Branson Blitz 06, Scott Koeneman

Nancy and I have set of goal of dramatically improving the number of miles (smiles, as Voni would say) on our bikes this year. We had never been to the Branson Blitz, but had heard good things about the rally. We were also very familiar with the area and knew that there was no such thing as a bad road.

So, we laid out the map and waited for the day to come. Finally, after a hectic day at work, the three of us got on the road Thursday. It was superslab all the way to Cahokia, but we knew the good stuff was to come the next day.

As Nancy checked her email that night, we talked about how badly we were out of riding shape. She opened an email that became our mantra for the trip. "My butt hurts" one of us would say, "what" the others would respond and we would get stares as we all laughed uproariously.

The next day was a much bigger challenge than we anticipated. I had mapped out a route that took us down Highway 67, then across far southern Missouri on 160. Highway 160 had looked twisty on the map, and that was what we wanted. Having never traveled the road before, we had no idea how twisty. We both love the sweeping to semi-technical curves, usually marked in the 40-50 mph range. Highway 160 was more technical to really technical, with the vast majority of the curves in the 35 mph and below range, and they came one after the other. I can only think of one straightaway of more than 100 yards in the whole 200 mile trip. Talk about jumping into the new riding season with both feet.

It was incredibly gorgeous, but the roads-lots of curves, short sight lines, and no shoulders-did not lend themselves to stopping for pictures, but here’s one anyway.

We got into Branson right about 6 p.m. We no sooner pulled into the hotel driveway, then Voni came running up with hugs. Poor Nancy was barely off the street. You can’t beat a reception like that.

The parking lot around the hotel was loaded with bikes, from new ones like ours, to a couple of 77 R100s. The hotel had exterior damage from the recent tornado, but that didn’t seem to dampen anyone’s spirits.

Here is Paul Glave’s bike. I think the guy needs more tech stuff.

Here is an interesting, homemade, camera mount on a GS.

We unloaded, grabbed a quick dinner and spent the evening catching up with some old friends and making new ones. My local club was very well represented and considering how many of them double up as Rounders, this group was too.

We had planned to spend Saturday riding as well, but kept finding people to talk to. That, and we were still recovering from our 160 experience. At some point, we decided to forgo the ride for the day, especially since we also had all day Sunday and only had to make it as far as Sikeston Missouri.

We ate both lunch and dinner at The American Café, just down the road from the Branson Towers. They have a big chalk board that anyone (and everyone did) can draw on.

There’s also a stage. We tried to get Quinn to go up and play harmonica, but he wouldn’t do it.

Mandatory food pictures. (Note to Red Hot: See, some of us remember!)

The Saturday night awards ceremony, hosted by Voni and Paul, was hilarious. Quinn won "most musical" for his harmonica version of "Low Rider", I won a hat in the door prize drawing, and Nancy bought a t-shirt at auction, with the money going to help a rider injured in an accident while touring New Zeland.

A planned early start Sunday wasn’t, but we rode some great two-lane highways-a little more 160, 76, and 60-to Sikeston. Dinner was at the famous Lambert’s. It was Quinn’s first time there. He loved the "throwed rolls" and the folks who come around with fried potatoes and onions, fried okra, tomato and macaroni. Forgive me for forgetting the camera. (Note to Red Hot: Forget what I said above.)

Monday was superslab back to Monticello. A little chilly, but we missed the storms that everyone who went home Sunday had to worry about.

All-in-all it was a good first trip of the season, 1,068 miles all together. Not long by any means, but lots of good twisties and a good warm-up for the riding season. The Blitz was definitely a rally we will return to.

Semper Fidelis
Bulldog
05 R1200ST
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