September, 16th weather forecast, for Clay County, was scattered thunderstorm, 40% chance of rain and high in the 90s. This looked like it would be a great day of riding if the weather was cooperating with us. The weather cooperated, it was hot, we never saw any rain, but that is because it rained before we came…. Making the ride this day ... Doug Radtke – Leawood, KS – KLR650, Shawn Johnson – Shawnee, KS – DRZ400, Mike Alsin – Overland Park, KS – Lc4-400, Larry Ostrom – Concordia, KS – KLR650, Larry McGillivary – Manhattan, KS – DR650, Kevin Ware – Smithville, MO – XR650L, Troy Wolf – Kansas City, MO – DR350SE, James Anderson – Circleville, KS – DL650, Justin Begnoche – Clay Center, KS – XR650L, D. Dureau – Clay Center, KS - LC4-640, Darian Callaway – Clay Center, KS – XR650L, Steve Barth – Manhattan, KS – XR650L, and Luc Valentin – Manhattan, KS – 640 Adventure. The day started at 9:00 in Randolph, we shared the gas station with "rock crawlers" who were having a major gathering at the ORV area close by. New riders, James and Doug … rode with us for the first time, and they all did an excellent job at mastering the elements. After a short jog to the west, we headed north following the North Otter Creek before coming back south to follow temporary the Fancy creek in direction of Morganville. As we got closer to Morganville things started to get interesting as thanks to the ride leader mistakes, we had to turn around on the edge of a muddy soybean field. We left one member of the group in Morganville who due to his responsibilities had to return to Clay Center. Another rider, James and his V-Strom knowing the road ahead of us thought that it would be wise for him to bypass it and he was right. The eleven of us left headed east out of Morganville for some low maintenance road that were soaked from the night storms and offered numerous challenges for the riders as seen on the pictures. While attempting to head south to head to our planned lunch stop in Longford, trouble started as only four riders were able to make it through the planned route while the others struggled to turn their beast around and find an alternative route. Once the two groups rejoined, due to muddy riders, lunch plans had changed and we headed to Clay Center to regain some energy. After lunch, Doug and Steve had to leave as they had other commitments while the rest of us, thanks to Larry's deep knowledge of the area, headed to the buffalo statue south west of Longford, but not before clearing an almost closed road and the brush pile that was at the end of it. From there, we split, Troy, Kevin, Mike and Doug headed back to Randolph to load up and head to Kansas City. Larry O., Dorian, and Justin went to take a closer look at the monument, and Larry M. and Luc headed back to Manhattan. Despite all the mud, it was a great day of camaraderie, and the discovery of beautiful landscape was appreciated by all. Luc 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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