Pat & Cats Heartland Tour 2010

At that same point in old Route 66 a battle raged way back in 1863. The band of Bushwackers known as Quantrill’s Raders dressed as Union Soldiers and drew the troops of General James Blunt into an ambush. A dirty trick? Depends on which side you were taking we suppose.

We Won't Come

 

Ambush

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We left Oklahoma on Route 66 and cut a 13 mile corner of Kansas. (For the sake of expediency it shall remain in the Bicycling Oklahoma section of this journal)

Historic

Classic

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Riding along in almost sauna conditions we came upon a car that must have been dropped from heaven? Buried nose down, it was a pretty affective ad for an Auto Body Shop. Then a graveyard of old cars with a front line of late 40s early 50s balloon fender pickup trucks.

Nose Dive

Balloon Fenders

At the High School in Commerce, OK, there stands a statue, a memorial to “The Mick”, Mickey Mantle. It says, A Great Classmate under his full name. Just out of high school, he was signed by the Yankee’s farm league. He was 19 when advanced to the BIGS. After a slow start he went on to become the HOME RUN KING. A hero from middle America back when I was just a kid!

"The Mick"

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We pulled in to Afton, OK for a cold drink. As we stood sipping a guy in a pickup truck pulled up. He jumped out and said, “You must be the Pedaling Patterson’s?” We thought he’d heard of us? NO, he  saw our name on the bags and just added “The Pedalin'”. We are sometimes called that. As we laughed about that he asked where we were from. WOW, another of those strange moments, Mike used to live on Pierpont Beach near our home there. We were just getting acquainted as the clouds burst. The skys parted and buckets of rain began to fall. We stood under the awning in awe, thinking we were either stuck there or we’d be riding wet. Mike laughed and said, “One thing about the weather here, if you don’t like it stick around, it’ll soon change.” And, he was right, within 20 minutes it had stopped. He drove away waving, we waited until the street dried a bit and we were on the road, again.

Mike from Ventura

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They call it GREEN OKLAHOMA and the grass is green. Great for cattle and other grass eating beasts.

The House that Cattle Built

Horses in Goat Country

Goats in Cattle Country

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In Chelsea one must make a stop at the old Route 66 Mall. They have a collection of Route 66 trivia surpassed only by the hge collection of antiques, rare junk and collectibles. Kenny and Dwayne were intrigued by our rare form of travel. We had to sign their wall on the California map and they insisted that we MUST take the little side trip to see the original Route 66 bridge just a mile down the road. Both the mall and bridge were well worthwhile!

Old Route 66 Mall

Kenny and Dwayne

Old Historic Bridge

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This is the Mid-West, this is the great plains. The roadside between Claremore and Chelsea is strictly country. Still hot but we continue to roll.

A Real Prarie Shcooner

Watering Hole

Great Play on Words

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We are so glad that we’re officially entered in the RAGBRAI. We owe that to Dr. Lee and Farmer John. We have been meeting several of the current members via e-mail and look forward to being part of this TEAM that has participated in 38 RAGBRAI rides across Iowa. We have our official Talleyrand cycling jerseys and wear them with PRIDE! On the front they have a map of Iowa with a star on Wellman, Iowa. It’s a small town in the south east corner of the state. We’ve heard that the name, Talleyrand, was derived from the name of a popular (maybe the only) bar in Wellman, Iowa.

There is a quote from Lord Talleyrand (1754 – 1838) on the Iowa map as he holds his bicycle, “Infamy in this World and Damnation in the Next!” We had to love that but the best is printed above the 3 pockets that some members have said are to hold their pork chops. It says, “Bar to Bar is Plenty Far.”

We say, “What’s Not to Like About THAT???”    

True Talleyrander's

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There are lots of things around town that point out the fact that this is Will Rogers country. We cycled UP to the Will Rogers Museum. Heat and hills mean sweat and fatigue. The best of it was their air conditioning. We tried to find Oklahoma stickers. NO luck but they did have Historic Route 66 stickers, they now adorn our bikes. Strange, I remember Will Rogers as though he was part of my young years. Maybe it’s because my parents liked his homespun political humor. He died in a plane crash with Wiley Post, another familiar name, in 1935, 4 years before I was born.

Will & Pat

Never Met a Man I Didn't LIke

This Museum is really a must see if you’re curious about Will Rogers and his life. The man who said, “Everything I Know I Read in the Newspapers.” And, my favorite, “I don’t belong to an organized Political Party, I’m a Democrat!”

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Still stifling hot as we rode in to Claremore. First stop, a bike shop. But as it turned out not just a bike shop but a Bicycle & Touring Store. Janice and her daughter were a treat and they had the air pressure gauge we needed. Then I asked about kick stands. Janice pulled out two and said, “You buy these and try them, if they don’t work I’ll drive to you and refund your money.” Well of course they did work and we love them. The fun photo is a street scupture in front of Bike About.

A Sculpted Cat

Sandi & Janice

 

Freedom to Stand

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