ate lunch at JR's Hickory House Restaurant. Some had catfish but most of use ate the BBQ, which was tasty.

After lunch we rode west on highway 16. We'd never traveled this road before. It was scenic with many twisties which made it a great motorcycle road. We stopped in a post office parking lot at the junction of highway 16 and highway 7 for a pit stop before proceeding north on 7, to 16 west, to 21 north. As we approached highway 21 north our leader, Gary, advised all of us with CB radios that he was turning north on highway 21. Rod had fallen so far behind the bike in front of him that he did not see him turn onto 21. Despite the fact that he had a CB, Rod missed the information from Gary. He missed the turn taking 5 other riders with him. This earned him the chicken . . . . . . again. We all stopped at a church parking lot on highway 21 north of highway 16 where Larry presented the chicken to Rod.

We continued north on 21 to Berryville, AR, where we stopped for gas. We then rode west on highway 62 to Eureka Springs, AR, where we spent the night at the Joy Motel. The proprietors of this motel cater to motorcycle riders and are very hospitable. They provide rags to clean the motorcycles, a camp fire at night, and pancakes for breakfast. You can find them on the web at http://www.thejoymotel.com/. In Eureka Springs we split into three groups for dinner. Some went to an Italian restaurant, some to Bubba's BBQ, and some to Myrtie Mae's Restaurant.

On Sunday morning the weather was great, 50 degrees and sunny. It would eventually warm to the low 70's. After some pancakes we rode north on highway 23, to 86 east, to 39 north, to the junction with highway 96. We stopped here for gas and a bathroom break. We continued north on 39 to highway 54 and then east to Peggy's Restaurant in Collins, MO. The food is great here. I highly recommend the pork tenderloin sandwich and the pies.

We left Collins north on highway 13, to highway 7 west, to 71 highway north, to Kansas City, where we all parted company and rode to our respective homes.

It was another great Chicken Ride orchestrated by Meistro Gary.

Trip mileage: Day 1 - 370 miles; Day 2 - 368 miles; Day 3 - 278 miles; TOTAL Miles - 1,016 miles

For all trip photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/2goldwingers/ChickenRide2008?authkey=GTHH7RFxNDU