The first evening we rode into Tahlequa to see some of the site.
In early May I attended the 2023 GOAT Adventure Ride in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Daniel Sawin puts together this great ride. This year on Friday, we rode into Tahlequah for a tour of Cherokee tribal historical locations. We had a Cherokee elder tell us the history of the location which was cool. I am a member of the Cherokee Tribe so the history was already familiar to me, but it was cool to see other people introduced to a bit of Cherokee history.
The next two days had us riding a north and south loop, about 200 miles per day. The weather was perfect and the roads were in great shape – well, except for Stagecoach Road on the south loop. It was pretty muddy and rutted and caused a lot of trouble for some riders. My DRZ-400 with fresh Dunlop 606 knobbies made short work for that rugged section.
On Day 1 we had a rider get seriously injured, bad enough to need an ambulance. That really sucked for him and chewed up a lot of our riding day. We had no cell phone service where he was injured, so I pushed the SOS button on my Garmin Montana 700 with InReach and within about 15 minutes a volunteer fireman showed up at our location, followed a short time later by a parade of fire trucks, sheriffs, and an ambulance. The rider got a ride to the hospital and we had to retrieve his bike later in the day. His injury required major shoulder surgery and he most likely won’t be riding a motorcycle again.
All in all I had a great weekend. I camped in my trailer, stayed warm with my electric heater, and had fun riding my 21-year old Suzuki DRZ-400 motorcycle.
This Harley Davidson has a cool retro Army-green paint job.I had hoped my bike would be the oldest at the rally, but this old BMW had me beat.The route consisted of smooth gravel roads as well as a bit of pavement and a few more challenging trails.The first evening we rode into Tahlequa to see some of the site.The first evening we stopped at several Tahleqhah native American historical sites.My yellow DRZ was all ready to go.These Husky’s are getting more and more popular as an adventure bike.Lots of people camped at the 2023 spring GOAT ride, including myself.I sure like these Indian Scount motorcycles. Not sure I would want to beat one up in the dirt.A local stopped by to play his guitar and provide background music for camp.Adventure bikes don’t have to be giant behemoths. I published a story once about a guy who rode his Honda Moped like this from Austraila to England. What an adventure.These Honda’s are becoming quite popular.Several Harley Davidson adventure bikes were at the rally. They are sure are pretty, but in my opinion they sure are heavy.We had a great bonfire in camp on Saturday night.Sitting around a campfire telling stories about past motorcycle rides is a great way to spend the evening.We even had a food truck for the weekend.Daniel Sawin found us a pretty cool place to camp for 2023.I brought a friend’s bike down in my trailer and I rode my 21-year old Suzuki on the ride.I sure like those Yamaha T-700 Tenere’s. Pretty bikes, especially the red ones.Moody’s Store north of Tahlequah was just down the dirt road from the campsite and was a great place for breakfast or dinner or gas.I think these Ducati Desert Sleds are the prettiest bikes at any rally.We had a great campsite for the 2023 GOAT rally.The route takes us along the east side of the scenic Illinois River, parallel to Highway 10 which is on the west side of the river.i always enjoy stopping and chatting with other riders when we take a break.One of the riders following me crashed his Yamaha TW-200 on an off-camber downhill turn. He tore his shoulder up pretty bad and was in a lot of pain. We had no cell phone service so I hit the button on my Garmin Montana 700 with InReach.No cell service, but about 15 minutes after I hit the SOS button on my Garmin Montana 700 with InReach, a local fireman showed up to help.Before to long we had an ambulance arrive and hauled the injured rider to the hospital. He later had major surgery to repair his shoulder.Glad he had a good helmet.We stopped at Bathtub Rocks and saw some frogs mating. One of our group was a high school biology teacher so he gave us all the skinny on how frogs mate.The view from my Suzuki DRZ-400.Most of the ride was dirt, but we did hit a few sections of pavement.Water crossings are usually fun as long as they are no overly treacherous.Stagecoach Road proved to be muddy and slippery. We had several riders get stuck on this section of trail.The big BMW GS made it just fine.Honda CRF-300 Rally bikes make excellent adventure bikes. I would want a bit more power myself.Slick tires on slick mud means not much traction.We made a stop at Nichols Preserve on the east side of the Illinois River.America.Playing on a one-wheeler before the ride.
Loaded up my Suzuki DRZ-400 for an overnight camping trip. I have had this motorcycle for 22 years and it still runs strong and does exactly what I want it to do. I have my camping gear pretty well sorted now after all these years.
