July 17, 2005 ... Eight riders made the ride to the county seat of Chase County, Cottonwood Falls. It was a "Biker Breakfast", so we shared the picturesque Flint Hills town with perhaps another hundred street riders for breakfast before starting our backroads travels. Making the ride this day was Damon Schimming - Wichita, BMW 1150GS, Clay Bastian - Wichita, KTM950, Jeff Jelinek - Danville, Triumph Tiger, and the "KLR650 Gang" of Gordon Polston - Herington, Tony Adams - Udall, Randy Snyder - Belle Plaine, Larry Ostrom - Concordia, and Roger Baugh - Wichita. We rode to the southwest out of Cottonwood Falls towards Coyne Creek, and the minimum maintenance road that runs alongside and through the creek. The water crossings and tree shade were appreciated. High humidity and mid-ninety degree temperatures were evident by late morning, and we would travel without shade most of the day. Fortunately we had wind, so dust plumes were only an issue on the north-south legs of our trip. We then rode to the ghost town of Clements to see the 1880s stone arched bridge over the Cottonwood River, then on to Cedar Point to see the old mill along the same river. We rode to the south, then west to Bazaar to ride open range along the Sharpes Creek valley. Eventually, we worked our way to Texaco Hill and the wild mustang herds south of Teter Rock. From there, we decided it had been a great day of riding, and probably a good time to start working our way to our respective homes. We had one small unexpected dismount early into the ride ... but no injuries. A good day to be out riding the Flint Hills! 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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