Wild Goose Chase

Epic ride today with Scott and Tracy. I wish Bobbie had been able to go. We rode to Sasakwa, OK the long way and found lots to look at on the way and back. 225 mile round trip. Though the trip was tinged with tragedy when we came upon a biker in the road who had hit a deer, he seemed to be going to recover. We went on our way, more carefully, as the firemen arrived. Even so, this one was a great one. Here are a couple of my favorite pictures from the trip, for more visit the album:

The old Sasakwa City Hall Jail:

And of course, a favorite of mine:

Against the Wind

My baby girl wanted a little two-wheeled action too. Until the sprinkles came...
All in all, a great weekend for the clan. Birthday parties, a great haunted forest with awesome friends, the Cowboys looked good, pumpkins were slaughtered, their seeds were fried, and the bikes got the cobwebs blown off. Sweet. Bring on the work week!

Dirt Devil

 After mutilating some orange vegetables, Drew took me 'splorin on the Strom.

Pumpkin Fest 2009

Pe-Paw's Pumpkin Patch Adventure went down today. Awesome day to get the kids in the woods and run them ragged!

EZ Rider

My riding buddy scored a new helmet. Thanks to the unseasonably warm day, Drew and I took a sweet ride to Oklahoma Honda's open house.

The best Ubuntu Version Ever is Coming!

Endurocross!

What a cool event! Bobbie and I had a day to ourselves, as the kiddos were with family, so we rode to the Lazy-E arena with Tracy and Scott and checked out endurocross. I have been to lots of motocross and arenacross events, and they are cool; but endurocross is another animal altogether. I will see if I can get permission from Scott to post a couple of his pictures as examples, but check out the link above. The guys riding in this event have racing careers in other events, and this is like some kind of sick break for them. Looks to me like some of the hardest possible terrain to ride a bike over.

Anyway, the ride was awesome, Bobbie and I don't get to ride together very much, and Scott and Tracy are always great company. We also met a couple of other riders from www.ADVrider.com that we have corresponded with, so that's always nice.

It's been a while since I've posted, I still need to chronicle our trip to Mt. Scott, and I'll try to get some pics of the endurocross for your enjoyment!

Breckenridge Trip!

The Farmees went to Breckenridge. Pics here. And here is some video of the kiddos doing the bouncy thing next to the Alpine slides that run down the slopes. Drew keeps saying he's "extreme". I wish the word weren't so watered-down and cliche, because he really is. Really though, check out the PICS too! The crew includes the Farmee kids plus Nana, Papa, Aunt Tamara, and cousins Kaitlan and Josie.

Drew Flies


Lauren Soars


Josie Bounces



Kaitlan Flips

Riders on the Storm? Strom?

They say it is never as bad as it seems. Sometimes it's worse. Leaving work today, I was under the leading edge of a nasty looking thunderstorm. I decided I had three options. I could wait it out at work, put on my rain gear and ride slimy, or get on and roll, and try to outrun the sucker. Which do you think Farmee did. Yeah, within two blocks I found myself soaked, getting sandblasted by weeks of dry clay dust, and leaning into a 70-plus mpg gust front that was literally blowing me across lanes. Of course the closest hidey-hole was the truck stop at the most crowded intersection on the east side of OKC. As I headed south toward it, I was passed by a few pretty large tree branches. I made it right before lighning (or wind) took out power and right after the hail started pelting me. At the truck stop, I was treated to a nice hooker who really just wanted a cigarette. But it blew by as fast as it blew in, and the ride home was a fun woody obstacle course. I only got a couple of pics taken, and they don't even show the good stuff, but here they are:

Bobbie's Show-off Day

This morning we took the kids to camp Pee-Paw for swimming, feeding the fishes, and whatever other outdoor trouble could be found. And Bobbie and I went looking for our own trouble. We Went everywhere there was to go between Choctaw, Shawnee, and Pink America. All-in-all, bout 100 miles, 95 of those on the tarmac. Bobbie did so well, I now have a bona-fide (and hot) riding buddy instead of a new rider to take care of. Her attitude is awesome, and we just have so much fun! That said, time for pictures:

 

 

Bobbie's First Dual Sport Ride

Well, I've put up pictures of Bobbie's first good long ride over on the family side of the site. I'm hoping Bobbie will caption them with some of her feelings, etc...

The Wife

My beautiful wife Bobbie scored her "M" endorsement on her driver's license today. She is now free to hit the open road and enjoy the freedom of motorcycling. Be on the lookout for pictures and ride reports from her at Farmee.com. Also, be on the look out for my wife on the road. If you hit her, well, it's inadvisable anyway. You go, Bobbie!

Packing Up the Game and Heading out West

Last Saturday's ride with Scott through Western Oklahoma was so much fun, I'm just not going to say anything. The pictures can do the talking.

So click.

Motherrrrr.....

Okay. You probably know me, because let's face it, it's not like crap I write interests anyone but me and a few sick or unlucky puppies who end up here. But if you are one of those, and know me, you may know of my disdain for those who abuse "handicapped" ( dunno the PC phrase du jour) parking. But guess who got a ticket? Yep, yours truly. Signed by officer P. Diddy of the Midwest City Police Department. I know, who knew? So this guy's either a bad rapper on the side or signs tickets like a Dr. does prescriptions. Either way, you be the judge. Not really, the judge will be the judge. Just so you know, had the ticket been for parking in a non-designated spot, I would probably pay and move on. But note the care I took to ensure the bike did not even lean over the crosshatched area, so as to leave room for anyone to get out. Please also note that on the other side of the special parking are regular sized car spaces the same distance away. Also please take my word for it that there are no old, worn out lines or markings in this area, I looked for those too. Sorry for the picture quality, I was shaking just a little. FYI, the lot was completely full at the t-ball fields when I parked here. Now where's my old NWA CD. There's a song I want to hear.
Feel free to tell me if I am crazy here. I did know that the adjacent spots were handicapped. I, and other bikes have parked here before, and honestly, I thought they had actually set aside real M/C parking spaces. Why the hell wouldn't the whole area be crosshatched if it were off limits? Can't wait until the government gets to make my healthcare choices for me too.

Holy shit! This just in...The code in question: (MWC Muni Ordinance 24-159)

Sec. 24-159. Parking spaces dedicated for the handicapped.

(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to place or park a motor vehicle in any parking space on private property accessible to the public and where the public is invited or on public property that is properly designated as hereinafter provided as a reserved area for parking of motor vehicles of a physically disabled person unless such person is eligible for an insignia as a physically disabled person under provisions of Oklahoma Statutes, Title 47, Section 15-112 or 149.3 or regulations adopted pursuant thereto, and such insignia is displayed on such vehicle as provided in Oklahoma Statutes, Title 47, Section 15-112 or 149.4.

(b) For purposes of this section, reserved handicapped parking spaces shall be deemed to be properly designated and posted when immediately in front of said reserved space there shall be displayed a handicapped parking sign not less than twelve (12) inches by eighteen (18) inches in size permanently mounted above the ground not less than four (4) feet nor more than seven (7) feet from the parking surface to the bottom of the sign. Said sign shall be specified by the "Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices" with the standard international handicapped wheelchair symbol with the legend "RESERVED PARKING."

(c) The police department shall have the authority to enter property as designated in subsection (a) above to enforce the provisions of this section.

(d) Any person who violates any provision of this section shall, upon conviction thereof, be guilty of an offense against the city and if convicted shall be punished by a fine of one hundred dollars ($100.00) and court costs. However, if the insignia referenced in paragraph (a) of this section is presented to the court within forty-eight (48) hours after the violation, the charge shall be dismissed without payment of court costs.

(Code 1972, § 20-171.5; Ord. No. 1906, § 1, 10-25-83; Ord. No. 2364, § 1, 9-12-89; Ord. No. 2682, § 1, 9-23-97; Ord. No. 2775, § 2, 2-22-00)

Well...Ta-da?

I did it. I got mad at KiLleR (RIP), and grabbed an 09 Suzuki DL650 V-Strom. Now, Calvary there in the background isn't in the picture because I worship my new bike, the sky just looked cool as I was passing a church, and once I got it framed, I thought the crosses made for one sweet pic.

Anyway, all day today, since Sunday really, I agonized over getting rid of the KLR and spending money I don't really have for a brand new bike. I mean the KLR only stayed with me for a year (and 12,242 miles). It served me well, but I learned some things about my riding abilities and myself that made me want to get a more specific kind of bike. I was angry at KiLleR for various reasons, and beat myself up all day for making an emotional, irrational decision.

I am now to the point of rationalizing, but also realizing that I have been really doing an ongoing total cost of ownership analysis. I truly think that I will have spent just about the same amount of money over the life of either bike. The KLR was going to be an ongoing maintenance project, and research tells me that the Strom should not. The 09 is five years into it's current config, while the KLR was a brand new design in 08 when I got it. I had also still not completed many costly upgrades that are almost a necessity for the KLR. So far, from what I have found, the Strom should be a fire and forget type of buy for some time. I hope. And 61 horses vs. 34 helps too.

Anyway, there she is in all of her glory.

Romulus and Remus

So the old tale of Romulus and Remus is pretty entertaining...especially since there are about eleventy-hundred different versions.

Anyway, since the kiddos were hanging with their cousin Saturday, I decided to go for a ride. We had plans that evening, which helped me narrow my search for an interesting half-day ride. While hunting for good dirt roads, I discovered that Oklahoma has a town called Romulus. My interest was piqued, andit took quite a bit of zooming and panning, but I finally did find Remus as well, not far away. I figured the two had to exist together. Although the fate of the towns might have mimicked mythology a little.

Anyway, my GPS took me on all 2-lane highways all the way to Romulus. It appears that the great pains I took to be almost all dirt on the way there were dashed when I loaded the route on my Garmin, and it recalculated immediately. I'll have to turn that feature off.

Here is what I found of Romulus, OK:
The good news is, from Romulus, the GPS told me that Remus was down a dirt road or three. Now, by this point I was going to take the dirt road anyway, so that worked out. The roads down there are great, and it looks like there are lots of them. The area is hilly, and the roads are curvy; moreso than I would have thought for East Central OK. Very cool ride past Romulus.
The GPS told me at one point after a few miles on a windy dirt road that Remus was on my left. I looked, and it appears that Remus must be the name of the old guy putting diesel in his tractor. I prefer, however, to think that Romulus killed Remus in order to rule the valley.

I think I covered from about 880 to 1250 feet MSL on this short trip, which is more vertical change than I thought we had in central OK. At times I definitely felt on top of the (local) world, and others like I was walled in by trees, hills, etc. Really interesting ride, and I didn't even get a start on all the dirt roads down there. I had forgotten to eat all day (happens when I ride), so I bailed out and found 9a and headed back to town for grub.

Gratuitous Plug

If you need motorcycle gear, peep Motorcycle Superstore, yo. Their prices are good, they are always glad to swap sizes, etc...and maybe I'll win a contest for posting their link! Yeah baby!

The Perry Run

So I've been enjoying a couple of "photo tag" games on two of the bike forums I visit on the internet. The idea is, one guy rides somewhere, takes a picture of his bike in front of a landmark, then the first one to figure out where it is and take the same picture, except with HIS (or her) bike, gets to pick the next place and the cycle begins again.

As luck would have it, both games of tag had places within 50 miles or so of each other, so I decided to knock them both out in one run. I like to go ahead and get my choice of picture taken on the same day, so as not to make the next person wait. This meant that I needed to hit four geographically diverse landmarks. Didn't seem fair to swap the two, or post the same picture as the next tag on both sites.

So I left Choctaw about 2:30 on Sunday afternoon bound for Marshall, OK and Perry, OK. I also wanted to hit two other towns for my tags, but had no plans. I headed north up Hiwassee road to Route 66, which I took west to Midwest Blvd, and headed north to Waterloo Road. I figured that was far enough north to avoid city Sunday drivers and get over to Hwy 74 for the shot north to Marshall. Not the case. Apparently residents of northern OK county like to poke around as much as anyone. Anyway, I hit 74 and went north toward Crescent, but got sidetracked at Hwy 33 when my tummy reminded me that I had not eaten all day (cereal doesn't count, there's no meat in it).

I hoffed a polish sausage, and checked the GPS, which showed Okarche off in the distance to the West. I thought Eischen's Chicken would make a fitting tag, so I went West on 33. I never saw Okarche again on the GPS, but when I hit Kingfisher, I found my first promising tag picture.

A Chisolm Trail Memorial.

At this point, I wanted to get back to heading north, so I gave up on Okarche. Another day. So I headed up Hwy 81toward Hennessey and Hwy 51. Entering Hennesey, I found this little gem:

Where they have:

I didn't stick around to find out. My butt already hurt. So with two new tags out of the way, on to Marshall for the first of the two required "old" tags:

which is the Marshall Cafe.
Then on to Perry for this one:

Since Hwy 86 runs south to 51, I took it instead of hitting the I-35 superslab just yet to get home. When I stopped west of Stillwater for gas, right next to the station sat what I believe to be the Area 51 riding area:

 

 

From there is was a straight shot down I-35 and Sooner Road back home. Between this ride and Bobbie's first riding lesson today, it was a great day!

Stablemates

The garage is growing a little family of its own. The latest addition is Bobbie's new (to us) Yamaha XT-225. She is getting ready for her MSF Rider's course and her "M" endorsement, then there will be no stopping her. I got to ride the XT home from Norman and must say it is a fun bike, no doubt. It's no drag bike, but with my weight on the back of the seat due to leg length, keeping the front wheel on the pavement was a chore. And if you know me, you know I would NEVER enjoy a wheelie.

Hmm. I'm doing my guzintas, and it seems like we're missing one...

The Silver Lining

So I like to ride my motorcycle. Quite a bit. However, there are times when it is just not that much fun to be on a motorcycle. Like that weird time just around dusk when you can't se your headlight yet, but it really isn't bright enough to see well by natural light. Or when it rains. Or when there are storms in the area and you really should have left earlier to beat them home. Regardless, it appears that with some things, three or four wrongs CAN make a ride.

Today began pretty mundanely. Lots of housework, predictions of rain, the kids ready for a long Saturday of video games and monopoly. Things began to look up when Drew asked to try riding his Yamaha PW-50 without training wheels for the first time. We went out to my father-in-law's and Drew performed like a champ. It rained for a while, but soon passed. We stayed longer than we should have, as storms began moving in from the west.

As I rode the first half of the way home behind the minivan, it began to rain on me. The sun was setting, and visibility was not so great. But between the great fun we had with the kids today, and the awe-inspiring natural laser light show that the thunderstorms were providing all around me, the ride home was one of the most rewarding I have yet experienced. I would never have seen the things I saw, or smelled what I smelled, had I not been in the soaking rain on my KLR tonight. Nor would I have stopped with the family and scarfed down a smothered chicken fried steak at the McLoud Cafe to wait the storm out.

So folks, if you look for it, there is a silver lining. Enjoy pictures of our day here.

Farmee.com Photo Galery Added!

See all of the pictures on the 2009 Eureka Springs Ride in the new Farmee.com Photo Gallery. More pictures and Albums coming!

Uncle Dave's Eureka Hillbilly Ride

After the excitement had been building for months, I headed out for the "2009 Uncle Dave's Eureka Springs Hillbilly Ride". An event put together mostly on www.rideok.com, with some help from local members of www.advrider.com.


My riding buddy Scott showed up at the house Thursday morning with Bill, a great rider (and writer) from Norman who joined us for the journey to Eureka Springs. Bill was nice enough to point out that my chain was "strung up like a banjo". A point that Scott had mentioned before, but less eloquently. So I loosened that up and off we went, eastward.

We followed OK 62 all the way to the state line, where we intercepted AR 62. Convenient, huh? The rain, cold, and wind wasn't so convenient. We stopped frequently, had some great BBQ in Okmulgee, and averaged about 27 mph counting all the stops. So it took us about 10 hours to make the 273 miles to Eureka Springs.

Once there we unpacked, ate some sandwiches, and met some great people. I would guess there were between 80 and 100 dual sport riders there, from OK, AR, MO, KS, GA, MS, and TX. I think that covers it, those are all the states I heard of.

 

  

 

 

 Friday morning brought a 6:30 wake up call for the 7:30 riders meeting, where Scott and I teamed up with a group of six others for a scenic tour of Eureka Springs, followed by some fun dirt riding. In our group were James and Kay from Edmond, Gary, Endo Connie, Steve from Olathe, KS, and Bob from Yukon (I think).

We rode through the narrow streets to the very nice Crescent Hotel:

 

Then we hit the dirt:

Sometime mid-morning, we came upon our first water crossing. Things went pretty well until Steve stalled in the water, then James and I had a little "incident":

After the swim, James was quite cold, so we broke for lunch. Then the group split while James and Kay returned to the hotel for dry clothes, and Gary led the rest of us on another dirt run. Thanks to James for being very cool about the whole "getting run over" thing!

Friday night brought us back to the hotel, then to dinner at Catfish Cabin in Eureka. Very good fish! Then on to the campfire for some BS and off to bed.

Another early morning and meeting Saturday. Then Gary led our team to the top of White Rock "Mountain". Very pretty up there. We were minus James and the ladies on Saturday, as they were off shopping.

Then we rode off the hill and headed out to Oark to the general store and cafe.

Lunch was awesome. And big:

Then we went dirting again, on the way to see the Catalpa cafe. Scott was accosted by a sweet little doggie, which caused him to sacrifice his bike and safety to save the little guy. I didn't get pictures, but hopefully will get some from Gary soon to add...(and now, an update!!!):
Scott down!
And then heroically crossing a nice deep stream:


Afterwards, it was off to the Cliffhouse restaurant to take in the view from the overhanging patio.
Then back to the hotel for dinner and sleep.

Sunday morning brought cold and wind. So we headed out early, saying goodbye to the Traveler's Inn and Arkansas.

We rode home at a 45 degree angle against the constant crosswind. But it was worth it.