THE LONG ROAD 2010:
The Long Road, in my mind, can be described in one word: Euphoric! What elsecan you say when: A) The staff of a cool bike magazine that promotes RIDING, B)The House Band (Three Spoke Wheel), C) 60 or so chopper jockeys that are”The Real Deal”, and D) the Chop Off contestants, all ride in smallgroups across the country and stop to party every night together atpredetermined locations!
This ride ranks right up beside my own six-week 10,000-mile solo tour as”One of the best times I’ve ever had in my life!” The scheduled stopswere excellent choices. I -40 isn’t exciting itself, but was a good choice tomake time and provided a recognizable route for assistance if it was required.
SMOKE OUT WEST
The Long Road started at the Smoke Out West, which was held in a differentlocale this year. Aside from a few minor first year glitches, I felt was agreat event. It was very community oriented and a little tamer than it’s easterncounterpart. The town organized the poker run which gave riders a chance to seesome of the area on a self-guided tour.
The SOW was also a good chance to savorsome of the local culture. It was a neat surprise when I went into the localMcD’s and they had a framed copy of Billy and Captain America hanging in therestaurant! The community seemed to welcome the riders and was very friendly. Iwould love to see it here again and figure it would be even better the nexttime around!
BRASS BALLS BOBBERS AND CHOPPERS
Although I arrived late as I misread the directions, the first evening at BrassBalls was excellent. Dar, Brian, and the rest of the staff were reallyhospitable. The large crowd really enjoyed the band but after riding thescorching interstate all day, I chose to cool off in the air-conditionedcustomer service area. After the party, there were about 20 or so strays fromThe Long Road with no accommodations. Dar wasn’t expecting this but made aquick decision and was kind enough to let us all stay in the compound. Thisnight was really the catalyst to creating a lot of new friendships. We partied’till 2AM and EVERYONE slept under the stars beside their bikes. Thanks Dar!
BYRD’S CAMPGROUND, OZARK MOUNTAINS, ARKANSAS
From the comments I heard at the SOE, most people’s favorite stop was the BakerDrivetrain party at Byrd’s Campground in the Ozarks in Arkansas. The serenityof the grounds, the relief the river and trees provided from the 100-degree heat,and the great picnic style dinner all provided a nice contrast to big citiesand interstates. The river was so satisfying that Roadside Marty, myself andabout 10 other people stayed in the river, laughing it up until midnight. TheZip line was a blast to watch! The band that entertained was pretty good too. Iwould like to have seen the 4 wheel rock crawlers, but missed it. Thanks BakerDrivetrain and Byrds!
MEMPHIS PUB CRAWL
Beale St. in Memphis was a great spot for our third stop and the folks atCustom Chrome really came through. The way they closed the street topedestrians provided a chance to check out different venues without having todown your drink at each bar and become inebriated. The variety of entertainmentand the open street gave it a festival like atmosphere. This is a reallyhistoric and visually stunning area for any music lover. It was pricelesswatching Harold and the Aussies sing “I Got Friends In Low Places” inthe karaoke bar! The last stop included a raffle with some really good qualityparts and stuff from Custom Chrome.
MOVIES AT DEER RUN CAMPGROUND
This was another really unique experience! I arrived late (AGAIN!) due totaking a longer alternate route. It was cool watching a movie out under thestars, yet not being at a drive-in. Camping in the outdoors without having toleave and go to a motel really is a great way to get to know the people you’reriding with. The weather was so great the whole trip that many of us tookadvantage of it and slept out under the stars for the second time!
WHEELS THROUGH TIME MUSEUM
Do guys riding across the country want to check out vintage motorcycles thatactually run??? HELL YEAH!!! To see this incredibly impressive display of streetbikes, hill climbers, dirt trackers and others, and realize many were restoredby a small staff of volunteers is amazing. It’s hard to choose a favorite bikeor display, but I’d have to say seeing one of Evel Knievel’s bikes and thedisplay of odd uses of motorcycle engines were tops. I chose to leave and tryto put more miles on Thursday to lessen Fridays ride to Rockingham. BadChoice!!! We were invited to stay at the museum and camp and by all accounts,the guys that did, had one heck of a time with Dale and his staff after closingtime!
SMOKE OUT EAST
Salisbury was my first and now I’ve been to Rockingham twice. Sturgis is”The Grand Daddy Of Them All” and the scenery is beautiful, Laconiahas the history and scenery, and Daytona has the beach and warm weather, but Irate the The Smoke Out as the best biker party of them all. The size ismanageable and the people are “Our Type” of people. Most of the guyson The Long Road enjoyed their new friends on the ride so much, that we all seemedto hang out together at the SOE. The “near tornado” and downpour thathappened didn’t seem to dampen anyone’s spirits. However, the landscape waslittered Sunday morning with over one hundred tent frames and looked like a warzone!
I do have three small complaints and none are staff related.
First, I left late Sunday morning and was amazed at the number of bikes in theback of trucks and trailers. I realize that sometimes there are LEGIT reasonsfor this (i.e. medical) and that chase trucks or group camping gear requirethem, but COME ON PEOPLE, let’s not turn this into trailer week as has happenedat the big three rallies. This whole event is about riding to your destination!
Second, leave the golf carts and crap at home. You RODE your bike, so use it asyour taxi, or walk, just like the old days!
Third, don’t just talk the talk. Remember the #1 rule of the road for bikers.If a rider is pulled over, stop and see if they need help! It may only take afew seconds of your time and save someone a lot of hassle! Tic Toc (Chop Offwinner) had problems only 30 or so miles outside Rockingham and sat for over 20minutes while trailer queens and riders alike passed by.
THE LONG ROAD SUMMARY
As far as I know, everyone made it to Rockingham. I heard of a few close callssuch as Caleb’s unintentional lane splitting of two tractor-trailers, buteveryone arrived in one piece. Each night along the way provided an opportunityfor all of us to get to know one another much better than just a party weekend.Even though each night was great in itself, these all took a back seat to thecamaraderie I witnessed on the road between the guys and gals. They would stayup all night or miss events to work on bikes in hotel rooms or campgroundchange rooms just to make sure their riding companions made it to NorthCarolina. The feeling I got when I saw this was so heartwarming. These guystruly are BROTHERS OF THE ROAD!
I had my own story of roadside assistance when I helped a fellow rider who hadcrashed in Colorado even before the SOW. Hope you’re recovery is going wellMark and I’d like to thank Jim at JM Tire Co. in Walsenburg, Colorado fortaking care of Mark’s bike so I could hit the road.
The Long Road is an event that is second to none. I would recommend it (andwill!) to anyone I talk to. It was great meeting and riding with a bunch oflike-minded people who are “The Real Deal”! Edge and his assistantshave done a truly awesome job and I’d like to congratulate them and thank themfor allowing me to enjoy such a great experience!
–Brian “Uncle Ben” Sauer
Kanadian Korrespondant
