Long, straight dirt roads lay in front of me with nothing but grazing land in sight. Central and Western Oklahoma is pretty much that, if not consistant. I’ve heard many complaints about how boring it is. Vast, open space doesn’t bore me. It’s provides my mind room to wander. A horizon gives me something to look toward. Each crest of a hill gives me a new view. If there is no hill, the view just becomes bigger. I tend to take things at face value.

To this point in my trip, the weather has been pretty much perfect — one humid day, and a sprinkle. Temps have been moderate to hot and for the most part, it’s been dry. This definitely helps my outlook and attitude with regard to Oklahoma’s topography. It’s pretty easy to enjoy nothing when you’re relatively comfortable.

The week prior to my arrival, record rainfall hit Oklahoma and Arkansas along with some severe storms including several tornados. Evidence of some pretty gnarly rains are still present in the roads. The roads the TAT uses to traverse Oklahoma are little more than farm roads the farmers use to get their tractors into the fields in many cases. The roads divide their farms into a square mile grid for the most part and the TAT meanders through in a Tron-lightcycle-like squared off route. Some roads are better than others, but you can certainly tell where a road was used while it was wet — usually near an oil or natural gas rig. It looks like they were getting to the rigs rain or shine and the damage to the roads bears the fact. Deep ruts, mudholes, washed out sections, road underwater; all part and parcel for western Oklahoma roads (at least the roads I’m routed on).

Sections of road are completely under water through the Osage Indian Reservation with no evidence of a plan to do anything about it. Costly detours are running me up against my maximum fuel range. I end up having to divert to Sedan, KS for fuel. Sure, I could use my spare fuel, but with two sections of road under water and half of the state to go, who knows how many detours there will be?

Riding alone on a trip like this, unforeseen circumstances can be harrowing. It’s part of the excitement, but it also requires one to keep a level head and react logically and be resourceful. When the fuel light comes on in an area that seems to keep throwing water hazard after water hazard at you, you have to remain aware of many factors, possible outcomes, potential pitfalls, and the possibility of a major problem. 

There is no gas or any store of any kind on the Osage Indian Reservation. I am unable to find even anything that resembled more than a group of rundown houses. What do these folks eat? There is a church which I borrow some shade from, but that was about it. Working around all of these submarined roads, is taking a toll on my fuel planning. I have 120 ounces in MSR fuel bottles that I would rather avoid using unless an extreme need arises.

After fuel in Sedan, it’s getting a bit late in the day. It’s time to look for camp. the detours and workarounds continue and I decide to press on to Newkirk, OK. The trail to there begins to mellow out and goes through some grassland and open range. Lots of cattle and even some in the road that have to be persuaded to move. This can be a delicate dance as some cows are stubborn or just simply oblivious. Having a factory muffler on the bike makes it a little more difficult to muscle my way through with noise, but it usually does the trick to just rev the bike at them.

I make Newkirk, OK at nearly sundown. The owner greets me at the desk and has a bit of a strange accent. Turns out he’s India-born but was raised in the UK and has been in the states for around 20 years. We talk for a good 45 minutes after I check in, me in my riding gear and sweating profusely as the sun beats down on the poorly air conditioned office. The conversation is interesting though and worth the sweat. We were able to solve a few of the world’s problems before I retired to my room.

The room is cheap and looked it. While clean, it is old and has only one working outlet that is in the toilet. Makes getting all my gadgets charged up a chore, but that is a minor complaint. In all, a good day despite all of the road closures. The upshot to all of the detours was it made me knock out 100 more on-route miles than I was planning on. There’s always a plus side and maintaining the right outlook helps me see that fact.