Due South

While the roads are fun, keeping track of them isn’t. Is it highway
12 to 23 that leads back to camp? Do we take highway 16 to get to 74
that hits 123 so we can get gas? Suddenly, finding your way seems less like
fun and a lot like long division. And when you’re on two wheels, you’d
much rather spend more time riding and less time stopping and checking
directions. Fortunately, my zumo allowed me to plan my weekend trip
days before I actually departed.

I’ve made many trips to Arkansas over the years and, as a new Garmin
employee, I jumped at the chance to let my zumo lead me south. Long
before becoming part of the Garmin team, I’d scoured the Internet for
zumo specifics and read all of the press reviews – and now I was
finally getting a chance to use one for myself.

When Friday finally arrived, my Honda RC51
was packed and ready to go. And while the RC51 is by no means a
long-distance touring bike or a comfortable cruiser, it’s the ideal
corner carver once you finally get where you’re going. Joining me for
the trip south would be a fellow Garmin motorcycle enthusiast aboard
his BMW GS1200 Adventure. We left the Garmin parking lot after work and let our zumos lead us to a campsite just outside of Eureka Springs, Arkansas. While it was only two of us on the ride down, we were joined by several members of KCPlazaSportbikes.com
– a Kansas City-based group of motorcycle riders. All that was left to
do was set up camp and dream about the riding that awaited us the next
day.

First thing Saturday, we geared up, gassed up and headed out for a full
day of fun. Anyone who has spent any time in Northwest Arkansas will
tell you that gas stations can be few and far between. And if you’ve
ever pushed a 400+ pound motorcycle for more than 20 feet, you’ll
quickly appreciate the zumo’s gas station locator and digital fuel gauge. I relied on it more
than a few times when my low fuel light started to shout at me. After
more stops for food and fuel, we wound our way back to camp for an
evening of story swapping and lie telling.

Sunday morning greeted us with great weather and the promise of
another day of fantastic riding – even if we were eventually heading
back to KC. We packed up camp, considered and reviewed a few potential
routes home, and then decided on taking the long way home. After
consulting our zumos and seeking out every north-leading curvy road
that we could find, we eventually and reluctantly returned to the
yawn-inducing interstate and arrived home several hours later. When the
dust had settled and the exhausts had cooled, I checked my zumo’s trip
computer to get a final tally on mileage:  873 roundtrip miles. Not too
bad for a quick weekend getaway.

Like all motorcycle trips, as soon as this trip ended, thoughts of
the next one began. With any luck, we’ll be able to squeeze in one last
trip before winter finally arrives. I’m already packed and ready to go.
My next route is tucked safely away in my zumo and my weekly stopovers
at Weather.com have turned into hourly visits – hoping for just one more weekend before the year ends.

Interested in seeing more pics from the trip? Visit Garmin’s Flickr page.

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