Tom Kat Ride: Sedan, KS – September 16, 2023

 
41. That was the official count for how many Kitties and Tom Kats attended the Tom Kat Ride. 216. That’s how many miles I logged; some did a lot more with further to go to get to the departure location and back home. Two. That’s how many Kitties made their debut ride today. Two to three. That’s how many times I thought we were going to get wet on the way to Sedan, but thank goodness, we never did. Although, one Kitty and Tom Kat did get wet. Krisi and Blake met us in Sedan and they ran into rain in Winfield. 103. That’s how many dollars were up for grabs in the 50/50 drawing. Dozens. That’s how many curves we enjoyed on the way home. One. That’s how many non-moving trains there were blocking our path. Too many to count. That’s how many great memories we made today!
 
When NoFacebookGreg and I walked in the door, he said and I quote, “That was a very successful Tom Kat Ride! What a great day!” Were there some missed turns by several groups? Yes. Did anyone die from said missed turns? No. So who cares, right?!
 
We got to meet our newest member, Beth, and her Tom Kat, Bob. It takes some grit to join a club and make your debut ride on the biggest ride of the season. We’re so glad you did Beth! The good news is you met a lot of Kitties today!
 
I gotta give Buck’s BBQ some mad props! Having 41 people arrive all at the same time is a tall order for any restaurant. Buck’s was prepared, extremely friendly, wicked fast with food orders, and the food they delivered was outstanding! At least that was the case for my table, I hope everyone had the same experience.
 
There are so many people to thank. Let’s start with the Excursion Kitties, Kathryn, Tina and Donna, for coming up with the idea to go to Buck’s. Not a lot of places can accommodate such a large group. They nailed it with this destination. Thank you Excursion Kitties!
 
Tina made a pre-trip last week and provided the Lead Riders with helpful information on the route and gas stations. Thank you, Amish, for all your recon!
 
NoFacebookGreg, Christine, Tina and Kathryn. These were the Lead Riders and we appreciate you getting us to Sedan and back safely!
 
Cindy, Jennifer and Jason, Melaina and Stuart and Angie. These were our Sweeps and we appreciate having capable riders at the back of the pack!
 
The more people, the harder the job. As our Club Photographer, Stephanie had to cover a lot of territory in the meeting location parking lot; had to skitter all over our private room at the restaurant and had the perfect fancy schmancy setup for getting our group pictures. Thank you BadA$$ for a job well done!
 
To those who couldn’t make it on the ride, you were missed! To those who did attend, I hope you shared the same sentiment as NoFacebookGreg!
 
Submitted by:
Janice, Founder
 
 

TOM KAT RIDE – Sedan, KS

It’s Tom Kat Ride time! For those of you who are new to KKMC, the Tom Kat ride is the one time a year that we invite our spouses, significant others, friends and family to ride with us. This is a very popular event and we typically get a large turnout.

Meeting location: The QuikTrip on Rock Road in Derby. This is the same place we met for the Overnighter. 2801 N. Rock Rd. in Derby.

Meeting time: 8:45 am with kickstands up at 9:30 am.

Distance from departure location: 86 miles.

Lunch: Buck’s BBQ and Steakhouse

What you need to bring: Cash for the 50/50 drawing (six tickets for $5.00.) Everyone is welcome to participate!

Lead Riders: Tina and Cory Callendar will lead the first group. Christine and Dorrin Allsman will lead the second group. If the turnout is large enough, we may need to add a third group.

Sweep Riders: I need at least two sweep riders, please.

RSVP: Please RSVP by no later than the end of the day Thursday, September 14th. When you RSVP, please indicate in the comments if you will be bringing a guest(s), along with their name(s).

Get ready to show your friends and family how fun and awesome we are!

MEOW!
Queenie

Tom Kat Ride and Picnic – Toronto Lake

For those of you who are new to KKMC this year, this is the one time during the year that we invite our spouse/significant other or guest to join us. Normally we also invite friends and family, but in the days of COVID, we are limiting ourselves to only one +1.
Meeting location: The QuikTrip at 143rd and E. Kellogg. 14402 E. Kellogg.
Meeting time: 9:30 am with kickstands up at 10:00 am.
Destination: Toronto Lake
Lunch: A sack lunch with beverage. No alcohol allowed.
Distance: 77 miles one way from the departure location.
What you need to bring: Cash for the 50/50 drawing (six tickets for $5.00.) Your guest can also play!
What I will bring: Any orders I’m holding for you. A few unused masks, sanitizer wipes and spray.
Lead Riders: My Tom Kat and I
Sweep Riders: I need one volunteer please.
RSVP: Please let me know if you are going by clicking Going on this event by the evening of September 11th. When you RSVP, please indicate your guest’s name.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: Masks must be worn at all times except for when eating. This includes the meeting location. Social distancing must also be practiced whenever possible.
For anyone who is interested, Bobby and Stacy Patterson is hosting a breast cancer fundraising event called the Pink Heal at their home in the 21st and Amidon area on the same day. You are welcome to join us at that event following the Tom Kat ride. There will be wonderful items being raffled off!
MEOW!
Queenie

Rescheduled Tom Kat Ride – Attica, KS

The October ride destination has been all over the state and outside the state. We originally planned to go to Ellsworth, but due to cold weather last April, we scrapped the Pawkuska trip and said we’ll save that for October. When we had to scrap the September Tom Kat ride to Wilson, again due to weather, we thought, OK, we’ll save THAT for the October ride. Well, weather is throwing us another curve ball and decided that the night before the ride would be a perfect time to dip into the 30’s. This means we need to have a later start time to give the day some time to warm up, thus we need a shorter destination. I remembered that Attica was a nice ride…if you take out the rain….and wind….and hail. Those of you who were on the Oh Hail No ride know what I’m talking about! So Attica it is!

Meeting location: The QuikTrip at Kellogg and Maize Rd. – 1500 S. Maize Rd.

Meeting time: 10:30 am with kickstands up at 11:00 am.

Destination: Attica, KS

Lunch: Krazyhorse Restaurant – 618 W. Avenue C

10 Day Forecast: Mostly sunny skies with a high of 67°.

Distance: 58 miles one way from the departure location.

What you need to bring: Cash for the 50/50 drawing. Your Tom Kat and/or guest(s) can also play!

What I will bring: Any special orders I have to deliver and the normal selection of bandanas, patches, pins and Kitty Kaps.

Please RSVP by Thursday, October 10th. Please leave a comment if you are bringing someone or a couple of someones with you and include their name(s) please.

Thank you!
Queenie

South of the Border – September 16, 2018


“P” may be for Ponca City, but for the September 16th Tom Kat ride, “P” was also for Perfect as we couldn’t have ordered up a more spectacular day for riding.  Clear skies, bright sunshine and not a breath of wind.  I would even go so far as to say that might have been the warmest Tom Kat ride we’ve ever had.  While most of us rode to the QuikTrip in Derby with jackets, they were quickly shed and we never saw them again.  Some of us packed our jackets in our saddle bags prior to leaving for the ride.  Not so with Nellie!  She took off her jacket and stowed it in between her bike and windshield…while riding to Ponca City!  That’s some skill right there!  That would have been a lost jacket if it were me.

When my Tom Kat, Greg, and I arrived at the QT at 8:30 on the dot, Kim and Kathryn were already there.  “How come you guys are here so early?” I asked.  Kim responded, “We had to stake out our No Tom Kat Zone.  Here’s the line (which she designated with her foot) and don’t you even think about crossing it if you got a man with you!” Duly noted Kim and Kathryn

Within minutes, beautiful bike after beautiful bike came pouring into the parking lot and just like Kim, we had our parking zone clearly designated…that is until a big ole rig pulled right smack dap in the middle of it.  Obviously, the driver doesn’t adhere to rules like the Kitties and Tom Kats do!  Fortunately, he didn’t stay long and we filled it up to guarantee that wouldn’t happen again. 

After making our greetings, getting beverages, breakfast burritos and donuts, I pulled out the flamed bag and starting pimping 50/50 tickets.  After witnessing my juggling struggle of tea, the bag, my phone, the tickets and money, Kathryn said, “You are bound to drop something, so why don’t you let me sell the tickets?”  I was happy to turn that over to Kathryn, who quickly enlisted the help of Annette, and I proceeded to snap picture after picture.  As I watched the time and took roll call, I noticed that a potential new member/guest rider and her Tom Kat, who I didn’t know and no one knew, weren’t there.  I checked every method for her to contact me and nope, not a word.  At this point, if she wasn’t on her way (in which case she wouldn’t see any messages from me), she wouldn’t make it on time.  I held a brief meeting to divide up the groups and announced that since the MIA rider was the reason we were stopping in Ark City for gas, we would no longer need to do that.  As we biked up to leave with Nellie’s Tom Kat, JT (who was caging it), in the lead of the first group and my Tom Kat, Greg, and I in the lead of the second group, I crossed my fingers that we weren’t leaving Mr. and Mrs. MIA behind. 

Greg and I quickly lost sight of the first group and we all settled in for a gorgeous ride in the Kansas countryside while George Michael, Neil Diamond, Air Supply and Whitney Houston pumped music into my ears.  Hey, don’t judge!  It’s my playlist and I make no apologies for my music taste, or lack thereof!   As we got closer and closer to the Oklahoma state line, I was watching my handlebar-mounted clock and I could see that by skipping the gas stop in Ark City, we were gong to be WAY early for our 11:30 reservation at the El Patio Mexican Grill and Cantina.  In fact, they might not even be open yet! That was an epic fail on the trip planner’s timeline which was, of course, developed by yours truly.  Had I thought of that sooner, we could have had a second beverage, a second breakfast burrito and several more donuts at the QuikTrip.  At my first opportunity, I told Greg the situation and he suggested we go ahead and get gas for the return trip.  Sounds like a plan to me!  Of course, I then stressed over the fact that the first group would be wondering and worried over what happened to us.  Now I’m stressed over Mr. and Mrs. MIA and what the other group might be thinking at the same time.  Fortunately, Freddy Mercury helped eased my anxiety.  Hey, I said no judging!

After a quick gas stop, we pulled into the El Patio parking lot where the first group was lounging on a bench and curbs and chatting with one another.  Not one person seemed to be worried about what happened to us.  Clearly, I way overthink things.  No sooner had we pulled in the parking lot, along came Sherri and her friend, Cheryl.  Is it confusing to have a friend with almost the exact same name?  Sherri and Cheryl had ridden in from Oklahoma City and although they were in the same state, they actually rode further than we did!  And this is why we call Sherri “Hard Core!”

I then went inside the restaurant and said, “I know we’re super early, but I wanted you to know that the Krome Kitties are here so when you’re ready, we’re ready.”  I gotta give mad props to the wait staff as they directed us to the el patio for al fresco dining (yes, I’m fully aware that I mixed two countries in the same sentence, but that’s how multi-cultural I am) and scrambled to get tables arranged in the shade for 23 people and menus in all of our hands.  And the scrambling didn’t end there.  They scurried about to keep chip baskets, salsa dishes and drinks full.  And amazingly, all 23 delicious meals came out at the same time!   This was even more remarkable when some of us went inside to use the restroom and saw the entire restaurant was packed!  This definitely deserves a five-star rating on Kelp, which is the Krome Kitty restaurant rating system.  That I just invented.  That we should start using.  Because it’s better than Yelp.

After digging out all the cash from the flamed bag, I turned it over to Bobbie to count and there was 110 smackeroos in there!  That meant that some lucky Kitty or Tom Kat was going home with 55 of them!  I gave David the honors of drawing the ticket.  Why David, you ask?  Well, even though his Kitty, Tricia, couldn’t attend the ride, David said he still wanted to go and he brought his friend Joe, too!  I figured any Tom Kat who attended the Tom Kat ride without being forced….uh, I mean, accompanied by a Kitty deserves some special recognition.  And apparently, he deserves being paid, too, because he drew his very own ticket!  David made me promise to not tell Tricia he won so I’m hoping by the time this is published, he has long spent the money and Tricia can’t confiscate it from him.  If not, well…my bad David!

And then it was time to reunite the pint-sized Tom Kats and I gotta say the Friedman Tom Kat is a little worse for wear compared to all the other still shiny, still got all their faces on, and still talking Tom Kats.  Thank you to Dorrin, Jim, and Al for taking such good care of your Toms!  JT, shame on you!  When I asked where his Tom Kat was, he said, “I don’t know.  The last time I saw him, he was in a storage compartment in the Slingshot.”  I asked, “You have no idea where he could be?”  To which JT replied, “Probably still in the Slingshot…which has been sold…to a stranger.”  Oh, the horror!  We did a photo shoot with the little guys and they said their good-byes for another year.  I hope the Friedman Tom Kat still has a face by then.

And speaking of photo shoot, several of us couldn’t pass up an opportunity to be an ass on an ass!  I’m not sure if El Patio intended for the donkey in the courtyard to be sat upon, but you put something like that in front of a bunch of Krome Kitties (and a Tom Kat) and you’re just begging for us to climb on it.  Just ask Lindsborg about their Dala horses! 

After cleaning our plates, or to-going what we couldn’t eat, we settled up the tabs, hit the restroom one last time and made our way to the bikes where they were sitting in the much hotter sun than it was when we arrived.  We herded the Kitties and Tom Kats for a group picture and then reassembled into our groups again for the return trip home.

When I got on my bike and turned the ignition switch, all I got was a whole lot of nothing.  I did it again…and again…and again with the same result.  The assumption was I had a dead battery, but no worries – I’ve got tools and jumper cables and plenty of bikes to get me jumped.  I told everyone to go ahead and leave and Greg and I would ride back with David and his friend, Joe, who were in the meantime, helping Greg get my bike seat off and getting tools out.  As I was telling Christine what happened, she said, “You know it’s the strangest thing, when I went to turn my ignition switch, it had been flipped to the accessory setting, which I would never do.  Someone must have messed with it.”  Who would be brave enough to mess with a bike when it’s accompanied by two dozen other bikes and they don’t know that we’re not the Sons of Anarchy?  That’s just crazy!

Well, they were doubly crazy, because after Greg and Joe got everything disassembled from my bike, we realized the exact same thing had happened to my bike and I was using muscle memory to flip the ignition, which resulted in it being turned off rather than being turn on.  I take full responsibility for being a dunce, but who would do that?  Must have been a PO’d cager for us taking up most of the parking spots!  Anywhoo, by the time we got my bike put back together again, there was just the four of us remaining and we made our way back to Wichita and thankfully, I don’t have to buy a new battery!  But I am an idiot, so there is that.

So, there you have it!  Another fun, gorgeous day on the bikes with our husbands, boyfriends, friends and family on the annual Tom Kat ride.  Thank you to all those who made the day so memorable and enjoyable!   And thank you to the ride leaders, Greg and JT, and to the ride sweeps, Nellie, Al and Dorrin for getting us there safely and without one missed turn.

Oh, and what happened to Mr. and Mrs. MIA? Well, I reached out to her after we returned from the ride and she said she didn’t know where to go or what time. “Really? I emailed you with all the details and you even responded.” I said.  Pause. Pause. Pause.  “Oh yeah, I totally forgot you emailed me.  I went back to look and sure enough, there’s two emails from you.  I guess it had it all along.  I must have had a blonde moment.”  Well, congratulations on trumping my bike ignition blunder!

Those on board for the South of the Border Tom Kat ride were Janice and Greg, Nellie and JT, Tresny and John, Christine and Dorrin with Zach, Linda and Jim, Kari and Daryl, Bobbie and Al, Sherrie and Cheryl, Kathryn, Kim, Chris, Annette, David and Joe.

Janice – KKMC Founder

South of the Border – September 16, 2018

“P” may be for Ponca City, but for the September 16th Tom Kat ride, “P” was also for Perfect as we couldn’t have ordered up a more spectacular day for riding.  Clear skies, bright sunshine and not a breath of wind.  I would even go so far as to say that might have been the warmest Tom Kat ride we’ve ever had.  While most of us rode to the QuikTrip in Derby with jackets, they were quickly shed and we never saw them again.  Some of us packed our jackets in our saddle bags prior to leaving for the ride.  Not so with Nellie Taylor!  She took off her jacket and stowed it in between her bike and windshield…while riding to Ponca City!  That’s some skill right there!  That would have been a lost jacket if it were me.

When my Tom Kat, Greg, and I arrived at the QT at 8:30 on the dot, Kim Jones and Kathryn Langrehr were already there.  “How come you guys are here so early?” I asked.  Kim responded, “We had to stake out our No Tom Kat Zone.  Here’s the line (which she designated with her foot) and don’t you even think about crossing it if you got a man with you!” Duly noted Kim and Kathryn

Within minutes, beautiful bike after beautiful bike came pouring into the parking lot and just like Kim, we had our parking zone clearly designated…that is until a big ole rig pulled right smack dap in the middle of it.  Obviously, the driver doesn’t adhere to rules like the Kitties and Tom Kats do!  Fortunately, he didn’t stay long and we filled it up to guarantee that wouldn’t happen again. 

After making our greetings, getting beverages, breakfast burritos and donuts, I pulled out the flamed bag and starting pimping 50/50 tickets.  After witnessing my juggling struggle of tea, the bag, my phone, the tickets and money, Kathryn Langrehr said, “You are bound to drop something, so why don’t you let me sell the tickets?”  I was happy to turn that over to Kathryn, who quickly enlisted the help of Annette South, and I proceeded to snap picture after picture.  As I watched the time and took roll call, I noticed that a potential new member/guest rider and her Tom Kat, who I didn’t know and no one knew, weren’t there.  I checked every method for her to contact me and nope, not a word.  At this point, if she wasn’t on her way (in which case she wouldn’t see any messages from me), she wouldn’t make it on time.  I held a brief meeting to divide up the groups and announced that since the MIA rider was the reason we were stopping in Ark City for gas, we would no longer need to do that.  As we biked up to leave with Nellie Taylor’s Tom Kat, JT (who was caging it), in the lead of the first group and my Tom Kat, Greg, and I in the lead of the second group, I crossed my fingers that we weren’t leaving Mr. and Mrs. MIA behind. 

Greg and I quickly lost sight of the first group and we all settled in for a gorgeous ride in the Kansas countryside while George Michael, Neil Diamond, Air Supply and Whitney Houston pumped music into my ears.  Hey, don’t judge!  It’s my playlist and I make no apologies for my music taste, or lack thereof!   As we got closer and closer to the Oklahoma state line, I was watching my handlebar-mounted clock and I could see that by skipping the gas stop in Ark City, we were gong to be WAY early for our 11:30 reservation at the El Patio Mexican Grill and Cantina.  In fact, they might not even be open yet! That was an epic fail on the trip planner’s timeline which was, of course, developed by yours truly.  Had I thought of that sooner, we could have had a second beverage, a second breakfast burrito and several more donuts at the QuikTrip.  At my first opportunity, I told Greg the situation and he suggested we go ahead and get gas for the return trip.  Sounds like a plan to me!  Of course, I then stressed over the fact that the first group would be wondering and worried over what happened to us.  Now I’m stressed over Mr. and Mrs. MIA and what the other group might be thinking at the same time.  Fortunately, Freddy Mercury helped eased my anxiety.  Hey, I said no judging!

After a quick gas stop, we pulled into the El Patio parking lot where the first group was lounging on a bench and curbs and chatting with one another.  Not one person seemed to be worried about what happened to us.  Clearly, I way overthink things.  No sooner had we pulled in the parking lot, along came Sherri Carver and her friend, Cheryl Volk.  Is it confusing to have a friend with almost the exact same name?  Sherri and Cheryl had ridden in from Oklahoma City and although they were in the same state, they actually rode further than we did!  And this is why we call Sherri “Hard Core!”

I then went inside the restaurant and said, “I know we’re super early, but I wanted you to know that the Krome Kitties are here so when you’re ready, we’re ready.”  I gotta give mad props to the wait staff as they directed us to the el patio for al fresco dining (yes, I’m fully aware that I mixed two countries in the same sentence, but that’s how multi-cultural I am) and scrambled to get tables arranged in the shade for 23 people and menus in all of our hands.  And the scrambling didn’t end there.  They scurried about to keep chip baskets, salsa dishes and drinks full.  And amazingly, all 23 delicious meals came out at the same time!   This was even more remarkable when some of us went inside to use the restroom and saw the entire restaurant was packed!  This definitely deserves a five-star rating on Kelp, which is the Krome Kitty restaurant rating system.  That I just invented.  That we should start using.  Because it’s better than Yelp.

After digging out all the cash from the flamed bag, I turned it over to Bobbie Cole to count and there was 110 smackeroos in there!  That meant that some lucky Kitty or Tom Kat was going home with 55 of them!  I gave David Carruthers the honors of drawing the ticket.  Why David, you ask?  Well, even though his Kitty, Tricia, couldn’t attend the ride, David said he still wanted to go and he brought his friend Joe, too!  I figured any Tom Kat who attended the Tom Kat ride without being forced….uh, I mean, accompanied by a Kitty deserves some special recognition.  And apparently, he deserves being paid, too, because he drew his very own ticket!  David made me promise to not tell Tricia he won so I’m hoping by the time this is published, he has long spent the money and Tricia can’t confiscate it from him.  If not, well…my bad David!

And then it was time to reunite the pint-sized Tom Kats and I gotta say the Friedman Tom Kat is a little worse for wear compared to all the other still shiny, still got all their faces on, and still talking Tom Kats.  Thank you to Dorrin Allsman, Jim Moreland, and Al Brumbaugh for taking such good care of your Toms!  JT Taylor, shame on you!  When I asked where his Tom Kat was, he said, “I don’t know.  The last time I saw him, he was in a storage compartment in the Slingshot.”  I asked, “You have no idea where he could be?”  To which JT replied, “Probably still in the Slingshot…which has been sold…to a stranger.”  Oh, the horror!  We did a photo shoot with the little guys and they said their good-byes for another year.  I hope the Friedman Tom Kat still has a face by then.

And speaking of photo shoot, several of us couldn’t pass up an opportunity to be an ass on an ass!  I’m not sure if El Patio intended for the donkey in the courtyard to be sat upon, but you put something like that in front of a bunch of Krome Kitties (and a Tom Kat) and you’re just begging for us to climb on it.  Just ask Lindsborg about their Dala horses! 

After cleaning our plates, or to-going what we couldn’t eat, we settled up the tabs, hit the restroom one last time and made our way to the bikes where they were sitting in the much hotter sun than it was when we arrived.  We herded the Kitties and Tom Kats for a group picture and then reassembled into our groups again for the return trip home.

When I got on my bike and turned the ignition switch, all I got was a whole lot of nothing.  I did it again…and again…and again with the same result.  The assumption was I had a dead battery, but no worries – I’ve got tools and jumper cables and plenty of bikes to get me jumped.  I told everyone to go ahead and leave and Greg and I would ride back with David Carruthers and his friend, Joe, who were in the meantime, helping Greg get my bike seat off and getting tools out.  As I was telling Christine Allsman what happened, she said, “You know it’s the strangest thing, when I went to turn my ignition switch, it had been flipped to the accessory setting, which I would never do.  Someone must have messed with it.”  Who would be brave enough to mess with a bike when it’s accompanied by two dozen other bikes and they don’t know that we’re not the Sons of Anarchy?  That’s just crazy!

Well, they were doubly crazy, because after Greg and Joe got everything disassembled from my bike, we realized the exact same thing had happened to my bike and I was using muscle memory to flip the ignition, which resulted in it being turned off rather than being turn on.  I take full responsibility for being a dunce, but who would do that?  Must have been a PO’d cager for us taking up most of the parking spots!  Anywhoo, by the time we got my bike put back together again, there was just the four of us remaining and we made our way back to Wichita and thankfully, I don’t have to buy a new battery!  But I am an idiot, so there is that.

So, there you have it!  Another fun, gorgeous day on the bikes with our husbands, boyfriends, friends and family on the annual Tom Kat ride.  Thank you to all those who made the day so memorable and enjoyable!   And thank you to the ride leaders, Greg and JT, and to the ride sweeps, Nellie Taylor, Al and Dorrin for getting us there safely and without one missed turn.

Oh, and what happened to Mr. and Mrs. MIA? Well, I reached out to her after we returned from the ride and she said she didn’t know where to go or what time. “Really? I emailed you with all the details and you even responded.” I said.  Pause. Pause. Pause.  “Oh yeah, I totally forgot you emailed me.  I went back to look and sure enough, there’s two emails from you.  I guess it had it all along.  I must have had a blonde moment.”  Well, congratulations on trumping my bike ignition blunder!

Those on board for the South of the Border Tom Kat ride were Janice and Greg Friedman, Nellie and JT Taylor, Tresny and John Janzen, Christine and Dorrin Allsman with Zach Herman, Linda and Jim Moreland, Kari and Daryl Miller, Bobbie Cole and Al Brumbaugh, Sherri Carver and Cheryl Volk, Kathryn Langrehr, Kim Jones, Chris Emond, Annette South, David Carruthers and Joe Erdman.

September Road Trip – Tom Kat Ride – Ponca City, OK

It’s time for the annual Tom Kat ride! This is the one time during the season you are welcome to invite your significant other, spouse, friends and family to join you on a Kitty ride. When you RSVP, please indicate how many people you will be bringing and their names.

You probably noticed that we changed the destination for this ride. After discussing the great distance (170 miles), Kathryn Langrehr and I decided that that might be a little over ambitious to take a large group that far. Plus, we didn’t want to exclude anyone who wasn’t up for a 3.5 hour ride one way. So Ponca City, here we come!

Here are the details:

Meeting location: the QT on Rock Rd in Derby. 2801 N. Rock Rd in DERBY. This is the same QT we met at for the August ride if you attended that.

Meeting time: 8:30 am with kickstands up at 9:15 am.

Lunch: The El Patio Mexican Restaurant

Distance: 86 miles one way.

5 day forecast: sunny with a high of 84. 11 mph wind. Sounds fantastic!

Gas stop: we will have a guest rider with us who rides a Sportster. She will need to stop for gas before getting to Ponca City, so we will make a very quick stop in Ark City.

Rain Plan: if it’s raining in Ponca City that day, we will stay closer to home and will eat lunch at the Benton Airport. If it’s nice here, then we’ll ride to Benton. If it’s also raining here, we’ll cage it there.

Sightseeing option: the Marland Mansion is an option if enough of you are interested. It takes about two hours to go through it. If you aren’t interested in doing that, we could make a stop at Henry’s Candy Factory in Dexter on the way home. Please let me know which you prefer to do.

You know the drill, it’s Tom Kat month so you gotta bring your little Tom Kats that were gifted to the Toms a couple of years ago. Let’s see who can still find theirs!

What you need to bring (other than your plastic Tom Kat): cash for the 50/50 drawing (6 tickets for $5.00) and any shirts you want to have Kittified. We will be doing our last run of the season at the end of September.

What I will bring: the usual selection of patches, pins and a small amount of Kitty bandanas. Let me know if you would like anything else.

RSVPS due on Monday, September 10th. Please, pretty please respond by clicking Going on this post by that date so I can let the restaurant know how many of us to expect.

If your husband or boyfriend doesn’t ride, they are welcome to drive their car and join us for a fun day! If you don’t have one of the above, please don’t stay home because of that. There will be others who will be Tom Katless so you will not be alone.

Looking forward to another great Tom Kat Ride!