This post is from the JMBzine Blog Vault, which means it is a very old blog post that I wrote at a very different time of my life. My views on religion, politics, and many other subjects have drastically changed over the years, so please bear this in mind when reading this post. (Tags: #Bicycle #Oklahoma #OKC)
December 31, 2005
Miles riden today: 30.0 miles (58.6 so far this week)
Total Miles riden since Sept. 19, 2005: 620.6
(Mileage totals by bike: 555.8-New Schwinn Hybrid; 2.8-Old Schwinn; 8.0-Graziella Folding Bicycle; 57-Rental bicycle in Portland)
Today was a great day on the bike. Since I had the day off for the holiday, I rode from home to the Saturday peace vigil (at NW Expressway & N. Penn, in front of Penn Square Mall). After that I had a great lunch at Beverly’s Pancake Corner (boy I love that Chicken in the Rough… best fried chicken and fries around — btw, I have some links about Beverly’s at the bottom of this post) and then made my way north and west, skirting along the side of Nichols Hills over to May Avenue. I then I had some coffee at Java Dave’s (unfortunately they don’t have wi-fi at that location) and then headed west towards Lake Hefner. I found out that Wilshire doesn’t go all through to the Lake (there is a neat smaller lake… well more a pond really, just on the east side of the Lake Hefner Pkwy on Wilshire). So anyway I worked my way south to Grand Blvd, and then headed west to to Lake Hefner.
When I got to the lake, I hit the Lake Hefner Trail which loops the lake (9.5 miles more or less for the whole shebang). I did it counter-clockwise and it was fun and pretty fast ride until my chain fell off on the N. side of the lake (I need to adjust my gears). Thankfully I had my tools with me so I got the chain back on and did an imperfect gear cable adjustment job, and then continued down the trail.
It was getting close to dark by the time I got to the end of trail (gorgeous sunset), so the rest of my riding was mostly after dark. (I did stop at Beau’s Wine Bin and Spirit Shop at N. May and Grand Blvd. and bought a close-out special — they had Sauvignon Blanc from the Sparks Winery in Sparks, OK (my second favorite local winery, next to Woods and Waters Winery) for only $4.99! Crazy I say, and a pretty good wine to boot. I’m drinking it right now as I’m writing this. It has a nice acidic bite which is nice for a change.) I took Grand Blvd. this time southeast-ward smack dab through the middle of ultra-rich Nichols Hills (hahaha, I wish it was daytime. Those rich cats in NH would really get a kick out of bike. . . not!) and then took Western for about half a mile (I was a bit nervous here. Traffic wasn’t as bad as it is in the daytime, but still kinda busy. Unfortunately though there isn’t another way to cross I-44 unless I want to go way out of the way.) and then after that took Shartel southward until I got to the Paseo District.
I popped my head in at Galileo’s (I was really tired and thought a beer and a snack sounded good) but everyone was way dress up for New Year’s, so I didn’t real comfortable stopping there. So instead I cruised on to Long John Silvers at NW 23rd for supper and then the rest of the way on home. (I got home around 8 or 9 maybe?)
And then later on right after midnight I hopped on my bike and rode a few blocks south to get a better view of the downtown fireworks display.
So anyway it was an awfully good day on the bike and definitely a good way to end 2005.
Oh and here’s the links I promised about Beverly’s…
Oklahoma Gazette: Review of Beverly’s Pancake Corner
Virtualtourist.com: Beverly’s Pancake Corner: Ever had a Pancake Sandwich?
SisterBetty.com: Road Trip 2004 (I don’t agree with all of this person’s take on Oklahoma… I think the state’s religiosity has some really traits too, but I’ve posted the link because the site has some great pictures of Beverly’s, as well as the world’s biggest McDonalds in Vinita, OK
A Beverly’s “Chicken in the Rough” postcard from back in the day (thanks to Dustbury for this link)
Chickenintherough.com: The history of Chicken in the Rough
Route66roadfood.com: Here’s some Beverly’s Postcards and other stuff