There’s an old Harley rider catch phrase that says, “Live to Ride, Ride to Live.” Not a bad sentiment. But a bit general.
For members of the Iron Butt Association (which includes many Harley riders), there’s a more measurable version of the phrase which leads to a specific activity – Ride to Eat. At its core, a Ride to Eat (or RTE) is a group of long-distance motorcycle riders getting together for meal and then turning around to head home afterwards.
So back in the summer of 2019 I hosted the inaugural Sehnert’s Bakery and Cafe Ride To Eat in McCook, Nebraska. The inspiration for this even was when Sehnert’s won a James Beard Classics award. The James Beard awards are essentially the Oscars of the restaurant and food business, and the classics award is for:
“Our nation’s beloved regional restaurants. Distinguished by their timeless appeal, they serve quality food that reflects the character of their communities. We anoint these locally owned restaurants with a James Beard Foundation Award and designate them as America’s Classics.”
Don’t the pastries at Sehnert’s look great? (Mike Konz photo)
The inaugural event was a great success with Iron Butt Rally finisher Bill Norris riding in from Texas just to have lunch and then turning around to ride straight back home to work an overnight shift. (See, I know my AP Style and that there is no such thing as a first annual event…) We also had riders from Kansas, South Dakota and Nebraska showing up at Sehnert’s for bierocs (also known as Runzas in Nebraska) or other excellent sandwiches.
The Second Annual McCook RTE was scheduled for May of 2020, but… we all know how that turned out!
It is now the spring of 2023, and if everything is not back to normal, whatever that is, motorcyclists are at least once again able to ride long distances to get together for lunch before heading back home. So our gathering on Saturday, May 6th can’t really be called an annual event as there were three years and a global pandemic in between we’ll just call it the Second Annual(ish) McCook, NE Ride To Eat.
We had a beautiful day for riding Saturday with cool temps in the morning and bright sun the rest of the day. (Though a tornado and sever thunderstorms passed through our ride area not long after Mike Konz and I got home to Kearney.
There were six of us who gathered Saturday for coffee outside and then lunch inside the cafe. Iron Butt Rally finisher and winner of the 2023 Heart of Texas rally Paul Meyer rode in from Herrington, Kansas; and four-time IBR finisher Mike Riley rode in from Mustang, Oklahoma. Then from Nebraska, along with Mike Konz and myself from Kearney, were John Seberger from Lincoln, and John Koller, from Arapahoe. If there were an award for the shortest distance ridden J.K would have won, given that he lives just 40 miles away from McCook.
Kicking tires outside around the bikes is standard activity for our lunch crowd, including (l-r) Mike Riley, Paul Meyer, John Seberger, and yours truly – Ralph Hanson. (Mike Konz photo)
The six of us gathered for lunch included Paul Meyer, Mike Riley, John Seberger, John Koller, Ralph Hanson (me), and Mike Konz. Interesting that two-thirds of our group had shared names.
This is the route Mike K. and I followed to and from McCook, NE. A great day of riding followed by heavy weather not long after we arrived back at home.
At any rate, we all had a great time and hope that the actual Third Annual McCook RTE will be able to happen in May of 2024 without any difficulties!
Meanwhile, on this trip I also got the first photo of a building mural for my Team Strange 2023 Grand Tour. Always great to get the first photo in the bank. This roof mural honors the Southwest High School Rough Riders of Bartley, NE.
My first bonus location for the 2023 Team Strange Wheels on Walls Grand Tour. The real goal is to have murals with wheeled-vehicles on them, but you are allowed a limited number of non-wheeled murals. This is one of them. (Mike Konz photo)