Who Doesn't Love a Blooper Reel?

Seriously, who doesn't love a good blooper reel?

Then again, some would argue that all our reels are blooper reels. 

Redbud Valley Road

Local Ride
When you only have time for a quickie.Do you have a favorite ride you'd like to share? Contact us for details on how to share your Local Ride.

One of my favorite nearby rides is found on the northeast edge of Tulsa near Catoosa. This ride is short, it's not an endurance test or kneedragger excursion. It’s only a few miles long but it offers some great scenery to enjoy– on and off your bike.

The locals call it Redbud Valley Road and it begins as 161st East Avenue north of I-44. The fun doesn't really start until you pass Pine Street and cross what used to be a notoriously rugged railroad crossing. About three miles later you'll make a sharp right and begin meandering along Bird Creek and the farmland outside Catoosa. Eventually you’ll pop out on OK-167 (which must be one of the shortest state highways in America) just north of the Hard Rock Casino.

Lost City: Find Yourself

Local Ride

When you only have time for a quickie.

Last week while roaming around the wilderness near Fort Gibson Lake we found Lost City, avoided a speed trap, and stumbled across a wonderful destination tucked away in the Oklahoma hills.

Lost City Road takes you on a 12-mile stretch  through Cherokee County. It runs from Peggs to Hulbert, passing through the mysteriously named town of Lost City, Oklahoma.

Backroad to Birch Lake

Local Ride
When you only have time for a quickie.

This is the latest in our series of local rides. If you have a ride you'd like to share contact us.In our fourth episode Brad and I visited Barnsdall, Oklahoma in Osage County. You might remember it as the town with the oil well in the middle of Main Street.

But it turns out that's not the only attraction to see near Barnsdall.

Forward to Avant

Local Ride
When you only have time for a quickie.

If you have a favorite ride you'd like to share contact us for details on how you can submit it.Oklahoma State Highway 97 is relatively short stretch of highway that runs from Sapulpa to Sand Springs. It was commissioned in 1952 and extended north into the Osage a few years later. That section, where it passes over the rolling hills north of Sand Springs, is the most scenic part of the road. But just when it's getting good OK-97 ends abruptly at the gates of the John Zink Ranch. End of the line.

Bridge over Bird Creek at Avant

Or is it?

Road to Upper Spavinaw

Local Ride
When you only have time for a quickie.

If you have a favorite ride you'd like to share contact us for details on how you can submit it.We showed you some highlights along Highway 20 in our second episode. The riding around Salina and Spavinaw is well know as some of Northeast Oklahoma's very best. But the next time you're cruising the Copperhead Trail look for this lesser known road that runs between OK-20 and Kenwood Road.

N4559 is better known as Eucha Road or Eucha Dam Road. A couple of years ago the Cherokee Nation repaved this stretch, and the result is a perfect road for a Sunday ride, with wide sweepers and awesome views of Lake Eucha (aka Upper Spavinaw). The road runs from the small town of Eucha, or New Eucha technically speaking, past the Spavinaw Widlife Management Area, under the Upper Spavinaw Dam and on south to the small community of Kenwood.

Try making a loop from Salina up through Spavinaw, then back south through Eucha and Kenwood.



View Eucha Dam Tour in a larger map

Somewhere West of Tulsa: Coyote Trail

Local Ride
When you only have time for a quickie.This is the first in a series of Local Rides we're presenting here on our blog. If you have a favorite ride you'd like to share contact us for details on how you can submit it.

West of Tulsa is a two-lane road that snakes through Creek County between Sand Springs and Mannford. It's called Coyote Trail and it's been a favorite local ride of mine for more than 20 years.

This curvy 14 mile ride is perfect as a scenic route to Keystone Lake from Tulsa.

One highlight of the ride is a historic marker commemorating the Battle of Round Mountain. This was the first Civil War battle fought in Indian Territory. Where this battle actually took place has been vigorously argued for many years. Some experts believe it happened more than 20 miles away- somewhere west of Yale, Oklahoma. But the marble marker still stands at the western end of Coyote Trail.

To find Coyote Trail head west out of Tulsa and look for West 41st Street in Sand Springs. You can take US-412 and go south on OK-97, or take I-44 and look for the West 51st Street exit. This map shows the route beginning at OK-97 and West 41st Street...


View Coyote Trail in a larger map