Ride Oklahoma Radio

In this podcast I interviewed Martin Thorne about the 17th Annual Ride To Remember poker run coming up on Saturday, April 20, 2024. Martin explains the purpose of the ride – to honor the OKC bombing victims and support the first responders who were at the tragedy, and gives details on how to participate.

Click below to listen to the podcast, or listen on the Apple Podcast app.

Early Sign Up

You can sign up for the ride at Coal Creek Winery on Friday night from 6-9 pm, or the morning of the ride at Papa’s Leather Barn, or online at Ride To Remember. Cost is $35 per couple or $25 per individual rider.

Ride Starts at Papa’s Leather Barn

The ride starts on Saturday at 11 pm at Papa’s Leather Barn in Bethany at 6623 NW 23rd Street in Bethany and then proceeds to the downtown Oklahoma City bombing memorial. Approximately 1,000 riders attend each year, it is a very large crowd. Bethany Police will escort riders to the edge of Oklahoma City, but after that, riders will need to obey all traffic laws and be sure and stop for stoplights. Do NOT block traffic at stop lights for other riders to proceed or you can except a citation from the police.

First stop – OKC Bombing Memorial

The first stop is at the OKC bombing memorial, where a ceremony will take place to honor those who lost their lives in this terrible tragedy. Afterwards, riders are free to make their own route southwest to Cold Creek Winery in Tuttle, Oklahoma. However, the Heartland Heat chapter of the Wind and Fire Motorcycle Club recommends stopping at the OKC Firefighters Memorial near the OKC Zoo, and then they have planned poker run stops at various locations going to Tuttle.

Riders gather for a service at the OKC Bombing Memorial in downtown Oklahoma City. Photo courtesy KFOR.

Poker Run

The ride consists of a poker run, where riders stop at various locations along the route and draw a card to see who gets the best hand for the ride. Information on the poker run is provided at signup or the morning of the ride.

Ride Ends at Coal Creek Winery in Tuttle

Last rider is due into Cold Creek Winery at 5 pm on Saturday, where drawings will be held, music will be playing, vendors will show their wares, and friends can hang out and have fun.

Dual Sport Ride

I am planning on riding my dual sport adventure bike on this trip, and after the visit to the Firefighter’s Museum near the OKC Zoo, I plan to ride back roads and dirt/gravel roads west to Piedmont, south El Reno, and then back east to Tuttle. Other dual sport/adventure riders are welcome to join me for the route.

Look for me at the ride start or at the OKC Firefighter’s Museum. I will be leading a dual sport ride west to Piedmont, then El Reno, and we will end up at the event around 5 pm at Coal Creek Winery in Tuttle.

This is the planned dual sport route after leaving the Firefighter’s Museum near the OKC Zoo. It is a 107-mile route west and then south. We will make a brief stop at David Blankenship’s house (he is planning some refreshments) and then at the Historic Fort Reno before passing by T-Fab’s shop in Union City, the Braum’s Dairy Farm in Tuttle,

Gerad Findlay is an avid off-road enthusiast and overlander living in the western Oklahoma town of Hinton, known for the scenic Red Rock Canyon State Park. He started off-roading by driving his Jeep to Colorado and enjoying the rough terrain and challenges in the Rockies, but eventually decided he wanted to stay closer to home and start enjoying the terrain offered by his home state. As his family grew, Gared decided to stay closer to home and spend more time exploring scenic off-road routes of western Oklahoma rather than the technical challenges of the rugged – and far away – Rocky Mountains. Hence his move to Overlanding rather than off-roading – spending time camping with his growing family rather than winching Jeeps out of crevices with his friends.

Inspired by the Oklahoma Adventure Trail, Gared decided to start mapping some of his favorite routes with his GPS and sharing those with friends on Facebook. Hence the start of his now famous Sugar Creek Adventure Route, which loops 120 miles out of his hometown of Hinton.

But Gared didn’t stop there. He eventually added several hundred miles of routes through western Oklahoma, incorporating scenic back roads, historical locations and markers, creek crossings, dirt roads, and just places that he found interesting. “These are county roads in western Oklahoma, and most can be driven with a regular pickup truck or Subaru Outback. I tried to make this interesting and scenic. These are not off-road trails” explains Gerad.

Interview with Gared

After riding several of Gared’s routes, I decided to interview him about the effort he put into creating these routes. Listen below or subscribe on the Apple Podcast app.

The 2024 GOAT ride now spans five nights and six days and provides over 1,000 miles of riding around the beautiful hills of northeast Oklahoma.

James Pratt talks to GOAT founder Daniel Sawin about this year’s GOAT ride, why it was expanded to six days, and what riders can expect for the event.

Podcast

Click the player below to listen to the podcast.

https://www.rideok.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/GOAT-2024-Overview-with-Daniel-Sawin_mixdown.mp3

Press PLAY to listen to an interview with Daniel Sawin about the plans for the 2024 Spring GOAT ride.

You can also listen to this podcast on Apple Podcast by clicking the link below:

Ride Oklahoma Radio – GOAT 2024

2023 GOAT ride pictures

Last spring was a fantastic ride along the banks of the scenic Illinois River. The weather was perfect and there were over 100 riders attending the event.

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.

2023 GOAT ride in Tahlequah, Oklahoma.

2023 GOAT ride in Tahlequah,

James Pratt sat down with legendary drag racer, engine builder, and Harley Davidson Hall of Famer Tommy Bolton to talk about how the 2023 drag racing season went for Tombo Racing, and their plans for the 2024 season.

Tommy discussed upcoming events for 2024, including his wildly popular Soul in the Valley drag race/car show/block party weekend coming up in July.

My wife Kay and I recently attended an “Intro to Observed Trials” school put on by Chris Johnson and his wife Claire at their Buffalo Dream Ranch in Lawton. The class taught us the basics of trials riding, with an emphasis on how those skills transfer to our normal everyday riding on dirt bikes, dual sport and adventure bikes.

I produced a quick podcast interview with Chris where he talks about the school, what skills you will learn, and what gear to bring.

The Oklahoma Cross Country Racing Association – OCCRA – is hosting their annual Make Promises Happen charity dirt bike races on April 25-26 in Guthrie, Oklahoma. OCCRA members and racers have raised over one half million dollars – $500,000 – to help support this worthwhile charity. One hundred percent of the entry fees for this race goes to the Make Promises Happen program. Listen to Ride Oklahoma Radio while I chat with Executive Director James Wheeler and OCCRA racer Mark Walker about this worthwhile and fun family race.

Adventurer Bill Dragoo will be teaching a two day class in Lexington, OK on how to ride big dual sport bikes off-road. Slotted for April 21-22 2015, this class will focus on helping aspiring adventure riders learn to manage big, heavy dual sport motorcycles over rough terrain safely and efficiently.

Skill training will include but not be limited to:

Balance and control

Proper body position

Proper use of brakes where traction is marginal

Skid turns

Obstacle Crossing

Tight turns

Hill Fail Turnaround

Towing

Trailside Emergency Including Flat Repair (time permitting)

Negotiating Deep Sand

Sand Extraction

Group Ride Trail Etiquette

Riding Gear Selection (What works and what to avoid)

Bill is an experienced off-road racer and rider. He won the 2009 Adventure Rider Challenge in California, was runner-up on the BMW GS Trophy Team in 2008, and was a member of the BMW GS Trophy Team in 2010, where he competed in South Africa against teams from all over the world. Bill has ridden dual sport motorcycles in far off places such as Africa, South America, the American southwest, and many other places. Bill is an MSF advanced rider instructor and teaches beginning and advanced street riding courses in Oklahoma City.

If you always wanted to ride your big dual sport off-road but was nervous on how to handle such a challenge, or you just want to sharpen your existing off-road skills and learn a few tricks on riding big bikes off-road, this class is for you.

Cost is $235 for the two day class and will be held at Sundog Trails ORV area in Lexington.

Listen to the podcast to hear Bill talk about what is needed for the class and the skills that will be learned during the class.

In this episode of Tombo Smack Shack, Tommy and the drag racing boys talk about getting ready for the first PMRA drag race of the season. Brian Wood from Omaha, NE joins the group.

To join in on Tombo Smack Shack, call the number below at 7:00 pm on Wednesday nights, punch in the meeting ID, and be prepared to talk a little smack.

Tombo Smack Shack – Wednesday nights, 7 pm cst

Call: (712) 775-7031

Meeting ID: 285-691-037

We are starting a new feature on Ride Oklahoma – Tombo’s Smack Shack. Most racers and people involved in competitive sports are familiar with “talking smack” or as some call it “talking head” – and a few other descriptive terms. It is basically good natured ribbing that can be quite funny at times.

In this episode, host Tommy Bolton and James Pratt invite two racers onto the show to talk a little “smack”. Tony Maxey is a well know racer and one of the owners of Maxey’s Honda/Yamaha in OKC. Luther Loudenbaur used to roadrace in California and according to him, MotoGP is for wimps while the TRUE motorcycle roadracers are guys like Joey Dunlop who race at true road courses like Isle of Mann. Tony on the other hand says the fastest guys are MotoGP racers like Valentino Rossi.

Listen in for a few laughs as these guys try to make there point, while long time drag racer Tommy Bolton tries to figure out why anyone would want to run longer than a quarter mile.

This episode of Ride Oklahoma Radio Tommy Bolton and I talk with Ted Leslie, a long-time attorney and motorcycle rider who specializes in helping other riders with legal issues. Ted has been riding motorcycles since he could walk, and rode a Honda Sabre V4-750 as his primary mode of transportation while at Auburn University. After his time in the Air Force, Ted moved to Oklahoma to practice law. Ted is a regular visitor at all types of motorcycle events across Oklahoma and regularly rides dirt bikes, cruisers, and sport bikes.

Ted talks about recent changes in Oklahoma tort reform laws that can affect motorcyclists. He also discusses what to do if you are in an accident and how his firm can help you out after an accident.

You can reach Ted at his web site www.mybikerattorney.com.