Back to Oklahoma Pan Handle

[criminaldesign]

Here I am back in the wonderful Great American Desert. Finding out my nephew started peewee football I had to ride out to support the little big kid. Dad thought it sounded like a good idea so we left WV Saturday morning around 10:30. Let the sun come out and warm up things, what's the rush?

Dad rode the '04 Ultra Classic and I on the '88 Airhead. The previous week, we rebuilt the front end of the Airhead and man it feels like a new bike. All the wobbles and serious dives are gone and I now have a good front brake. If I can squeeze in 3K more miles I've put 50K on the bike in the last 2 years. It's been a great runner and companion.

<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/RJNsPG50NQTOvtv51gjTeg?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_QUlLxCsQNp0/TL3o--KGCvI/AAAAAAAACn4/Y-LBwqs1OTg/s800/Screen%20shot%202010-10-19%20at%202.55.32%20PM.png" height="283" width="611" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/houstonmcintyre/OKFall2010?feat=embedwebsite">OK Fall 2010</a></td></tr></table>
- Rt 2 from Ravenswood to Pt Pleasant
- 35 to Jackson OH
- 124/32 to Cincy where we took the 275 bypass through KY
- 50 to Union MO. Took the 255 bypass round St. Louis.
- Rt 28 from Union to Dixon MO and took 17 and 42 to Lake of the Ozarks
- 54 to El Dorado KS
- 77 to Florence KS
- 50 to Dodge City KS
- 56 to Sublette KS
- 160 to Liberal KS
- 54 to Guymon

Highlight for the ride out west was 28 through Missouri, wonderful hills and decent road with a handful of good switchbacks and sparse traffic.

Best food stop was for breakfast at a small cafe in Florence KS where they have 99.9997 natural spring water. It was more the atmosphere than the food. Friendly locals talking with us across the room with the old dusty western tchotchkes and a no rush talk and mentality. Other than that, food stops were mainly McD's and Subway cos they are cheap, greasy spoons really are almost obsolete. Looked for them

Nothing beats the change of land when you hit Kansas, slowly rolls flat (kinda). That's always a highlight heading west and seeing the change of the land.

Didn't bother with camping, packed extremely light and stayed in cheapo motels in Olney IL and El Dorado KS. Avoided the cities and urban areas where possible and just enjoyed the open road. Weather was great, first 2 days where nice and mild, not a cloud in the sky, on the 3rd day it was more of the same until afternoon, clouds started rolling in with sprinkles here and there but nothing major. Bikes ran great and MPG's stayed steady and good range, hitting 170 miles usually before we started looking for fuel and reserve wasn't touched. Total miles traveled was just above 1300.

Brother(teacher) and nephew(student) have the rest of the week off for a fall break, so if the weather keeps up as it has been I'm sure we'll ride into NM, CO or TX. If not no big deal, take it as it comes, I don't need to be pressured to take it easy and do nothing. Plus the current work load for the week is steady on the kinda light side, perfect to catch up with family.

Took a handful of pix, I'll post some visuals up at some point. See ya.

 

[41077]

From where you are you can easily reach "Amarillo By Morning" not sure why you would want to but you could.

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[akbeemer]

I am a grad of Panhandle State in Goodwell just down the road from Guymon. We always thought of Guymon as the big city..... Goodwell has about 300 folks. Watch the wind.

 

[criminaldesign]

Hey Guys, First time I ever played a round of golf was on the greens (more like brown with tumbleweeds) was in Goodwell. My Brother graduated from there as well.

We may have to hit up Amarillo, that's the big city for Guymon. Usually make a trip down there. It aint that bad, just like any other urbanized area to me.

At times on a bike, you're riding with a constant lean into the wind. Rt. 56 is almost finished with the resurfacing. It was like a washboard.

 

[Visian]

great ride there, and for sure the changing landscape as you ride west is really enjoyable.

i've ridden through those parts of kansas before and enjoyed it very much.

and the Cimarron and Rita Blanca grasslands are a great place for remote camping.

if you do ride into NM, here is an interesting route into the Ring of Enchantment area that you might enjoy. A little of it is dirt, but easily rideable on a street bike. (please pardon the google maps weirdness...)

ian