Sport Touring Corner: MSTA Ozark Escape Rally
By Norm Kern
The Motorcycle Sport Touring Association (MSTA) Ozark Escape rally is held annually the first weekend of May in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. It’s one of the few MSTA rallies I have not attended, mostly because it’s 690 miles away from my home in Dayton, Ohio. There were four of us going from Ohio- Tim Mullins and Bruce Schweikert were trailering, but Bill Rusk and I decided to ride. It was my first really long trip on the Triumph 900 Rally Pro and I was looking forward to doing it on an ADV style bike.
Our friend Mark Brunk lives near I70 in central Illinois so we rode to his place and stayed overnight to make the trip easier. On the Tuesday ride there, it rained for about 150 of the 330 miles but temps were mild in the 60s.
My Klim and Revit gear kept me dry but Bill got damp in his 10 year old Frogg Toggs. Looking at Wednesday’s weather on the Drive Weather app, we saw that if we went south in Illinois, crossed the Mississippi river at Cape Girardeau and took US 60 across Missouri, we could avoid most of the thunderstorms.
Sure enough, as soon as we started heading south we hit beautiful 75 degree weather all the way to Springfield, Missouri, where we took US65 South into Arkansas. In the last 100 miles to Eureka Springs, another thunderstorm system caught up with us and we finished the ride in a downpour.
Again my gear did great except for the cuff of my pants that rode up and let water in my boot. The alternate route added a lot of miles- about 515 miles total for the day.
I kept my Samsung S23 phone on the Quadlock wireless charging mount in the rain. It has an IP68 rating which means it supposedly can withstand submersion up to 5 feet deep in water for up to 30 minutes. The USB-C charging port is not waterproof but I had a rubber plug that kept it dry. It was fine after the first day of light rain and worked fine the whole time (Raindrops hitting the screen made it unusable during the heavy rain as the screen went crazy.) but when we arrived at Eureka Springs the camera lenses had water droplets inside. Not good!
Our hotel was the Best Western Inn of the Ozarks which had many rooms, a convention center and a nice restaurant.
Thursday morning it was sunny, but Bill’s gear was soaked and he was exhausted from riding in all the rain. Event coordinator Jerry James took me on a ride with a few others that featured lunch at the Oark General Store in Oark, AR. Established in 1890, it’s the oldest continuously operating store in Arkansas. It was founded by F.M. Nelson to serve the isolated mountain community of Oark, providing groceries, supplies, and a central gathering place.
Most attendees arrived Thursday afternoon and evening including my roommate Tom Bremmer from Illinois. People hung out in the lower parking lot of the hotel and there was plenty of tire kicking and telling lies. The hotel hosts many groups similar to ours. When we arrived there was a group of vintage BMW car owners who left that morning, only to be replaced by a Ford Model T group that afternoon. Rain moved in about 6PM and everyone car-pooled to nearby restaurants for dinner.Â
Friday morning it was still raining but cleared up and dried off about 10:30AM so Tom and I rode the lunch ride that went to Flat Creek restaurant at Table Rock Lake, MO. There were about 20 of us in three separate riding groups.
On the way there we got stuck behind half a dozen Model Ts that were only going less than 20 MPH up some of the hills. Fortunately they turned off pretty quickly.
Saturday Tom and I were joined by Ohio friends Tim and Bruce, plus Debbie Gardiner, a Yamaha Super Tenere rider from Arkansas. We rode the popular Jasper loop and had lunch at the Ozark cafe in Jasper.
Saturday evening was the banquet at the hotel. There were about 70 attendees who had three days of fun roads and nice weather riding during the day. Spent quality time with old friends and made some new acquaintances too.Â
Sunday it was time to go home. My wet phone had quit working for calls and text by then so Tom and I rode together until he split off on I57 in Illinois and it started to rain shortly thereafter. The temperature dropped to 48 degrees and there was light rain for about 200 miles until I got past Indianapolis. Heated gear was running full blast and I made it home- 690 miles in less than 11 hours. My wife was not happy about me being not being able to take phone calls. The phone had to be replaced- fortunately covered by insurance.
What did I learn from the trip? The Triumph is a GREAT long distance bike. Weather protection is not as good as my FJR, but it’s 150 pounds lighter plus the rider position and suspension are better. Regardless of claims, phones are not waterproof. My new one is going in the tank bag whenever there is enough rain to put the rain cover on it. While water droplets did cause the screen of my Garmin zumo XT GPS to jump around, it kept working perfectly the entire trip. Use a dedicated GPS if you want to navigate when it rains! Ride safe.
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Connect with local Ohio Motorcycle Sport Touring Association riders at these monthly breakfasts:
Southwest Ohio Breakfast, 9AM, June 21
Village Family Restaurant
144 S. Main St.
Waynesville, OH 45068
Central Ohio Breakfast, 8AM, July 6
Portside Cafe
6515 S High St
Lockbourne, OH 43137
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