Put 1500 miles on the clock Friday to Monday, including the there-and-back. Rode The Talimena parkway (3rd time) Here's a few pics.
Up on Mt. Petit Jean (Pettyjean)

The Grande Vista on Talimena

The curve on The Parkway where my friend Kevin Nickles died 6 years ago during a ride

The plaque that was placed in his memory on the tree he hit

Hydration break. Gotta take a lot of these when it's over 100 degrees F

Lunch in Hot Springs

Three of us only did 225 miles on Saturday due to the heat, but Sunday was a little more bearable and two of us did 362.

Regarding hydration breaks..... a Camelbak is extremely beneficial in hot weather. Well, in general too.

I just replaced my older model with the new 100 ounce version, and put the insulated hose on it too. I think I'll add the inline filtration canister too.

Fill it with ice at the motel or any stop that has bag ice, and then you have two choices: add water until full, which is drinkable immediately, or wait for the ice to melt down some.

If you have a refrigerator in your room with an ice box you can fill the camelbak completely with ice and then add a little water and freeze the whole thing. Put it on in the morning, and by the time it warms up you will have ice cold water to drink.

On the 3-day I led this weekend, I could have gone much farther between rest stops than the group needed, because I didn't have to stop to buy bottled water except once in mid-afternoon when I finally drained my ice water.

It has an added benefit of forcing you to stop every so often for a bathroom break (aka to piss) which you need to do anyway to relax your muscles a little.

I have a friend that rides with a Camelback. I told him it looks like a giant douchebag!

LOL it doesn't, but its still funny.

Ride behind him sometime for 3 or 4 hours when its 90 degrees plus and he is drinking ice water out of it and you are pursing dry mouth lips.

Thats funny too. /snicker/

By the time I get thirsty, I have to piss from the last time I drank anyway. The smokers in the group always have to stop every 20 minutes for a crutch, so I just whip out a bottle of water while they slowly kill themselves with nicotine. I guess if I were crossing the Mojave on unpaved roads, I might actually need a personal hydration system Until then, a couple of bottles of water at each fuel stop is plenty.

Ah, you guys stop way more than we sport touring types stop. We don't like to stop unless its to get gas, which is about 250 miles if we are in cruise eco mode.

Even being an "old guy" (tm) I still don't have to piss every time I get thirsty yet.

At the speeds I ride, a tankful rarely lasts 2 hours. When you're gearing down for the twisties to keep it in the powerband, fuel mileage tends to plummet.

1500 miles? lol Sounds like fun! And those are great pictures! Sorry to hear about your friend.

Kofla

NINJA ZX-14 MotoVlog

Thanks, he was a good guy. To this day, nobody is quite sure what happened. The particular turn where he went off is not that severe and is bookended by two much more difficult and slower sets of bends. They guy who was riding behind him (his best friend in our bunch) has never really said what he saw or given his opinion as to what might have occurred. He has been tore up about it ever since it happened because the guy's last words to him were, "Now don't kill me." I'm sure they were said in jest, but in retrospect, they're quite haunting.

* Last updated by: Danno on 8/4/2012 @ 6:30 AM *

250 miles on a tank of gas?! Man I need an eco mode!

C

Hey I know this is an old thread but I wanted to throw in my .02. Talimena Dr isn't awfully far from where I live and we ride it often. (Yesterday in fact). If anyone is planning to ride in SW Arkansas or SE Oklahoma be sure to put this on your itenerary. Being from here, I've ridden about everything on the western half of AR and the stretch from Talihina, OK to Mena ,AR or at least to Queen wilhelmena State Park is probably the best in the area. Be sure to run south on 259 up to the "Three Sticks Monument" as well. It's just a couple miles off Hwy 1. A winding bit of road uphill. Check it out on Googlemaps. You definately will no be disappointed with Talimena Dr.
Other roads in the area worth noting are the infamous "Pigtrail" Hwy 23 on the north side of I-40 from Ozark north.
Hwy 123 from the Jasper area south to I-40. Hwy 7 is in the same area running paralell and is good but 123 has much tighter curves.
Hwy 16 running EAst-West from Fayetteville to Clinton is pretty good and links many of the other routes such as 7 and 123.

Hwy 309 across the top of MT Magazine offers some Talimena-like views from the state park at the peak. However, the hwy itself is a much shorter ride than Talimena. There is a fantastic lodge and restaraunt there along with cabins.
Maybe this will helpsomeone out with ideas for their riding trips.