June 30, 2002 marked an extensive day in the Flint Hills of Butler and Elk counties. Nine riders were able to make the rendezvous in Augusta, KS: Teri Frailey - Kawasaki KLR650, Jim Foley - Kawasaki KLR650, Steve Prewitt - Kawasaki KLR650, Tim Troyer - Kawasaki KLR650, Chester Thompson - Kawasaki KLR650, Tom Hamby - KTM 640 LC4, James Pratt - BMW F650GS Dakar, Joe Blanchard - Kawasaki KLR650 and Roger Baugh - Kawasaki KLR650. On this ride, we had riders from three states represented. Jim and Teri rode in from the Kansas City area, Chester came in from LaCygne in eastern Kansas, and James rode up from Oklahoma City. The rest of us rode in from Wichita. Leaving Augusta, we rode the short distance to Bois D'Arc to look at and ride across the 1885 iron bridge. We then rode east to Latham, and on to a spectacular overlook about a dozen miles east of the town. Since we were in the vicinity, we proceeded south to the Osage Questa region, again an area with a commanding view of the Flint Hills. A lunch stop was made in Howard at "That Cafe" .... a great lunch at an incredible price. A humorous sidenote: the line of colorful motorcycles attracted a couple of carloads of local high school girls in for a "look-see". Perhaps they were hoping to meet a bunch of young motocross "studs". You could almost see the disappointment on their faces when they realized that our group's average age was about the same as their own parents. They stayed about two minutes before beating a hasty retreat! From Howard, we rode south along the Elk River valley to Elk Falls, taking in the falls and iron bridge there. At Longton, James left the group to start his journey back to Oklahoma City... via backroads, of course! Chester needed to get back to his home in LaCygne, and chose a tarmac route. The rest of the group rode north to the ghost towns of Busby and Cave Springs. Great riding along the ridgelines, and the unfolding vistas were truly impressive. At Cave Springs, Teri & Jim split from the group to start for their long ride home. The remaining five Wichita-based riders decided upon some more "technical" riding between Piedmont and the ghost town of Blodgett. Much of this section was done "up on the pegs" threading our way through rock stair-step sections and deep ruts. Needless to say, our bash plates took a thorough bashing! Fortunately, everyone stayed upright, although there were a couple of close calls! It was then on to the highway, and home. As near perfect a ride as one could ask for. Thanks to everyone who made the going so thoroughly enjoyable! Click on a thumbnail to view a larger image. Use your browser's "back" button, or the "left" arrow in the navigation bar to return to this page.

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