September 10, 2005 ... Ten riders made this ride: KLR650 riders included: Randy Snyder - Belle Plaine, Larry Ostrom - Concordia, Chuck Puett - St. Joseph, MO, Kris Coleman - Wichita, and Roger Baugh - Wichita. Riders of other makes included: Fred Morrison - Gardner - BMW F650, Kenneth Meyer - Goddard - DRZ-400, Daniel Holloway - Newalla, OK - BMW GS1200, David Piercy - Herington - BMW F650 Dakar, and Tony Adams - Udall - Triumph Tiger. Our main rendezvous would be Hardtner, KS. Roger's KLR encountered a flat tire in Anthony, evidently the result of a slow leak. This delayed our start about half an hour. Once everyone was assembled in Hardtner, we got organized and briefed on the ride agenda, and then off into the hills. The early part of the morning was spent exploring service roads in extreme southern Barber county ... and somewhere along the way we lost two of our tail-end riders. The main group spent a good amount of time back-tracking and trying to locate our "lost souls". Fortunately, the two riders recalled our lunch rendezvous point in Sun City, and were able to hook up with the main group there. The "lost rider" situation only reinforced the basic rule of trail riding. If you can no longer see the rider behind you .... stop and wait for them before proceeding any further. Eventually, the entire "string" will stop, and retrace back to the rider(s) who have become separated from the main group due to their slower pace, mechanical difficulties, or a spill. We made our way north up to Sun City and Buster's saloon, and enjoyed some beautiful scenery along the Lake City Road. We did encounter some good stretches of sand ... making the ride a little more intensive in places than a typical dirt or gravel road scenario. Leaving Sun City, we worked our way west through the Red Hills to Wilmore, a picturesque town of seventy individuals nestled back in the hills. From Wilmore, we jumped back onto tarmac for the ride back to Medicine Lodge and fuel. Some of the group split to return to their tow vehicles in Hardtner. For those of us based in Kansas who rode the distance, a little over three hundred miles in the saddle. Daniel, based out of Oklahoma, racked up over five hundred miles of riding on his new BMW. Again, no mishaps or mechanical issues of any consequence. We saw some stunning scenery, and enjoyed a good bit of camaraderie and fun. It doesn't get much better than this! 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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