Finally!!! Ride Oklahoma Magazine Launch

Ride Oklahoma Magazine is Here

After a year in the planning and six months of hard work by several people, the much anticipated launch of Ride Oklahoma Magazine is right around the corner. This is something I have been wanting to do for over several years. In early 2006 I decided to quit thinking about it and start doing something about it. I have ridden all types of motorcycles all over Oklahoma my entire adult live, and wanted to create a publication that reflected my passion for our state and all the interesting motorcyclists I meet.

I had a LOT of Help

As this is being written, the UPS truck is due to deliver the first batch of magazines any day. I am like a kid waiting on Santa Claus - my palms wet with anticipation. I certainly hope they turn out as well as I envision.

This is a project that I don't think I could do on my own. Multiple people have been instrumental in the magazine. My friends from Oklahoma Dual Sport - a web group I started years ago - was part of the inspiration. There are so many interesting and unique individuals and I wanted to tell their stories. My daughter Emily Murray has been a HUGE help in designing the look of the magazine. She is a top rate graphic designer and really took the look of the magazine to a much higher, more professional level than I ever could. My riding buddies Brian Hopkins and Bill Dragoo agreed to write articles at no charge for the first issues. Let me tell you, there is nothing scarier than a blank white screen waiting on some words. These guys have been great to work with and really helped me with interesting stories and content. Clark Pittman with the Texhoma Trials Club volunteered my first article last summer and his excellent, clear writing is much appreciated. And finally my wife for Kay for putting up with my long hours of working until 3 AM on this thing, squeezing it around my busy schedule.

Finally I want to thank Micheal Tupps with BMW of OKC. I went around and talked to lots of potential advertisers and every single dealer in Oklahoma. Most were just lukewarm on advertising in a non-existent publication without a solid track record, especially in the middle of the winter. When I talked to Micheal I was floored - he not only was interested in advertising, he was very encouraging and said "whatever it takes, let me know". He agreed to provide us demo bikes for future articles, get us hooked up with BMW press relations, agreed to purchase the prime advertising on the back, just anything I needed to make this work. More than anything, he was genuinely excited to help out and see this be successful. I am forever grateful for his enthusiastic support.

Magazine Launch Feb 3 at BMW of OKC

To thank Micheal and BMW of OKC, we are holding a magazine launch at his store on Feb 3 at 10:00 am. I will be there to hand out free copies, sign up people for subscriptions, hopefully talk to people about future articles, and listen to suggestions for where to take the magazine. I would LOVE to see all my motorcycling buddies show up and support the magazine. You can also see the new BMW's and Ducati's that will soon be hitting the streets. We are planning an article on the new Ducati 1098 Superbike. I don't know if it will be on the showroom floor yet, but stop by and see all the cool bikes and meet Micheal and his staff. We will have coffee and donuts and if the weather is nice, maybe I can do some wheelies in the parking lot!

220 mph on a crotch rocket

Since the nasty ice storm made it a bit chilly to be out riding, I was hanging out at Speed Tribe's web site this weekend. This is a diverse group of local riders who ride sport bikes for fun. They range from track day riders to stunters to just guys and gals that do sport touring on their bikes. I have ridden with them in the past, and the are a nice group of folks - although at times they do like to "put the hammer down".

I was a bit taken aback by this video. Caught on video, someone doing 220 mph down a residential street. Humm...




Here is an on-board shot:



Humm. I just don't know if that is appropriate behavior? (tongue firmly in cheek)

There is a Bear in the Air

Once again we had a bit of excitement on one of our urban dual sport rides. Although we were completely legal, we got chased by about 15 police cruisers and one helicopter - even though we didn't know we were being chased! The end result was the police thought we were the people spray painting Bricktown. They let us go without even a warning - in fact my officer apologized for the inconvenience. They did suggest that next time we plan an urban dual sport ride, just give them a call and let them know so they don't expend resources on chasing guys on bikes that are legal, but doing some unusual riding.

Check out Bill Dragoo's story on our exciting ride in Downtown OKC.