Everything but the Kitchen Sink...

Our own Brian Hopkins is heading out on a two week Christmas motorcycle trip. I sure wish I was able to tag along! As he gets ready for the trip, Brian is sharing is thoughts on packing and organization. Be sure and monitor his travels while he is gone.

Ride Oklahoma Podcast

I love technology! Like the printing press in the 1700's, the Internet has revolutionized communications and brought our world closer together. New technology such as podcasts, RSS readers, iTunes, and video podcasts are revolutionizing how we find and assimilate information.

As part of this revolution, Ride Oklahoma has joined the Podcast world. Today we published the first of what we hope are many future podcasts about motorcycle riding in Oklahoma.

Our first podcast is about the Crosstimbers Riding Area at Draper Lake in Oklahoma City. I interviewed Denny Beitler, the owner of Ajax Motorcycle and the patriarch of the Crosstimber's riding area.

To subscribe to the Ride Oklahoma podcasts and have them automatically downloaded to your iPod, click here to load the Ride Oklahoma Podcast URL, then open iTunes. At the top of the screen you will see an ADVANCED menu item. Click on it, then click SUBSCRIBE TO PODCAST. This will open a diaolog box. Paste the Ride Oklahoma Podcast URL into this box and you will automatically receive future Ride Oklahoma podcasts as they become available. If you just want to download the MP3 file, click here.

If you don't have iTunes or an iPod, you can click here to hear the podcast, along with a slide show about Crosstimbers riding area.

Harley Davidson

I have to admit it - I love Harley Davidson motorcycles.

Now I am sure my traditional motorcycle riding buddies will wonder if I got sick, or turned to the dark side, or got whopped up the side of my head in a recent crash.
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Sure, "Getting Lost is Half the Fun," But...

By Brian Hopkins

I read an article this morning which said that the state of Georgia has dropped nearly 500 small towns from their official state map. The reason given was that they want to remove the clutter from the map, making it easier to read. Towns with populations fewer than 2,500 were simply erased.

Now, I don't know about you, but the next time I'm touring Georgia on my motorcycle, I'm not going to be looking on the map for places like Atlanta, Macon, Valdosta, and so on -- cities I could easily find by following major highways and interstates. I'm going to be looking for little hole-in-the-wall places like Bogart (pop. 118), Eden (pop. 750), Experiment (pop. 2400), Isle of Hope (pop. 1200), Mountain City (pop. 829), and Doerun (pop. 828) -- well, maybe not that last one, but you get the idea. I'm going to be visiting burgs you can only find by following roads like Booger Holler Pass and Maybe You Ought To Turn Back While You Still Can Lane. (Yeah, I made up those roads, but the towns are real.)

So what. It's just Georgia, right? But what if other states follow suit? What if Oklahoma decides its maps are too cluttered?

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Another Entertaining Story from Bill Dragoo

Bill Dragoo provides us with another entertaining story about our downtown OKC dual sport adventures.

JAILHOUSE ROCK

By Bill Dragoo

They’re going to put me in jail. I know it’ll happen before this day is over.


I am one of six guys, mostly normal by Monday-through Friday standards, but as our oddly dressed half-dozen clumps out into the IHOP parking lot in Bricktown, it appears I’ve joined a band of Mid-Life Mavericks. My suspicions…and fears . . . are confirmed as our fearless (that is no exaggeration) leader, James, rides away toward the sunrise on the back wheel of his slightly faded yellow DRZ 400.

The shiny black and white OKC-PD cruiser quarters our vector, southbound. I wonder if he’s watching.

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Motorcycle Swap Meet

I happened to attend the Jeff Williams Motorcycle Swap Meet in OKC on Sunday. This semi-annual event is geared towards American v-twin equipment, but there are lots of interesting people and unusual parts at this meet. It is also held in the Tulsa area twice per year. To see an upcoming schedule of shows, check out the event Calendar.

Snow doesn't limit Brian's Riding

Brian must have descended from a postman - neither rain, nor sleet, nor cold of night will keep him off his motorcycle. The worst winter storm in a few years? Bah, that is nothing to Brian. Catch his story about cold weather riding, and how he prepares his bike and clothing for the cold.