Green Country Oklahoma Adventure Tour Rally
I’ve done the GOAT route several times with groups and more often on my own, the official GOAT Rally was April 28-30. This year, they had a dedicated private rally ground. In the past, they’ve always used public campgrounds. I’ve been helping the organizer over the last several years with route suggestions and planning and this time everything came together.
Friday afternoon was a short, historical site-based route around the town of Tahlequah, the Cherokee Nation’s National Headquarters. I agreed to ride tail to make sure everyone stayed on course and didn’t get left behind. We had about 70 riders for the historical loop. Of course, it started raining within a couple minutes of the scheduled leave time.
First stop was at the John Ross Museum. Ross was a former Cherokee chief. A representative of the tribe gave a presentation, told stories, and answered questions. It was very interesting. He mentioned that he was a member of the Cherokee Kee-too-Wah Band. I grew up with a guy who was a Kee-too-Wah and I knew he had run for council. After the presentation, I asked the speaker if he knew him. He said he knew him quite well, saw him often, and that he was on the council. I told him to say hi for me.
As the group left the museum, I noticed one of the riders couldn’t get his bike to start. He had a dead battery. One other rider and I stayed to help. We ended up getting him push-started but that put us about ten minutes behind the group. I followed them out from the museum and within a mile they had missed a turn. I honked, flashed my headlight, then stopped and waited. About five minutes later, one returned. The dead-battery guy had just kept on going. We gave up and continued the route. By then, we were so far behind the group that we missed all the in-town historical sites. By the time we caught up, the group was heading back toward camp. We did manage to make the last stop at the grave-site of Mr. Ed, the talking horse. I had been there several times before so I just hung out and waited for the group to leave.
Lining up to visit the grave.
Friday’s ride stats:
I’ve done the GOAT route several times with groups and more often on my own, the official GOAT Rally was April 28-30. This year, they had a dedicated private rally ground. In the past, they’ve always used public campgrounds. I’ve been helping the organizer over the last several years with route suggestions and planning and this time everything came together.
Friday afternoon was a short, historical site-based route around the town of Tahlequah, the Cherokee Nation’s National Headquarters. I agreed to ride tail to make sure everyone stayed on course and didn’t get left behind. We had about 70 riders for the historical loop. Of course, it started raining within a couple minutes of the scheduled leave time.
First stop was at the John Ross Museum. Ross was a former Cherokee chief. A representative of the tribe gave a presentation, told stories, and answered questions. It was very interesting. He mentioned that he was a member of the Cherokee Kee-too-Wah Band. I grew up with a guy who was a Kee-too-Wah and I knew he had run for council. After the presentation, I asked the speaker if he knew him. He said he knew him quite well, saw him often, and that he was on the council. I told him to say hi for me.
As the group left the museum, I noticed one of the riders couldn’t get his bike to start. He had a dead battery. One other rider and I stayed to help. We ended up getting him push-started but that put us about ten minutes behind the group. I followed them out from the museum and within a mile they had missed a turn. I honked, flashed my headlight, then stopped and waited. About five minutes later, one returned. The dead-battery guy had just kept on going. We gave up and continued the route. By then, we were so far behind the group that we missed all the in-town historical sites. By the time we caught up, the group was heading back toward camp. We did manage to make the last stop at the grave-site of Mr. Ed, the talking horse. I had been there several times before so I just hung out and waited for the group to leave.
Lining up to visit the grave.
Friday’s ride stats: