Jay and Lisa's archived ride reports

[Blue is Best]

Jay, these are really nice.  Bedsides the pictures, what you are showing in your pictures tells a great deal of your life. Very nice.

Next time I get through Oklahoma lunch is on me.

[Sport-Touring]

[rajflyboy]

Jay, these are really nice.  Bedsides the pictures, what you are showing in your pictures tells a great deal of your life. Very nice.

Next time I get through Oklahoma lunch is on me.

 

[jay547]

8/24/2014: Bixhoma Lake Ride.

We decided to do a quick dual-sport ride Sunday morning before the heat came. Summer finally arrived and the temps have been around 100 for the last couple weeks. We headed out to Bixhoma Lake to look for some trails to ride.

We went around the west end of the lake and across the "Little Billy Morgan Bridge." We didn't find Billy Morgan or anything else there.



We rode to the east and south side to see what was there.



We came to a locked gate with a sign that read, "Danger, Do not Enter." That's as good as an invitation for me. We rode around the gate and down the old road that followed the lake's edge.









The road ended at an abandoned picnic gazebo.





As we were turning around, I noticed an overgrown roadbed along the side of the hill. We followed it and came upon another abandoned picnic shelter.





And an abandoned bathroom facility.





Complete with handicap accessible toilet.



The stairway to the bathroom.





After we finished vandalizing the place in the name of justice for Michael Brown, we backtracked to the gate and back around the lake.

Lisa stopped for her usual flower pic.



We rode around for awhile in the area by the spillway where the mud-truck guys dig ruts.












I did a few wheelies on the dam road then we headed out. We got home about 1:00 and it was officially 100 degrees and about 70% humidity. Still not too hot to ride though...

[jay547]

8/30/2014: We rode to Minnesota to visit Lisa's family.



Loaded and ready to go.



Cemetery in the middle of the road. West Des Moines, Iowa.



We had Umbria Pizza in Minnesota. Not just any pizza but "gourmet" pizza. Good stuff.



We hit the slopes.





We visited the finest eating establishments in Wisconsin.



Railroad bridge over the St. Croix River.



Mississippi River Bridge in Hastings, Minnesota.





Hung out at the Monkey Bar in Prescott, Wisconsin with Lisa's sister and her husband.



I want his boots.



Lisa gave her mom a ride.



We stopped at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa on the way home.
The last place Buddy Holly and Richie Valens played. This is a very cool place.













An old school in Kansas.



An arch bridge in Ft. Scott, Kansas.



Big Brutus. For scale, that's a road grader next to it/under it.



An abandoned school in Kansas.





That's a piano in the corner.





Maybe it was just a mind trick but I could hear faint music playing as I stood next to the piano. I took out my ear plugs and it stopped.

Nevermind, it was my tinnitus.

States signs along the way.















A girl with some dorky guy.

[rajflyboy]

That's it

I need to pack up and move to Oklahoma  

And I wish we had toilets that nice in the Army  

[jay547]

9/20/2014: Balloons and the Osage Hills.

We decided to do a Saturday dual-sport ride. The annual Gatesway Balloon Fest was in Claremore so we headed in that direction. We've been a couple times before and they start at daybreak so we were on the road early. It was very foggy so we took the back roads. By the time we got there, we were soaked. They delayed launch until the fog cleared so we were dried out by then and didn't miss anything.

That's me in the blue shirt. The moisture made my riding gear swell up.





Daughter Kristin.



She's a Jayhawk fan so she liked this one the most.



Lisa's favorite was the Wonder Bread balloon.



It was kind of a dud this year - only about eight balloons. Last year they had about thirty.

We continued our ride into the Osage Hills, which are a few miles west of where I grew up. I spotted this large hillside cross on Google Earth so we wanted to see if we could ride to it.



It looked like there were a lot of trails along the hills leading to it. Luckily, the road and trails were open. At first, we followed the main gravel road.









Which soon became a trail.





The trail ended at a bluff overlooking the valley.





There were a couple of picnic tables near the edge. Someone's place to get away and enjoy the view.







Lisa kept her distance.







We had to hike a couple hundred feet to find the cross. The base had rotted away and it had fallen. We tried to stand it up against some trees but it was just too heavy.





We had seen several side trails on the way in so we went exploring those next.









Lisa riding over a "downed tree."







Back to the gravel road.



And out to the county roads.



Obligatory wheelie pics.





A country church and iron bridge.





Lisa took a small branch for a souvenir.



We stopped for some free Ramen Noodles.





And smiled all the way home.

[jay547]

9/27/2014: Bikes, Blues, & BBQ.

We went to Bikes, Blues, & BBQ in Fayetteville, Arkansas. We had never been.

First was the vintage bike show.

We had only looked at a couple bikes, when I heard someone say, "Hey Jay." It was a guy I knew from the local forum. This one is his:



Some of my favorites:













The first year for Yamaha - 1954. One of only two in the U.S.



It was nice to go to a bike show that only had two Harleys.





Then the car show:













Then we watched the Hog races:





Then to the vendor area and stunt show:









I caught some weird chick messing with our bikes.



Monday, we took off work and went to the Tulsa State Fair where they had another stunt show. These guys were much better.





I got Lisa this vanity plate for her car - her screen name on the forums.



We were looking at the photography exhibit and I said, "Hey, that's Mitch's truck!" Mitch is my son-in-law. The local mx track photographer had entered the pic. He got third.

[rajflyboy]

This thread is the gift that keeps on giving !!

Thanks again  

[jay547]

Only about 60 more to go. Then I'll have to start writing some new ones.

[jay547]

10/04/2014: Honobia and K-trail.

Lisa and I went down to southeastern Oklahoma to ride some trails in the Kiamichi Mountains. We camped at Honobia, pronounced ho-nubby, according to the locals. Honobia is known for Bigfoot sightings and they were having their annual festival about a half mile away. We set up camp then rode over to check it out.











He actually made an appearance.



They were selling yard statues. I was going to buy one but it wouldn't fit on my bike.



This guy was a professor/investigator and was selling footprint castings. I offered to make some castings of my boots but no one was interested.



This truck belongs to the campground host. I would cruise this.





After the festival, Lisa made smores.



Off to ride the K Trail. About twenty-five miles of highway to the trailhead at the Three Sticks Monument. Woods, wind, water or something like that.



Obligatory wheelie to start the ride.



The K Trail runs along the top of the Kiamichi Mountain, from Clayton, Oklahoma to Mena, Arkansas. Probably about 70 miles total.





It gets a little tight in some places.



And wet.





And rocky.





An old mountaintop homestead.





We came upon the Kiamichi Fire Lookout.







You know I had to climb it.



It was cold and windy up there but the view was excellent.













The trap door.



Down the slope a ways was the site of the former station attendant's home. All that remains is some foundations, a garage, and a storm cellar.



The top of the cellar made a good spot for a selfie.



Back up to the trail.



We rode about another mile then came to what appeared to be an impassible mud hole. It was starting to get late and we didn't want to risk it so we just turned around. I decided to take the Big Cedar Loop so we wouldn't just be backtracking. We got about a quarter mile into it and a rock jumped up under Lisa's front wheel and took her out. She was a little shaken and her thumb was hurting so we turned back and rode the easy part of the trail back to the trailhead. I didn't have the heart to take a pic of her down but I did get a pic of the offending rock. The rock on the left is the one that got her. It used to be in the hole on the right.







We checked out a nice low water crossing on the way back to camp. Too bad it's not summer anymore.





How about another wheelie?



And back to the campground, watching for Bigfoot along the way.





We were disappointed. The only wildlife we saw was a couple bluejays, a few butterflies, and an older couple on atv's. We were hoping for maybe a bear or some hogs.

On the way home, we stopped at a small town, old style soda fountain for some goodness. Sometimes you just gotta live on the edge a little.

[rajflyboy]

Mmmmm

Ice Cream

[jay547]

10/19/2014: Flat Rock Creek

We took a short dual-sport ride last Sunday around Flat Rock Creek and Lake Ft. Gibson in eastern Oklahoma. The lake is about forty miles east of us so we took the gravel county roads to get there. We started riding down a trail into the lake property but came to some large rain-filled ruts. I didn't want Kristin and Lisa (or me) to get all wet so we turned around. I decided to take a picture of Kristin riding the trail so I reached to get my camera and noticed my tank bag was open. Damn it, my camera was gone!

I had stopped about ten miles earlier in the ride to change the batteries in my gps. I keep my extra batteries in my camera bag so I figured that was where I left the tank bag open. We backtracked to that location, watching along the way for the camera. We went all the way back to where I changed batteries and Kristin gave a thumbs up. The camera was off the side of the road undamaged.

As I retrieved the camera, I spotted this little fella whom unlike my camera, didn't make it safely off the road.



We decided to continue on with a now shortened ride. I wanted to see if we could ride to an old railroad bridge across Flat Rock Creek. We left the county road and began riding down the old railroad bed. They had dug trenches and built mounds to keep vehicles out but it was no match for our off-road riding skills. Well, I did actually have to ride Lisa's and Kristin's bikes over the barrier for them.





We rode about a half mile and found the bridge.





We couldn't ride across because some of the ties were missing. I walked out to the middle and took this pic.



When I looked back, I noticed there was a Bigfoot looking at our bikes.



I told Lisa that there was a guy with a bow and arrows behind her. She thought I was joking. He bitched about us being in there, said we were revving our engines, and that he was "calling the county." He was taking pictures of our license plates. He backed away as we passed. I think Lisa scared him with her hi-viz jacket and helmet.

We headed down to Three Finger Bay for some lakeside pic's.









The old railroad bridge over Mission Bend on the Grand River.



We then visited the Union Mission historic site and cemetery. It was the first mission and first printing press located in Oklahoma.









Most of the graves were infants.









We're checking the mail everyday for our trespassing tickets...

[rajflyboy]

That hunter was probably more worried you would turn him in for something.  

Keep the great ride reports coming. (All American made).

Thank you

[jay547]

11/10/2014: Old Military Road.

I took a vacation day Monday so Lisa and I could make one last warm day (79 degrees) dual-sport ride before winter sets in. We decided to ride the Old Military Road over the Winding Stair Mountains in southeastern Oklahoma. It was built in 1832 by the army for troop movement from Ft. Smith to the interior of Indian Territory, for western settlers passing through, and to relocate the Choctaws.

We based out of Talimena State Park.



We rode a few miles of highway to the trail head. The trail is open to hikers, equestrians, and motorcycles.





We immediately came upon the first of many fallen trees blocking the trail. We managed to detour through the brush around it. The trail was very difficult to ride. Very rocky (large rocks, sharp rocks, loose rocks,) rutted, and overgrown. Lisa soon stopped to remove her jacket liner as we were getting quite the workout.











This tree was blocking the trail with no way around it. Lisa suggested that we lay the bikes down and drag them under it. I never thought of it. Good thing I don't work in engineering.    You know, problem solving and all that...





A few sections were so rough that Lisa had me ride her bike down them. I kept telling her that it was going to get easier. I knew (hoped) somewhere down the line we would meet up with a forest road which would be more suited to the bikes we were riding.

We had to keep stopping to move trees and/or rocks just to make it passable. We considered turning around but then we'd just have to deal with it all again. No wonder they called it the Trail of Tears. Lisa called it the Trail to Hell.





So far, the trail had been a continuous descent with multiple switchbacks. Once we reached the bottom and started up the other side, it became a little better. A little more open and less rocky.









Finally, we reached the forest road. It took us an hour to ride just a little under two miles. The rest of the way through the valley was a nice relaxing ride along the gravel road.









I tried to pull a power wheelie but just spun in the gravel.



Success!







We made it to the trailhead on the opposite side of the valley where we took a much needed break.

We didn't see any bears.



We didn't have the time nor the desire to re-ride the trail so we took the county road that cuts through the valley back up to the top of the mountain.







The fall colors are disappointing this year. This is the best it got.




At the top of the mountain, we got on the Talimena Scenic Drive to head back to the truck.







We stopped at a couple overlooks to enjoy the scenic views.





No dual-sport ride is complete without a stop for ice cream.



Another Oklahoma sunset is just a day away.

[rajflyboy]

Motocross background folks are great riders  

[jay547]

11/28/2014: Second Kick Motorcycle Museum.

We rode up to the new museum in Grove, Oklahoma on Black Friday.





It is run by Bob Tryon, a former racer, tuner, team manager, and distributor for Triumph and BSA. He's a cool dude. He has tons of pic's from the glory days of dirt-track racing. I listened to his stories for a couple of hours - could've listened longer but they were closing.

It is mostly mx and dirt track displays. Here's a few of our pic's:

The seats are from the Astrodome.













This is Bob with one of his bikes. That's him in the picture too.





Lisa said, "I like that green Honda!"



Howerton, Cooper, and Magoo among other motocrossers.





Any trip to Grove ends with some Grill and Chill.



I turned 70,000 miles on the odometer on the way home.




Maybe I ride too much? Wait, no such thing.

[rajflyboy]

 

I enjoy your ride reports!!

Looks like you enjoy about anything on two wheels  

Just like many of us

[jay547]

Thanks.

Yes, I like motorcycles. I would probably ride everyday, if I could.

[Blue is Best]

More great pictures. Good job. The only pictures that I find a bit troubling are the Dairy Queen ones!

[jay547]

Yes, we like ice cream too.