The Twenty-Third

Alfalfa Bill Century Bike Ride

October 24, 2009, 9:00 A.M., Pennington Park,
Tishomingo, OK

(See 2009 Ride Photos-Album One and Album Two)

The 2010 Ride will be on October 23rd. Information about that ride will be posted soon.

The 2009 Ride again has some great rides in beautiful country on well-paved country roads. We are not the biggest but we sure put on a good bike ride.

There are five route options this year:

Ten Mile Fun Ride: This beautiful, scenic ride is on a level, extra-smooth blacktop,
tree-lined road out to the Tishomingo National Wildlife Refuge and back. In addition to
beautiful scenery and wildlife, there are historical markers indicating the sites of
an early Chickasaw school and the cemetery of early settlers. You can also walk or ride
on the Craven Nature Trail. The Refuge headquarters is located on the original historic Washita Farms. That area has an arboretum, a visitors' center, and a bird observation tower. Its most recent attraction is a museum that depicts sharecropper life on the Washita Farms.

Twenty-Mile Ride: This ride provides a great variety of scenery for a relatively short
ride. Riders head east out of Tishomingo and turn north on newly paved Bullard Chapel road. At the entrance to the Blue River Public Hunting and Fishing Area the ride turns west onto Blue River Road. This region was an area of dairy farming in the 1940s and 1950s. You might still see a few holsteins. At Hwy. 99, the ride turns back south to Tishomingo and Pennington Park.

Thirty-Four Mile Ride: This scenic ride heads east out of Tishomingo on Hwy. 22 skirting the north and east edges of the Tishomingo National Wildlife Refuge to to the hamlet of Nida. It then heads northwest on Hwy. 78 through the historic community of Emet [the restored Chickasaw White House is just west of Emet on Mansion Road] on through a scenic, wooded downhill to the community of Milburn and then on back to Tishomingo.

Sixty-Eight Mile Ride: The sixty-eight mile riders will head east on Hwy. 78 to the small communityof Milburn. At Milburn they will turn north on Hwy. 48A, cross beautiful Blue River, and proceed east to the hamlet of Fillmore and on to Coleman where they will head north on Hwy. 48 to the old Chickasaw town of Wapanucka. Here they will turn west on Hwy. 7 until they reach Wiley Road, Then they will head south through rugged granite boulder country to the former Chickasaw freedmen community of Sardis. From there they will head back south on Hwy. 48A to Milburn and then west on Hwy. 78 into Tishomingo. [This ride has been altered somewhat from what was originally posted. A bride reconstruction project on Hwy. 7 that was supposed to be completed by October 1 is still under construction.]

The Century Ride: This bicycle ride has always been the "Alfalfa Bill Century Ride " with a full 100-mile ride for those who want to accomplish that bicycling
milestone, whether for the first or the 100th time. It is not a race and the only prize is
your personal sense of achievement [and your picture posted on this website for the next year]. Riders come from Arkansas, Texas, and all over Oklahoma just to ride this century. This year the century riders head east out of town with the other riders but they turn south on Hwy. 22 where they will skirt the north side of Tishomingo Wildlife Refuge. The refuge surrounds the Cumberland Pool of Lake Texoma. Here they will ride the "seven hills," and part of the Twelve Mile Prairie before they reach the small hamlet of Nida. They will turn north on Hwy. 78 through Emet [where the Chickasaw White House is located] to Milburn. Here they head north, cross Blue River, and then ride east on Hwy. 48A to Coleman, a former cotton-producing center. At Coleman they will ride north on Hwy. 48 through some beautiful country to the historic Chickasaw community of Wapanucka and turn west onto Hwy. 7. [There are restrooms available at the filling station/quick stop in Wapanucka. They will ride west on Hwy. 7 to Wiley Road where they will head south to Sardis and rejoin Hwy. 48A for a short ride to Milburn. They will then proceed west on Hwy. 78 to Bullard Chapel Road, north to where it intersects with Blue River Road and then west on Blue River Road to Hwy. 99. They will travel north/northeast on Hwy. 99 to Hwy. 7. Here they will continue west on Hwy. 7 through the small community of Reagan, home of a re-created 19th century western town, Sipokni West, and of the Tishomingo National Fish Hatchery. At the hatchery they have developed special breeding programs for the endangered paddlefish and alligator snapping turtle to reintroduce those species to their native habitats. From Reagan, they will continue on Hwy. 7 to Hwy. 1 where the ride will turn back south until it reaches the small community of Ravia, and then east on Hwy. 22 to Tishomingo.

All five rides are on paved, rural, lightly traveled roads. [See the area map at the
bottom of the page.] Abundant rest stops and sag wagons will be available.

Alfalfa Bill "Power" Cookies:

As always, our famous, homemade, Alfalfa Bill "power" cookies will be served at
all the rest stops along with fruit, water, and pickles. If you have never tasted these
"alfalfa bill" ride cookies you don't know how good a cookie can taste, or how much fun
a bicycle ride can be.

Power_cookies

Power Cookie Recipe-for making your own.

The Tee Shirt:

Another Alfalfa Bill Ride tradition that makes this ride just a little different than most
rides, is a quality, long-sleeved, tee shirt. It will be provided to all pre-registered riders
and is available on a first-come, first-served basis the morning of the ride. [We'll even
mail you your shirt free if you register and then can't make the ride. We told you that
this is an extra-special ride].

To pre-register, mail the registration form below with a $20.00 check or money order
by October 9, 2009 to : Fran Morrell, Tishomingo Development Team, 106 So. Byrd,
Tishomingo, Oklahoma 73460. For more information call: (580) 371-3358 (Ask for Fran)
or e-mail her: franmorrell@tishomingo.com After Oct. 9 registration is $25.00.

[Print Form-Click Here]

Registration Form

Name (Print)____________________________________________________________________________

Address _______________________________________________________________________________

City______________________________________________________________________________

State_____________________________________________________________________________

Zip_______________

T-Shirt Size: [Circle one] S M L XL XXL

Telephone E-Mail_____________________________

Route [Circle One] 10 mile ride 20 mile ride 34 mile ride 68 mile ride Century Ride fiets140

Mail Registration to: Fran Morrell
                                        106 South Byrd
                                       Tishomingo, OK 73460
                            (580)371-3358  franmorrell@tishomingo.com

Disclaimer: Neither the Tishomingo Development Team nor any other individual or organization assumes any responsibility for any damages, injury or other problems which arise directly or indirectly from anyone's participation in this event.