Charles is a new friend who worships at the church I serve.
He is also the only other biker in the congregation that I know. We have long
talked about getting away for a ride but schedules being as they are, it is
never as easy as it sounds. But my birthday was coming up in October and I
wanted to take a day off for a long ride and Charles was ready to go.
Riding with a new partner gives me an uneasy feeling. There
is a reason why I prefer to ride alone. People often think that it is safer to
ride with a group, or at least another rider, but I don’t agree. In the age of
cell phones and a GPS tracker, you are never really alone. And if the person
you are riding with isn’t knowledgeable about the basics of riding with others
(or willing to learn and take direction), they are just an accident waiting to
happen. But that isn’t the only reason.
I’ll be the first to admit that I am a riding freak. I like
to ride. I don’t like to stop. When I do stop it is at gas stations and I don’t
even appreciate that hassle. So riding with others has historically meant that
I have to put up with a lot of whining and complaining. When I ride alone the
only complaints come from my backside and a simple adjustment on the fly takes
care of that.
Charles is a busy man. He has a family and runs a big
company. I had no idea what to expect so I began the ride with a test. We would
meet on Thursday morning in the church parking lot with a plan for kickstands up at 6:00 AM. When
Charles rode up, a few minutes ahead of schedule, with a really nice Roadglide
Ultra, the ride got off to a great start.
The plan was to beat the Houston traffic and head north on
US 59 toward Arkansas with the obligatory stop at Lone Star Charlie’s Family Restaurant
in Goodrich. The test was over. Charles and I made a great pair. He followed
perfectly and appreciated a stop at a greasy spoon for breakfast. As the rest
of the ride confirmed, no complaining, no whining, great riding.
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| Don't let the sign discourage you. Charlie's is a classic. |
We got back on US 59 and headed north. I missed a turn for a loop around town so we got a much better look at Nacogdoches than I wanted. We passed through Texarkana and picked up US 71 North to
Ashdown, AR. That was the point where we were finally on a road I hadn’t ridden
before, always a goal on a long ride. From Ashdown we got on AR 32, a winding
little two lane road that said “You have now officially reached Arkansas and the
riding is great!”
We passed Millwood Lake and eventually made our way to our
planned stop for the night, the Crater of Diamonds State Park
just outside of Murfreesboro, AR. We registered, bought twice as much firewood
as we thought we would need, set up our tents, and headed to town for dinner.
Charles, like my wife, is a foodie so we headed to the place in town that
Kelley recommended we eat at. The fact that I can’t remember the name even
though we spent a lot of time there says all that needs to be said about that.
Then it was back to the campsite for one of those nights
that happen that you’ll never forget. The firewood was wet but Charles bought a
jug of charcoal lighting fluid which kept things burning and the conversation
going late into the darkness of the night. The other bottle we shared drinks
from didn’t hurt either so we slept well.
I woke up at 5:00 AM in the morning to water dripping on my
face. Evidently the rain fly on my tent had lost its rain mojo and I was
getting wet. I laid as long as possible before I heard Charles rustling around
outside. It was raining pretty good so we decided to head into town for
breakfast. We stayed in town until around 10:00 AM before the rain slowed
enough to make our escape.
Charles didn’t have any problems taking his tent down and
loading up but I found a couple of inches of water at the bottom of mine and
everything was pretty much soaked. So much for a couple of nights camping. We
were definitely hotel bound for Friday night.
My plan was to ride some of the great roads in western
Arkansas. You just can’t find a bad one. But the weather wasn’t cooperating. It
pretty much rained off and on all day. That slowed us through the curves, made
the wet leaves on the highway look a little scary, and fogged in the best
views.
I was hoping to get a little farther north before heading
over to Oklahoma and riding south on US 259 to Broken Bow but the weather just
wasn’t cooperating. We got to Mena, AR, and talked to a guy who had ridden over
from Oklahoma on the Talimena
Skyway. He said the conditions were awful, rain, fog, and overall yucky. So
I scrapped that part of the plan too. Here is what we missed:
We rode over to Oklahoma and picked up US 259. THAT was a
fun ride, the best part of the day. Riding the twisties on a mountain pass can’t
be beat. Even better, the rain stopped and it was a gorgeous evening when we
rode into Broken Bow. We had dinner. I got my casino fix in, leaving with more
money that I brought, and we were in early for the night.
The next day was all about getting home. We took a few
little back road type roads to get to Paris, TX, and then jumped on TX 19 south
to Huntsville. I like that road. The speed limit is always faster than you
think it ought to be. It isn’t that busy. And it passes through classic East
Texas forests. We stopped for a brief break in Crockett in the parking lot next
to the courthouse and a few motorcycles. I didn’t realize it but we were right
next to the Moosehead Café, a
classic east Texas biker ride to eat location. Lesson learned. We didn’t even
go in. I’ll catch it next time.
TX 19 runs into I-45 just south of Huntsville. There is
nothing pleasant about riding on I-45 on a Saturday and today would be no
different. The goal is to get there in one piece. As we got closer to Houston we
made our last gas stop and I made the worst mistake of the trip. I assumed.
Assuming is not a good thing to do.
I assumed that we would be saying goodbye at that point.
Charles said he planned to ride through town on I-45 and then pick up US 59 to
get back to his house. I was going to exit on the 610 Loop and go over to mine.
The traffic was fierce, bumper to bumper, so when I (I had been following
Charles since Crockett) pulled over to the next lane to wave my goodbye, the
traffic stopped and I never caught him. Later I found out that he was worried
about me and spent about an hour u-turning and looking for me. Meanwhile, I had
ridden home. A crappy ending for Charles on what had been three great days of
riding.
I hope he gives me another chance. It was a great way to
celebrate my birthday.
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