Oklahoma- WinStar Casino & Long Straight Roads

After working around the house for a couple days trying to catch up with necessary repairs and maintenance it seemed a good time for a relaxing ride. Margaret had been bugging me to go somewhere but I resisted so I could get work done. Finally through sever perseverance on her part I gave in and planned a short ride. It was a surprise for her and until we arrived at WinStar Casino she had no idea where we were going.

We took a route from Decatur on FM-51 up through Gainesville, TX. It's an easy ride with a few long corners and some nice scenery. When we arrived in Decatur and closed in on the historical town square we saw they had some event going on. I believe the journey is part of the ride so surprises and unknowns like this are some of the reasons we ride. After finding a place to park we headed out with curiosity as to what Decatur had in store for us. And when I say store, this time it's a literal translation. The town square was filled with classic travel camper trailers many of which had been fully restored to original condition. They even had signs showing the make, model, and year of the camper. Each camper was set up as a store front for whatever it was the owner was selling. Hand made trinkets, antiques, clothing, collectibles, and about anything you usually find was being sold out of these campers. It was quite a unique event, the likes of which I have never seen before. And to have so many restored classic campers gave it a nice touch of class. We didn't buy anything, most of the stuff was what we call "Cleanables", stuff you sit around the house and have to clean all the time. To us these things just cause more work around the house that we would rather do without. There was a bandstand set up as well and some country singer was doing covers. That dood was very talented! Great voice, great talent, and he provided some incredible music while we wandered among the camper trailers.

At this point Margaret still had no idea where I was taking her and I still wouldn't tell her. We saddled up on our iron horses and headed out once again. Later she told me when we crossed the Red River into Oklahoma she had an inkling of an idea about our destination.

We pulled into WinStar Casino, took some pictures and headed straight to Toby Keiths Steakhouse. I made the decision before leaving home that our meat meal for that week was going to be here. Of all the Prime Rib we have ever consumed, Toby Keiths is hands down, the best. Every few months we make the trip to WinStar just to eat the prime rib they serve. We didn't stay to gamble though, it's not our thing. We have gambled in the past and had good luck by coming out enough ahead to pay for our meal and trip expenses. We just didn't feel like it on this trip. That may have been a good thing. Possibly some mystical force keeping us from losing a bunch of cash by draining our desire to stick money in the slots.

Now for the ride home. Again another surprise for Margaret. Instead of heading south back towards Fort Worth we went north another 20 miles or so and exited on Oklahoma-32. From I-35 riding on 32 to Ryan Oklahoma is 57 miles directly west. And when I say directly that is no exaggeration. This road only had a few turns, 5 to be exact. It just went on in a perfectly straight line into the horizon, hill after hill after hill...for 57 miles. Tunnel vision set in and I found myself staring trance like into the distance. Tibetan monks would have been proud of the meditative state that I managed to achieve. I needed to break out of the mind numbness back to reality. we finally pulled over from the sheer monotony of riding in a straight line for so long.We took a few pictures while stopped in hopes of capturing what we were seeing and feeling from this stretch of road.

From Ryan Oklahoma we took US-81 South back into Texas through Bowie, then 59 to Jacksboro, and finally 199 back into Fort Worth. This was not one of the more interesting or scenic local rides we have been on but it was still an enjoyable day and did get us out on the road for a short ride. 311 miles round trip is how far we rode. I probably won't even put the route up. Other than the long straight expanses of road, there just wasn't much awe inspiring to talk about.

Oklahoma- WinStar Casino & Long Straight Roads Slideshow

Short Video Showing the Camper Trailer Shops in Decatur

Healthy Living for Healthy Riding

Healthy living for healthy riding can be the most important aspect to enjoying the ride over everything else you do to make riding enjoyable. Many riders, including myself, modify our bikes with items like grips, seats, foot pegs, suspension, and the list goes on. We do this to attain a comfort level that makes our ride more enjoyable. Gear can be another item we can spend a lot of money on to further attain a comfort level that's suitable.

As I've mentioned in previous posts, I ride a lot. about 22K miles a year. I've done all of the things mentioned to increase the comfort level of riding. The single factor that has made the greatest impact on my riding enjoyment and safety though is personal health. From my experience most riders don't even remotely consider the impact of what a healthy lifestyle can do for their riding. Think back on some of the rides you have taken and try to remember those times when you stopped for lunch. You may have eaten that enormous grease dripping cheeseburger oozing with condiments and a side of greasy french fries with a pile of ketchup, or mayonnaise as they do in Europe. Oh yea! That tasted so good and now your feeling the effects of the food, the weight in your stomach, the puffed out bloated feeling, burping and belching, and getting that sleepy nap time feeling. Along with this your thinking that was a good meal (after all it had a tomato and a leaf of lettuce on it) and all of the effects are the results of eating well. Unfortunately that is simply not the case and now your riding impaired. Your level of safe riding and enjoyment will be affected negatively by it for the rest of the day. Now you'll be sleepy, bloated, sluggish, indigestion might settle in bringing some acid re-flux with it.

These symptoms are not from a good meal as most people will claim. They are symptoms of poor eating and your body is trying to warn you not to do it again. Your mind and body are also now reacting slower. These symptoms will without a doubt negatively affect your ability to ride safely, recognize danger, react quickly, and enjoy the ride. It will also shorten the amount of time you can spend in the saddle. Your fatigue level will increase exponentially and muscle aching will set in quicker causing you to have to pull over and rest, catch your breath, stretch, and even take a quick nap. You might even keep an anti-acid with you to take during a break to relieve the volcanic bubbling in your gut. I've seen some people down cans of energy drink shortly after their lunch to offset the affects of what they consumed hoping to acquire enough energy to get home. Contrary to popular belief, this is not normal, and definitely not a normal healthy lifestyle.

I am not going to get into details of activities and diets and engage in the multitude of speculations and opinions on health. I am going to tell my story and what Margaret and I did to get healthy and what we do to stay healthy.

Four years ago I developed a heart flutter that would spontaneously occur throughout the day. Often it my heart rate would rise dramatically during the night, waking me up and keeping me from sleeping which would affect me for the entire day due to fatigue or more heart flutters. I also had daily issues with sever acid re-flux and would gobble anti-acid medication like candy. I finally went to the doctor, had to wear a heart monitor, and was soon put on a drug called Toperol to help regulate the elevated heart beat and a prescription anti-acid. My total cholesterol was over 230 which if you don't know put me in a high category for heart disease. At 240 your like a dead man walking and there's a good possibility you'll just drop dead at any time. It should be under 200 and preferably even lower. My sugar level was also high sitting at 127 with the normal range being 70-100. You can research all of these levels on your own, I am just mentioning this to tell you what prompted a healthy lifestyle change. I was pretty screwed up and finally accepted that fact.

I am not opposed to doctors or medicine, understanding there is a need for both under certain circumstances, but that Toperol drug messed me up and I knew there was no way I could continue taking it. I had crazy nightmares, mood swings, anger outbursts, weird feelings in my head, and a bunch of other reactions. I couldn't continue taking it so we began looking in other directions for possible cures. Again I am not going to describe our research but move on to what we do now.

Four years later I take absolutely no medication, my total cholesterol is 160 (down from 230) and my blood sugar is 67 (down from 127). All of my other blood levels are perfect as well. Our change took a good two years to fully implement. Part of that was easing in to our new diet and exercise routine. It's very difficult to spontaneously change, and though we tried to, it just didn't happen. Our upbringing and set lifestyle was both mentally and physically challenging to overcome. We decided in order to eventually come to an acceptable path to better health that we would slowly change so as not to give up. Even today we are moving towards better health. I don't believe that will ever stop happening.

One of the first things we did was cut down our meat consumption. That was probably the most difficult part. I love meat as most bikers do. We now only eat 1-2 meat meals in a week and we usually reserve those for our meal during a ride. So if you consider 3 meals a day for a week, 21 total meals, 19 of those contain no meat at all. We also do not consume dairy. The only exception to this being a small amount of cheese with some meals. No eggs, no milk, nothing with dairy products in it (no ice cream either). Acid re-flux, heartburn, and upset stomach is almost non-existent now. I also rarely have heart flutters anymore. We have nearly become vegans but still allow ourselves the occasional meat meal. Doing this helped us to lose and maintain our weight as well, along with exercise which I'll explain next.

We also added regular exercise to our life. And I don't mean mowing the yard.... We do a program called Supreme 90Day System . It's hard, period. We don't get through each exercise of the program completely but we do what we can and keep doing it. I used to weigh 255 pounds. At one point with our diet and exercise I got down to 205 pounds. Now I seem to maintain around 215-220. Not carrying all that weight helped my back pain and allows my heart to work easier to move the blood through my body. Want to know what its like to lose 40 pounds? Next time your at the grocery store pick up 4 of the 10 pound bags of potatoes, 2 bags in each hand. That's how much extra weight I was personally carrying around and my heart had to pump harder to keep the blood moving through all of that fatty mess.

The last thing we do daily is juice. We make our own vegetable juice using a Breville BJE510XL Juice Fountain Multi-Speed 900-Watt Juicer and drink it at least twice a day. And I'm not talking about fruit juice, this stuff is green! Kale, swiss chard, celery, carrots, parsley, radishes, spinach, along with other greens are the bulk of our juice. We compliment this with a bit of fruit to give a sweeter taste. You want energy? This stuff will do it! Drink a pint of this when you first wake up for your body to immediately take in and you notice the difference. You'll also find yourself eating less if you drink this before each meal. This translates into more nutrients. We got into juicing after watching the movie Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. This site was an invaluable help with the confusion that most people have about diet. You can also purchase the DVD from this site if your interested in improving your health. I was fat, sick, and nearly dead and with our diet change, exercise, and juicing my life changed.

What does this mean for riding? Everything! I don't have the affects that poor diet causes as mentioned previously in this post. I can ride longer because I don't suffer from discomfort and pains caused by being over weight. I can control my bike more effectively because I am leaner and stronger. This makes me a safer rider. I don't have to stop because of fatigue or need for medication. I feel good after eating while on a ride and am energetic, alert, and responsive. I eat less during rides and don't suffer from the bloat and pressure from food effects. I can enjoy the sites along the ride because I don't have to concentrate on controlling my bike because of fatigue and food effects. I have the stamina and endurance to enjoy a long ride or multiple days of riding back to back. Recovery from extended rides comes quicker than before. I don't huff and puff struggling for breath when its hot out or participating in bike events. I've even seen some guys get out of breath just getting on or off their bikes...

I'm still not where I want to be in all of this. I still have Shiner Bock beer on occasion, eat a burger or chicken on a ride, usually the smallest size a restaurant offers or in a salad (no more double meat, double cheese monsters though). I don't graze on sweets, chips, and snacks throughout the day anymore, I just don't have the need or desire to. I've still got a belly that sticks out a bit but nothing like it used to. I am down 2 clothing sizes and had to buy all new clothes that would fit since my old ones became saggy and would and fall off. We keep doing what we do, and riding becomes more enjoyable because of it.

I wrote this to encourage riders to assess their health and make a change. Not just for riding but for living. Longer life means more riding. Eliminating medical conditions associated with poor health means more riding. Lowering or eliminating costs for prescriptions means more money for riding. Better health allows a biker to be able attend more bike events which means more riding related activities. You can either ride to the doctors office or ride to a new scenic destination every week, the choice is yours. My hope is someone will benefit from my story, live healthier, live longer, and ride longer.

Ride Strong, Ride Safe
Live Healthy, Ride Longer

Scott and Margaret

Disclaimer: This is how Margaret and I changed our health. Before making radical lifestyle changes be sure to consult with your physician. 

Paluxy River Ride Glen Rose, TX

Our Saturday began by installing a new garage door opener. The old one died so we needed to replace it. It took us all morning to install that opener and by then we were hungry so we ate at home. With rain moving in over the night leading into Sunday we still wanted to get a bit of riding in. It was around 2pm by the time we were able to get going. I had a new route planned that I wanted to try which wasn't long so this seemed a good time to try it since it was already well into the afternoon. We headed out towards Granbury, TX then on to Bluff Dale, TX which is the beginning of the route. 

It was an impressive ride along super small back roads that crossed and snaked beside the Paluxy River. A lot of the road was covered with loose gravel so traveling speed was only about 35 mph. That was nice though and it gave us the opportunity to take in the scenery. Margaret got a bit frustrated with me this time because I kept stopping suddenly to take pictures without signaling what I was doing. I just kept seeing good potential picture opportunities and didn't want to pass them up! There were a lot of wildflowers beginning to bloom, bluebonnets, baby cows following their mother around the fields, Paluxy River, and scenic landscapes. How could you pass by those things without stopping for pictures? I couldn't, and didn't. Looking back now though I wish I had gotten some different pictures that would have shown some of the road that crossed through the water we had to ride through. It's not always easy to figure out what pictures will tell the story and unfortunately you often think of a picture that would have been good after you get home, when its too late.

Upon arrival in Glen Rose we rode into the historic district to have dinner at the Hollywood & Vine . This restaurant was simply wonderful. The food was outstanding and the building itself has a rich history. We had the pleasure of talking to Wanda who owns the restaurant and she told us some of the history of the building. It was built in the late 1800's and was originally used as a sanitarium. Later it became a doctors office run by an Indian who would practice a traditional style of medicine. He was eventually killed in the town square. The building still bears the original wooden flooring, fireplace, and even wallpaper and newspaper insulation in some areas. They also have live music every Saturday night so this would make for a very nice bike destination on a cool evening and they are biker friendly.

Website: Hollywood & Vine

Facebook: Hollywood & Vine

After eating we strolled around the Glen Rose, TX Town Square. There is quite a bit of history to this town especially in the area of dinosaurs. They have a couple of dinosaur tracks on display around the square from archaeological finds in the Paluxy River. You can also visit Dinosaur Valley State Park and see a huge amount of tracks along and in the river. Its pretty kewl to put on some swimming gear and wade along the river looking for dinosaur tracks. There are a LOT of them! You can put your foot in the tracks and walk in the footsteps of the dinosaurs! Hehe, ok ok thats kind of goofy but, you can! We didn't visit the park this time though because of time constraints.

By the time we ate and visited the town square it was about 6pm and we still had to get home. The winds were beginning to come in stronger and you could smell the change in the air so we knew the rain was beginning to move in. It rained all day Sunday so it was nice to have been able to get a short trip in on Saturday.

Paluxy River Ride Glen Rose, TX

National WASP WWII Museum- Sweetwater, TX

Beautiful weather and the need for Interstate riding practice prompted this ride. Since June of 2013 Margaret has quickly excelled in her riding abilities. 5K miles in 9 months through many types of road conditions, riding through streams, dirt roads, gravel roads, rain, heat, and cold has been good for her. The one type of road she has not put many miles or hours on though is Interstate freeways. Interstate freeways are quite different than State and County roads. You ride at high speed continuously for hours and they have more vehicles and big rigs. They are usually not as scenic and enjoyable to ride either but for obvious reasons provide a faster route to get to your destination in a shorter amount of time.

This summer we will be taking a 10 day trip to North Carolina and Virginia to ride the Blue Ridge Parkway from end to end. And before you ask, NO! We will NOT be trailering our bikes there and back. Were figuring on 3 days to get to the southern most point where it starts in Cherokee, North Carolina, and 4 days to get back from where it ends at Waynesboro, Virginia. That leaves us 3 full days to ride the entire 478 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway. In order to get there and back within that time frame we will have no option but to take the Interstates. Seven days of Interstate riding can be trying for a lot of riders. For this reason I want to get Margaret on some Interstate freeway rides before we go.

Sweetwater, TX seemed like a reasonable start on this type of bike traveling. Its 400 miles round trip and its Interstate riding all the way. Riding was going well until we got to Weatherford, TX. It was cool, the roads weren't very busy, and we were cruising comfortably at 75mph. Once we moved past Weatherford to a point where the rolling hills disappeared and the tree line faded the wind hit. This wasn't just some comfy little breeze either, this wind was gusting around 40mph out of the southwest and we were riding directly west. It's one thing to ride straight into a strong wind but this was a continuous unrelenting cross wind. The entire ride to Sweetwater was a battle against the wind and it was difficult to maintain a straight line. I thought it might be a good idea to turn around but Margaret wasn't having any of that, she said "I want to know I can ride in something like this before we leave. Once were days away from home I'll have no option but to deal with it."

We had a light lunch at Jasons Deli while in Abilene. Its nice to eat light on a ride so you don't get that bloated heavy sleepy feeling later while your riding. We found out later that someone had gotten into Margaret's saddlebag while it was in the parking lot in Abilene. They stole a t-shirt, a small overnight bag, and all of the memory cards that we use for our GoPro and camera. I suppose it's our fault since we still haven't put locks on her bags yet. We could have moved that stuff to my bike but we didn't. Lesson learned...

While in Sweetwater we visited the National WASP WWII Museum. This is a quick overview of what the museum is dedicated to as taken from their website: The National WASP WWII Museum seeks to educate and inspire all generations with the story of the WASP: Women Airforce Service Pilots – the first women to fly American military aircraft – women who forever changed the role of women in aviation!

The museum was wonderful and exceeded my expectations so if your wanting to take a ride through Sweetwater I would highly recommend stopping there. It's built in a aircraft hanger which is perfect for the setting and filled with historical items, write-ups, and pictures. The staff is very friendly, inviting, and knowledgeable about the history of WASP. It took an hour to tour the museum and even though there is no charge we left a donation.

The ride back wasn't nearly as hard as getting to Sweetwater. We still had a crosswind but now it came from the side and behind so we weren't fighting the gusts so bad. If I had a sail to attach to the bike the wind would have easily pulled us all the way home! Texas State Troopers were heavy and in full force for most of the ride home. I counted 7 of them clocking motorists and handing out tickets between Sweetwater and Weatherford. At one point there was a white minivan that was riding a bit too close for comfort behind us as if we would speed up for their selfish sake. Not a chance. We maintained our 75mph which was the speed limit and it didn't take long for the driver to get anxious to get past us. He was soon zooming around us as if we were standing still. It wasn't much further down the road that we rode right past that same idiot as he sat on the side of the road getting his speeding ticket from one of those State Troopers. Yeah, it felt good to see that!

Our total mileage for Sunday was 403 miles. We also ate lunch, took a few pit stops, rest stops, visited the museum, and arrived back home in 7.5 hours. Not bad at all especially considering the sever wind conditions. It was a good trial ride for Margaret and she handled it quite well. We'll be taking a few more Interstate rides like that before our Blue Ridge Parkway trip.

National WASP WWII Museum

Ride Strong, Ride Safe