n e arkansas riding at byrds

[Aulbaugh]

Yeah I do have a trailer I will put the trikes on to haul. I've been looking at a few different styles and definitely trying to find a used one for my style of truck. We'll see what turns up. Having one will go far once were out there.

[The_Steve_Man]

Any time you're able to go, post up and I may be able to ride with you.

It's less than an hour for me to get there.

I can about anytime. Really liked it down there but just haven't been back.

Sent from my SM-G930R4 using Tapatalk

[ATC King]

I had a great time at Byrd's and I'll post some more pictures and go into more detail later in the week.

It rained all day Saturday, so today is a clothes washing, gear drying marathon so I don't have it to do during the week. It also snowed (very little) Saturday night and there was enough ice on the windshield this morning that I used the ice scraper.

An absolute blast other than the weather. I was the only triker there, and easy to spot. I even participated in the timed sprint race Saturday evening, although I'm pretty certain I had the smallest engine there and as soon as I seen a couple of them blow through the finish line like lightning, I knew I was racing against myself only (two attempts).

[ATC King]

I got to Byrd's about noon on Friday, paid the $45 event fee, then set up camp. The event fee includes the camping for the weekend, a buffet (burgers,dogs, and fixins) and a raffle ticket for Saturday evening and night.

I got a spot right next to the river.



Pretty close to the shower house as well, which is a very nice shower house.

From my site to shower house.


Next to and inside. Showers on left and toilets on right. Nice hot showers were very appreciated this weekend and the place stayed clean all weekend, even with all the muddy boots in and out.


Next, some wandering around the grounds and random pictures of the other sites.

[ATC King]

The store on site has ice, drinks, snacks, Byrd's shirts, caps, hoodies, and is where you normally check in. The women working there were very nice and helpful.


The restaurant is just across from the store. I didn't eat there this weekend as I brought more than enough for myself.


They do have a beer selection including they typical domestics and some wine, but they also carry a few craft brews. I was more than happy to see one of my new go-to's in their cooler, an Arkansas brew that is a great drinking beer and very refreshing. It was only about a $1 more here than in town, which I consider completely within line for the convenience of not having that much more stuff to pick up before the trip and pack and carry with me.

[ATC King]

I met several people over the weekend. A couple of those were representatives of the CMA (Christian Motorcyclists Association). They provided me a few cups of coffee and I chatted with them for a good little bit. Please forgive me for not remembering your names, but I do remember the conversation and stories; thanks guys.

[ATC King]

The most riding I done was Friday, being that it rained just about all day Saturday, and by Sunday I just needed to get home and start cleaning things.

The trails at Byrd's range from easy to difficult. A lot of very steep terrain and being in the Ozarks, a lot of rock. A very solid bash plate is a good idea, or like me, low range and crawling to avoid slamming into rocks. These are my idea of fun trails. Some more open stuff, but plenty of technical riding to keep it interesting. Fully functioning brakes are an absolute necessity, engine braking alone isn't effective on these steep grades.



This rock garden is right at camp.


These are from the sprint race Saturday evening. I don't know what they really called it, but it was timed and one vehicle at a time, with the best of two runs counting. I managed to keep the rubber side down, but one drive rolled their UTV, which I didn't get pictures of because I was playing in the mud pit right next to it.



Notice the route tape in the two pictures of the same UTV. First pick it's up and the next it's down. The driver slammed into the tree really hard that it was tied to, and that's what caused it to fall.

Here is a good vantage point. It's not the highest point, but the trees are cleared so it's a nice view. It's one of the few places phone reception may be possible, just something else to remember when riding out here.

[ATC King]

There is another ATV rally this October 13-15. I plan to make that one as well.

It was a great weekend overall. I didn't ride much Saturday because of the rain, combined with the cold weather. There were some people that left Saturday because of the weather, although most stayed. I at least wanted to stick around for the buffet and raffle that evening, and there were a couple hours that the rain slacked up enough for me to get a ride in, although I cut that ride short because, it started to rain again.

I got there early Friday, so I registered at the store, but Saturday staff were attending the booth on the entrance road to register people, which meant a little bit of a wait for those people. They have you sign a liability waiver and rules form.

It was a very relaxed atmosphere and I didn't hear nor see anything that indicated otherwise. The trike was something of a conversation starter and several people struck up a conversation with me just base on that, all good. Several people said they used to have one or there was a comment about not seeing 'one of those' in a long time. I did mention to a couple people that trikes are still a big thing to a small group.

More later.

[ATC King]

This post will wrap up what the weekend was like.

After getting there Friday and having everything set up, I was looking forward to the night ride, which was the only scheduled event for Friday.

The night ride is a guided, social ride. It was less than six miles and took about 2 1/2 hours, which included a lot of stopping. Absolutely nothing technical and the last little bit was on gravel road. I was expecting something a little more fast paced and technical and was getting somewhat bored (OK, really bored), but some people behind me in their UTV started playing some White Zombie over the radio, which helped perk me back up. I was in low range and first gear for most of the ride, but that wasn't even slow enough, so I just pulled over a few times to let the group go ahead so I could at least go faster than an idle and not be overheating the clutch from partial engagement.

Know what you're getting into, then prepare accordingly and it could be fun. I wouldn't take anything with a manual clutch or any type of sport machine. An ATC110 in low range, with even lower final gearing, would be about right. I'm not certain if there were any inexperienced drivers holding up the show, but it seemed like that was a possibility, as it felt like a traffic jam in the woods for most of the ride.

I'm not certain if I'll do that again, but I may forget about it between now and October and do it again. It was fun to get out at night, but I I'll try getting at the front of the pack next time to see if that helps. I started at nearly the very back on purpose, because I just wanted to hang out and do my own thing without feeling pushed, which turned out not to be a concern.


Saturday had a few scheduled events. There was a drag race an obstacle course of sorts, neither of which I made it to because that was the precious little time the rain let up and I was out on the trails. They weren't any professional type of event, like the evening spring race, they're just for fun. I did ride around the obstacle course on Friday, and it looked like fun.

The sprint race was for anyone and the best of two runs counted. Just got in line, gave the girls at the start my name, and went when the timer was ready. Real simple and fun. I played around in the mud a bit after my first run until I heard someone mention there is more than one run, so I got back in line and made my second. It started raining again during the race and my most difficult time was trying to get the front tire to bite enough to turn instead of just pushing straight ahead. I'll definitely participate in that again.

Later in the night was the buffet and then the awards ceremony and raffle. Someone was throwing out some free swag the entire time too. They handed out awards for competition winners and also for the farthest drive there, which was more than 600 miles. I think the top raffle prize was an electric winch. I got to the raffle just as they started, so I was at the very back and didn't see much of what was going on.

Sunday, thankfully Sunday was nice weather and made packing up an easy and relaxing thing. If it weren't for the rain Saturday, I may have rode some more, but I just had too much wet and muddy stuff to take care of to put it off for during the week.

[Aulbaugh]

After getting there Friday and having everything set up, I was looking forward to the night ride, which was the only scheduled event for Friday.

The night ride is a guided, social ride. It was less than six miles and took about 2 1/2 hours, which included a lot of stopping. Absolutely nothing technical and the last little bit was on gravel road. I was expecting something a little more fast paced and technical and was getting somewhat bored (OK, really bored), but some people behind me in their UTV started playing some White Zombie over the radio, which helped perk me back up. I was in low range and first gear for most of the ride, but that wasn't even slow enough, so I just pulled over a few times to let the group go ahead so I could at least go faster than an idle and not be overheating the clutch from partial engagement.

Know what you're getting into, then prepare accordingly and it could be fun. I wouldn't take anything with a manual clutch or any type of sport machine. An ATC110 in low range, with even lower final gearing, would be about right. I'm not certain if there were any inexperienced drivers holding up the show, but it seemed like that was a possibility, as it felt like a traffic jam in the woods for most of the ride.

I'm not certain if I'll do that again, but I may forget about it between now and October and do it again. It was fun to get out at night, but I I'll try getting at the front of the pack next time to see if that helps. I started at nearly the very back on purpose, because I just wanted to hang out and do my own thing without feeling pushed, which turned out not to be a concern.

Great pictures and write up Chris! The scenery looks amazing! How cold was it Saturday morning? Anything different on the rally in Oct?

[Aulbaugh]

After getting there Friday and having everything set up, I was looking forward to the night ride, which was the only scheduled event for Friday.

The night ride is a guided, social ride. It was less than six miles and took about 2 1/2 hours, which included a lot of stopping. Absolutely nothing technical and the last little bit was on gravel road. I was expecting something a little more fast paced and technical and was getting somewhat bored (OK, really bored), but some people behind me in their UTV started playing some White Zombie over the radio, which helped perk me back up. I was in low range and first gear for most of the ride, but that wasn't even slow enough, so I just pulled over a few times to let the group go ahead so I could at least go faster than an idle and not be overheating the clutch from partial engagement.

Know what you're getting into, then prepare accordingly and it could be fun. I wouldn't take anything with a manual clutch or any type of sport machine. An ATC110 in low range, with even lower final gearing, would be about right. I'm not certain if there were any inexperienced drivers holding up the show, but it seemed like that was a possibility, as it felt like a traffic jam in the woods for most of the ride.

I'm not certain if I'll do that again, but I may forget about it between now and October and do it again. It was fun to get out at night, but I I'll try getting at the front of the pack next time to see if that helps. I started at nearly the very back on purpose, because I just wanted to hang out and do my own thing without feeling pushed, which turned out not to be a concern.

Great pictures and write up Chris! The scenery looks amazing! How cold was it Saturday morning? On the night ride I wonder if it would have been better to be dead last? Anything different on the rally in Oct?

[ATC King]

The October rally looks to have the same schedule. http://www.byrdsadventurecenter.com/...ide-rally.html

I was dead last at one point. There was someone riding sweep and I hung back with them for a while. It didn't help any, but it was what it was, and it's still nice that they put that together. Not many places will do that.

Essentially all of the Ozarks has nice scenery, that's why outdoor activities are so abundant here. Hiking, biking, motorcycle riding (lots of good street riding too), camping, kayaking, canoeing, climbing, ATV, Jeep, the list is really long.

The Mulberry River is right at Byrd's, so it's also a great place to camp and kayak/canoe. There are spots to put in up river and places to take out down river and Byrd's has a canoe service. http://www.byrdsadventurecenter.com/...ies/canoe.html

[ATC King]

The_Steve_Man,

All I have right now is a 200ES, so you know it won't be anything at X speeds. If you can handle putting around on your X, then we can make a day or weekend of trail riding.

[The_Steve_Man]

All I have is 2 Rs. I do have a Recon I can put around on.

[ATC King]

Truly, I'd go for riding one of my bikes with your R, but the traffic on the trails here is generally very slow and not someplace performance machines can be opened up without getting the stink eye.

The Recon would probably be better suited, but that's your call. I enjoy putting around on the BR and bought another 185 a couple weeks ago that I'm deciding what to do with, but disassembling it in the meantime until I do. The frame has some rust, but the more I disassemble, the more I find in OK/usable condition with a little work, so I may try to turn it back into a rider. Of course, the seat pan is trashed, but the fuel tank didn't have any leaks, meh. It had a couple of Kenda version on it; both trashed.