DamJam 2013

Saturday, Sept 7, 2013;

Every year, I say I'm not going to write this one up any longer, this was my 7th time I've ridden this ride, and it's hard to come up with anything new any more. But .....here it is again, one more time. To start with, none of my Shawnee people were going out here this year, I would be the only one from this area to fly the colors. Secondly, I always have a great time, and I always see someone I haven't seen in a while. Both of these proved true again this year. There have been more riders every year I've done this ride. Last year, they set a record at over 500, this year, they had over 600 registered. Not hard to believe when it's the best supported, and best organized ride in the State. Here's the start......

Talk about wind resistance. I mean, I know it's traditional not to shave during a race, but he must have been racing for a LONG time!! He says it's his "swamp cooler"..... cools by evaporation. Or maybe a "protein catcher?"

Always lot of green. The day promised to get very hot, around 95 degrees, and the humidity was already high, so I wanted to get-r-dun as early as I could. I did, however, take time to talk to people as I rode by. One of them was a delightful woman who desribed herself as a "little old lady", and who told me "I'm 63 years old, young man" ....I fell in love with her at that moment!

The town of Spavinaw, OK.

Spavinaw Creek.

This ride takes place in the Ozark foothills, so there is no shortage of hills.

Most of the hills are of the long, shallow variety, but one or two do get a tad steep. By this time, the temperatures were already heating up, and the ride was only half over. This ride is usually nice and cool, really not sure what happened this year. Summer stayed late this year.

The local County Sheriff"s Department must have had 20 cars out working this ride. They were at every intersection for the entire ride, as well as patrolling the course, keeping us safe. This was one of the rest stops, the one usually manned by the 4077th Mash Fun Group, but not this year. One of the ladies at the stop told me they had a prior commitment and couldn't attend, I replied that they were missed.

The green pastures and hills were very pretty this year. , as was Lake Hudson (below)..

This was the first year we've have to wear wrist bands ..... no paper ones for this ride, first class stuff.

All in all, once again, a wonderful ride, the year just wouldn't be complete without riding this one. As mentioned before, I did run into a couple of people I knew from the past, and that always makes it more fun. One ...... A lady from Tulsa, Clair, a librarian for Sperry-Rand Corp, that I did the Tulsa Fall Century with about 8 years ago. What a surprise! We had lost touch with one another, and I had gotten carried along for a bit on this ride by gals in pink .... the Tulsa Tough Divas ..... and was talking to one of them, and thinking this lady looks familiar, but just couldn't place her until she mentioned riding this ride before in the pouring, very cold rain about 7 years ago, and getting so lost, she had to call a SAG to come find her ...... wait a minute, no way two people could have this same story ....... Clair? Yes, it was ...... so, we had a lot of catching up to do. The other was the Pro photographer for the ride .... Donna Meier, we always talk cameras for a bit, and I always get a nice hug from her every year, we have gotten to be good friends over the 7 years I've done this ride. Great photographer, and great lady.
So, anyway, another DamJam ride is history, and once again, I found some pretty pictures, and a story to tell ... hope you enjoyed it. For those interested in this sort of thing, Time spent on bike 4 hours 30 minutes, Distance 71.04 miles, and average speed, 15.7.