Hillbilly Dual Sport Ride – Marble Falls, AR
Yea, yea, this is not an Oklahoma ride, but a lot of Okies like to attend this ride, including me. My friends on ADVRIDER needed a place to host the GPS tracks for this years ride so here we are.
First off, this is not an organized ride of any sort. Just like my fall Clayton ride, this is just a bunch of like-minded dual sport riders getting together for a weekend, sharing some GPS tracks, and hitting the trails (or dirt roads in the case of the Hillbilly ride) to explore the countryside. My friend and fellow adventurer (and itinerant Jayhawk) Dave Hemphill is the guy who kind of puts this “ride” together. Uncle Dave as we fondly call him. Just like me, Dave likes riding with friends so he and a few friends started meeting in Eureka Springs, AR a few years ago to ride the dirt roads in the area. The “non-event” got bigger and bigger and in peak years upwards of 100+ dual sport riders would gather in the Bed and Breakfast capital of Arkansas for a weekend of riding, usually around the first weekend of April.
This year Dave decided to change things up a bit. First off, it is held April 9-11 rather than the first weekend of April. And the venue has changed, to Marble Falls, AR. Most folks are staying at a motorcycle hotel and campground named The Hub. This 50 room facility south of Harrison is geared around motorcyclists so should be quite fun. Dave wanted to offer new trails to ride so this new location should fit the bill.
Below are three of the suggested dual sport GPS tracks that were sent to me for this ride. I understand these are appropriate for any sized dual sport bike as long as there is no rain and mud. I haven’t ridden them myself. Download the tracks, book your reservations, and meet us in Arkansas for the weekend.
NOTE: There are three separate tracks in the GPS file. You can download the file, upload it to your GPS using Garmin Basecamp or comparable software, then pick the TRACKS from your GPS – NOT ROUTES. Routes are very hard to navigate when shared between different GPS units because each user may have different maps and different GPS units use different routing algorithms. TRACKS are much easier to follow and more accurate.
The south track has not been tested and not sure if it goes all the way through. Some backtracking along the Buffalo River may be necessary.
2015 Hillbilly Dual Sport Ride GPS tracks
(right click on the DOWNLOAD button and choose “save as” to download the GPX file that can be uploaded to your GPS)
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James, looking forward to meeting you. Your bio sounds a lot like mine, although I’m retired. Steve Robertson is the name, and I’ll be on a WR250R at the gathering. I retired from Robertson’s Creative Photography, based in Cape Girardeau, MO, in 2005, and then when the financial melt-down hit in 2008 I went back to work for the local school district as Communications Director. Retired from that in 2013. For 10 years I shot aerials for Walmart all over the continent from my various airplanes, before the digital age, and managed to keep my regular studio business thriving. My first job out of college was photojournalist at the S.E. Missourian, and I stayed connected over the years, submitting weekly auto columns, even after an 8-yr stint with the federal government as an public relations guy during the transition from the draft to an all-volunteer army. Well, I’m giving away my age now, but I’m still spry enough to throw a leg over a dual-sport. Anyway, let’s try to hook up at the Hub. My handle on ADVRider is Curiousteve– what’s yours?
Cool! My handle on advrider is rideok.
What kind of airplanes did you fly? I have done the usual Cessna 152, 172, 182. I owned a Cessna T210, T320R, Grumman Yankee, and Maule M7-235C. Got some time in a few others but most of my time in those. Looking forward to seeing you in Arkansas.