The Mobius Trip

[DR. Rock]

So we carry on to the next town, Pryor, OK.





And found a non-descript cheap motel ($30) on the busy road through town. Walked down the block to a package store to buy bourbon, asked about beer and got a stern lecture about how they can't sell them both in the same store, so then we had to go next door to that place to buy beer.

Ate at Charlie's Chicken as recommended by the clerk at the package store, which turned out to be a chain, but wasn't bad.

Didn't take any photos, did our chores, and slept well.

[DR. Rock]

I started to see the pattern of our days:

Awake @ 6-6:30am

Breakfast, coffee, pack

Wheels rolling @ 8:00am

Ride, rest, ride, gas, ride, pee, ride, snack, ride, etc. in various sequences

3-4:00pm: Figure out where our day's endpoint would be, decide camping or motel based on weather and forecast, decide to find a restaurant or cook, start looking for a grocery to pick up supplies if camping.

6:00-8:00 pm: Stop riding, set up camp, or explore the small town if motelling, eat dinner, have a drink, do daily chores.

9-11:00 pm Campfire or TV weather station, sleep

People ask how many miles/day... my answer is: "as far as we'd get in 10-12 hours traveling. It was really hard to break 20miles/hour moving average once we were on the dirt roads. The harder we'd push, the more tired we'd become, and the longer our rest stops were.

I've followed other threads of riders who I know were moving faster than we were when they were moving. But in a bigger group, time is lost with every stop, and there are more stops... flat tires, bigger prostrates, etc.

We made good distance by keeping moving, steady pace, and relatively long days, boots on - to- boots off.

[DR. Rock]

We thought we might be able to push it to Liberal, KS where we had a tire waiting for my front, and we'd be able to take a whole day off to rest and do maintenance. It was starting to get straight and flat:







so we thought we'd give it a shot. There was a storm system to our north which we were watching all day, and by late morning the wind really started to pick up. It's an austere, loveless landscape, but beautiful.

[DR. Rock]

A trooper:



Water crossings less frequent:



This one was a doozy though!





We didn't attempt it. It was clear that the route meandered onto this road from the more obvious choice through the area, so it was easy to just go back to the turn-off and take the original road.

I'm sure it's fun when it's not so high.

[DR. Rock]

Cockfight rooster camp



Oil or gas well. At first we were -- "cool! I've never seen one up close, we're really in a different part of the country now..." But then they got old. Especially after seeing the landscape unblemished in the tallgrass prarie preserve.



Nice old iron:



One more time, savor it...

[DR. Rock]

Get used to these vanishing-point perspective photos...







Variety:

[DR. Rock]

Conveniently placed.

[DR. Rock]

[CBAT]

Awesome trip. My DRZ is jealous.

[DR. Rock]

three days earlier, to Arkansas. Crossing the Mississippi river. Helena / West Helena. I thought it might be a town big enough to support a motorcycle shop where I could buy a new spare front tube.

I stop at a used car lot (some nice exotics and classics) where a couple of bikes are parked as well. I inquire if anyone knows where I might be able to buy a tube. One guy at a desk tells me that his son might have one and describes how to get there: "go back about 3 miles, turn left, there's a trailer with a bunch of junked cars and stuff in the front yard..."

Thank you very much. ...

I get back on the bike, disappointed... (feeling a little blue, in other words) and I tell LDF we'll just plug on without it.

I put the earphones back in, and we start heading west out of town.

I have 5229 songs on my iPod. It's set to shuffle through them ALL at random. 14.9 days worth of listening 24h/day for all the songs to play. A song comes on, written by James Cotton (I think), and performed by George "Harmonica" Smith.

Here's a link to a free cover of it by the Eirik Bergene Band, if you want to listen along.

West Helena Woman blues

I got a woman, live in West Helena, Arkansas
Yes, I got a woman, live in West Helena, Arkansas
She buys me them long toed shoes,
keeps that brown mule up in my jaw

She gets paid up on a Friday,
Saturday night we go out and have ourselves a natural ball
She gets paid up on a Friday,
Saturday night we go out and have ourselves a natural ball
Out of all the women I've got,
I love that woman from Arkansas the best of all

You know they say West Helena
ain't nothin' but a murderer's home
You know they say West Helena
ain't nothin' but a murderer's home
Well I don't care for the graveyard, people,
maybe that's where I'll be before long

I'm listening, (the George Smith version is better, imo -- more raw) and it takes until the second verse before I realize that I'm listening to a song about a woman from West Helena precisely when we're riding through West Helena.

What are the odds of that?

If any of you have read our Nova Scotia ride report, you may recall the tragedy that accompanied us on that trip. Joan was a big believer in the afterlife, and ghosts, and angels, and all that new-agey spiritual stuff. LDF thinks maybe she's watching down over us on our travels.

Chills down my spine.

I pulled ahead of LDF, and signaled for her to stop. I plugged her headphones into my ipod and played the song from the beginning. She shrugged her shoulders . what?

Listen to the words. again. what?

Do you know where we are??? Um... no.
West Helena!

My take: Joanie is watching over us. Knows I'm highly skeptical of all that crystal energy mumbo-jumbo. Sends me a little message she knows I'll get, and is cracking herself up . Comforting, I guess in a freaky sort of way.

[tommo2]

Very cool RR!

[Thumper1]

Hey folks good to see you're at it again, looks like a great trip, I'll maybe put that on my list of someday. For now I'll live vicariously through you guys. I trust you are both well, I hope you both make it back up this way for another go at the highlands someday.
Allan

[DR. Rock]

Originally Posted by Thumper1

Hey folks good to see you're at it again, looks like a great trip, I'll maybe put that on my list of someday. For now I'll live vicariously through you guys. I trust you are both well, I hope you both make it back up this way for another go at the highlands someday.
Allan

Hey Allan I heard you got a new bike too! Not as sporty as Brian's KLR upgrade though. I intend to bring the Terra Mostro up to NS at some point... that would be fun! You got yer daughter riding yet?

[Thumper1]

Nope not sporty as Brian but certainly as exotic HusabergFE550e my son 3 1/2 is just starting to ride his two wheeled bike without training wheels however he has his electric ATV mastered LOL.My wife and I are expecting another little biker in november maybe this one will be a girl.I guess I'll have to wait until sept to here the rest of the story.Take care.
Allan

[DR. Rock]

Originally Posted by Thumper1

My wife and I are expecting another little biker in november maybe this one will be a girl.I guess I'll have to wait until sept to here the rest of the story.Take care.
Allan

Apologies, I don't know why I had in my brain that you had a girl... must be the one on the way! Anyway, Congratulations!!! from both Francine and me!

More ride report today as I have time.