What was I doing in Oklahoma, you ask? Why, racing, of course!

Team Spoke 'N Sprocket members originally went to Chillicothe, Missouri, for a race near a member's hometown. When we got there, it was cold, it was raining, and yours truly wimped out. On our way home, we passed right by Ponca City and Kaw Lake, which was hosting its first mountain bike race, and offering unbelievable prize monies. Let's go!

It was still raining in Oklahoma, but at least it was warm. This was the first weekend in October. Yours truly didn't have a very successful race, but I liked the course, and would like to go back and ride it dry, which is why I decided to include it on my list of places to ride.

Ponca City and Kaw Lake are in north-central Oklahoma, so it's not really a drive you're going to make just to see the sights. But if you're passing through, I highly recommend this trail. Patti Kannenwischer, senior expert woman racer, calls these trails home.

To get there from Texas, take I-35 north on up into Oklahoma, through OK City. Continue north until you hit Hwy 60, and turn east to Ponca City. Stay off the business route, and you'll go just south of the nice-sized little town. You'll see a main entrance to Kaw Lake, but don't turn there. Go on another mile or two until you see the Burbank Landing sign, and turn left. This is a gravel road. Follow it straight back... it will make a sharp, 90-degree turn to the left and become paved. For the race, we parked all along the road here after the turn. Across from the road that goes off to the right is a trail. If you stay on the main road, past this turn, the road will make another sharp curve to the left; just around this corner is where we started and finished, heading the way you drove in.

The course has a good mix of just about everything. On race weekend, after 7 and a half inches of rain, it had a whole lotta water and mud, which made things pretty slick. This mtn biker doesn't do real well in slick mud. But the trail was challenging without being intimidating, and I think on a dry day, it would rock the world of any mountain biker who truly lives for the ride.

What is the trail like? There's rock like you'll experience if you ride the Trailblazer's BLORA Mtn Bike Park course. The trail makes several creek crossings, and spends time in and out of the woods and open areas. You might be surprised at the variety of the terrain in this neck of the woods. There are dips and valleys and rolling hills, and of course, the creeks and lake being nearby offer lots of nifty stuff to ride. This isn't a main area of the lake, so I don't think trail traffic is every very heavy, although toward the end of the race course, we started seeing trail markers.

Great trail, and kudos to the folks from Ponca City who worked to make this race available to the racers, despite the less-than-desirable weather!

Call the Kaw Lake Association at 762-9494 (area code?) for more information, or check out their web site: http://www.mteagle.com.

Ponca City has plenty of places to eat and sleep while you're there; we had great chicken fried steaks at the Lasso Family Restaurant, on Hwy 60. Also, check out some o