Chicken Ride 2012

Day 1; Friday, May 4, 2012

Time, again, for the annual Spring ride. Time for a bunch of guys to ride, eat, drink, and bullshit to their hearts’ content. It is also called the Chicken Ride. When anyone in the group does something wrong or makes some sort of mistake (like miss a turn, crash, drop a bike, allow a helmet to fall to the ground, etc.) they are given the chicken to wear or display until the next poor slob does something deemed deserving of the shame.

One member of our group, Mel, is so enamored with the chicken that he brought his own big rubber clucker this year and it was with him the entire trip, lashed to his luggage rack.Rumor has it that Mel is undergoing radical gene therapy whereby he will become part human and part chicken. So far he’s just part human.

The meeting and start time was Gail’s Harley Davidson at 8:00 am. Fifteen bikes/riders were present; 1 Yamaha (Chuck), 1 BMW (Rob), 5 Harley Davidsons (Mel, Rod, Doug, Ed, and Chad), and 8 Goldwings (Gary, Carl, Larry, Mike, James, Joe, Bill, and me). It was cool and, although it was not raining when we started, some of us rode through rain or wet streets on the way to Gail’s.

Chuck started with the CHICKEN this year because he had it at the end of the ride in 2011.

We rode south on 71 Hwy to Archie, MO and had lunch at BJ’s Rise and Shine Restaurant, where we always have breakfast on the first day of the Spring Ride. With our stomachs full we continued south on 71 Hwy.Just south of Nevada, MO we turned east on county road E to Hwy 97 north, to Hwy 32 east, to Fairplay, MO, where we stopped for gas.

Hwy 32 took us all the way to Labanon, MO, where we stopped at a DQ for refreshment and then picked up Hwy 5 southbound all the way to Ava, MO.

Along the way, in Hartville, Chad (being unaccustomed to our rules) stopped without notice for a bathroom break and a Coke. For this grievous error Chad was awarded the CHICKEN by Chuck.

After a break in Ava, MO we continued south on 5 to county road N that took us east to Rockbridge, MO, where our leader took an uncharacteristic stop for sight-seeing. Rockbridge has a restaurant, lodging, an old mill on a spring fed stream, trout fishing, and hunting. It was a beautiful place. http://www.rockbridgemo.com/

We rode N further east to Hwy 95 south that took us back to Hwy 5 and south into Arkansas. Mountain Home was to be our destination for the evening, but it was too early in the day to stop so Gary planned a loop west, south, and back to Mountain Home. Off we went, west on Hwy 62. At Yellville we turned south on Hwy 14.

Along the way, the Do-Da brothers, Rod and Ed, slowed to the point that they lost all visual contact with the riders ahead of them. We also lost contact via CB radio. The result - the lead group continued south on Hwy 14 to Hwy 341 north and the “lost group” took Hwy 27 south. The four in the lost group, which included me, turned into two groups of two. Rod and Ed ended up back with the main group. Doug and I ended up in Mountain View, AR. We all eventually made it to the Executive Inn in Mountain Home.The problem started with the Do-Da Brothers and was contributed to by many in the group.

While the main group was waiting along Hwy 341 to figure out what happened to the lost group, James dropped his Goldwing in a gravel parking lot.

There were a large number of potential CHICKEN recipients due to this cluster but after a meeting of the high council at the motel it was decided that the CHICKEN would be awarded to James, who had already received it from Chad.

It was a long day. I’d ridden 518 miles from home and Doug had ridden 530 plus. The others didn’t ride quite so far because they did not go through Mountain View.

Day 2; Saturday, May 5, 2012

The day started warm and humid with blue clear skies. After breakfast at Mel’s Diner we rode west on Hwy 62 to Yellville, again. This time, however, we went south on Hwy 235.

At Hwy 65 we turned north for a short distance before we resumed our southbound travel on Hwy 123, which took us all the way to Clarksville, AR. This ride on Hwy 123 was a beautiful and challenging ride. We had twisties so sharp and climbs so steep that I dared not attempt it with one hand, so I have no photos from here. But I’ll be back later sometime when Chris can do her photo magic.

After a stop for gas we hopped on I-40 west . . . . . well, almost. Gary stopped on the entrance ramp to make sure we all made it out of the gas station and through a traffic light. Bill stopped behind him and Larry behind Bill. Chuck was next. He tried to make a quick stop but lost control and dropped his Yamaha.Poor Chuck had the CHICKEN again. You can see the sympathy on James’ face as he transfers the CHICKEN to Chuck. Its probably a good thing that you can’t see Chuck’s face.

We rode on south to Magazine Mountain, where we had lunch at the lodge. Mike took advantage of the buffet and covered his entire plate with gravy (he must have a strong constitution!!!!).

With stuffed stomachs we rode south off of Magazine Mountain and east to Hwy 23 and then north to Eureka Springs. The scenic Pig Trail is on Hwy 23 and it was a fun ride.

Our lodging for the night was the Best Western Inn of the Ozarks. It was an acceptable motel except the plumbing in Carl’s and my room sucked. The tub and the sink would not drain.

We rode 334 miles today and it got hot and steamy with a high of 93. The AC in the motel room was welcome relief.

Day 3; Sunday, May 6, 2012

Several people left early today due to other commitments. When we took off at about 8:40 our group had dwindled to 9 (two HD’s and 7 Goldwings). Chuck, the current owner of the CHICKEN, was gone so there was no chance it would be passed to someone else today and Chuck will start with it again next year.

We rode Hwy 23 north, into Missouri, Hwy 86 east, and Hwy 39 north to Aurora, where we took a break. I-44 took us west to Hwy 97 north, Hwy 32 west, and Hwy 54 west to Eldorado Springs where we took another break.