# Into Oklahoma



## Chris H (Jul 7, 2005)

Two weeks ago I did a nice little unsupported tour from my front door to Oklahoma and back. Just myself and one other guy. Total miles was just under 500. We did it in 7 days. Averaged 75 miles per day except for one rest day that gave us around 30 or so miles.

Until this trip I didn't realize Oklahoma had mountains. Well, mountainish enough.

Day one found us leaving Fort Worth and hoping to make St. Joe Texas on day one. An ambitious 82 miles. I have to say, I was impressed at the hills that section of North Texas has to offer. Made it tough on the Big Dummy, but he handled them just fine.

Of course, we only made 76 miles before we decided to find a place to set up camp. That place was the tiny town of Forestburg Tx.

Picture 1: Our meeting point near Downtown Fort Worth.

Picture 2: Lunch in Justin Tx about 30 miles or so out of town.

Picture 3: We found a nice church that we camped behind and settled in. Slept great and awoke to a beautiful sunrise:


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## Chris H (Jul 7, 2005)

Day Two had us headed into Oklahoma, with brief stops in Montague and Nocona Tx. Very little in the way of stores out there. Not many dining options either.

We made Oklahoma and headed towards a little town called Waurika. Stopped for groceries and headed up to the lake, about 10 miles North of town. Unfortunately the lake campground was closed for the season, but we found some nice people that let us camp in their boat storage area. Bonus was that they owned a bar. Cool thing about bike touring is that it intrigues people, especially if the idea of bike touring is insane to them. In short time we were adopted by the regulars at the bar and they made us promise to come back when we looped South again.

Pic 1: Leaving Texas

Pic 2: Crossing the Red River

Pic 3: Into Oklahoma

Pic 4: Downtown Waurika


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## Chris H (Jul 7, 2005)

Day 3 was a good day. Relatively flat compared to what we'd experienced the previous 2 days. That part of Oklahoma was nice and green, farming communities and not much else. We passed through a few small towns and finally made it into Lawton. Past Lawton was our goal, Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge.

Let me take a moment here to talk about Lawton. What a horrible town. This was the only place where people not only honked at us, but actually went out of their way to make us miserable on the bikes. Honking, swearing, swerving, tailgating. It was pretty horrible. I would have thought it was pretty obvious we weren't from the area, big loaded touring bikes and both of us consulting the map every other block or so trying to find a neighborhood that would get us off the busier streets and through town( there really weren't any BTW). On the plus side, we found a great Chinese restaurant that treated us well. 

Of course, down side 2 and 3 made Lawton pretty cruddy as well... I lost my new Keens somewhere in their downtown area and Bryan broke his Pletscher kickstand. It actually snapped in half as we stopped at a park to consult the map.

Fortunately we made it through Lawton and into the WMWR. That place is beautiful, we set up camp right next to a little lake and had a nice camp fire. Good thing too as the temps were in the 30's.

Pic 1: The nice scenic country roads around Waurika.

Pic 2: Abandoned church somewhere near Hulen Ok.

Pic 3: Our campsite

Pic 4: Enjoying the campfire

Pic 5: Entering the park earlier that afternoon (I know, it's out of order).


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## Chris H (Jul 7, 2005)

A quick pic of Bryans broken Pletscher:


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## Chris H (Jul 7, 2005)

Day 4 was incredible. Made everything worthwhile.

We woke up around 6, like we always did, and noticed it was just starting to rain. We hurried up and broke camp. Put everything up and headed up to the shower area. There we relaxed, cleaned our gear, cooked some breakfast, and pretty much took over that area until the rain let up a bit. Then we headed into the mountain(ish) area.

At the visitor center we met some incredibly nice people. Visited with them a while, then headed towards Mount Scott. For some reason, we though it would be a good idea to ascend Mount Scott with fully loaded touring bikes... so that's what we did. A few miles later we were near the top, took a few pics and headed back down. I have to admit, I like descending much more than climbing. However I'd much rather do it on a racing bike that a fully loaded Big Dummy, although the disc brakes helped.

Next we rode into Medicine Park, a little tourist community. Little, but scenic. Hung out for a while, even ate in a real sit down restaurant. Decent beer, but the food was a bit overpriced.

That evening we hung out at the chimenea and drank more beer. Another cold night with a constant drizzling mist.


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## Chris H (Jul 7, 2005)

Pics from Medicine Park.

1. Bridges of Medicine Park
2. Footbridge
3. A view of Mount Scott from across the lake
4. Waterfall
5. First real warmth in several days!


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## Chris H (Jul 7, 2005)

Day 5 we started our loop back. We actually did a longer loop to avoid Lawton. We actually cut up North the around. Sure it added a few miles, but well worth it. This was the best day we'd had on the bikes yet. At some point the day before I had pulled my achilles tendon and it hurt miserably, but I wasn't going to let that stop me. I medicated myself as best I could and kept on going. Glad I did, we had come too far to quit at this point. We made it back to Lake Waurika and our new friends in no time at all.

We set up camp, ate a little dinner, and headed over to the bar to watch some football with our new friends.

Pic 1: Leaving Medicine Park.

Pic 2: Nothing but long empty stretches of road out here.

Pic 3: Our hero, looking dapper as ever despite the hardships.

Pic 4: Camp at Lake Waurika


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## Chris H (Jul 7, 2005)

On Day 5 we made it back into Texas. Wow that felt good. I didn't want the trip to end but I was ready to be home. We reversed our route and made it back into Forestburg. The little church we camped behind was having a meeting and invited us in. Very nice people. They were having a pizza party and willingly shared with us. We exchanged some great stories and had fun.

Great story from this part. Bryan is vegan, meaning he doesn't eat any meat or dairy at all. I'm a vegetarian, meaning cheese is fair game. Well up until this point I had been eating a vegan diet as we cooked together, so of course after 6 days Bryan forgot I was a vegetarian.

I walked over to get a slice of cheese pizza, as it looked fantastic and I was unbelievably hungry. While I wolfed it down he looked at me and said," Dude, you're like the worst Vegan ever!" I reminded him that I wasn't Vegan, just a vegetarian and did eat cheese from time to time. He replied,"Oh that's right I forgot. Vegetarians don't eat any meat but they still want cancer."

BTW, the pizza was pretty fantastic.

Pic 1: Back in Texas!

Pic 2: Montague Courthouse, Montague County. They don't have a grocery store, nor a gas station, or any restaurants either... but they have a huge courthouse.

Pic 3: Our campsite behind the church. Trusty steeds secured for the night.


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## Chris H (Jul 7, 2005)

On day 7 we encountered the worst headwind ever. I couldn't believe it, brutal!



We fought it all day long and around 4 pm, tired and smelly... we rolled back into Fort Worth. It was a great trip and one I'd like to do again.



Forgot to add the stats:



Total miles 469

Miles per day 75

Average speed around 13mph

number of flats 3 (I had one, a goathead up on my sidewall, Bryan had two- a sliver of wire)

Number of dogs that chased us- about one billion


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## rodar y rodar (Jul 20, 2007)

What a beautiful waterfall! It looks like you found some great biking roads to follow. Nice tour.


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## MB1 (Jan 27, 2004)

#1 It isn't nice to call yourself a "Big Dummy" if you can do a ride like that.

#2 [email protected] that is a great report.

#3 75 miles a day is a looooooooooooong way with a load like that. Not much daylight this time of year either.


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## Dave Hickey (Jan 27, 2002)

Outstanding report.....great shots and it looks like a great time(except Lawton)


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## bigrider (Jun 27, 2002)

I think touring/camping is one of the best things in the world. Great report.

People really do adopt you when they find out what you are doing. I am convinced you can camp just about anywhere you want if you ask people real nice and explain what you are doing.


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

Awesome! Want! 

Been way too long since I loaded up my touring stuff. Next time any of you DFW guys get the urge, PM me, huh?

Oh hey Bigrider, did you see any Buffalo?


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## jd3 (Oct 8, 2004)

Nice tip & report. I was stationed at Fort Sill in the early 70's. Lawton is a dump. You should have seen it then. But the area just to the west is beatiful. We would spend all of our off time exploring between there and Altus, OK.


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## Chris H (Jul 7, 2005)

Creakyknees said:


> Awesome! Want!
> 
> Been way too long since I loaded up my touring stuff. Next time any of you DFW guys get the urge, PM me, huh?
> 
> Oh hey Bigrider, did you see any Buffalo?


Sounds like a plan to me. We should do one late spring, even Hickey has a touring bike now.

Even a long weekend would be nice.


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## commutenow (Sep 26, 2004)

Your ride report is nice and makes me want to pack up the LHT. You are right about Lawton it is terrible and the best part of that area is Medicane park and Mount Scott and surrounding area. Your Big Dummy looks like a fine ride! I have not seen one yet in my area of greater Oklahoma. I love my Surly's.


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## Dave Hickey (Jan 27, 2002)

Chris H said:


> Sounds like a plan to me. We should do one late spring, even Hickey has a touring bike now.
> 
> Even a long weekend would be nice.


and it even has gears.......I'm in..let me know when


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## MB1 (Jan 27, 2004)

Chris H said:


> ... even *Hickey* has a touring bike now.....


I'd be careful about camping with that guy on a full moon night.....  

I'm just sayin'


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## Chris H (Jul 7, 2005)

MB1 said:


> I'd be careful about camping with that guy on a full moon night.....
> 
> I'm just sayin'


Very good point.

Does Coors Light count as an effective silver bullet? Those appear to be readily available throughout Texas.


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## seeborough (Feb 3, 2004)

Now, that's what I call a ride! Mr. H, that was a most enjoyable report. I even had the wife stop at the screen and scroll around in your post. Good job.


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## Ridgetop (Mar 1, 2005)

Very nice tour and very nice report. I wish I had a bike that would allow me to do that. My plastic wonder cringes at anything packable.


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## buck-50 (Sep 20, 2005)

yer bike has a kickstand you are such a noob.

Awesome trip- I'm really jealous. I'm hoping to be able to take a trip like that in a couple years when my daughter gets a little older. 

Who knew Texas and Oklahoma were that pretty?


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## Chain (Dec 28, 2006)

Nice report.

I have an uncle that retired to Lawton. The army would have moved himn anywhere he wanted and he chose Lawton. I'll have to tell him about your experience next time he claims it's the best place on earth.


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## Brick Tamland (Mar 31, 2006)

Very cool report. I had no idea OK looked like that!


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## CRXPilot (Oct 22, 2008)

Medicine park is a cool little oasis out there. Is the bike shop still open in town? I saw it in 2006 but didn't stop in. I'd like to try that trip (leaving from Lubbock) once I get my Raleigh together.

Nice pics. Thanks for the report.


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## Chris H (Jul 7, 2005)

CRXPilot said:


> Medicine park is a cool little oasis out there. Is the bike shop still open in town? I saw it in 2006 but didn't stop in. I'd like to try that trip (leaving from Lubbock) once I get my Raleigh together.
> 
> Nice pics. Thanks for the report.


I didn't see a bike shop. However, it was raining and we rolled into town late that afternoon. Most of the shops were closed as it was. It would have been nice to find a bike shop though. My traveling buddy had gone through his spare tube and one of mine. For trips like that I try to keep two spares, plus a patch kit. While the patch kit is nice, it doesn't help with a torn stem... which seems to happen from time to time when using frame pumps.

That would be a great trip from Lubbock. Especially late Spring. If you go be sure to take a camera!


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## wagsea6b (Jun 6, 2006)

Great report!

I learned to rock climb (many years ago) in the Wichitas. Your photos brought back fond memories. :thumbsup:


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## gutfiddle (Apr 27, 2006)

Fantastic!


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## Alx (Mar 22, 2007)

Nice ride and awesome job on the report btw very good pics too. I wish I had a touring rig now after seeing all that. As far as Lawton OK goes, I went to a car show there once and it was like stepping back in time. People are rude, racist and downright mean, almost a new species of animal that survives on hatred and beer.


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