A favorite ride that I make with some regularity takes place very near my home. I live in the far southwest corner of Missouri and am blessed with having a huge region of beauty to ride in called the Ozarks.So far I have ridden a lot less of the region than I plan. There is so much to see and marvel at so close to home. This is a ride taken the second weekend in April which is the peak time to view the native dogwood trees blooming joined by redbud, wild plum, apple, pear, and crabapple trees. The hardwood trees are not yet fully blooming although they are touched with the pale greens and yellows of new leaves and seed pods just beginning to peek out. This lets you see farther back into the heavy tree growth that is impossible in another month.

I turn off highway 71 to the east on highway K. which is a paved road that goes up and down and around and around --- a great road to cruise along feeling the bike between your legs. After 8 miles of riding on K were the dogwoods shown here.



An interesting legend of the dogwood is that the crucifixion cross of Christ was made from the dogwood and ever since the blossoms bear the bite shaped cut out on the tip of each blossom. The bright pink of redbud blossoms frequently accents the stark white of the dogwood.



Wild dogwood in this area is almost always white, and the few pink specimens you might see are almost always tame varieties that have been planted there by man. The dogwood is the state flower of Missouri and there is a heavy penalty for attempting to dig one up to take home. When you see a grove of them as shown in the picture it makes you glad they are protected.

Just a couple of miles and dozens of curves from the dogwood scene you encounter what many consider a treasure trove all its own. I have often thought the mark of having made it in this area is how many derelict cars you have parked in the yard. This picture shows a wealthy man by that standard.



This is just a small portion of the vehicles stored about the property. Don't ask, I have, and they are not for sale --- ANY of them. Just a hop and a skip along you intersect highway 90. You won't notice a bit of difference between the county highway H and the state highway 90. It is all up and down and around and around. Keep heading generally east on the road until you have to stop for highway E - I have lived in Missouri almost my entire life and this is the first place I have seen where the state highway must stop as the county highway has the right of way. We do things a mite different here in McDonald County.

Take a left from the stop sign heading in a generally northern direction. Directions are sort of hard to nail down around here because of the twisty roads and high ridges and bluffs that are so plentiful. About five miles up the road you reach the small village of Powell, MO. Here you can make some choices. I usually turn left at the campground sign to ford Mikes Creek and ride a couple miles to a large natural bridge.





The pictures don't really do it justice as it looks like just another cave, but as you walk through it, you find that it is a nice stretch of the legs as it is about half a quarter long with a 90-degree turn carved by the waters action over the ages. You have to crawl over a gate to get to the bridge. This might be a good place to point out a piece of Ozark etiquette. Before you go hopping fences or crawling over gates -- you NEVER open a gate and leave it open -- contact the landowner and ask permission to go onto the land. Usually it is the nearest house to where you are standing, and if it isn't the people will know where the owner is. I have been refused permission to go onto a place only once and that was only a mile out of the largest town in the area.

At this point I backtrack to the highway and turn to the north to cross the bridge and immediately hang a hard right onto Mikes Creek Road. The first short section will have you thinking, "Nice paved country road," which is just barely short of where the pavement ends. Now at this point most riders turn around and head for the pavement, which is a shame. The roads here can't be described as dirt because the dirt has long since disappeared. You can't even call them gravel because the rocks are too large for that designation. ROCK is what they are, but that isn't as bad as you might think. Mud is never a problem and traffic has worn a smooth groove down the road. Remember that motorcycles were popular before cars for the simple reason they could negotiate the horrible roads of the era. I suspect that the two creeps at Orange County Choppers and other custom bike builders would go catatonic at the sight of our true back roads, and I sure wouldn't want to take a crotch rocket on them, but a normal cruiser like those we are partial to are very suited for this type of riding. Just slow down to where you are comfortable and frankly I won't ride two up on these roads myself. You will find that a slow pace is great in that you can set back and really enjoy the scenery. While we have terrific scenery along the major roads in the Ozarks, some of the truly spectacular scenes are located a few miles down that unpaved country road. Case in point may be seen in this picture.



That's Mikes Creek. Down the road a little piece -- Ozark talk for anything from two to twelve miles -- but in this case only four or five, you see these overhanging bluffs.





My dear friend Alain Lepel has called these things outcroppings but around here they are simply known as bluffs. There are big bluffs and little bluffs. This one on Mikes creek would fall more into the big bluff category. After all you will be riding under the overhanging rocks of that bluff as the picture shows. Instead of being scary these types of things lend a surprising tranquility. Ride beneath a bluff like this with a clear running stream right beside you and I defy you to remain keyed up and in a go-go hurry. Following the main road for a few miles suddenly brings you back to pavement. This signals that you have left McDonald County and entered Barry County. FR1010 follows a good size hollow -- known far and wide as a "holler" -- for several miles. Typically it is an up and down twisty ride. After following the road for perhaps five miles we came over a hill and encountered the 1890 cabin shown here and the owner, Hugh Lacy.





He gave us detailed historical information that was priceless to hear. By the time we left there the afternoon shadows were getting long so we rode north to reach Highway 76 To head west and home. Usually this route signals a stop at Longview Café where the hot ham sandwich is to die for, but is perhaps exceeded by their homemade blackberry cobbler. By the time I reach home the odometer tells me we have ridden the loop in 65 miles more or less, just a "few miles down the road" as it is referred to down here, but it's a ride that I can never make in less than three hours even if I am in a hurry. There are too many sights that never grow old to my eyes and stops are frequent.

The neat thing is that I can turn any direction from my house and find roads and scenery that may not quite but very nearly equal the majesty of this ride. I feel very lucky in that respect.