News Flash: Oklahoma has a 3-Foot Passing Law

This is my first post about why I'm riding, and here's where to donate to Water Life Hope.  It'll make your day and mine.
Downtown Edmond is cute.


April 19: Oklahoma City to Chandler, 48 miles.

Carol and I set out from the campground where we'd spent the night and turned to head north into a lusty headwind.  Big surprise.  The first eight miles from Oklahoma City to Edmond were yet another grudge match against the Oklahoma wind.  There was a little jog through Edmond's tidy downtown, and then we headed east again on Route 66.

There are more hills in Oklahoma than we expected.  Then again, we've been riding for weeks so we have the legs.  What we didn't expect was that the shoulders on the road would become intermittent, and then disappear entirely.  We'd had this condition before and most drivers simply dealt with it calmly, passing us as they had the opportunity.  Not here.

The Round Barn in Arcadia is worth seeing.
We had people honking at us who were going the other way.  We got strafed by vehicles of every kind, including a helmetless Harley rider who swerved to get closer.  There were pickup trucks by the score, all kinds of cars, you name it.  It was clearly part of the culture.  They had a belief in the idea of specific rights for internal combustion engines.  And threatening people was just fine.  Keep in mind that Oklahoma has a 3-foot passing law.

The behavior of the drivers was so bad that when we finally reached Chandler I could have chewed nails and spit rust.  Steve met us in town.  He wondered where I was going as I whizzed by.  To find an elected official.  Wasn't it obvious?

Fortunately for all concerned the courthouse was closed for Good Friday.  We had pizza, found a hotel room and went to bed.  Seething.  I'm working on an email.

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