Joni Mitchell lamented the “paved paradise .. put up a parking lot”. Just the same …. there are some swaths of pavement that are nothing short of paradise to drive, and we found more than a few of those roads today.
Leaving Jefferson City we rode on MO-50 and MO-63 southeast to Rich Fountain before turning onto CR-89. There was signage at the approach warning of 17 miles of “road work”, however there was no evidence of work underway and no work crews. Instead there was a beautiful serpentine route with aged but nonetheless smooth tarmac the whole way. No traffic, just mile after mile of linked turns.
Leaving Belle on MO-42 there was more signage of “pending road work”, but in this case the road was clearly done as we found another 40 miles stretch of perfect road. Perfect in design with perfect camber and perfect asphalt. The road rose and fell like a roller coaster, undulating left and right in and endless succession.
South of Iberia we picked up a 60 mile stretch of super slab on I-44, exiting at Strafford and heading south on MO-125. South of Linden the bliss returned with another 60 miles of twisty’s ahead, terminating at a Ferry just inside the Arkansas border. While crossing a Bull Shores Lake we shared the ride over with a group of Harley riders out for a Memorial Day cruise. They were a bit surprised at our Alberta plates and the distance we’ve travelled thus far.
Disembarking from the ferry we followed Hwy -125 to it’s termination at Hwy 14, then tracked east towards Harrison where we stopped for the day. Back home in Canada there is a pair of riders who have travelled extensively in British Columbia and the Western states Washington, and Northern California. They’ve developed a series of guide books titles “Destination Highways” that describe the best motorcycle roads in the area. The terms “Destination Highways” refers to those roads that are worthy destinations on their own merits. If these chaps ever did a review of Missouri and Arkansas roads, the ones we rode today would definitely be on the list.
Over the course of our trip so far we have always patronized Shell gas stations whenever we can. Our hopes were quickly dashed when we saw a defunct Shell station in Missouri, however our faith was rewarded when we were able to fuel up at a Shell station in Harrison. Hopefully we’ll see more of the ‘Pecten’ as we travel through Arkansas in the days ahead.
