Enjoying the Journey

Well, we had a beautiful day yesterday to ride the bike and get a few more miles on it before changing the oil – once again. I was hard-pressed to come up with a preplanned trip and decided to just start riding and see where I wound up. From here (Pryor), I rode to Mohawk Park in Tulsa and sat under a pavilion in the park close to where Mohawk Lake skirts the property. The place has changed quite a bit since I lived in Tulsa many, many moons ago and much of the area has had access restricted by vehicles. Now, what used to be accessible from a car or truck can only be accessed by foot. Back in the day, it was rumored that much of this area was used by alternate life-styled individuals to hook up and have amorous encounters. I really had no idea, or maybe just forgotten, that this might still be the case. While I sat under the pavilion and talked with my wife on the phone, I noticed many incursions by different vehicles through the parking lot. The routine seemed to be the same and the vehicle would drive in where the driver was able to see the pavilion, they would then make a circle through the lot and then exit to the road they drove in on. At that point, there weren’t any of the same vehicles that made the circle and all were different. I became increasingly uncomfortable in this setting, not because of being a hater but because of not wanting the wrong signals to be broadcast to those “cruising” the parking lot. I stayed all of about 10 minutes there before moving on. From Mohawk Park I took highway 11 past the airport, to I-244, and on to U.S. 169 north. I traveled up through Owasso and then exited on the “West 20” toward Collinsville. I use to drive this route when I worked in Bartlesville but never on a motorcycle. I was curious to retrace the path on my two-wheeled steed. I stayed on West 20 until I came to highway 75 and took the north ramp towards Bartlesville.

The highway riding on the bike showed me how comfortable (or not) it would be on longer trips and I found out that I probably would need a better seat for these cross-country excursions. By the time I had reached Bartlesville, my butt needed a well-deserved break! I took the east 60 route towards Nowata and finally stopped to get some gas before leaving Bartlesville. I noticed that there had been a lot of improvements to the west 60 route and a lot of the road between Bartlesville and Nowata had been updated. I liked it very much!

Continuing through Nowata on west 60, I traveled that stretch of highway that is truly less. There were not many vehicles on this road and only two other motorcycles. (Although I did see a Yamaha Roadstar for sale at the gas station just before leaving Nowata. I need to get back there for a little more research.) Highway 60 passes over 28 and the exit to Chelsea and meets back up with Route 66 just west of Vinita. Also, highway 69 intersects at this point and bends southward toward Big Cabin, Adair, and Pryor. Once I hit highway 69, I knew I was in the home stretch. Overall, I drove 155 miles round trip and spent about three hours in the saddle. The bike ran like a champ and I can definitely tell the difference between the old motor and the new and improved version. As I have mentioned, I need to really invest in a good seat for longer rides, but this three-hour trip was not too bad and I found it (as always) most enjoyable!