OBS
style
October 2004
2004 Tour De
Trees & The New OBS Fire Goddess
By Jim Bean
The Tour de Trees, is the last organized camping/pot luck dinner OBS ride of the year. This was one of the most laid-back rides of the season with over 90 riders showing up to tour the Lake Eufaula area and give those easterner’s something to stare at, all decked out in our colorful tight fitting biking wear. This may have been the best weather the TDT has ever had. Special thanks go out to Cat Wilton for driving the sag wagon. She put over 200 miles on her dad’s (Wilton) Honda Element vehicle in helping various riders. Without members like this, the OBS would be just another average bike club.
John Hamlin and I, along with Trudy, better know as “Trixie” and “Virgin Camper” Jan Chumard car pooled over from OKC to the Dogwood Drive Campgrounds north of the Lake Eufaula Lodge on Friday afternoon. Found the camping area to be very good with excellent shower/restrooms facilities. We located the appropriate camping spot with lots of trees and level ground. Then we backed up the vehicles and dumped all of our stuff on the ground. After I cleaned off the sticks and rocks it took an hour to set up my lodging by myself. Seems as if John was too busy helping Jan!!! From all the sounds coming from them, I had to stop many times just to make sure they were actually putting the tent together and doing everything OK. Get all the stuff in the tents. Setup the cooking area, the trash bag and a clothes line hung, and the rest of the Friday group begins to arrive. I do believe 40 to 50 people camped out that night, along with the group of 8 or 10 that bicycled over from Shawnee.
Finally around 6:00 pm the work was all done and the evening’s festivities began. First up was the all important dinner. Several people drove into Eufaula to have a steak. Our little group votes for me to cook at the camp site. We have our fill of potato soup and the gals clean the dishes. We grab a chair to sit at the camp fire over at Moni’s tent area. Somewhere, somebody gave Moni a bottle of wine, with the consensus that it now needs to be disposed of. Trudy and Jan volunteer to get rid of it. Sometime during the wine consumption contest the group “roughing it” over at Brian Ratliff’s condo on the lake arrives to participate in the fun. After a couple of hours of various conversations, some beer drinking, sympathy for those poor souls having to share one shower at Brian’s and laughing at the wine contestants, the party began to break up to get some good sleep for the long Saturday on the bike.
The weathermen did miss the 30 minute rain shower about 10:30 that night. This was the only bad weather thing we had. The entire rest of the weekend had great riding temperatures and light northeast winds (anything in Oklahoma under 20 is light). The rain didn’t hurt and the low temp of 42 degrees Saturday morning made that 6:30 am pot of coffee exceptional. Jan comes out with a hooded parka, yelling about being cold and had two blankets on her bed to boot. The gals let us guys fix breakfast of oatmeal, scrambled eggs and bacon and they were gracious enough to wash the dishes. Chow down on that camp ground cooking, find all the biking gear and stuff needed to cover any emergency, like carry enough things in my camel back and rear bike trunk bag to fix a truck. Then head to the restroom to empty out some coffee so my bladder is not forcing my stomach and lungs out my mouth when I sit on the saddle.
The group gathers up and we head off to the Eufaula Lake Lodge to pickup the Saturday morning arrivals. We hear instructions from Moni. I harass all the first time TDT riders and set off on another OBS ride of fun. We warm up on a couple of small hills. Then 14 miles out we pass by a house that has burnt down and is still smoking so bad you can’t breath. At 18 miles is the first convenience store. Everyone pulls over to start the day’s first excitement of stripping off a layer of warmth. The gals are starting to look better. Now they are women instead of bundles of clothes on a bike. Take off on our way to the OBS famous tater downhill. Here’s where that load of stuff I am carrying comes into play. It feels like a dead 150 pound pig on my bike going up, and a semi without brakes going down, (felt like I hit 85 mph). We whistle into Porum like at freight train. Pull up to the stop sign at highway 2 for the right turn and see the group of 8 or so with GW and Lyn Key, going on straight. Those with me figure there is no way we are fast enough to catch them and proceed on. Later we find out only GW had a map. He did not think it was the right way, but none of them knew the route. However, they were lucky enough that a gal in a car chased them down and turned them around.
Our little bunch pulls over into a C Store for the restroom and something to eat. We were there 15 minutes and there goes the wrong way bunch. Now being the Mechanical Engineer I figure that if I can consume a power bar, banana and lots of liquid, I’ll save some weight. At which point the group just laughs. Well, I did get rid of the wrapper and banana skin (4 or 5 oz’s), which paid off on the climb up onto the dam. Ah, the dam. The sun is shining nicely. We are heading with the wind, and a nice break area where we strip off the rest of the unnecessary clothing. Wow, now the gals really look like something. Someone mentions Jamie’s Drive In for a cheeseburger (now most everyone knows that’s one of my favorite health foods) on down the road about 6 or 7 miles, and the gun goes off for the race to lunch. The place we have had for a lunch stop the last several years has burnt down. It must be something about the property values or good insurance returns around the lake with all these fires. Wilton Berry and I hammer our brains out going up the hill off the dam. Then we shift into the big “motor down the road” chain ring. Take a few turns pulling and arrive for the feeding. Don’t know were all the riders were, but approximately 30 descended upon a cook, two waitresses and a small kid. Overload hit big time.
I am sure that most people know that some football game between Kansas State and some school in Norman was taking place. Jan happens to have a daughter going to OU and Brian, along with several of us, can be excellent trouble makers. Jan is an easy mark. Brian has her believing that her school is losing 17 to 45 in the 4th quarter. The frown appears and she is starting to swell up. She works slowly through lunch, and then finally someone (nameless to spare their skin) tells her the truth. Brian hears her yell at him and decides it is time to get out of there, with the rest of us rolling in laughter.
OK, cheeseburger in place and the big group starts to hammer its way to Eufaula. John and I decide we would just as soon keep our lunch down and cruise off on our own. Here we are enjoying the fabulous ride when good old Moni strikes. I had trouble on the Fall Fling, so she has been having various riders remind me to drink. Going up this small hill, I just stick my camel back hose in my mouth and suck air. Then I roll over this sign written on the road “DRINK BEANER” with a great big happy face. John is behind me and almost has to stop, he is laughing so hard. Thanks, Moni. Glad someone takes care of me! Finish off the last of my drink mix and stop in Longtown to fill back up. Take a potty break, listen to John complain about having to surgically remove his saddle, he doesn’t like and get ready for the charge to the Braum’s in Eufaula. Off we go, back with a large group, and turn the corner north on highway 9 across the bridge and up the last big hill. It’s a quarter mile climb to the sky. I’m third to get to the top and I pull over and stop to inflate my lungs that fell out. I look at the view back south. Man, what a sight! Strung out down the hill, out across the other side of the bridge and back down the road is nothing but 20 to 30 bike riders. Kind of makes you feel proud that some of your best friends enjoy the same activities, have tons of fun, and also are willing to suffer as much as me doing it!
ITS OFF TO BRAUM’S, down the hill and rip into Eufaula. I decide I would rather have some pie with Jim and Laurie Allshouse at a downtown café. I follow them by the Braum’s with a sad look. Good choice though. I had a great big bowl of cherry cobbler, hog heaven! Meanwhile the group behind us was passing Braum’s when Pete, the fish guy (more on that later) crashed in a pile of glass. Being the tough rider he is, he got up, picked all the glass out of various places, hopped back on, and finished the ride. Now John and Jan have discovered they have a minor emergency of their own - an Ice Cream deficiency (understand Jan hits her local Braum’s 4 to 5 times a week). Don’t know just how long we stayed at JM’s restaurant eating the pie and cobbler, but 2 miles north of Eufaula, I come across John and Jan fixing a flat. I slow down, ask if it’s under control and keep going. It’s only 4 miles to the end and if I stop now I will never make it. I would die on the side of the road with my feet still clipped in, laying on my back, and bike in the up in the air, like road kill. Just before we turn into the camp site road my good old buddy Jim, “Legs”, rolls up beside me and says something about a dead goat. I moan back that I very much look and feel like that, but you aren’t going to do that to me.
It’s now 68 miles and here is the camp site. I jump off, pitch all my bike stuff in a chair, grab my towel, shower kit, fresh clothes and off to a nice warm shower. Wrong! Got back to late, all the hot water is gone. Oh well, spray me down with the ice cubes and put on some warm dry clothes, back to the tent find an empty chair, something to drink and wait on the SUPER SIZED OBS Pot Luck Dinner!
Its 6:00 pm, let the feeding frenzy begin. Over 45 people have food. Best thing I did was just walk around the tables with a fork and spoon and sample everything I could. I finally settled on a bowl of Wilton’s Cajun stuff. Man, what a pig out. Oh, special mention to Pete, the fish guy. That was the best Alaskan Salmon and Halibut I have ever had! Moni is still yelling at me to drink. I consume some liquids to make her feel better then head off to the restroom to make more room with way to many desserts still available on the table. Now it is time to just sit back and get ready for the evenings entertainment and show provided by Trudy and Jan. You get to Saturday night and it just seems that Trudy comes alive and brings out the party animal in everyone. Eric from the Stillwater bunch begins building a huge fire. The various conversations join together to become a roar. I stroll back to my camp site and begin to clean up the mess left by my drunken camping buddies, so the raccoons will not come around. Sit down with Laurie Allshouse and have a nice enjoyable 45 minute conversation with her about whatever, just relaxing and enjoy the cool evening. The beer begins to flow back at the camp fire. Jerry Neville pulls up his van and cranks up the country music. Hearing the commotion, Laurie and I return to the action to watch. Trudy and Jan grab some guys and the two-step is on. Now the OBS has Celeste, the Fire Goddess. Well sorry to say, the Fire Goddess is dead. Long live the new Fire Goddess, “TRIXIE”. Never seen anyone two-step through a fire, singing and still drinking. From there the evening slowly went down hill. Finally, sleepy time crawls upon me and drags me in to bed.
Must have slept good that night. Never did hear the drunks stumble into our camp site. I did hear the next day about the three of them, John, Trudy and Jan laying out in the middle of the road looking for shooting starts. As much beer as they consumed, I am sure they saw several, real or not!
Around rolls 6:30 a.m. and it’s time to ride for breakfast. Coffees ready and the world looks great. It’s another fine riding day. John makes it up and asks for coffee. We wonder if the gals have survived. Trudy crashes out of her tent and I state “Drunk Number One is Up”. Then we hear a whisper from Jan’s tent, “I have a headache”. John and I tell her, ”Tough. Coffee’s fixed. It’s daylight. Let’s ride. Trudy has to get rid of her Rod Stewart hair. Jan has to remove her finger nail polish and put on her anti aging cream before we can leave for breakfast. Hey gals, this is camping and bike riding. We are here for the fun. Not how well we can look. Don’t need no high maintenance women around us guys, just some that I can draft behind. After the prepping is done, we are off to Glenda’s Kitchen for some eggs and bacon over at Porum Landing, about a 38 mile round trip ride. I’m still a little sore from the outing yesterday. A couple of places the small hills felt like mountains to my legs. thought twice about pulling into a local diner I was passing. Top the last big hill. 36 lucky people make the last big OBS Sunday tour and invade the restaurant. Once again we overload the working staff. Here we go again. How much can you consume and still ride a bike.
Make it back to camp and stall about loading all this stuff up and going home. I’m kind of sad, now that it is over. The high point of the whole weekend was Trudy made it the whole three days without falling over, or on somebody. Jan, the “Virgin Camper”, has had a blast. She makes plans on the burner for the next one. Will Trixie or Celeste, the Fire Goddess, return? Can the OBS keep topping the last outings? Can we top 100 riders for a camping event?
See Ya Next Year at the Spring Fling!
Click thumbnail for larger view of photo.
OBS style
October 2004
2004 Tour De
Trees & The New OBS Fire Goddess
By Jim Bean
The Tour de Trees, is the last organized camping/pot luck dinner OBS ride of the year. This was one of the most laid-back rides of the season with over 90 riders showing up to tour the Lake Eufaula area and give those easterner’s something to stare at, all decked out in our colorful tight fitting biking wear. This may have been the best weather the TDT has ever had. Special thanks go out to Cat Wilton for driving the sag wagon. She put over 200 miles on her dad’s (Wilton) Honda Element vehicle in helping various riders. Without members like this, the OBS would be just another average bike club.
John Hamlin and I, along with Trudy, better know as “Trixie” and “Virgin Camper” Jan Chumard car pooled over from OKC to the Dogwood Drive Campgrounds north of the Lake Eufaula Lodge on Friday afternoon. Found the camping area to be very good with excellent shower/restrooms facilities. We located the appropriate camping spot with lots of trees and level ground. Then we backed up the vehicles and dumped all of our stuff on the ground. After I cleaned off the sticks and rocks it took an hour to set up my lodging by myself. Seems as if John was too busy helping Jan!!! From all the sounds coming from them, I had to stop many times just to make sure they were actually putting the tent together and doing everything OK. Get all the stuff in the tents. Setup the cooking area, the trash bag and a clothes line hung, and the rest of the Friday group begins to arrive. I do believe 40 to 50 people camped out that night, along with the group of 8 or 10 that bicycled over from Shawnee.
Finally around 6:00 pm the work was all done and the evening’s festivities began. First up was the all important dinner. Several people drove into Eufaula to have a steak. Our little group votes for me to cook at the camp site. We have our fill of potato soup and the gals clean the dishes. We grab a chair to sit at the camp fire over at Moni’s tent area. Somewhere, somebody gave Moni a bottle of wine, with the consensus that it now needs to be disposed of. Trudy and Jan volunteer to get rid of it. Sometime during the wine consumption contest the group “roughing it” over at Brian Ratliff’s condo on the lake arrives to participate in the fun. After a couple of hours of various conversations, some beer drinking, sympathy for those poor souls having to share one shower at Brian’s and laughing at the wine contestants, the party began to break up to get some good sleep for the long Saturday on the bike.
The weathermen did miss the 30 minute rain shower about 10:30 that night. This was the only bad weather thing we had. The entire rest of the weekend had great riding temperatures and light northeast winds (anything in Oklahoma under 20 is light). The rain didn’t hurt and the low temp of 42 degrees Saturday morning made that 6:30 am pot of coffee exceptional. Jan comes out with a hooded parka, yelling about being cold and had two blankets on her bed to boot. The gals let us guys fix breakfast of oatmeal, scrambled eggs and bacon and they were gracious enough to wash the dishes. Chow down on that camp ground cooking, find all the biking gear and stuff needed to cover any emergency, like carry enough things in my camel back and rear bike trunk bag to fix a truck. Then head to the restroom to empty out some coffee so my bladder is not forcing my stomach and lungs out my mouth when I sit on the saddle.
The group gathers up and we head off to the Eufaula Lake Lodge to pickup the Saturday morning arrivals. We hear instructions from Moni. I harass all the first time TDT riders and set off on another OBS ride of fun. We warm up on a couple of small hills. Then 14 miles out we pass by a house that has burnt down and is still smoking so bad you can’t breath. At 18 miles is the first convenience store. Everyone pulls over to start the day’s first excitement of stripping off a layer of warmth. The gals are starting to look better. Now they are women instead of bundles of clothes on a bike. Take off on our way to the OBS famous tater downhill. Here’s where that load of stuff I am carrying comes into play. It feels like a dead 150 pound pig on my bike going up, and a semi without brakes going down, (felt like I hit 85 mph). We whistle into Porum like at freight train. Pull up to the stop sign at highway 2 for the right turn and see the group of 8 or so with GW and Lyn Key, going on straight. Those with me figure there is no way we are fast enough to catch them and proceed on. Later we find out only GW had a map. He did not think it was the right way, but none of them knew the route. However, they were lucky enough that a gal in a car chased them down and turned them around.
Our little bunch pulls over into a C Store for the restroom and something to eat. We were there 15 minutes and there goes the wrong way bunch. Now being the Mechanical Engineer I figure that if I can consume a power bar, banana and lots of liquid, I’ll save some weight. At which point the group just laughs. Well, I did get rid of the wrapper and banana skin (4 or 5 oz’s), which paid off on the climb up onto the dam. Ah, the dam. The sun is shining nicely. We are heading with the wind, and a nice break area where we strip off the rest of the unnecessary clothing. Wow, now the gals really look like something. Someone mentions Jamie’s Drive In for a cheeseburger (now most everyone knows that’s one of my favorite health foods) on down the road about 6 or 7 miles, and the gun goes off for the race to lunch. The place we have had for a lunch stop the last several years has burnt down. It must be something about the property values or good insurance returns around the lake with all these fires. Wilton Berry and I hammer our brains out going up the hill off the dam. Then we shift into the big “motor down the road” chain ring. Take a few turns pulling and arrive for the feeding. Don’t know were all the riders were, but approximately 30 descended upon a cook, two waitresses and a small kid. Overload hit big time.
I am sure that most people know that some football game between Kansas State and some school in Norman was taking place. Jan happens to have a daughter going to OU and Brian, along with several of us, can be excellent trouble makers. Jan is an easy mark. Brian has her believing that her school is losing 17 to 45 in the 4th quarter. The frown appears and she is starting to swell up. She works slowly through lunch, and then finally someone (nameless to spare their skin) tells her the truth. Brian hears her yell at him and decides it is time to get out of there, with the rest of us rolling in laughter.
OK, cheeseburger in place and the big group starts to hammer its way to Eufaula. John and I decide we would just as soon keep our lunch down and cruise off on our own. Here we are enjoying the fabulous ride when good old Moni strikes. I had trouble on the Fall Fling, so she has been having various riders remind me to drink. Going up this small hill, I just stick my camel back hose in my mouth and suck air. Then I roll over this sign written on the road “DRINK BEANER” with a great big happy face. John is behind me and almost has to stop, he is laughing so hard. Thanks, Moni. Glad someone takes care of me! Finish off the last of my drink mix and stop in Longtown to fill back up. Take a potty break, listen to John complain about having to surgically remove his saddle, he doesn’t like and get ready for the charge to the Braum’s in Eufaula. Off we go, back with a large group, and turn the corner north on highway 9 across the bridge and up the last big hill. It’s a quarter mile climb to the sky. I’m third to get to the top and I pull over and stop to inflate my lungs that fell out. I look at the view back south. Man, what a sight! Strung out down the hill, out across the other side of the bridge and back down the road is nothing but 20 to 30 bike riders. Kind of makes you feel proud that some of your best friends enjoy the same activities, have tons of fun, and also are willing to suffer as much as me doing it!
ITS OFF TO BRAUM’S, down the hill and rip into Eufaula. I decide I would rather have some pie with Jim and Laurie Allshouse at a downtown café. I follow them by the Braum’s with a sad look. Good choice though. I had a great big bowl of cherry cobbler, hog heaven! Meanwhile the group behind us was passing Braum’s when Pete, the fish guy (more on that later) crashed in a pile of glass. Being the tough rider he is, he got up, picked all the glass out of various places, hopped back on, and finished the ride. Now John and Jan have discovered they have a minor emergency of their own - an Ice Cream deficiency (understand Jan hits her local Braum’s 4 to 5 times a week). Don’t know just how long we stayed at JM’s restaurant eating the pie and cobbler, but 2 miles north of Eufaula, I come across John and Jan fixing a flat. I slow down, ask if it’s under control and keep going. It’s only 4 miles to the end and if I stop now I will never make it. I would die on the side of the road with my feet still clipped in, laying on my back, and bike in the up in the air, like road kill. Just before we turn into the camp site road my good old buddy Jim, “Legs”, rolls up beside me and says something about a dead goat. I moan back that I very much look and feel like that, but you aren’t going to do that to me.
It’s now 68 miles and here is the camp site. I jump off, pitch all my bike stuff in a chair, grab my towel, shower kit, fresh clothes and off to a nice warm shower. Wrong! Got back to late, all the hot water is gone. Oh well, spray me down with the ice cubes and put on some warm dry clothes, back to the tent find an empty chair, something to drink and wait on the SUPER SIZED OBS Pot Luck Dinner!
Its 6:00 pm, let the feeding frenzy begin. Over 45 people have food. Best thing I did was just walk around the tables with a fork and spoon and sample everything I could. I finally settled on a bowl of Wilton’s Cajun stuff. Man, what a pig out. Oh, special mention to Pete, the fish guy. That was the best Alaskan Salmon and Halibut I have ever had! Moni is still yelling at me to drink. I consume some liquids to make her feel better then head off to the restroom to make more room with way to many desserts still available on the table. Now it is time to just sit back and get ready for the evenings entertainment and show provided by Trudy and Jan. You get to Saturday night and it just seems that Trudy comes alive and brings out the party animal in everyone. Eric from the Stillwater bunch begins building a huge fire. The various conversations join together to become a roar. I stroll back to my camp site and begin to clean up the mess left by my drunken camping buddies, so the raccoons will not come around. Sit down with Laurie Allshouse and have a nice enjoyable 45 minute conversation with her about whatever, just relaxing and enjoy the cool evening. The beer begins to flow back at the camp fire. Jerry Neville pulls up his van and cranks up the country music. Hearing the commotion, Laurie and I return to the action to watch. Trudy and Jan grab some guys and the two-step is on. Now the OBS has Celeste, the Fire Goddess. Well sorry to say, the Fire Goddess is dead. Long live the new Fire Goddess, “TRIXIE”. Never seen anyone two-step through a fire, singing and still drinking. From there the evening slowly went down hill. Finally, sleepy time crawls upon me and drags me in to bed.
Must have slept good that night. Never did hear the drunks stumble into our camp site. I did hear the next day about the three of them, John, Trudy and Jan laying out in the middle of the road looking for shooting starts. As much beer as they consumed, I am sure they saw several, real or not!
Around rolls 6:30 a.m. and it’s time to ride for breakfast. Coffees ready and the world looks great. It’s another fine riding day. John makes it up and asks for coffee. We wonder if the gals have survived. Trudy crashes out of her tent and I state “Drunk Number One is Up”. Then we hear a whisper from Jan’s tent, “I have a headache”. John and I tell her, ”Tough. Coffee’s fixed. It’s daylight. Let’s ride. Trudy has to get rid of her Rod Stewart hair. Jan has to remove her finger nail polish and put on her anti aging cream before we can leave for breakfast. Hey gals, this is camping and bike riding. We are here for the fun. Not how well we can look. Don’t need no high maintenance women around us guys, just some that I can draft behind. After the prepping is done, we are off to Glenda’s Kitchen for some eggs and bacon over at Porum Landing, about a 38 mile round trip ride. I’m still a little sore from the outing yesterday. A couple of places the small hills felt like mountains to my legs. thought twice about pulling into a local diner I was passing. Top the last big hill. 36 lucky people make the last big OBS Sunday tour and invade the restaurant. Once again we overload the working staff. Here we go again. How much can you consume and still ride a bike.
Make it back to camp and stall about loading all this stuff up and going home. I’m kind of sad, now that it is over. The high point of the whole weekend was Trudy made it the whole three days without falling over, or on somebody. Jan, the “Virgin Camper”, has had a blast. She makes plans on the burner for the next one. Will Trixie or Celeste, the Fire Goddess, return? Can the OBS keep topping the last outings? Can we top 100 riders for a camping event?
See Ya Next Year at the Spring Fling!
Click thumbnail for larger
view of photo.
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