Backroads Touring - June 29, 2008

June 29, 2008 - The Gypsum Hills of Barber county near Medicine Lodge. Twelve riders gathered to explore the hills: Mark Trible and "Zeus, The Wonder Dog" - Maize, KS - Ural Patrol sidecar, Thurman Brittingham - Rose Hill, KS - KLX250, Bob Morgan - Topeka, KS - DR-Z400, Ken Meyer - Goddard, KS - DR-Z400, Kean-Teik Go - Overland Park, KS - F650 GS, Dennis Murray - Conway Springs, KS - DR-Z400, Raymond Metcalf - Andover, KS - KLR650, Mike Buchanan - Wichita, KS - BMW 1200 Adventure, Noel Heyer - Wichita, KS - KLR650, Glen Krause - Emporia, KS - KLR650, Jim Krone - Wichita, KS - XR650L, and Roger Baugh - Wichita, KS - KLR650.

Torrential rain and storms prevented us from leaving the Saturday we had planned ... but the following Sunday gave us near-perfect traveling conditions. Weather is so fickle in Kansas. In the Wichita area and further east, we've had close to twenty inches of rainfall in the month of June. Ninety miles to the southwest in Barber county, they've had zero precipitation the past four weeks.

We were off pavement within three miles out of Medicine Lodge, and into the sweeping salmon-colored hills and buttes. The more we traveled off-pavement, the more evident it became ... the lack of recent moisture was causing the roads to break down into their base element ... sand. Where on past rides we would encounter deep sand maybe 5-10% of the route, this time we were only finding solid stretches of roadbed maybe 20% of the time, with plenty of "sand traps" unexpectedly appearing just when a good ride pace could be set. Those constantly varying conditions required much higher levels of concentration and finesse during a large part of the ride, and practically every rider had several moments of elevated adrenaline levels when their front wheel would start to "wash out" on the "fluffy" road surface!

We visited the cemetery at the ghost town of Lodi, then worked our way south to the small town of Hardtner, enjoying lunch with scores of the local townsfolk. After a great lunch, we turned north again to the ghost town of Sexton, negotiating some highly scenic, open range two-track to arrive at the Turner buffalo ranch.

Once onto the open range ranch, we encountered six or seven herds of up to forty or more buffalo each. In past year's rides, the herds would quickly scatter at the sight of our presence. Nowadays, they seem to be in no hurry to get out of our way ... so we had to wait until they were ready to move. Stare-down contests with buffalo bulls is a most unique experience ... and we were always aware of exit strategies (our own) should they have decided to challenge us! Exiting the Turner Ranch, we turned north up Aetna Road towards US-160 highway. The day had grown long, so the decision was made to turn back to Medicine Lodge, refuel, then head our respective ways home.

It was a great ride today, and with no mechanical issues or mishaps. On a sidenote, we did have a problem (twice) due to a rider failing to stop and wait for the rider behind them. This failure caused the group to become separated and resulted in delays until we could get hooked-up again. Had there been an emergency, such as a "rider down" or mechanical failure, leaving a rider(s) behind could have had very serious ramifications. Further reading/familiarization with "The Golden Rule" can be found in the: Safety Page. This particular safety procedure and promise to other riders is a "must do" requirement of all who attend a group ride. ... rb

Thanks to Bob Morgan and Kean-Teik Go for use of their photos.

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