The Twenty-Fourth

Alfalfa Bill Century Bike Ride

October 23, 2010, 9:00 A.M., Pennington Park,
Tishomingo, OK

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

The 2010 Alfalfa Bill Century Ride is one of the best rides you will have this year.

There are five route options:

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. Bicycle riders frequently see deer, wild turkeys, raccoons, cottontails, and all kinds of song and shore birds on this ride.

Twenty-Mile Ride: This ride provides a great variety of scenery for a relatively short
ride. Riders head north out of Tishomingo on Hwy. 377 and turn east at Blue River Road. At the entrance to the Blue River Public Hunting and Fishing Area the ride turns south onto Bullard Chapel road. This region was an area of dairy farming in the 1940s and 1950s, and you'll still see a few holsteins. At Hwy. 78, the ride turns back west toward Tishomingo and Pennington Park. This is the reverse of last year's twenty-mile ride. [The Blue River Public Hunting and Fishing Area is a beautiful location to visit, and the road to it is only a couple of miles but you do need to have an Oklahoma hunting or fishing license to enter the Area.]

Thirty-Mile Ride: This scenic ride heads north out of Tishomingo on Hwy. 377. At Hwy. 7 you will head east through rugged, boulder-strewn country but you will soon cross Blue River and head into forest and pasture land. You will turn south on Wiley Road which will take you through some more rugged granite boulder country to the former Chickasaw freedmen community of Sardis. You will then ride south on Hwy. 48A [crossing again Blue River] to Milburn, and then west on Hwy. 78 into Tishomingo.

Forty-Six Mile Ride: The forty-six mile riders will head north out of Tishomingo on Hwy. 377 and will turn east on Hwy. 7. This is the same route taken by the thirty-mile riders and the century riders. After the thirty milers turn south you will continue on east. You get to enjoy a nice long coast down the "Bromide Hill" and across the valley to the old pre-Civil War Chickasaw community of Wapanucka. From Wapanucka, the ride heads south on Hwy. 48 to Coleman and then turns west on 48A to the hamlet of Fillmore and on to Sardis at Wiley Corner. (Sardis is where several descendants of Chickasaw freedmen still own their tribal allotments.) From here the ride continues on south, again crossing Blue River several miles south of where you crossed it on Hwy. 7. In the community of Milburn, you turn west on Hwy. 78 and then head back to Tishomingo. Along the way you will pass historic Condon Grove Cemetery.

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. The Ride 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]. You will get more personal attention on this ride than almost any ride you have ever been on. No matter how long it takes you, our sag riders will stay out there with you---with water, drink supplements, fruit, Alfalfa Bill power cookies, repair support, and encouragement. We have riders that come back year after year from Arkansas, Texas, and all over Oklahoma just to ride this century.

This year the century riders head north out of town with the other riders and ride the forty-six mile ride. Once you have returned to Tishomingo you can make the decision whether to continue. If you decide to do so, you will head west out of Tishomingo on Hwy. 22 to the small community of Ravia. Here you will turn north on Hwy. 1 to Mill Creek. You will head west out of Mill Creek on a paved road (E1800) to Hwy. 177. You will turn south to Baum and then east on Lone Cedarl Road through the rugged hills of western Johnston County down into the Washita River bottom farmlands to Mannsville. You will then turn east on Hwy. 199 and then left onto Hwy. 1, continuing on east. At the small hamlet of Russett you will turn north through the Washita River bottomlands. At Ravia the highway number returns to 22, but you will continue east 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 on all the routes.

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
we try to make this an extra-special ride].

To pre-register, mail the registration form below with a $20.00 check or money order
by October 8, 2010 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. 8 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 30 mile ride 46 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.