ALERT!! Crossbar Ranch ORV Area may be CLOSED

Off-road riders all across the United States face an increasing problem of land closure. This is happening for a variety of reasons, from loud pipes to private purchases of public lands. Oklahoman is not immune from this problem. We recently lost a significant amount of land in southeast Oklahoma - over 90,000 acres - to land closure. The US Forest Service is on the verge of closing huge tracts of land around Talihina to off-road riding. And I recently read in the Daily Oklahoman that Chesapeake Energy Chairman Aubrey McClendon is trying to purchase the Crossbar Ranch in Davis, Oklahoma to add to his sizable land holdings in Oklahoma. This land will be closed to ORV traffic just like the land he purchased in SE Oklahoma.

After a slow year of revenue at Crossbar, primarily the result of the heavy rains this spring, the City of Davis is seriously considering this sale. If this happens, this important riding area will surely be closed to motorcycles and off-road vehicles.

What can we - the off-road riding community - do to save this important resource? In the case of Crossbar Ranch, a lot. Most importantly we can become involved and let the elected representatives of the City of Davis know about our concern and encourage them to keep the land in public ownership. Secondly, you can visit Crossbar Ranch and ride to show your support. Third, let all your off-road friends know about the land closures going on around Oklahoma and encourage them to become involved before we lose even more land to off-road riding.

The City of Davis, OK will hold a City Council meeting on Monday night, September 10 at 7:00 pm to discuss this offer by Mr. McClendon to purchase Crossbar. I plan to attend and encourage them NOT to sell the property. Maybe I can talk to Mr. McClendon and encourage him to open up some of his property to off-road riders. Maybe I won't have any luck or influence at all, but I can certainly try.

If you are interested in keeping Crossbar Ranch open to public off-road riding, please be sure and attend this extremely important meeting on September 10 in Davis.

Brian Hopkin's take on Ducati Hypermotard

Brian had the opportunity to ride Ducati's new Hypermotard this past weekend in Dallas. His take on this awesome bike is about the same as Bill Dragoo's and myself - it is freaking awesome! I do believe this is the most fun motorcycle I have ever ridden, and it looks like Brian agrees....

H is for Hooligan ... oops, I mean Hypermotard!



Since the Ducati dealership here in OKC didn't have one of the new Hypermotards when I checked a week or so ago (and I was riding in Canada when they had their premiere party back at the end of June), my friend Elaine arranged a test ride for me in Dallas. ---> more

August Ride Oklahoma Magazine

The August issue of Ride Oklahoma Magazine went out to all subscribers this week and should be in most Oklahoma motorcycle dealers. It should be available in newstands next week. This issue brings several entertaining stories. We profile Tom Bolton, one of the top drag racers and high performance bike builders in the country. Our destination story is about the Kickstart Bed & Breakfast in Stigler, OK. Brian Hopkins talks about falling down on your motorcycle, while Bill Dragoo tells about riding his Harley Davidson at a recent Hallett track day.