The Good, the Bad and the Idiots.

What shall I start with? The good news, the bad news or the idiots? How about the good news.

The good news is a couple of Saturdays ago I went for a ride. Turns out it was most definitely a good day for a ride in more ways than one.

I've been stewing over this posting since then. I decided I would not get on the blog and post immediately after my ride. I felt it would not be constructive in any way and I'm sure you'll see what I mean.

The family other than myself were camping at John F. Kennedy park on the Little Red River at Heber Springs. I couldn't leave with them initially due to work so I decided to ride up later. I know what your thinking....yeah right, he planned it that way so he could go for a ride. The truth is I honestly couldn't leave earlier.

I decided I would make a good ride of it and hit a few roads I hadn't ridden yet. I went to Morrilton and took Hwy 95 to Clinton (more on Hwy 95 later in the bad news). Hwy 95 is one of my favorite rides, its got its share of straight sections, but also has plenty of good curves and hills. The scenery is really nice and I've never been on it when the traffic was anything but sparse. I especially like the town of Scotland, I had intended to hang around Scotland for some good photo ops I knew the area had. As it turned out I didn't hang around due to the afore mentioned bad news.
When I reached Clinton I turned left onto 65, taking it to Botkinburg and made a right onto Hwy 110. This is one of the roads I hadn't ridden yet and it turned out to be an interesting ride, I wish I'd stopped and taken more pics, but my mind wasn't in the right place since I still hadn't recovered completely from the bad news. This road has some good views with beautiful hillside farm land. I caught myself wondered how the area had eluded me all these years. Maybe the reason why its still so nice is because it's off the beaten track.
I followed 110 until I reached Hwy 16, then rode on into Greer's Ferry on a section I hadn't been on until then. Afterwards I took 92 and 25 on into Heber Springs.
I'd wanted to take a detour off of Hwy 92 and hit a section of 225 to Prim, Ar. then 263 back to 92. That would of finished my roads in that area, but just after passing through Greer's Ferry, it started to rain hard so I bypassed those two roads.

I made it to camp on the Little Red River, had a meal, visited and made ready for the trip back home. I had intended to stay the night but something had come up as often happens.

Now for the bad news.
Just before reaching Scotland, traveling at 50-55 mph on an easy left hand curve, I noticed two motorcycles coming towards me. I can still picture what happened, I know exactly what I did and why I did it. There was a rapid thought process as usually happens in these type of situations. I know that the time involved could not have been more than two seconds at the most. It seemed like more and still does. I thought of a lot in that minuscule amount of time. One motorcycle was hugging the outside part of the lane, the other was in my lane and leaning as much as he could possibly lean and both were traveling at I would guess a minimum 75 mph, maybe more. When I saw the bike in my lane I remember thinking....do I take the left or the right....the other bike was left...I'll take the right...apply brakes...not too much....I don't wanna start a slide. There was no shoulder, only a drop off, I was on a hillside. I remember...thinking...you idiot (the other old fart), don't brake and slide!! I thought about my family at the camp. I hugged the white line, that and a few inches more was all that separated me between today and tomorrow. All this in possibly only a split second. I saw the look on the idiots face, a weird smile, a do rag around his head, the leather vest, the sound of the Harley's engine, the whoosh within two feet of me. Then I was out of it, my heart didn't have time to beat fast, I didn't have time to be afraid of what could happen. I thought for a second about chasing them down and telling them what I thought, then decided I wouldn't be able to catch them even if I wanted to.
I pulled over after the curve, took my helmet off. I thought to myself... out loud. You freaking idiot!!! A few more choice words and I got off Cindy, being careful, pulling the Mustang seat out of my arse. I walked around thinking how nice it was to still be in one piece with no broken bones and still having to wonder if there really was an afterlife.
I'm telling ya people, I was pissed. Another motorcycle almost caused me to buy the farm. That just isn't funny. I also got to thinking how I had saved the old farts life. That's right, I rode my bike, I could of driven, but I like to ride. If I'd been in a car, I'd have a new hood ornament. He for sure would of been killed and I may not of made it out any better.

Now its time for the idiots. Pretty simple, idiots come in all shapes and sizes and they can ride or drive anything. The guys on those bikes may have been new to riding but I doubt it. I think he was just an idiot, possibly a drunk idiot. I don't know that though, but I'm sure of one thing, he counted coo this time and made it, next time he may make it to that great motorcycle road in the sky.

Be careful out there people.

I have some pics, I just don't have them with me, I'll add a few later