Spring Fling 2004
The Hills of Okie Heart Stopper
    By Jim Bean

Ye Ha, biking season has officially started and the OBS opens with another one of those Camping/Eating/Fun/Riding weekend flings. This one was held at Lake of the Arbuckles south of Sulphur Oklahoma.

More then 20 people showed up on Friday afternoon to get their tents up, camp sites arranged, and go for an easy leg stretching ride. G.W. Key and I arrived around noon after the morning rains had passed, set our stuff up and relaxed in our lawn chairs while waiting for John Hamlin and G.W.s wife Linda to show up. Get out the cell phones to check were they are around 2:30, and find them just passing Pauls Valley, (supposedly they let at noon) finally around 3:30 they arrive and after a lot of where have you guys been, we make the effort to unload their vehicle. Gather up those wanting to go ride, get on the biking gear and off goes our group of eight as we tour up and down the hills in the lake area on a 12 mile loop. NICE EASY RIDE RIGHT, now after killing both legs, both lungs and finding my heart will go above 180 without exploding, we decide that is enough and car pool into Sulphur and check out Mazzios Pizza and a local grocery store for that much needed extra junk you can not live without, ice, pickles, pancake syrup, etc.

Back at camp, the troops begin assembling for the evening gab secession, but first 20 people have to decide which trees to use and how to tie up one tarp as cover, as it has begun to lightly rain. Once this project has been done three times, it is on to the next item of figuring out how to get everyone under a 10 x 8 foot tarp and manage to be in a chair without sitting on someone else. Sometime later the lighting and thunder start showing up to the south, Dennis Clark calls his wife for weather info, and low and behold, Ardmore is sending us a small storm. Now the panic strikes with everyone off to secure their campsite, put stuff and bikes back in the vehicles, check those tent stakes and hang on. Sure enough, after crawling in the bed, between 10:30 and 11 the gong goes off for the fun and excitement as water begins dripping in my bed. First up, high gusty winds, next lots of lighting then the rain and more gusting wind blowing the water up under the tent rain fly and into the tent. Dennis is the lucky recipient of a flood in his tent and moves to his car, Brian Ratliff finds his tent laying on him and moves into his vehicle, and Trudy from Ft Cobb awakes with water dripping right on her forehead like a Chinese torture drill, breaks out the umbrella in her tent and spends the rest of the night with it covering her head. The wind dies off, but a light rain continues all night making for good sleeping. John and I are sharing my tent, and both of us lie awake near 3:00 for over an hour waiting for the rain to stop so we could go to the bathroom. At breakfast, we also discover that much of the camp did the same thing, sure makes you appreciate the facilities in the next room at home.

Well, everyone survives but Denniss bike and morning arrives at 6:30 with the smell of coffee brewing on the stove (Thanks G.W.). Drag myself out of bed, grab some clothes, break out the cooking stuff, fix that wonderful campout breakfast of eggs, sausage, bacon and oatmeal and greet the gray overcast morning. Dennis has dumped the foot of water out of his tent and loaded everything, as the rear wheel is bent on his bike, when the chairs he had it tied to all fell on top of it. Several of us convince Dennis to let Gary straighten the rim, and we get him on his bike. Get the bike clothing on and 36 brave or stupid riders (depends on whose saddle you are sitting on) departs on Gary Cannons orders at 9:00am sharp, up and down the short but steep and VERY WET hills to get out of the park. As usual, being that I hate riding in rain or on wet stuff (way too many crashes on it), I am off the back going slowly about my own business. Seven or eight miles into the ride at it is drying out, and being the super fast want-a-be racer I am, the chase is on. Making my big move I catch up at the first regroup point, 10 miles in at the bottom of a mile long downhill, were 12 of us decide we dont want to do the Chickasaw trail route Gary has laid out. This has some very tough hills and being my first hilly outing and the rest of the ride having lots of hills, I decide it may be too much. We stand along the side of the road and 34 people watch as Donnie Dodson changes Trudys flat, now that the kind of flat I like, got there to late to help.

Somehow I get elected as ride leader for this collective group of nuts, so off we go towards Davis on the route used last year, with only the map of Garys proposed new route, just hoping we will meet back up down the road. After a ten mile ride we arrive in Davis and stop a local to ask how to get to our lunch stop in Dougherty. She looks at my map, laughs, and has no idea, then suggests the police department a few blocks away. Oh Boy, great idea, unfortunately it is closed and the cops are all out doing that police thingy at the eating join somewhere in town. I locate a worker at the Davis Chamber of Commerce and he points back the way we came or take the 20 mile trip by Turner Falls and Falls Creek, up and down more hills on some rough roads. We take a vote and the group decides to do the return route as they dont trust me. I keep telling them we didnt get lost, we are in Davis, besides they followed me (what was even dumber is they still left me in charge). They did seem to enjoy the potty break at the local C-store there in Davis. We venture back down the same road and find the turnoff to Dougherty at the Dolese concrete plant sign as shown on the map, for a cheeseburger and pie. Once there we find the other group and they also took some errant ways this group split up and some of the road names had been changed since Gary made the map, and they had just beat us there by 10 minutes or so. Oh well we got in some extra mileage and had a fun ride anyway.

The large group of 36 proceeds to consumes all the food and pies at Roses Caf, overwork the restrooms, close the doors and we mount our bikes to see if they will handle all the extra poundage. Right off, its warm up on the two block long ride to the bottom of a one hour, 10 mile long, 25%, Tour De France grade out of town (seemed that bad, although it was only a mile small hill) with that cheeseburger laying there doing nothing. Two miles later, make it back up the mile long grade sounding like both lungs had holes in them, cruise the next seven miles and over the MOUNTAINS into the lake area, and sit happily in a chair reflecting on another wonderful and enjoyable OBS ride with friends. Somehow managed 46 very hilly miles and made it back over every hill with my heart still working, though twice I thought a lung tried to quit and I think I saw Elvis at the top of the long grade.

Next comes one of those events we all look forward to, the world famous OBS pot luck feeding frenzy. Man, this just had to be one of the best; ribs, hot wings, spicy meat balls, beans, home made Mexican dish, salads, many vegetable dishes, desert, desert and more desert, then Johnnie Lermas Dutch oven made blackberry cobbler. I survive the pig out with my heart still functioning, clean up my dishes and the camp site, find my chair and make my way to the camp fire for the evening gab fest. The sky finally clears off, the temperature drops, warmer clothes are found by all and the discussions keep getting louder and funnier with Rolf Jacobi demonstrating something from some movie he had watched and his usual $8.00 a gallon wine and plastic cup with a straw. Around 9:30 most were making their way to bed hoping to recover for Sundays hills! Out of some 25 people camping, I think 20 of them snored that night and all of them next to my tent. One good thing, it did keep the Raccoons away as they probably thought those were bears making all that noise and they better keep their distance.

Its 6:30 am and that dumb alarm goes off, rummage around for some clothes and start making the morning coffee, down 3 cups then find the bike stuff for the warm, sunny breakfast ride to Sulphur. Over 30 of us converge on the Country Caf and receive the stares of many locals trying to understand the funny group in spandex that has attacked the restaurant. Did that same thing as yesterday, eat, then mile out and try to climb a 22%, 8 mile long grade with eggs, hash browns, toast and 4 gallons of coffee lying there laughing and slopping back and forth. OK, so those hills werent that steep or long, but try telling that to your legs, heart and lungs after stuffing your face.

Finished up with the MOUNTAINS at the lake and another 21 miles under the saddle, then stand there looking stupid while trying to figure out how to cram all that junk I brought back in my car (seems like I do that every trip). Get it all packed, say great ride, see you all at the Wednesday evening ride to everyone, drive home, unload all that junk and crash in my chair for the rest of Sunday, eat our evening dinner and wait for bedtime.

Oklahoma Bicycle Society: Spring Fling 2004
created by John Wente
last modified: February 05, 2007
URL: http://www.OklahomaBicycleSociety.com