Spring Oklahoma-Texas Tour
 

Well, it finally happened: I conned my dad into taking his first tour. This spring I'd like to take a five day or so ride between friends near Enid, Ok down to the grandparents in Granbury, TX. The route will look something like this:

Start in Enid/Drummond, Ok and head south to El Reno (~56 mi.). Then down to Lake Ellsworth (~68 mi.). Next to Lake Bridgeport (hard push day: 75 mi.). Then finally to Granbury for the final day (~60 mi.).

Lodging will be camping all days if it's reasonable. Food will likely be one restaurant meal a day and cook the evenings dinner. It looks like all of these lakes have cheaper campgrounds so I don't foresee a need to try and stealth it. Bikes will be shipped to OK in advance and pops will take them home for reshipping from his house in CO (his brother is to drive down from Denver to meet us).

I'm interested in local opinions on things to see, roads to avoid and time of spring to undertake the adventure. I was thinking the mid-May-June timeframe and he suggested the April-May timeframe.

Link to the basic route below. Thanks in advance.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&sour...,0.440826&z=11

Just don't underestimate how hot it will be. Oklahoma and Texas are pretty scorching by May and June, so I would personally go with April-May.

Most of my family lives in/around Tulsa, OK and I may be moving there soon. I personally would love to take a tour around OK. Beautiful stuff.

Looking at your route, it looks like you are staying away from the 'large' cities, so you shouldn't have to worry to much about being killed in traffic =P. Those lake stops should be very nice as well. One thing I would take a look at though is how well you should pack. I haven't been out to that part of OK or TX in a long time so I don't really remember how far of a distance you would have in between decent places to resupply and grab food, but I don't think it is so bad.

Those lakes look nice as well =D

I wouldn't think distance between food stops would be a problem on the route you've chosen, although I don't know your pace, and I do believe that time of year should (although springtime weather here in the plains is always unpredictable) provide you with a good headwind most of the time.
One question: Lake Ellsworth is a good 25 or so miles (each way) off your drawn route. Wouldn't Lake Waurika or something be a better choice? Lake Ellsworth is a really nice lake, and I can't say that I've ever been to Lake Waurika, but just by looking at a map, it appears that it would save a LOT of riding. Just a suggestion.

You could do this instead.

http://www.okfreewheel.com/

From the little I read that sounds awesome. The only problem being that he is leaving and going south. They are leaving from the OK/TX state line and heading to Kansas. I would like to look further into this though. Sounds awesome.

Thanks for the replies so far, people. What else?

I don't see Lake Elsworth being that far off the route, ShooterK2, it's a little west of El Reno next to Fort Sill. Granted it's a little off the direct route, but all in all not too much. I'm also looking at places I know have campgrounds. Lake Waurika is the 3rd day stop, but would be too far for a 1 day run from El Reno (100 miles). The headwind info is duly noted, though. Thank you.

The Freewheel Ride looks like a good one, but I'm not much interested in riding with that many people. I also enjoy unsupported touring, myself.

As I said, this is preliminary and that's why I'm sounding the board out: for local knowledgeable help.

Just from glancing at your route, you're on a lot of highways. I'm thinking you'll be seeing a lot of chip seal shoulders with traffic blowing by at 65. Not exactly my idea of a pleasant ride.

But, OK has a nice gridwork of roads. You can work the county roads, most of which are paved and nice. If it's not paved it's usually decent gravel which should be fine on quality touring tires, say 32's or bigger. Check into that on the maps.

And +1 on April instead of June, and yes you should plan for a nice stiff headwind in your face all day, every day. Figure a 12-16 mph pace most of the time - that's rolling speed, not avg.

Have fun...

Check elevations on the southern part of your trip (or the whole trip). There's some hilly areas down there.