Another Amazing Year

Hello, 2014! And, hello lovely readers!

Looking back on 2013, it was an amazing year filled with many wonderful people and impressions. November and December are a blur, but the year ended and started with many adventures (some with Blueberry and some without) and good times. 

So my first thoughts for 2014, besides the never-ending, fun, work related stuff, include the following:

1. Possible riding destinations.
2. Blueberry TLC.

In the past, I've just been randomly exploring small towns and different locations. We're doing things a little differently this year. I'm thinking themes! So the following themes will possibly become my obsession this year: geocaching (geocaching motorcycle adventures!), doors, and mailboxes. Yep, the photographing nut in me has developed a crush on doors and mailboxes. Soooo....suggestions? Tell me about some awesome doors and/or mailboxes!

Besides being my longest, and best, relationship, Blueberry has been a God-send these past years. From learning to be a better rider and driver, having Blueberry has honed my ability to see small details (and in record time) while providing many interesting adventures. It's high time I paid back.

What are your riding plans for 2014? Tell me about one place you'd really love to check out this year; I'd love to hear about it!

Baby, It's Cold Outside 2013

And, inside, too. Hence so few updates. I've been battling a never ending cold for the past month. It has, however, given me some time to pull all my winter gear out of the closet. It was a hard job finding those winter gloves, let me tell you! I've been out a little bit, cold and all, and I couldn't help but wonder how I survived two winters with out any decent wintery motorcycle gear. Where there's a will there's a way.

Blueberry is patiently waiting for me to change some oil. Sounds like a great Thanksgiving day project; Show some thanks to my faithful companion.

It turns out that I don't have the best luck when it comes to technology. I plugged a hard drive containing seven years' worth of pictures from random motorcycle/life adventures only to find that there's nothing there anymore. It be kaput. Drat. It didn't take a lot of brainstorming to find a silver lining. Perfect (legitimate) excuse for some extra motorcycle riding! Therefore, I'm not bummed at all.

Speaking of trips, I'm scouting out different adventures for the rest of 2013 and for 2014. Any small Oklahoma towns of interest? Any small towns with a salacious past? Would love some suggestions!

So Project (Color) Madness has been a hiatus as you've probably noticed through lack of pictures on Wanderings of Girl Ryder Facebook page. No more! I've got some new victims! And, a lot of new ideas. So stay tuned as Stone Turtle Ranch Lodging enters into Project (Color) Madness part II.

Besides spending a lot of time creating a Honey Do list for myself (that's time consuming seeing as the list just keeps growing. Yikes), I've also picked up the hobby of reading. Mighty fine considering I can barely navigate through my living quarters without bumping into books and motorcycle stuff. Even found one of my Keith Code books! Motorcycle + Book = Can't get much better especially if there's coffee involved.

I hope all y'all have an awesome, safe Thanksgiving holiday! Remember that EVERY day is a good day to be thankful!

The Day Before

My first ride in 2013 was not on January 1, 2013. Traditionally, I can be found cruising around on the first day of January every year; this year, however, it just did not work out. Many  factors pulled together to work against me. I guess beggars just can't be choosers. 

It was a gorgeous sunny day, and I had the opportunity to meet up with some climbers in the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge. Who could resist to ride on a 39 degree windchill day? Not this rider who was suffering from major withdrawals. I had it timed perfectly. Or, so I thought. But it turns out that my gear/prep checklist took a tad longer than I thought. Mainly due to my brain being on standby. When I remembered I needed keys and went to go get them, I forgot what I wanted by the time I got to where I thought my keys had been. This happened a lot while getting my stuff together.

Checklist:

• backpack
• camera
• cell phone
• wallet
• hot tea
• water
• notebook
• book to read should I get there first
• upper body layer #1
• upper body layer #2
• upper body layer #3
• upper body layer #4
• upper body layer #5
• long underwear
• synthetic wind resistant pants
• jacket
• winter gloves
• 2 pairs of socks
• boots
• keys 
• scarf
• helmet 
• music player
• glasses so I can see stuff

Yes, I make winter riding complicated. But, at least I'm warm and hydrated. I think what I love most about motorcycles is that every ride is an adventure. Cars are my fire breathing dragons.  Undecided squirrels are my strategy changing enemies. Perception really is everything. I love every moment, road, and tree I see while riding. 
So I got off to a later start than I thought. Since it had snowed, the road from Meers into the Refuge was covered in dirt, gravel, and other nasty stuff. Good thing my music was playing. Otherwise the cussing echoing in my helmet may have turned my ears red. I lost a little bit of time making my way down yucky gravely hell since my tires were cold.

I saw a lot of buffalo along the road in the Wichita Mountains. They have a whole 59,000 acre refuge to chill out on, and they pick the area along the road. As I approached the prairie dog town, there was this one buffalo rubbing his neck on an open gate onto the restricted area. He was slightly surprised when Blueberry's exhaust caught up with him. So surprised that he freaked out and stormed off to the other buffalo who then proceeded to freakout. Yes, Blueberry and I actually started a small stampede. I was very tempted to get off my bike and dig out the camera, but I thought stopping in the middle of a buffalo stampede might not be such a good idea. I would like to avoid using the phrase "It seemed like a good idea at the time."

I, therefore, continued on my way. Shortly before the turnoff to the Sunset picnic area, I came across a flock of turkey. I turned around, put Blue in neutral, pulled the gloves off my frozen fingers, shimmied the backpack off my heavily layered upper body and dug for my camera. The Refuge cop probably thought I was having a fit of insanity as I was prancing around trying to get the feeling back in my toes and fingers. 

They were a pretty cool bunch. Didn't have a lot to say, though.

 When I finally made it to the parking lot, the car I was looking for was already there. I hadn't been to this parking lot in years since, next to Mt. Scott, it's a tourist trap. There was still one parking spot left. Now, I had no idea where Echo Dome was (and still do not know) other than it can be found in Charon's Garden. I assumed it was to be reached from the trail going around on the west side of Elk Mountain. I packed my stuff and started on the trail. It wasn't long before I came across a huge longhorn on the trail. Usually, I'm not worried about large animals on trails, but not being properly dressed to run from a longhorn kept me at bay. I decided I'd turn around and get some more miles under my belt. 

When I got back to the parking lot, I pulled out my notebook and wrote a note for the climbers. As I was looking for a place to stash it, I found the note they had left for me. Figures that I'd see it too late.

On my way over to Little Baldy, I saw some buffalo playing or fighting. I was brave enough to pull over and watch them for a bit. They calmed down and then started up again which is when I thought it best to leave. I do believe a buffalo would win in a buffalo vs. bike battle. Especially when the rider still has to put up a camera and pull on gloves.

 As I headed towards Cache, I eventually realized that I was singing off key in my helmet which is also when I realized that my music had disappeared and my mp3 player had turned itself off. By the time I reached Lawton, the resistant part of my pants decided to stop working and it got very cold very fast. So I headed back to Meers. It really was a great day to ride, but the cold kept all but four riders (including myself) from enjoying it. I was surprised that I only saw one cruiser out and about since usually they're always out riding.

A short ride in the rain

So yesterday after it rained in the morning (which, by the way, was not predicted), it looked pretty clear for a ride. I get on Blueberry, and I'm a mile into a hopefully 120 mile and it starts to sprinkle. Okay, no big deal. Major showers were not predicted until later in the afternoon.The roads were still kind of wet from the morning rain so I just took my time.

Nothing but rain on my 25 mile ride into town to the meet-up location. By the time I got there I was soaked through. Thankfully, my camera and cell phone are still functioning even after getting wet in my jacket (water resistant my foot). Also learned that my tires probably aren't in the best condition to be riding in rain. The roads got really slick in Lawton. And, people were still driving and tail-gating as if the streets were dry.

Almost no dry spots on my jeans.

Was happy to see a couple other people crazy enough to ride on my way in the rain. All cruisers, though. No other sportbikes seen. Not surprised. The other rider that was supposed to ride with is a new rider, so I didn't think conditions were good for a newbie to be getting comfortable on his bike. Maybe I'm too cautious, but better safe than sorry. I'm starting to think that a lot of motorcycle accidents could be avoided if riders knew their limits and realized that  riding skills come from a lot of factors, but mainly from experience and logging miles. Just my two cents from 5 years of observing riders of all types.

By the time I got home, the rain was back to a sprinkle, and the sun was starting to peak out. Figures. But, it was still a little chilly and it did look a little rainy off to the west. Oklahoma weather. Gotta love it. After that little whatever it was moved off to the east, there was no more rain to be had. So much for that rain in the afternoon prediction. I think somewhere in the forecasting process, the weather people got confused.

Back to motorcycles...

I'm sad to report that I've been a lazy rider. Not by choice, though! With work (Stone Turtle Ranch), school, an occasional hike, and the mailbox issue, I've been pretty busy. Looking forward to things calming down and being able to explore Oklahoma a bit more.

No more sloppy corners!

Not gonna lie, I kind of miss my blue sprockets...

 

Holy Cripes! My rims are dirrrrty.

Happy to have my Blueberry back and running like a champ (well, except for all those other parts I ought to replace...the benefits of owning a bike, eh?)!

Blueberry Map

This is what my 44,000 miles of riding looks like. Yes, it's kind of sad. However, it totally puts my knowledge of the area into perspective; no wonder I know this area like the back of my hand. The pink marks are the towns Blueberry and I have invaded blessed with our presence.

 

Got some riding ahead of me!