Monday, October 5, 2015

Bikes, Blues and BBQ

    All the rallies that I do, I try to ride there. This absolutely changes my feelings towards a rally. It would be easier to fly in or maybe even haul my bike in a truck and a trailer but then it would take much of the fun out if it for me. I have also noticed in the past when I did haul it to a rally, I was all amped up to ride once I got there. Like most rallies, ground zero tends to be a lot of traffic which slows the rally experience down. I have learned that this makes for a bad experience when it actually isn't the rally's fault. I say this to explain the frame of mind I was in riding from The Block Party in Brooklyn, NY to Fayetteville, Arkansas 4 days later. I was ready to take in the sights and enjoy.
   The ride to The Bikes, Blues and BBQ just kept getting better and better the closer I got. Near Fayetteville, Arkansas is some really great destinations also. Eureka Springs and the Harry S. Truman Reservoir is just a few. I enjoyed them so much that I spent one day when the rally was over, to ride back up through these areas making sure to take a path that I hadn't traveled yet. Basically I took roads that I didn't know where they went just to get lost. It was a great ride.
    I don't mean to to talk about other places besides Fayetteville because I was bored there. Quite the contrary. It was very exciting with lots to do as always and I was in the perfect frame of mind to take it all in. Dickson street is where the party is. It is located near the University of Arkansas. Dickson Street is a host of establishments geared for the nearby college crowd and the bikers take that over. Considering all the bikes that converge there, the traffic is managed pretty well. Progressive had thier free, secure parking lot there also which is one of my favorite amenities.
Another one of my favorite anemities is Progressive's free breakfast. They have all the fixin's but my favorite has to be the "Flo Pancakes" where they use custom griddles to shape the pancakes into Flo's image.
Of course there are a lot of vendors selling anything and everything. I found this vendor selling these 2 wheel, Segway like contraptions that I had to take for a spin. Everyone was trying them out with mixed success. There was even some uniformed police officers that took a try at it. I have to mention that it is nice to see police officers enjoying the good times rather than trying to enforce every civil statute with a iron fist.
   A short ride from Dickson Street is the Fairgrounds where they have camping, the famous BBQ cook off, helicopter rides and even a lawn tractor pull. Now these aren't just stock lawn tractors but hopped up ones running on alcohol and even motorcycle engine powered ones. They put on quite a show and are something not seen in very many places.
    These activities kept me busy but I still had time to check out Flo's Chop Shop hosted by my friend, Pat. They offer all sort of free services from boot shining to manicures. They even trim beards and mustaches. I had to partake and get some help taming my stache.
  
               My trip to Bikes, Blues and BBQ was in partnership with Progressive.