Serk and Junior's Inzane XXVI Trip

[Serk]

Day 1 - Saturday 5/30/2026
Rowlett, TX to Hot Springs AR
341 miles




Since Inzane this year is the closest it's ever been to my home, I decided to try getting there taking all non-freeway roads instead of my usual "Get on and drone it out" approach...

Definitely a much slower pace, but getting to see more of the countryside we're passing through too!

I'd always meant to stop by the Paris, Texas Eiffel Tower but hadn't done so, until today...



Made our way to Talihina OK so we could enter Arkansas via the Talimena Scenic Parkway.



Made our way to the Best Western in Hot Springs, AR. It appeared a lot of Inzane bound folks had the same destination in mind.

[carolinarider09]

Back in 2006 or so, we (my current riding friends and I) took a trip out to Oklahoma.   The goal was to ride the  Talimena Scenic Parkway.  Which we did.  However, on the way, he had for lunch at the Rich Mountain Country Store.  It was a very, very interesting lunch stop. 

[GiG]

... I decided to try getting there taking all non-freeway roads instead of my usual "Get on and drone it out" approach...

Definitely a much slower pace, but getting to see more of the countryside we're passing through too!. ..

Nice, Serk!
Way to go,  teaching Junior the Blue HWYs are more fun, exciting, educational.
Avoid super hwys, take backroads except for major cities. Cruise around the congested cities on super highways, then stretch your legs on backroads
Have fun! 

[Serk]

Looks like the Panorama Vista overlook, one of my "Must stop" places when doing the Talimena...

[Serk]

Day 2 - Sunday 5/31/2026
Hot Springs AR to Eureka Springs AR, all backroads
228 Miles




I got a route via Disco from Scott in OK:

1. Mount Nebo (Go to the top. Only 1500 ft "mountain" but still incredible.
2. Dover Ar
3. Hagarville
4. Mt Judea
5. Jasper
6. Ponca
7. Eureka Springs

This was the single best day of riding I've ever had. The Rockies are more majestic, Deal's Gap is more intense, but this was just non-stop curvy roads almost the entire way.
I was almost wishing for a straight bit of road by the end of it...

I just realized I took very few pics this day, was too busy just enjoying the ride (And searching gas stations for Dramamine for Junior who started turning green coming down from Mt. Nebo)

At the top of Mt. Nebo:




Got to ground zero, the usual greetings of old friends (In both senses of the word "old" ), and had the Sunday Early Bird cookout:









Cooled off in the pool a bit, swapped lies in the parking lot, and went to bed...

[LadyDraco]

 Awesome

[Serk]

Day 3 - Monday 6/1/2026
Around Inzane
76 Miles



Junior and I headed out to see a few sites in the area. You can't swing a broken down Harley without hitting an excellent road in all directions from here!

First we went to see the Christ of the Ozarks statue:



Then the Thorncrown Chapel (The Glass Church)



The attendant saw my VRCC shirt and asked if I had a Valkyrie. Evidently he used to ride a Valkyrie, but (And was very wistful as he said it) mentioned he no longer has it. Had no idea the VRCC was descending on his town this week, so be sure to go visit for those here and show him some Valks!

From there we headed out to Bentonville, from one type of temple to a very different type of temple, the location of the first Wal-Mart 5 and 10...



Back at the hotel first night of raffles, introduce our charity, and more lies in the parking lot...

Junior continuing the family tradition of being a raffle prize runner:



Steel valve stems were dispersed, as is tradition:

[bassman]

Thanks for sharing the pix and write-ups Serk.....glad ya'll are having a good time. 

[Serk]

Day 4 - Tuesday 6/2/2026
Around Inzane
145 Miles




I figured it was time to check out this Pig Trail I kept hearing about. Junior didn't wanna take that long of a ride, so he had another adventure for himself.

The Pig Trail was nice, scenic, twisty enough. Honestly from the hype I was a bit underwhelmed but I'd do it again, it was enjoyable and pretty. More truck traffic than I prefer on a twisty road but it is what it is...





While I was doing this ride, @Rams was nice enough to offer to take Junior in a ride in his sidecar hack.





He kept telling me how much more comfortable it is in the sidecar than on the back seat and trying to convince me to sidecar one of my bikes...

Later on we had block party:



Where we managed to find a passable and acceptable (And inexpensive for a tourist town!) Mexican place to eat...



No pictures to protect the guilty, but then followed up by the traditional parking lot yarn swapping and gab fest...

[Serk]

Day 5 - Wednesday 6/3/2026
Around Inzane
26 Miles





Joe Boyd Lunch Ride day.....

There was.... shall we say... an adventure getting to the location of the event.



But we eventually found the right location...








Very tasty tacos were consumed, visits were visited, etc. etc.

Made our way across the Golden Gate Bridge of Arkansas one lane bridge.... Several times.



Came across a Valk that was no longer running and was able to put him and his brother in touch with some folks at ground zero with a trailer to bring it back (Turned out to be a petcock issue, long story on that one involving interrupting Daniel Meyer's tech sessions, bad new parts, etc but it was eventually sorted, thanks to all who came together to assist!)



Later on, just desserts were had... PIE TIME!



For some reason Junior WANTED the pie to the face... Must be something from his mom's side.

[Serk]

Day 6 - Thursday 6/4/2026
Around Inzane
~5 Miles if even that

Bike games, trip to one of many "Most Haunted Hotel in America" and the banquet.

Junior and I entered the wienie bite, water balloon toss and tennis ball snatch. I'm pretty sure he/we would have won the bite the wienie but I put my foot down. Doh! We did eek out a win in the tennis ball snatch though...



He had a blast in all 3 events, which is what's important...

Per Junior's request we headed over to the Crescent Hotel, which claims to be the most haunted hotel in America. The timing wasn't right to take the ghost tour but we wandered around a bit, and some really good (But expensive) pizza, and enjoyed the views...












If anyone ever questions the power of a cordless drill, this contraption was powered by one, lifting a Valkyrie into the bed of a pickup!



Arriving to the banquet I made note of a sign saying the pie auction raised a total of $4,586 for the charity... (I don't recall the exact number, but I think the grand total was in the neighborhood of $7,500 to our charity, the Eureka Springs school district special ed department.)

One last big gathering to swap lies with family...







Once we finally got Willow to wrap things up, back to the room, start preliminary packing for an early morning departure and get to sleep. Weather reports for the ride home varied from total washout to storm surfing so I wanted to be prepared for either.

[Farside]

  Good report Serk! Great seeing you and meeting Jr. - Brian ( Keith ) for the first time too! See you next year!

[Serk]

Day 7 - Friday 6/5/2026
Home
375 Miles



For the route home I removed my "No freeways" restrictions and switched to "Just get us home" mode. Forecasts were ominous so I was prepared for all eventualities weather wise.

Up early, final packing up, few last Good Byes and we headed out.

Last few miles of nice roads, the onto whatever the most efficient route home was.

Passed another Valkyrie rider somewhere in southern Oklahoma, Texas plates and looked like a tent on the back, waved and went on.

Got some rain here and there, overall not too bad though.

Didn't take any pics on the way home, not much to see.

Made good time, when not in the rain was... making up for the time we slowed down in the rain.