Here we are again in Pryor for our ninth DAM J.A.M. on our made-in-Kansas RANS Screamer.
Here we are again in Pryor for our ninth DAM J.A.M. on our made-in-Kansas RANS Screamer.
There were two mass starts this year.
We made a new friend, Hanna. It was her first real ride.
The DAM J.A.M. is a jam around the dams, organized by
Jim and Marie (J.A.M.). They were there to start us off.
The police get us out of town safely.
They help us around street corners...
and we head East out of town.
I thought of a good way to take pictures of the people behind us.
Everybody who was behind us was soon in front of us.
This was the nicest day for a ride we've ever had. It was cool and dry.
At a certain intersection the 50-mile ride separates from the 30, 70, and 100-mile
rides. We chose the 50-mile ride again this year, and suddenly the road got lonely.
Jim and Marie do a really good job marking the roads.
Here we head across Lake Hudson to the hills on the east side.
It isn't a good idea to ride on the shoulder because that's where all the
broken glass is. There are people to help when you have trouble.
Going over the lake...
and into Salina, the oldest town in Oklahoma.
This is one of the few remaining Phillips 66 "Bat Wing" stations.
The folks in Salina are really nice. The DAM J.A.M.
has the best rest stops of any ride we know of.
We wore our Pelé shirts because he's our buddy.
Past Salina we go into the beautiful, wooded, shady hills of Eastern Oklahoma.
This is how it looks from the back seat. Here we're climbing up to Wickliffe.
At Wickliffe they had these great fruit smoothies. Then there's a long, twisty, screaming
descent that ends at a stop sign. We were way too busy staying in control to take pictures.
Then we come to the famous pump-back.
And the dreaded pump-back hill. It's lots worse than it looks.
Before we were half way up we were off and pushing.
Are my legs really that white?
There's a roaring creek on the left and a little creek on the right.
At the top at last.
And there's a good rest stop at the top. Thirty miles so far.
Now we start the two-mile descent.
Around here we think this is pretty high altitude and a great view.
The road is smooth and fast. We got up to 39.1 miles per hour, which is pretty scary on the Screamer.
The turns are sharp too.
Pretty quick we've covered two miles and we're at the bottom.
Then it's just flat country roads.
The Scouts always put on a good rest stop outside Locust Grove.
Then we cross the Grand River again.
The longest part is the flats leading back to Pryor.
Heading into town.
Pay attention, drivers!
Done at last, with 51.5 miles on the odometer, top speed 39.1 mph,
and four hours and thirty-seven minutes
turning the pedals. Pretty good for a pair of old geezers.
We load the bike in the truck and look for lunch.
We see other bikers at the Dutch Pantry in Choteau for another great
Amish home-cooked meal. It's a DAM J.A.M tradition.
Their pot roast is the best ever.
Another successful DAM J.A.M. !!
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