Saturday BBBQ Rally~ recovery, riding, and unexpected evening shenanigans
After getting home around 430 this morning it was difficult to get out of bed. And by bed I mean off the couch that I slept in - in a house with no air conditioning and 91° with the dewpoint of 68 at 10:30 in the morning. We decided to walk to breakfast at the local church where we stopped last year and had the most amazing free breakfast ever. We walked all the way there and discovered that we had already missed it. They ended serving breakfast at 10 AM and it was after that. On our way out we did manage to get a banana and a bag of chips, and also spiel from the Baptist church minister.
Let's just say I don't think that was enough to save any of us. And to top it off one of the girls decided to point out the fact that he was wrong when he said you can only realize the need for 'being born again thru Christ' once. I can't remember the exact words, but she did manage to make him stutter a bit. Yet no breakfast to be had.
Next up we walked down the main drag, Dickson Street, to do a little shopping, and people watching.
We were in search of a shirt shop that I had been to in the last several years and loved. Turns out no one knew who I was talking about, I could not remember the name of the shop, and they were not in the location in which they always have been. Sad sad day,.
I did however run into the ladies from Sturgis who made me my patch that said gypsy biker chick. The one gal remembered me right away and asked if I got the freebie that she had sent me as she made it on accident in the wrong colors. Yep I got it! They were both sitting up there so machine is not really busy which is not heard of during Sturgis, so I asked if they had time to sew on patches to my vest, and They did. I am very excited about this however it means walking the one. Whatever miles up the hill in the humidity and in the blazing sun. I went back-and-forth on whether this is worth it. Decided that it was because I've been carrying these patches around for over a year. I have to start the half up the hill sweating profusely before even make it 5 blocks but on a mission to get the patches sewn on my vest. I get the Vest and head back down the hill to meet the girls who had given up on the sunshine and sat down for lunch. The girls at Three Moms Stitchen got my vest done in under 20 minutes.
It looks awesome! While I did not have them sew all of the patches on, I got the main ones on and it looks amazing. We had back up the hill towards the bikes but take the long path along Dickson Street to get some free water that various churches were handing out. We definitely need hydration after a long night of drinking, and sweating in the sun. We get back to the bikes and head to Baum Stadium to see if by chance that shirt shop moved There. Nope. Mapped out a route to ride a few roads I hadn't been on and off we went. Naturally I missed the first turn, which led to me just winging it. Instead of heading north as planned, we wound up going south when I saw a fun looking road and decided to check it out. Flexibility - the key to stress free living, right?!
We head out of Fayetteville via idk road and wound up on 265 to 170 to happens to be a red and yellow road on the Butler map meaning it's gonna be amazing!! We wound up at Devils Den State Park and while we thought it would be a chill day of riding today considering we are all out of it a bit after last night.... wrong! We rolled into Devils Den SP and were immed thrown into sharp hairpins and switchbacks!! Whoop!! While I wasn't prepared for them I blasted thru them like a champ as there was no traffic to be seeen up ahead. Check out these corners!!!
After tearing up 74 thru the park we continued on to 71 south. Another road on the butler map in pretty yellows and reds that I had not been on. It wasn't as drastic of cornering but still super fun with great views of Ozark National forest. Stopped at s cool viewpoint called Artists Point where you could see for miles and miles.
Not to mention the cheapest soda I've bought in years at s whopping $0.60. From a tourist store! For some reason I am still amazed by it. We took a few pics and looked at the map to see how to get back to eureka... dang. It was. Along ways thanks to that forest in the way!
We decided to try our luck at the road that looked to be paved but it wasn't sure how long that would stay correct. 215 proved to be a rough ride from the start as there's were A number of potholes in mishmash patch jobs to run around. By the time we got 20+ miles down the road that we ran into a sign that said this and is the state maintenance. Thinking this will turn into gravel at any minute we crept corner by corner to see what was coming next. After several corners and no gravel, we kept going and going. And suddenly as we approach the hill I saw gravel.
Which isn't a big deal except for the fact that it was super big chunks of gravel and more of a four wheeling path then something that three cruisers should be headed down. Three cruisers that still needed to go 27 miles down this road. So we did a U-turn and we headed back out to the highway. We jetted the freeway back up towards Fayetteville, and then took a couple of side roads back into Eureka Springs. By the time we got back into town we were all exhausted and ready to be off the bikes for the day. It was over 200 mile day that was not expected to be that way. Fun roads though!
Got back to the hotel relaxed and showered, then headed towards McDonald's to get some food in our stomach's as we know that we are super good at not eating anything once we are out. That was the whole debacle as we had a roadie in our pockets (yep, adulting at its finest) ask for a water cup, and then ended up spilling an entire cup of beer on the picnic table outside in front of the main window of the restaurant.
At the time it was hilarious because we were at super tired and maybe have a couple of beers by then.
Next we walked down to the local bars, both the cat house, and legends. the cat house is usually my favorite place but this year was a complete dud every night we went there. There is nobody around, no bikes, and terrible music. We back tracked to Pub N Grub where at east there were people around! Unfortunately (sarcasm) a couple of those people were from Michigan. Which isn't a big deal, except for the fact that they also rode down to Arkansas, so out of maybe 30 people in the bar, we were the only four that rode our bikes all the way there. So naturally they kept buying shot after shot after shot for the "real riders".
And well, a chill night turned into party central. And then I turned around to talk to our group of 8+ new friends when I see a familiar face. Brad!!! Brad With An A to be exact!!!
One of my favorite locals ever who I had met 5-6 years prior and seen/talked to every year le he was working security. I got to know the security folks so well that I was the only nonlocal who was invited to the staff after party several years in a row~ epic fun times!! Brad is awesome and looks/sounds the same ~ and still a kind soul who offered us a ride home after bar close. Rally friends are the best friends to have!! I've met so many great people from all over the country here over the years, I never think twice of coming back to eureka springs. Kind of like my home away from home!!! Anyways, another unexpected rowdy shenanigans filled night!!
Some of my annual Eureka friends:
(Not my pic but sent to me by the 2 guys on the right who were less than happy with having to take the pic!)
Let's just say I don't think that was enough to save any of us. And to top it off one of the girls decided to point out the fact that he was wrong when he said you can only realize the need for 'being born again thru Christ' once. I can't remember the exact words, but she did manage to make him stutter a bit. Yet no breakfast to be had.
Next up we walked down the main drag, Dickson Street, to do a little shopping, and people watching.
We were in search of a shirt shop that I had been to in the last several years and loved. Turns out no one knew who I was talking about, I could not remember the name of the shop, and they were not in the location in which they always have been. Sad sad day,.
I did however run into the ladies from Sturgis who made me my patch that said gypsy biker chick. The one gal remembered me right away and asked if I got the freebie that she had sent me as she made it on accident in the wrong colors. Yep I got it! They were both sitting up there so machine is not really busy which is not heard of during Sturgis, so I asked if they had time to sew on patches to my vest, and They did. I am very excited about this however it means walking the one. Whatever miles up the hill in the humidity and in the blazing sun. I went back-and-forth on whether this is worth it. Decided that it was because I've been carrying these patches around for over a year. I have to start the half up the hill sweating profusely before even make it 5 blocks but on a mission to get the patches sewn on my vest. I get the Vest and head back down the hill to meet the girls who had given up on the sunshine and sat down for lunch. The girls at Three Moms Stitchen got my vest done in under 20 minutes.
It looks awesome! While I did not have them sew all of the patches on, I got the main ones on and it looks amazing. We had back up the hill towards the bikes but take the long path along Dickson Street to get some free water that various churches were handing out. We definitely need hydration after a long night of drinking, and sweating in the sun. We get back to the bikes and head to Baum Stadium to see if by chance that shirt shop moved There. Nope. Mapped out a route to ride a few roads I hadn't been on and off we went. Naturally I missed the first turn, which led to me just winging it. Instead of heading north as planned, we wound up going south when I saw a fun looking road and decided to check it out. Flexibility - the key to stress free living, right?!
We head out of Fayetteville via idk road and wound up on 265 to 170 to happens to be a red and yellow road on the Butler map meaning it's gonna be amazing!! We wound up at Devils Den State Park and while we thought it would be a chill day of riding today considering we are all out of it a bit after last night.... wrong! We rolled into Devils Den SP and were immed thrown into sharp hairpins and switchbacks!! Whoop!! While I wasn't prepared for them I blasted thru them like a champ as there was no traffic to be seeen up ahead. Check out these corners!!!
After tearing up 74 thru the park we continued on to 71 south. Another road on the butler map in pretty yellows and reds that I had not been on. It wasn't as drastic of cornering but still super fun with great views of Ozark National forest. Stopped at s cool viewpoint called Artists Point where you could see for miles and miles.
Not to mention the cheapest soda I've bought in years at s whopping $0.60. From a tourist store! For some reason I am still amazed by it. We took a few pics and looked at the map to see how to get back to eureka... dang. It was. Along ways thanks to that forest in the way!
We decided to try our luck at the road that looked to be paved but it wasn't sure how long that would stay correct. 215 proved to be a rough ride from the start as there's were A number of potholes in mishmash patch jobs to run around. By the time we got 20+ miles down the road that we ran into a sign that said this and is the state maintenance. Thinking this will turn into gravel at any minute we crept corner by corner to see what was coming next. After several corners and no gravel, we kept going and going. And suddenly as we approach the hill I saw gravel.
Which isn't a big deal except for the fact that it was super big chunks of gravel and more of a four wheeling path then something that three cruisers should be headed down. Three cruisers that still needed to go 27 miles down this road. So we did a U-turn and we headed back out to the highway. We jetted the freeway back up towards Fayetteville, and then took a couple of side roads back into Eureka Springs. By the time we got back into town we were all exhausted and ready to be off the bikes for the day. It was over 200 mile day that was not expected to be that way. Fun roads though!
Got back to the hotel relaxed and showered, then headed towards McDonald's to get some food in our stomach's as we know that we are super good at not eating anything once we are out. That was the whole debacle as we had a roadie in our pockets (yep, adulting at its finest) ask for a water cup, and then ended up spilling an entire cup of beer on the picnic table outside in front of the main window of the restaurant.
At the time it was hilarious because we were at super tired and maybe have a couple of beers by then.
Next we walked down to the local bars, both the cat house, and legends. the cat house is usually my favorite place but this year was a complete dud every night we went there. There is nobody around, no bikes, and terrible music. We back tracked to Pub N Grub where at east there were people around! Unfortunately (sarcasm) a couple of those people were from Michigan. Which isn't a big deal, except for the fact that they also rode down to Arkansas, so out of maybe 30 people in the bar, we were the only four that rode our bikes all the way there. So naturally they kept buying shot after shot after shot for the "real riders".
And well, a chill night turned into party central. And then I turned around to talk to our group of 8+ new friends when I see a familiar face. Brad!!! Brad With An A to be exact!!!
One of my favorite locals ever who I had met 5-6 years prior and seen/talked to every year le he was working security. I got to know the security folks so well that I was the only nonlocal who was invited to the staff after party several years in a row~ epic fun times!! Brad is awesome and looks/sounds the same ~ and still a kind soul who offered us a ride home after bar close. Rally friends are the best friends to have!! I've met so many great people from all over the country here over the years, I never think twice of coming back to eureka springs. Kind of like my home away from home!!! Anyways, another unexpected rowdy shenanigans filled night!!
Some of my annual Eureka friends:
(Not my pic but sent to me by the 2 guys on the right who were less than happy with having to take the pic!)
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