My second ride of 2011 was with the Oklahoma MS Society. The ride was called The Mother Road Ride 2011. It followed the Old Route 66 for much of the 150 miles. It was a fun and historic ride. There were a lot of miles where you could see the old style of travel - road side motels, bakeries, drug stores, automobile recycling centers (aka. junk yards), lots of open miles of reservations. Oklahoma has a lot of reservations.
Clearly the highlight of the weekend was seeing Karen, my niece who works at the University of Oklahoma in Norman. She met me in OKC and then was kind enough to drive me back to Tulsa so I could pick up my car and head home on Sunday.
The ride was from Tulsa to OK City. We started on Saturday to wet roads, as it had rained overnight for the first time since Easter (I am sure). Drought all summer, but let 600 bikers come to town and greet them with rain. Although it wasn't raining when we awoke, since the roads were wet, it meant our tires were soon wet and wet tires pick up every little thing on the road. Before lunch, I'll bet there were 100 bikers with flat tires, including yours truly. Many reported having multiple flats. I had to wait on a SAG vehicle to retrieve me (cause my pump or operator didn't work right) and in the 10 miles I was sagged into lunch, I'll bet we stopped every half mile inquiring whether the biker along side the road with a flat needed any assistance. The van I was riding in had a box up front that originally was full of new tubes. By the time we reached lunch, it was full of blown tubes and only a few remaining boxes of new tubes. After lunch the roads dried up and flats almost stopped.
Saturday night was spend in Chandler, OK. A booming good time. A really happening town.
Sunday was on to OKC. Fortunately, Sunday was uneventful for most riders. It was sunny and warm (but not the blistering HOT it had been all summer in OK. Maybe we all brought the rain to Tulsa on Friday, but it that is the case, then we also get to take credit for temperatures in the 80s). The only real issue was the wind had picked up a bit on Sunday and made the ride a bit more challenging.
We finished at the state Capitol in OKC. It was great to see it from the top of a hill knowing that we could coast down to the end. Karen met me there and we visited while I decompressed, showered, ate and relaxed a bit. We then packed the bike in her SVU and headed off to Tulsa.
I drove as far a Springfield MO and spent the night there. I got home late afternoon on Monday. Oklahoma is #19. Only 31 more states to go!
Monday, October 10, 2011
Thursday, October 6, 2011
2011 MS Rides Recap
Well, Kevin and I did meet up to ride the WV ride, but before we could get on the bikes, he had to return home to assist with a monstrous rainfall. As we were at dinner on Friday night, Kevin got two phone calls and a picture text from Allison about the tremendous rainstorm they were having at home. The power had gone out and there was 4 feet of water on the back patio which was seeping into the house. After dinner we put the bike and the suitcase back in his car and he headed home.
Maybe next year.
The ride was hilly. Who'd have guessed, right? Well, it was.
The ride started in White Sulphur Springs at the Greenbrier and finished at Snowshoe Mountain. They didn't make us ride clear to the top of the mountain, but stopped at a fire station in Cass and then bused us to the top. It was a kind gesture that all of us appreciated. As it was, we climbed almost 2300 feet that day. You know how many times you have to go up and over the overpasses in central IL to get to 2300 feet? I was tired by the time we got to the mountaintop.
Then came my mistake on Sunday. We were told on Saturday night not to miss the bus in the morning. There would be one bus and it would leave at 7:00am. If you weren't on it, you'd have to figure out your own way down the mountain to get your bike. So I exited my hotel building (the one that acted as the headquarters, where we had the meal on Sat. and breakfast on Sun. The complex at the top of Snowshoe Mountain must have 30 hotel-sized buildings, so to keep it simple, I stayed in the one where all the MS activity was going to be.) So now, back to my mistake.
So in the morning after breakfast, I walk out the front of my hotel building and there is a bus waiting to take us down the mountain. So I get on. I'm about the 5th guy on, but soon it fills with other bikers. My clue should have been when the women who has been in charge all weekend came on and said "Everybody got their trail map?" See in addition to the rode ride, there was also a trail ride that rode an old rail-to-trail line. But I didn't think fast enough. BTW, when I got on the bus, I looked for something that might have said what bus this was, but there was nothing.
Soon the bus left the mountaintop. And when it made a right turn at the bottom of the mountain instead of a left turn, I was a little concerned. As the miles went on, my concern was soon confirmed I was on the wrong bus. When we finally arrived at the town where all the trail riders were to get their bikes, I waited to get off the bus so that I could ask the driver if he was going back to the lodge and to Cass. Well, he said he was going back to the lodge, but that I needed to go to Cass and he wasn't going there. (Really? Cause my memory was that Cass was at the bottom of the mountain and would only be about 2 miles out of your way to take be there). He suggested I talk with some of the cars that had followed us that had other riders going on the trail ride (spouses along for the weekend driving their own vehicles). With that advice, he took off. Thanks buddy.
So I asked the first car behind the bus and the very nice women said she'd be happy to drive me to Cass but she was going to need a cup of coffee first. Heck, I told her I would buy her an entire breakfast for driving me back. On the way back to Cass, we took a different route than the bus had taken to get us there. As we drove up WV-28, I started seeing bikes coming at us. Sure enough, this was on the route back. If you ever get a chance to ride WV-28 from Dunmore to Hunrtersville, I would recommend it. The advantage of climbing 2300 feet on Saturday was that we got to come down 2300 feet on Sunday. That 15-16 mile stretch of WV-28 was almost all downhill. It was wonderful.
I made it back to the Greenbrier on Sunday and after I had finished eating a box lunch and taking a shower, I headed for home, arriving about 11:30 Sunday evening.
Maybe next year.
The ride was hilly. Who'd have guessed, right? Well, it was.
The ride started in White Sulphur Springs at the Greenbrier and finished at Snowshoe Mountain. They didn't make us ride clear to the top of the mountain, but stopped at a fire station in Cass and then bused us to the top. It was a kind gesture that all of us appreciated. As it was, we climbed almost 2300 feet that day. You know how many times you have to go up and over the overpasses in central IL to get to 2300 feet? I was tired by the time we got to the mountaintop.
Then came my mistake on Sunday. We were told on Saturday night not to miss the bus in the morning. There would be one bus and it would leave at 7:00am. If you weren't on it, you'd have to figure out your own way down the mountain to get your bike. So I exited my hotel building (the one that acted as the headquarters, where we had the meal on Sat. and breakfast on Sun. The complex at the top of Snowshoe Mountain must have 30 hotel-sized buildings, so to keep it simple, I stayed in the one where all the MS activity was going to be.) So now, back to my mistake.
So in the morning after breakfast, I walk out the front of my hotel building and there is a bus waiting to take us down the mountain. So I get on. I'm about the 5th guy on, but soon it fills with other bikers. My clue should have been when the women who has been in charge all weekend came on and said "Everybody got their trail map?" See in addition to the rode ride, there was also a trail ride that rode an old rail-to-trail line. But I didn't think fast enough. BTW, when I got on the bus, I looked for something that might have said what bus this was, but there was nothing.
Soon the bus left the mountaintop. And when it made a right turn at the bottom of the mountain instead of a left turn, I was a little concerned. As the miles went on, my concern was soon confirmed I was on the wrong bus. When we finally arrived at the town where all the trail riders were to get their bikes, I waited to get off the bus so that I could ask the driver if he was going back to the lodge and to Cass. Well, he said he was going back to the lodge, but that I needed to go to Cass and he wasn't going there. (Really? Cause my memory was that Cass was at the bottom of the mountain and would only be about 2 miles out of your way to take be there). He suggested I talk with some of the cars that had followed us that had other riders going on the trail ride (spouses along for the weekend driving their own vehicles). With that advice, he took off. Thanks buddy.
So I asked the first car behind the bus and the very nice women said she'd be happy to drive me to Cass but she was going to need a cup of coffee first. Heck, I told her I would buy her an entire breakfast for driving me back. On the way back to Cass, we took a different route than the bus had taken to get us there. As we drove up WV-28, I started seeing bikes coming at us. Sure enough, this was on the route back. If you ever get a chance to ride WV-28 from Dunmore to Hunrtersville, I would recommend it. The advantage of climbing 2300 feet on Saturday was that we got to come down 2300 feet on Sunday. That 15-16 mile stretch of WV-28 was almost all downhill. It was wonderful.
I made it back to the Greenbrier on Sunday and after I had finished eating a box lunch and taking a shower, I headed for home, arriving about 11:30 Sunday evening.
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