Choctaw Travel Ride

Choctaw Travel route goes to Oklahoma

73 degrees today~! Time to hit the road. Brief Texas winter warm spell means more comfy riding time. Wanted to get started real early for a short rando route ride, but never got things sorted out till around 11 am. By then it was already "hot", so just a long sleeve Arctic Guard base layer under my black/white Colorado jersey.

Slight headwind as I peddled along on Hwy. 82 westward past Graceland and roadside cut trees. They are someday widening Hwy. 82 from Clarksville to DeKalb. Bike lane was wide, smooth enough and protected most of the way by cut-in rumble strips. Several sections of road repair had been done and some equipment was roadside by bridge upgrades. 

The turn northward on Hwy. 37 @ Clarksville brought tailwinds and smoother riding. Also wide bike lanes here skirted on the left by more rumble strips. More trees and water along the road as I made my way northward easily at 18-20mph with the 38T chain-ring spinning the small cog (10T) on the rear. Several rollers before a cute named town of "Dimple". It was mostly a few homes and a long ago closed store/gas station. Someone had nice multi-level birdhouses out front for sale, which offered a quick photo-op.

As I was crossing the Red River, noticed a group of people on their knees facing east. Huh? Had to stop and check it out. Praying? After further study, looks like they were collecting acorns under this huge tree. After crossing the bridge, a colorful "Oklahoma" sign greeted travelers and then the Choctaw Travel Center.

Ladies poise at Choctaw Travel

Choctaw has only a trailer and food truck active, as they are rebuilding the main building. Had a nice chat with one on the ladies working inside and managed to convince her to poise with her friend for a photo. Left a rando card, filled my bottle at the sink, bought a Milky Way Bar ($1.29) and soon turned southward into a predictable headwind.

Now slogging along much slower than the other way, I did pass a guy on a cruiser bike, riding beside his walking friend on the other side of the road. He seemed little amazed at seeing anyone out here riding. The headwind offered me a chance for more roadside video/photos. I turned around for a nice shot of horses at a pristine stock pond. About that time, someone on a ATV with dogs chasing passed by the field on the other side of the pond. Horses were a little spooked and there went my super video scene. Also stopped at the Hwy. 82 jct., to capture some video of the holiday decorated wagon at the BBQ stand.

2-level outhouse...we know who's on the bottom!

Eastward on Hwy. 82 was busier with pre-Christmas traffic. Wide bike lanes made it tolerable. I stopped at Annona to check out some decked out Jeeps for sale. I thought they were a little overpriced @ $10,900. Nearing Avery, did a turn around and took a shot of this tall outhouse. It had two doors: one on top labeled "Politicians" and the one under it labelled "Voters". I take it shit falls down and ...well, you know the rest. Further down the road was a unique metal work of the Loch Ness Monster "Nessy" buried part way in the ground. Looked real enough for a digital shot.

Still nice and warm as I rolled into the Avery 7-11. Picked up 2 slices of pizza to take home for the Ms. Overall good day for a rando ride.

Choctaw Travel Video

- randorides