Ride Oklahoma started as a labor of love by James Pratt way back in 2002. After a long hiatus without a motorcycle, James purchased a BMW F650GS Dakar in 2002 and took it for a few adventure rides. On one off-rode ride in the mountains of SE Oklahoma, while jumping a water crossing, James whacked his foot on a rock and thought “dang, if I get seriously hurt out here nobody will know where I am at or how to find me.” At this point he decided to start a mailing list to find like-minding dual sport riders in Oklahoma, so the first Yahoo list was born – OK Dual Sport.
Fast forward a couple of years and James had developed a bulletin board for dual sport motorcyclists and placed it on one of his own servers. Eventually he registered the domain Ride Oklahoma and moved everything to that site. Another year goes by – now it is 2007 – and James decides to publish Ride Oklahoma as a magazine. This was very successful and ran for 3 years as a monthly publication, but was a LOT of work and required a substantial amount of monthly income to cover the costs. James hired staff to produce the magazine, but this in turn required significant advertising dollars to help pay for the staff, printing, production and distribution. He was soon knee-deep in the magazine business while also working on his computer business.
The economic crash of 2008-2009 changed everything. Motorcycle sales fell through the floor, advertising dried up, and the cost of continuing a print magazine was just too much, so the last issue was printed. James continued maintaining the Ride Oklahoma web site but eventually this took a back burner to other life challenges – most notably a heart attack James suffered in January 2009.
After a second heart attack in February 2017, James decided to get serious about his health. He started running daily, riding bicycles again, swimming, and significantly improved his eating habits. Those changes resulted in a loss of 45 lbs and much improved health. At the same time, Kay’s real estate businesss KayPratt.com had flourished, resulting in Kay regularly ranking in the top 5 of all REMAX realtors in Oklahoma. James closed his computer business and started working with Kay full-time in real estate.
With the improvements in health and a solid real estate business behind them, James and Kay decided to kick-start Ride Oklahoma again – at least the web site. They both enjoy riding motorcycles around Oklahoma and meeting interesting people across the state. This time they will be funding Ride Oklahoma through their real estate business. No advertising, no large production or sales staff. Just James and Kay traveling around Oklahoma, sharing the things they do and see on two wheels with their friends and customers. You will see an occasional plug for their real estate business (gotta pay for all this somehow) but for the most part Ride Oklahoma will be all about motorcycles (and occasionally bicycles) across Oklahoma.
www.rideok.com
Ride Oklahoma
1608 Mesa Trail
Edmond, OK 73025
Publisher/Editor
James Pratt
james.pratt@rideok.com
405-641-3830
Kay Pratt
www.kaypratt.com
kay@kaypratt.com
405-641-5754
How can I add an event to your page and calendar? I would like to add “The Wacky OK Ride” the 6th Annual Poker Run benefiting Glad Wags Service Dogs in Tulsa, OK
Would be happy to but your web site URL doesn’t work. Need more details.
James,
My name is Carl Bunch and I live with my wife Mary Waters in Perry, OK. We are both also friends of Cary Garrison (I know, right?). Anyhow, I just bought an XR650L with intentions of adventure riding throughout Oklahoma with Cary and a few others. I just bought a tool and tire repair kit for the bike and now Im looking for a good reliable, easy to use GPS to mount on the bike. I would be interested in talking to you and meeting you sometime, as I have tons of questions about gear and trails you may suggest to a new rider. Thank you.