Any Tex, La, Ok, Ar Monkeys Wanna Womble Memorial Day Wkend?

ARmtnBIKER · May 21, 2003

Hey N8, I would of been more than happy to of shown y'all around if it wasn't for the race at Old Post this weekend. But I will be tied up Saturday and Sunday both. I saw your post on AMBCS, hopefully MenaMike will reply to you, he is Mr. Womble and knows every rock on every road around there. I could try and give you some directions but it would probably just end up getting you lost, I can drive myself to the trail heads down there but when it comes to telling someone else how to I'm not very good at it since I dont know the names of the roads and stuff. But I can suggest what sections to ride and which direction to ride it. Since you have so many going down and several different skill levels you will probably want to break up into two groups, your more experienced riders that can go the distance will want to do the thing from lake to lake, which is somewhere around 25-27 miles, your beginners will probably want to start at the Hwy 298 trail head and just do the 12-13 mile stretch to the Fishing Village, and if that isnt enough for them they can cross the bridge at the Village and do an out and back on the section of trail that goes north up to the Ouachita Trail. But whatever you do be sure and ride the Womble West to East, it flows so much better that way, really not that much climbing and its fast... Let me know what you think about the trail when you get back, My favorite section is the last 4 or 5 miles around the Reed Mtn area to the Fishing Village, it has some areas that if your not used to it you will suck up a little...

ARmtnBIKER · May 21, 2003

The main and best trail in the Russellville area is Old post but there are a couple of others around. Moccasin Gap which is on Hwy 7 north of Russellville about 15-20 miles. It's used mainly by ATV's and horses but it is pretty fun on a mtn bike, we used to have a yearly race up there. Its one of those places that is more like what mtn biking is supposed to be, lots of climbing and some really rough technical sections, real similar to Blackburn and Holt road at Devils Den (I think you've ridden there). There is also a little 4 mile loop around Mount Nebo State Park in Dardanelle which is just across the river from Russellville, this trail is more of a beginner trail/nature ride, which might be more what you are looking for with your girl friend, plus there is a hiking trail going around the rim of the mountain. Its a really nice and scenic state park, something else thats cool about Nebo is they do a lot of Hang gliding off the SE point of the mountain, I like to go up there and watch them every so often. There is also the Sweet Spot which is between Lake Dardanelle and I-40 just as soon as you cross the lake on Hwy 64, but its not in very good shape anymore, it was getting over run by dirtbikes so we all quit riding out there a couple of years ago, the last time I went there, which was about 2 or 3 months ago it looked like even the dirt bikes had quit riding it, several trees across the trails and what not, which is a shame because it was one of the funner trails around, all single track and real technical in areas... If you're into racing I would say come up and do the Old Post race, should be 200 to 250 people, so its a pretty good sized race. But if your looking for more of the vacation/weekend get away type ride I would say go to Womble. Also, if you do go to Womble be sure and take plenty of water, tubes, food, etc... because when you start at the beginning you are 25 miles from anything, you are in BFE... Have fun whatever you end up doing, if you come up to the race look for me, I will be the dude on the red white and blue SofaKing single speed on Saturday, you cant miss it, Sunday I wont be racing just helping work the race...

ARmtnBIKER · May 21, 2003

Something I didnt think about when i was typing that last post is Moccasin Gap is pretty close to the Piney/Indian Creek area if you are planning on doing some floating. You might stop at Highlander bike shop in Russellville on Hwy 7, they are on the left just before you get to Arkansas Tech University, they migth be able to tell you some other places around the Piney to ride, plus they could fill you in on camping areas if you are planning on camping.

ARmtnBIKER · May 21, 2003

Camp Robinson rocks!! one of my favorite places to ride, 30+ miles of nothing but single track heaven. I havent been out there since the war started, they just opened it back up to the public but my CARP membership ran out in April and I havent had time to run by Chainwheel to pick up a new one. Hoping they dont close it back down since they raised the security level yesterday. If there are two trails in the state of Arkansas that you need to ride they are Womble and Camp, Womble is the Epic type trail and Camp is the ultimate in Urban single track, a lot of trail packed into a small area. :cool:

ARmtnBIKER · May 22, 2003

Originally posted by N8
What is the race on Sun like at Old Post?

Its all single track, not very much climbing, all the climbing is done in the first 10-15 minutes of each lap, the laps are about 7 1/2 miles long and in the past Beginner has done 1, sport 2 and expert 3. The set up of this course is a lot like Ruston, we've got a lot of trail crammed into a small area, which means you have lots of nice tight corners to be accelerating out off at all times (makes up for the lack of hills), its also in a park so its very spectator friendly. It is one of the better race venues in the Arkansas series, they will be serving BBQ chicken dinner to all the racers after the race. So come on out and enjoy...

ARmtnBIKER · May 22, 2003

I would say its somewhere between 2 and 2.5 hours from Long Pool to Mount Ida, its been so long since I have been up there I really cant remember how long it takes to get there from Russellville. You can expect about an hour and 15 minutes from Russellville to Mount Ida, its all good highway with little to no traffic most of the way, just watch for speed traps around Ola and Plainview.

I love Little Blakely, the last section that goes along the lake is a lot like Womble on steroids. The North loop is really rocky and a lot of people despise it but I think its fun and challenging.

I tell ya, if y'all are going to end up around Hot Springs you might consider riding that new trail at the land fill, I think its called Cedar Glades or something like that. Its a short track type trail, only about a 6 or 7 mile loop, but its pretty fun. Has one screaming downhill that will have you grabbing every bit of brake you have and wanting more...

ARmtnBIKER · May 23, 2003

Originally posted by N8
...so little time... SO MANY TRAILS!!!!!

We are truely blessed here in Arkansas..

ARmtnBIKER · May 27, 2003

Originally posted by N8
Moccasin Gap was kick ass!

Even the "EZ" trails were tough...

I found out that MTB'ers freak horses out for some reason.

Will be back again!

-N8

Oh ya, guess I should of warned you about the horses, we always get off the bikes and stand over to the side of the trail until they pass, something about the bikes being sooo quiet that just spooks horses, but drunk rednecks on 4-wheelers can blow by them all day long and not bother them, go figure... :rolleyes:

Did you make it down to the race?

ARmtnBIKER · May 27, 2003

The race was great, had a good turn out, we had 30 for the SS championship, which I expected a few more than that but I really think next year the word will get out better and we will have a bigger turn out. Not sure how many we had for Sunday's racing, I would guess somewhere around 180-200.

I didnt do as good as I expected in the SS race, finished 8th, probably one of my worst races in the past year or so. We did a LeMans type start where we had to run about 150 yards to our bikes, this blew me up right off the bat, never could seem to get my heart rate under control from then on.:angry:

We lucked out on the weather, it started raining just before Saturdays race but it didnt last very long, rained just enough to make the trail nice and tacky. Then on sunday it looked like it was going to storm a couple of times but never did.

ARmtnBIKER · May 29, 2003

Originally posted by N8
Single Speed + Typical AR Trails = Madness!

Nahhh, just stupidity... :thumb:

Any Tex, La, Ok, Ar Monkeys Wanna Womble Memorial Day Wkend?

Not the sharpest tool in the shed

Chimp

Not the sharpest tool in the shed

Chimp

Chimp

Not the sharpest tool in the shed

Not the sharpest tool in the shed

Chimp

Not the sharpest tool in the shed

Chimp

Not the sharpest tool in the shed

Chimp

Not the sharpest tool in the shed

Chimp

Not the sharpest tool in the shed

Chimp

Not the sharpest tool in the shed

Chimp

Not the sharpest tool in the shed

Chimp