"Gathering"
For over a decade, Iron Indian Riders descended upon Branson for an annual get together. I myself didn't start going until 2011.. missed two years, then ... attended in '14 and '15. I'd found a new rally to attend and made some new friends as well as connected the 'virtual' dots between names and faces within the IIRA. This was now on my calendar for the future. Then, it all came to a screeching halt. Around '14 and '15 we had a ..... situation. That situation had a few folks leave and and head a different direction (see ya!). History would show '15 as being the last time we attended as an organization, and then looking for a different location other than Branson which had also gotten 'old' for many, year after year attending.
In '16 we'd see two things happen. The IIRA would now 'officially' have their own annual event now referred to as the 'Reunion' and some folks closer to Branson created a regional event; the Gathering. Problem was, in 2016 both these events were held within weeks of each other. I myself was forced to choose and I chose Durango, CO, the location of the IIRA Reunion that year. Still, the Gathering had quite a few folks show up, some that wanted nothing to do with the Branson event moving forward in addition to a new chapter from Nebraska rolling in; the Flatlanders. This turned out to be an excellent mix and a successful endeavor was celebrated and formed for follow-on years. The Gateway IIRA chapter led by Lil Jack officially heading this up, but now sharing the duties with the Flatlanders.
For 2017, the event's date was slid into late August to give some space between it and the Reunion allowing folks to attend both. That year the Harelynot's came in for the festivities, and a large contingent from Louisiana and Texas were scheduled to head that way. Mother Nature threw many of us a curve ball though and treated us with Hurricane Harvey which forced many of us to cancel the trip north to Missouri. That hurricane was devastating for many of our IIRA members; some have just 'now' ... gotten their lives back on track and that mess is in the history books. For me personally, it was a tough one to cancel. I was looking forward to seeing the folks there; even had some mending to tend to from the previous year at a different event up North. But for that, it'd have to wait another year.
It's 2018 and I've been planning this since Sep '17! Mama can't believe I'm gong to head that way over my Birthday but I was going to do the same thing the year before and I'm determined it's going to happen this year unless the Gulf of Mexico decided a replay. It didn't and I did. But this year, it's getting more interesting. When I was up riding last month, we discussed all this and some folks from the North Winds tribe have decided to make the trek. We've become tight over the last few years and that one has a smile on my face. On my ride there, my brother Donnie and I have been scheming and we've decided I'll divert to Hot Springs, park it for the night and we roll up the next day. This is the icing on the cake. We ALWAYS have a good time and I haven't had the opportunity to hang with him and Jill at their home to date. Yes, I'm smiling.
Friday the 25th is here, and it's time. I've only got about 225 miles to do and mama is headed out around 0900 for Galveston Island to enjoy a week with her sis. Girls week for her, boys week for me (well.. sorta). As Friday got closer the news just keeps getting better. I've got to be there by 5'ish because we're meeting up with the Jason's and Longrider 'n Pam! Additionally Jason (Stump) has decided to ride out with us up the Gathering. At this point I'm thinking Longrider might also. So yes, I'm pumped! After all the riding I've done this summer, this is simple. I don't even pack the bike until Friday morning. The night before I did an oil change and washed a few bugs off. This morning, I pull out the saddlebag 'bags' , load up six days worth of clothes, throw some rain gear in the bag, my laptop, load up the cooler .. and ..I'm rolling into Arkansas. Splash some gas, send a text to Donnie .. and I'm off. Whole 220 miles; this is a no brainer and I'm soon off the Interstate and headed on twisties up to Donnie's. It's a closed gate community so soon I've got my escort leading me in, parked, and .. sipping cold ones with my hosts.
Donnie and Jill over the last few years have become close friends and family to me. I'm 'home!' My birthday is several days later in MO; they gave me an early present and now I've I'm in an predicament. What to do? Do I pack it? I'm short on room. Do we drink it over the next week (this is GOOD stuff) or park it for awhile. Either way my decision is easily made for me. Donnie is headed my way for work 2 weeks later and he'll bring it with him ... whew! Well, it's time to head out! Stump and Junior are waiting for us at their Hotel. Longrider and the Sheriff are rolling in from the North. And I'm about to meet some new friends. Our Friday night 'pre-rally' party has begun!
Got to admit I never get tired of these roads in Arkansas. Lots of elevation changes, tons of trees and very few straightaways. I'm thinking the Engineers must have rode motorcycles themselves and snuck most of this in? Well, off we go to downtown Hot Springs and folks are waiting for us. Always good to see Stump and Junior; Jr' and I have become friends since the April Hill Country trip. And I get to meet HotRod and his bride along with the lone HD couple. I point out to the HDers quickly that I've got their back and don't put up with the Indian crap .... "I've got an HD myself tucked away." I say. Hey.. ... was good for a smile. After a few in the hotel bar, we're rolling downtown. Now, not to be a dick (but .. sometimes can't help myself) as we're parking the bikes we see another couple on an Indian rolling down main street ignoring our presence. Not to be my normal drama king self, but if you understand the actual situation you know why we are all snickering at this moment. Lets just say .. I don't
believe in coincidence. Sadly, I'm taking off my gloves and can't get to my phone to take a pic. Whoops; did I just say that? Well, they slide out into the distance and we're off to our first stop of the night; Bubba's Brewery! Not only were the beers ice cold but we had lots of choices and .. the food rocked. I'd go back here in a second. On a nice weather day, you've got an outside patio that lets your people watch while you partake. We were able to gather all into a common area and the night is off to a great start. In retrospect we should have just stayed here for a few extra rounds but decided to head over to the Ohio Club. On a Friday nite, turned out to be a bad decision. So, across the street to another brewery throw back a couple and then on to the Copper Penny. I've been here multiple times and always enjoy it. This evening we've got live music up front. However, folks have to get home. Some of us are riding out the following day. And Donnie and I have a lil ride back through deer infested woods. So, it's hugs and back slaps... and we're off. Once back, Donnie breaks out the required night cap, we solved the problem of the world right up until I notice it's after 1am. I'm outa here!
Come morning, Jill is back home off work and we're sippn' Java on the front porch watching Donnie
load up his bike. All I've got to do is throw my bags on it so I'm delaying the inevitable as long as possible. I'll be with Donnie the next several days.. but won't see Jill again until late Sept. Their home is located in the woods, most homes far from each other. So we get all the sounds ....and the quiet. Sometimes I don't know how folks can stand living in the city or the close quartered suburbs. I've been spoiled the last 25 years with 'country' living, but they are more secluded than I. Well, can't last forever. Throw my luggage on the bike and we're off to grab Stump. Junior has to work so it's just the 3 of us rolling North. Soon, Hwy 7 is our path to smiles, 150 miles all the way to Harrison. Then we're on to 65 rolling on wider lanes, less curves. But we're getting closer. As we approach Branson, stomach's are rumbling and we see dark skies up on the horizon. A quick detour down to the waters edge and we're sipping some cold ones and grabbing grub at Big Whiskey American bar. Life is good and the weekend is upon us. We depart from parking garage and one quickly realizes that a large bike can just squeeze around the gate blocking cages. They must have left that space there for a reason, don't you think? Any case, we're soon up on Hwy 65 headed towards dark skies. Few miles up the road we pull in to splash gas and as we left the station for a split second the clouds pissed on us .. .then .... nothing. We'd roll in dry with no rain gear today! An hour or so later on 64 and pulling into our new home for the week. I hear "hey Dick!" as I roll up to the office and I know..... my brother Dick has beaten me here.
Tim and Rick have rolled in representing the North Winds Chapter and beat me to the punch. I'm busting their balls for trailering but it turned out to be a brilliant choice since they had to deal with serious rains on the road both directions (especially the return trip). Quick check in and we're down in the
mix! Many of these folks I'd seen at Purgatory, others not since Aug '16 . Some I'd never seen and didn't realize they were now regulars and I'm in their territory now. Still we're all IIRA, and that number would grow as several folks rolled in, some by accident (!!) and signed up during the week. One thing becomes evident quickly. This is not a huge event. At max we had approximately 40 bikes in. But contrast that to most events I go to , 50-75 bikes is the norm. These are folks that know each other for the most part. It's not an event that has been publicized nationally to get "all Indian" riders in. There's not push for someone to have to join the IIRA to attend (though I have to ask "why wouldn't you??"). And some folks decide between events to attend due to vaca, so they pick an Annual OR Regional. Still, that 40 bikes parlayed into 50 + folks all riding together daily, and spending evenings together. By the time the day is over I'll finally get to spend some time with Tamara Smith whom I've chatted with for well over a year, hit a small bump in the road with thanks to some clown up North, and reconciled any differences. That alone was worth the trip. H'Not has rolled in from California , we've got folks in from the South, from the East, several couples from the Quanah Tribe (ex. Jay/Suzanne, Darren/Janette), and a lot of folks from the Flatlander's Chapter. Me personally, some of my close friends are here and I'm all good. Seeing man friends that I haven't the last year or so? I'm all good. Making man new friends... I'm all good. This is my kind of Rally. Because it's not just about the people to me ( yes .. it IS the "People not the Place" ) .. but, we've got some great roads around here calling my name. Up to the balcony area by our rooms, few cigars and some Scotch brother Dick brought to savor .. ... finally pull the plug.
I've blog'd about my issues with Group rides lately and gotten a lil opinionated on the subject. So much so that I'd spoken to a few folks before we'd arrived and we'd made a decision that 4 or 5 of us would break off after lunch if the riding wasn't .... up to our par. What I didn't know is the folks running the show we're aware that some folks ( not just us) want to do more than just .... putt around for no better term. So, they did something brilliant. Each day we had a planned ride. With 30-40 bikes, they asked folks to put themselves into one of two groups, but ask yourself an honest question(s). Are you an aggressive rider? Are you an experienced rider? The trick and for the most part worked out perfect, was for folks to park their egos and ride with the correct set of folks. Luckily it was even split. All week, we had a 50/50 setup. Our group would head out first with Gary J leading the pack. Right behind us was the second group, usually led by Dan K. The Flatlanders handled this perfect. The second group was riding the posted speed limits and 'enjoying the ride.'. The 'aggressive' group was riding approx 10 over and ignoring them purdy yellow signs as you enter the corners .. well, unless you're rolling at 65 and the sign up ahead says '20'... Hey.. these aren't crotch rockets were on! Still as we head out, I'm wondering how this would play. Any concerns I had are quickly shelved. Gary J is as good, if not better rider than I am, and I'm smiling now as we're scooting through the back roads of Missouri. These guys have not only planned the rides out well, some of them actually came in early and rode a few to validate the quality of the routes.
Professionals! Not sure how the day went by so quickly but we're soon back at the Sand Springs Resort. Nan has flown and made it to the motel, and we've got another surprise. Nick Le has rolled in from AZ on his Scout doing some serious miles around the country. I had the pleasure of meeting him at Durango two years ago when he joined up with the IIRA. This trip I got to know him; great 
guy! Well, Nan is here, H'Not is smiling and the store is now.. Open! There are so many things that allowed this all to flow smoothly. There is a Restaurant / Bar on the premises. H'Nots haves secured a large suite to have a common IIRA area. The resort keeps a huge tent ( 20x40?) in the center for folks like ourselves to use. The place just.... works well. After each ride, every day .. I sneak off for a quick nap. Then, it's find some grub. Then, Gary P kicks off the evening with some games ..contest stuff.. pulling numbers to win some gifts.. and .. every night an opportunity to win upwards of $200 or so. Then, the sipping begins. Hey .. we're in Missouri! This would be our routine pretty much most evenings; and it worked. And .... I'd brought in a lil something special that I failed to mention earlier. At Durango '16 and '17 we had "Durango Debbie" This year I brought her cousin, "Lebanon Linda". The fun with that damned thing we all had , exceeded my expectations. Every morning we'd leave her in a diff' room, to screw with the maids. They find her under sheets, in bathrooms, you name it. We shouldn't be allowed to have that much fun. But, we did.
Well, it's Monday and we've kicked it up a notch the night before. Good thing is .. we have the Gravel bar that not only served a great breakfast, but.... has a full bar. And any full bar, can serve up a Bloody Mary. So, not being shy we do just that. Just enough to get the day going after a spirited evening? Then, it's time to clean up, line up and 0900 ... .. we're rolling! Another day of few hundred miles rolling through southern Missouri. We'd find ourselves at the Hard Times Bar & Grill this day. We had 3 of 'em running around in there for food and drinks, and they loved it. With 40+ of us, you know this was normally a dead day business wise, and they were raking it in over lunch. Their lunch menu was great and I'd go back in a sec. But, off we go back to the resort! Tonight would set a diff' tone. Few of us headed over to the fire pit and kicked it up. Out came some wolf masks .. out came some shirts. We'd don'd the masks the night before screwing around, but this is what we'd been waiting for. The R&R mc had some patches created awhile back, and a swap meet 
was in session. Burn a shirt, get a patch. Seemed fair to anyone that had gone to the event handed those shirts out. Some folks had missed the last event where a video was produced and wanted to jump into the fray. And, a token patch was now available. Score! The process was intentionally away from the group to alleviate any drama. Folks that don't know or understand it all don't need to be part of it. Most didn't care. But for those that did care, were part of it all.... was a cleansing of sorts. Did I mention it was a nice fire?
Well, it's Tuesday. Donnie has to head back to reality. Stump had rolled back on Sunday morning so our tight group is dwindling. He's left me with the MN boys (should I be nervous?). After the standard Gravel bkfst, we're off at .. you guessed it.. 0900hrs! One of the highlights of this day is we're headed to the Ha Ha Tonka State Park. The ride up to the castle has some nice twisties, but ... needed a few miles of 'em! But the view from the top is gorgeous and the history of it, interesting. Imagine, acquiring 5,000 acres, start building it and a year into car crash takes you out. Takes 20 years for your kids to finish the project only to have it all burn down 20 years later. Gotta' suck. Well, it's there for the public now; no doubt it was beautiful back in it's hey day. We had to grab 
lunch of course and this turned out to be an awesome one. Not only was the place really nice, but the owner (Theresa?) was awesome. I don't think she picked up on it initially, but we realized quickly we were in an HD themed location and ran with it. Overall it was great and we offered to send her some Indian item(s) and she promised to hang them up (as she pointed to a corner). But it's progress. Besides, this is one of those places where you put dollar bills on the wall and we left a special one in the center of the HD flag literally, right above us at the table. Question is .. how long with that sticker last? 
Will the bill be there next year when we return? At this point H'Not and Rick D' broke off and headed to the Butcher Store to pick up dinner. He's offered to cook for us all and ... well .. we agreed to it! The picked up some serious quality meats and later on, would cook it to perfection. This would turn out to be one of the best nights overall in my opinion. Liquids were flowing, people had gotten to know each other, friendships had developed.. and.... that steak was damned good! Nan had prepped salads and appetizers, Steve D' manned the grill, and others ( ex Tim and Rick D') were helping out immensely through it all. Did I mention the steaks were awesome? After the cleanup (Tim and others rocked that!), alcohol began to flow, dancing began, and H'Not was manning the audio system. Lets just say.... he needs to practice a lil if his next job is a DJ? And yes.. it was a great night!
It's Wednesday .. our last day to ride. But, it's raining. No, it's pouring. But I'm a glass is half full guy. I've got 450 miles or so to do the next day. Nothing like taking a nap with the sound of rain outside. And my friends are here. Besides, you can always find a cold beer here? Rick and Tim kept
their fridge stocked the whole week and I was a bigger mooch than a homeless thirsty Texan. Soon it's coming up on lunch. We had a ride planned but that was canx so Jim M and Dan K jumped in a truck and headed an hour down the road to get all our food 'to go!'. The restaurant was more than appreciative since they'd been planning on us. So now, we've got some good BBQ, rain coming down, cold beer and ... I'm smiling. Eventually a few of us disappear to our rooms. Eventually I'm woken by the sound of Indians. The sun has come out, quite a few folks are stir crazy and they are out and about the last day. With access to leftovers we weren't going anywhere. That steak on day 2 was still damned good as was the chicken breasts. We spent a large portion of the evening catching up, smoking stogies and sippn scotch. Guy next door even brought to bottles to share; he got a stogie for his troubles. Eventually, it's after 1am. There are folks down at the tent howling. We start howling. I know we're waking people up.... it's time to call it a night.
Time to go home. My original plan was to take a 45 deg angle and shoot SW towards home. I've gotten to where I don't over think this stuff. If I'm not on a timeline I'll pull my phone up .. look at the next 150s on the google maps...and ... head that direction. Get gas, repeat. But the previous day, I caught wind that the Flatlanders were headed to Eureka Springs and they'd picked out a route with lots of twisties. So I immediately go into suck up mode .. " can I ride with you?" ... haha... I'm in! Well, weather ain't the best and it's really looking shitty just to the west of us, where we should be heading. Since I'm in the pack, I'm not looking at weather or route.. just rolling in the middle with 7 of us total. Good news is we headed East for away before heading South. Instead of 7, we are 
parallel to in on Hwy 5 , then 95 to 125 which takes us to the Bull Shoals lake area and a Ferry that gets us into Arkansas. Most of the folks have never done the ferry ride. Hell, I thought I was on a diff' ferry that I used to get on at Branson area, but realized quickly .. they all look alike? Anyways, helmets on and we're soon off the Peel ferry and continuing onto Hwy 125 which is now a shitty road. .. they are resurfacing it and there are small rocks/pebbles kicking up for the next 7 miles. Have to admit I'm a notch nervous because we are at 'normal' speed not the reduced speed. Then before you know it, we slide onto Hwy 268/Locust Road. We quickly get up to the posted speed and we're back to rolling as we were prior to that ferry. Not to far ahead we're supposed to be stopping for lunch. Exactly 1.9 miles ahead we coming up on a sweeping left curve and I'm preparing to lean into it. It's not a tight one, one a 45 deg radius and Gary J' is through it and rolling for the next one 1/3 mile ahead. Gary J' is in the lead, Neal is in front of me and I'm the third bike in line to go through the curve. In an instant we have a problem. Neal is a notch wide on the turn and he's turning in tighter as his front tire grabbed the edge of the pavement. We have zero shoulder here and it's your lane or the grass. I'm off the throttle and in shock as I'm right behind his bike now a foot off the road and hes holding on riding it through the ditch. Approximately 100' ahead the front tire caught and the bike flipped head over heels with our brother in it's path. All i remember is myself yelling ' no... no .. NO!" ...as I passed him. As I'm grabbing brakes Gary J' is into his corner and out of sight. It happened that quick. I get it turned about and back to the scened of the accident. Keith is getting off his bike and checking on Neal. I thought we'd lost a brother at this point but he found a pulse and breathing. We're still in the game. Everything after than just blurs together. Three of us getting the bike off him, making the 911 call ... Gary's wife tending to him the entire time keeping him still... and waiting for what seemed a lifetime for the first responders to get to us. As I look at my notes, I see I called 911 a second time, after 13 minutes asking where they were. It was another 10 or so before they showed up .. that's almost 25 minutes. It was over 45 min from my first call and they still didn't have him in the ambulance . Finally over an hour after the incident, we was being moved. Now in all fairness during this time a lot of folks were working on him ( braces, splints, etc).. But the point is... it seemed like a fucking eternity. Neal was headed to a Life Flight chopper to where folks could give him the proper care (Little Rock, AR).
The Flatlanders are now in a situation where they need to get to the hospital and follow him in. But, they are eventually headed to NE . I'm headed to TX. At this point we parted ways. We'd gone about 150 miles through this beautiful area and I've got another 400 ahead of me. We said our goodbyes and I'm headed west now... replaying that scened in brain over and over, looking for a lesson learned. For the purpose of this blog, I'll just say... shit happens. No Alcohol was involved. Helmets were on, We weren't speeding excessively. And the real kicker is .. one of the first responders told me it was the THIRD accident this year at this EXACT spot. What was it about that curve that got those folks? I'm not sure. Maybe there is something with the inside lane I didn't see, that I missed , that threw his bike over. Maybe it was the rocks from the previous road and they were in the tread pattern? All I know is I spent 1/2 a week riding behind this man and he's a solid rider. An excellent rider. So.. hence my explanation. I've had close calls. Almost done the same thing myself over the years. Now, getting this down here, off my mind.. time to move on mentally. Time to reach out and see how he's doing. He's got a lot of mending ahead, but I believe we'll be riding together next year, same time. He's a prior Army Ranger and a tough bastard. Please keep him in your prayers!
Now I'm on my way and soon headed through Harrison . Can't determine which direction will keep me driest , so I'm trying to skirt south of the mess in front of. Before I get out of Harrison, it's raining cats and dogs. Quickly pull into an establishment , burn an hour of time and decide I have no choice.. the worst is through. Next 45 minutes light rain then when I hit Fayetteville , I see yet darker skies, but a clearing off the south. Now, I'm rolling 20 to 30 over to get where I need to be. Soon I'm down towards Ft Smith and temps there were 69 degrees in that mess have shot up to 92 deg. Another hour, it's nothing but sunshine and 90s rolling through Oklahoma. I've got nothing but time to think about the accident. The accident I saw last month where a guy went down. I've taken my current route because I've lost my mojo .. my want ..of twisties for the rest of this day. Instead , I'm rolling at a high rate on lots of concrete.
Before the sun settles I'm in the driveway. Luggage can wait until tomorrow. I'm .. .Home Safe Home
In '16 we'd see two things happen. The IIRA would now 'officially' have their own annual event now referred to as the 'Reunion' and some folks closer to Branson created a regional event; the Gathering. Problem was, in 2016 both these events were held within weeks of each other. I myself was forced to choose and I chose Durango, CO, the location of the IIRA Reunion that year. Still, the Gathering had quite a few folks show up, some that wanted nothing to do with the Branson event moving forward in addition to a new chapter from Nebraska rolling in; the Flatlanders. This turned out to be an excellent mix and a successful endeavor was celebrated and formed for follow-on years. The Gateway IIRA chapter led by Lil Jack officially heading this up, but now sharing the duties with the Flatlanders.
For 2017, the event's date was slid into late August to give some space between it and the Reunion allowing folks to attend both. That year the Harelynot's came in for the festivities, and a large contingent from Louisiana and Texas were scheduled to head that way. Mother Nature threw many of us a curve ball though and treated us with Hurricane Harvey which forced many of us to cancel the trip north to Missouri. That hurricane was devastating for many of our IIRA members; some have just 'now' ... gotten their lives back on track and that mess is in the history books. For me personally, it was a tough one to cancel. I was looking forward to seeing the folks there; even had some mending to tend to from the previous year at a different event up North. But for that, it'd have to wait another year.
It's 2018 and I've been planning this since Sep '17! Mama can't believe I'm gong to head that way over my Birthday but I was going to do the same thing the year before and I'm determined it's going to happen this year unless the Gulf of Mexico decided a replay. It didn't and I did. But this year, it's getting more interesting. When I was up riding last month, we discussed all this and some folks from the North Winds tribe have decided to make the trek. We've become tight over the last few years and that one has a smile on my face. On my ride there, my brother Donnie and I have been scheming and we've decided I'll divert to Hot Springs, park it for the night and we roll up the next day. This is the icing on the cake. We ALWAYS have a good time and I haven't had the opportunity to hang with him and Jill at their home to date. Yes, I'm smiling.
Friday the 25th is here, and it's time. I've only got about 225 miles to do and mama is headed out around 0900 for Galveston Island to enjoy a week with her sis. Girls week for her, boys week for me (well.. sorta). As Friday got closer the news just keeps getting better. I've got to be there by 5'ish because we're meeting up with the Jason's and Longrider 'n Pam! Additionally Jason (Stump) has decided to ride out with us up the Gathering. At this point I'm thinking Longrider might also. So yes, I'm pumped! After all the riding I've done this summer, this is simple. I don't even pack the bike until Friday morning. The night before I did an oil change and washed a few bugs off. This morning, I pull out the saddlebag 'bags' , load up six days worth of clothes, throw some rain gear in the bag, my laptop, load up the cooler .. and ..I'm rolling into Arkansas. Splash some gas, send a text to Donnie .. and I'm off. Whole 220 miles; this is a no brainer and I'm soon off the Interstate and headed on twisties up to Donnie's. It's a closed gate community so soon I've got my escort leading me in, parked, and .. sipping cold ones with my hosts.
Donnie and Jill over the last few years have become close friends and family to me. I'm 'home!' My birthday is several days later in MO; they gave me an early present and now I've I'm in an predicament. What to do? Do I pack it? I'm short on room. Do we drink it over the next week (this is GOOD stuff) or park it for awhile. Either way my decision is easily made for me. Donnie is headed my way for work 2 weeks later and he'll bring it with him ... whew! Well, it's time to head out! Stump and Junior are waiting for us at their Hotel. Longrider and the Sheriff are rolling in from the North. And I'm about to meet some new friends. Our Friday night 'pre-rally' party has begun!Got to admit I never get tired of these roads in Arkansas. Lots of elevation changes, tons of trees and very few straightaways. I'm thinking the Engineers must have rode motorcycles themselves and snuck most of this in? Well, off we go to downtown Hot Springs and folks are waiting for us. Always good to see Stump and Junior; Jr' and I have become friends since the April Hill Country trip. And I get to meet HotRod and his bride along with the lone HD couple. I point out to the HDers quickly that I've got their back and don't put up with the Indian crap .... "I've got an HD myself tucked away." I say. Hey.. ... was good for a smile. After a few in the hotel bar, we're rolling downtown. Now, not to be a dick (but .. sometimes can't help myself) as we're parking the bikes we see another couple on an Indian rolling down main street ignoring our presence. Not to be my normal drama king self, but if you understand the actual situation you know why we are all snickering at this moment. Lets just say .. I don't
believe in coincidence. Sadly, I'm taking off my gloves and can't get to my phone to take a pic. Whoops; did I just say that? Well, they slide out into the distance and we're off to our first stop of the night; Bubba's Brewery! Not only were the beers ice cold but we had lots of choices and .. the food rocked. I'd go back here in a second. On a nice weather day, you've got an outside patio that lets your people watch while you partake. We were able to gather all into a common area and the night is off to a great start. In retrospect we should have just stayed here for a few extra rounds but decided to head over to the Ohio Club. On a Friday nite, turned out to be a bad decision. So, across the street to another brewery throw back a couple and then on to the Copper Penny. I've been here multiple times and always enjoy it. This evening we've got live music up front. However, folks have to get home. Some of us are riding out the following day. And Donnie and I have a lil ride back through deer infested woods. So, it's hugs and back slaps... and we're off. Once back, Donnie breaks out the required night cap, we solved the problem of the world right up until I notice it's after 1am. I'm outa here!Come morning, Jill is back home off work and we're sippn' Java on the front porch watching Donnie
load up his bike. All I've got to do is throw my bags on it so I'm delaying the inevitable as long as possible. I'll be with Donnie the next several days.. but won't see Jill again until late Sept. Their home is located in the woods, most homes far from each other. So we get all the sounds ....and the quiet. Sometimes I don't know how folks can stand living in the city or the close quartered suburbs. I've been spoiled the last 25 years with 'country' living, but they are more secluded than I. Well, can't last forever. Throw my luggage on the bike and we're off to grab Stump. Junior has to work so it's just the 3 of us rolling North. Soon, Hwy 7 is our path to smiles, 150 miles all the way to Harrison. Then we're on to 65 rolling on wider lanes, less curves. But we're getting closer. As we approach Branson, stomach's are rumbling and we see dark skies up on the horizon. A quick detour down to the waters edge and we're sipping some cold ones and grabbing grub at Big Whiskey American bar. Life is good and the weekend is upon us. We depart from parking garage and one quickly realizes that a large bike can just squeeze around the gate blocking cages. They must have left that space there for a reason, don't you think? Any case, we're soon up on Hwy 65 headed towards dark skies. Few miles up the road we pull in to splash gas and as we left the station for a split second the clouds pissed on us .. .then .... nothing. We'd roll in dry with no rain gear today! An hour or so later on 64 and pulling into our new home for the week. I hear "hey Dick!" as I roll up to the office and I know..... my brother Dick has beaten me here.Tim and Rick have rolled in representing the North Winds Chapter and beat me to the punch. I'm busting their balls for trailering but it turned out to be a brilliant choice since they had to deal with serious rains on the road both directions (especially the return trip). Quick check in and we're down in the
mix! Many of these folks I'd seen at Purgatory, others not since Aug '16 . Some I'd never seen and didn't realize they were now regulars and I'm in their territory now. Still we're all IIRA, and that number would grow as several folks rolled in, some by accident (!!) and signed up during the week. One thing becomes evident quickly. This is not a huge event. At max we had approximately 40 bikes in. But contrast that to most events I go to , 50-75 bikes is the norm. These are folks that know each other for the most part. It's not an event that has been publicized nationally to get "all Indian" riders in. There's not push for someone to have to join the IIRA to attend (though I have to ask "why wouldn't you??"). And some folks decide between events to attend due to vaca, so they pick an Annual OR Regional. Still, that 40 bikes parlayed into 50 + folks all riding together daily, and spending evenings together. By the time the day is over I'll finally get to spend some time with Tamara Smith whom I've chatted with for well over a year, hit a small bump in the road with thanks to some clown up North, and reconciled any differences. That alone was worth the trip. H'Not has rolled in from California , we've got folks in from the South, from the East, several couples from the Quanah Tribe (ex. Jay/Suzanne, Darren/Janette), and a lot of folks from the Flatlander's Chapter. Me personally, some of my close friends are here and I'm all good. Seeing man friends that I haven't the last year or so? I'm all good. Making man new friends... I'm all good. This is my kind of Rally. Because it's not just about the people to me ( yes .. it IS the "People not the Place" ) .. but, we've got some great roads around here calling my name. Up to the balcony area by our rooms, few cigars and some Scotch brother Dick brought to savor .. ... finally pull the plug.I've blog'd about my issues with Group rides lately and gotten a lil opinionated on the subject. So much so that I'd spoken to a few folks before we'd arrived and we'd made a decision that 4 or 5 of us would break off after lunch if the riding wasn't .... up to our par. What I didn't know is the folks running the show we're aware that some folks ( not just us) want to do more than just .... putt around for no better term. So, they did something brilliant. Each day we had a planned ride. With 30-40 bikes, they asked folks to put themselves into one of two groups, but ask yourself an honest question(s). Are you an aggressive rider? Are you an experienced rider? The trick and for the most part worked out perfect, was for folks to park their egos and ride with the correct set of folks. Luckily it was even split. All week, we had a 50/50 setup. Our group would head out first with Gary J leading the pack. Right behind us was the second group, usually led by Dan K. The Flatlanders handled this perfect. The second group was riding the posted speed limits and 'enjoying the ride.'. The 'aggressive' group was riding approx 10 over and ignoring them purdy yellow signs as you enter the corners .. well, unless you're rolling at 65 and the sign up ahead says '20'... Hey.. these aren't crotch rockets were on! Still as we head out, I'm wondering how this would play. Any concerns I had are quickly shelved. Gary J is as good, if not better rider than I am, and I'm smiling now as we're scooting through the back roads of Missouri. These guys have not only planned the rides out well, some of them actually came in early and rode a few to validate the quality of the routes.
Professionals! Not sure how the day went by so quickly but we're soon back at the Sand Springs Resort. Nan has flown and made it to the motel, and we've got another surprise. Nick Le has rolled in from AZ on his Scout doing some serious miles around the country. I had the pleasure of meeting him at Durango two years ago when he joined up with the IIRA. This trip I got to know him; great 
guy! Well, Nan is here, H'Not is smiling and the store is now.. Open! There are so many things that allowed this all to flow smoothly. There is a Restaurant / Bar on the premises. H'Nots haves secured a large suite to have a common IIRA area. The resort keeps a huge tent ( 20x40?) in the center for folks like ourselves to use. The place just.... works well. After each ride, every day .. I sneak off for a quick nap. Then, it's find some grub. Then, Gary P kicks off the evening with some games ..contest stuff.. pulling numbers to win some gifts.. and .. every night an opportunity to win upwards of $200 or so. Then, the sipping begins. Hey .. we're in Missouri! This would be our routine pretty much most evenings; and it worked. And .... I'd brought in a lil something special that I failed to mention earlier. At Durango '16 and '17 we had "Durango Debbie" This year I brought her cousin, "Lebanon Linda". The fun with that damned thing we all had , exceeded my expectations. Every morning we'd leave her in a diff' room, to screw with the maids. They find her under sheets, in bathrooms, you name it. We shouldn't be allowed to have that much fun. But, we did.
Well, it's Monday and we've kicked it up a notch the night before. Good thing is .. we have the Gravel bar that not only served a great breakfast, but.... has a full bar. And any full bar, can serve up a Bloody Mary. So, not being shy we do just that. Just enough to get the day going after a spirited evening? Then, it's time to clean up, line up and 0900 ... .. we're rolling! Another day of few hundred miles rolling through southern Missouri. We'd find ourselves at the Hard Times Bar & Grill this day. We had 3 of 'em running around in there for food and drinks, and they loved it. With 40+ of us, you know this was normally a dead day business wise, and they were raking it in over lunch. Their lunch menu was great and I'd go back in a sec. But, off we go back to the resort! Tonight would set a diff' tone. Few of us headed over to the fire pit and kicked it up. Out came some wolf masks .. out came some shirts. We'd don'd the masks the night before screwing around, but this is what we'd been waiting for. The R&R mc had some patches created awhile back, and a swap meet 
was in session. Burn a shirt, get a patch. Seemed fair to anyone that had gone to the event handed those shirts out. Some folks had missed the last event where a video was produced and wanted to jump into the fray. And, a token patch was now available. Score! The process was intentionally away from the group to alleviate any drama. Folks that don't know or understand it all don't need to be part of it. Most didn't care. But for those that did care, were part of it all.... was a cleansing of sorts. Did I mention it was a nice fire?
Well, it's Tuesday. Donnie has to head back to reality. Stump had rolled back on Sunday morning so our tight group is dwindling. He's left me with the MN boys (should I be nervous?). After the standard Gravel bkfst, we're off at .. you guessed it.. 0900hrs! One of the highlights of this day is we're headed to the Ha Ha Tonka State Park. The ride up to the castle has some nice twisties, but ... needed a few miles of 'em! But the view from the top is gorgeous and the history of it, interesting. Imagine, acquiring 5,000 acres, start building it and a year into car crash takes you out. Takes 20 years for your kids to finish the project only to have it all burn down 20 years later. Gotta' suck. Well, it's there for the public now; no doubt it was beautiful back in it's hey day. We had to grab 
lunch of course and this turned out to be an awesome one. Not only was the place really nice, but the owner (Theresa?) was awesome. I don't think she picked up on it initially, but we realized quickly we were in an HD themed location and ran with it. Overall it was great and we offered to send her some Indian item(s) and she promised to hang them up (as she pointed to a corner). But it's progress. Besides, this is one of those places where you put dollar bills on the wall and we left a special one in the center of the HD flag literally, right above us at the table. Question is .. how long with that sticker last? 
Will the bill be there next year when we return? At this point H'Not and Rick D' broke off and headed to the Butcher Store to pick up dinner. He's offered to cook for us all and ... well .. we agreed to it! The picked up some serious quality meats and later on, would cook it to perfection. This would turn out to be one of the best nights overall in my opinion. Liquids were flowing, people had gotten to know each other, friendships had developed.. and.... that steak was damned good! Nan had prepped salads and appetizers, Steve D' manned the grill, and others ( ex Tim and Rick D') were helping out immensely through it all. Did I mention the steaks were awesome? After the cleanup (Tim and others rocked that!), alcohol began to flow, dancing began, and H'Not was manning the audio system. Lets just say.... he needs to practice a lil if his next job is a DJ? And yes.. it was a great night!It's Wednesday .. our last day to ride. But, it's raining. No, it's pouring. But I'm a glass is half full guy. I've got 450 miles or so to do the next day. Nothing like taking a nap with the sound of rain outside. And my friends are here. Besides, you can always find a cold beer here? Rick and Tim kept
their fridge stocked the whole week and I was a bigger mooch than a homeless thirsty Texan. Soon it's coming up on lunch. We had a ride planned but that was canx so Jim M and Dan K jumped in a truck and headed an hour down the road to get all our food 'to go!'. The restaurant was more than appreciative since they'd been planning on us. So now, we've got some good BBQ, rain coming down, cold beer and ... I'm smiling. Eventually a few of us disappear to our rooms. Eventually I'm woken by the sound of Indians. The sun has come out, quite a few folks are stir crazy and they are out and about the last day. With access to leftovers we weren't going anywhere. That steak on day 2 was still damned good as was the chicken breasts. We spent a large portion of the evening catching up, smoking stogies and sippn scotch. Guy next door even brought to bottles to share; he got a stogie for his troubles. Eventually, it's after 1am. There are folks down at the tent howling. We start howling. I know we're waking people up.... it's time to call it a night.
Time to go home. My original plan was to take a 45 deg angle and shoot SW towards home. I've gotten to where I don't over think this stuff. If I'm not on a timeline I'll pull my phone up .. look at the next 150s on the google maps...and ... head that direction. Get gas, repeat. But the previous day, I caught wind that the Flatlanders were headed to Eureka Springs and they'd picked out a route with lots of twisties. So I immediately go into suck up mode .. " can I ride with you?" ... haha... I'm in! Well, weather ain't the best and it's really looking shitty just to the west of us, where we should be heading. Since I'm in the pack, I'm not looking at weather or route.. just rolling in the middle with 7 of us total. Good news is we headed East for away before heading South. Instead of 7, we are 
parallel to in on Hwy 5 , then 95 to 125 which takes us to the Bull Shoals lake area and a Ferry that gets us into Arkansas. Most of the folks have never done the ferry ride. Hell, I thought I was on a diff' ferry that I used to get on at Branson area, but realized quickly .. they all look alike? Anyways, helmets on and we're soon off the Peel ferry and continuing onto Hwy 125 which is now a shitty road. .. they are resurfacing it and there are small rocks/pebbles kicking up for the next 7 miles. Have to admit I'm a notch nervous because we are at 'normal' speed not the reduced speed. Then before you know it, we slide onto Hwy 268/Locust Road. We quickly get up to the posted speed and we're back to rolling as we were prior to that ferry. Not to far ahead we're supposed to be stopping for lunch. Exactly 1.9 miles ahead we coming up on a sweeping left curve and I'm preparing to lean into it. It's not a tight one, one a 45 deg radius and Gary J' is through it and rolling for the next one 1/3 mile ahead. Gary J' is in the lead, Neal is in front of me and I'm the third bike in line to go through the curve. In an instant we have a problem. Neal is a notch wide on the turn and he's turning in tighter as his front tire grabbed the edge of the pavement. We have zero shoulder here and it's your lane or the grass. I'm off the throttle and in shock as I'm right behind his bike now a foot off the road and hes holding on riding it through the ditch. Approximately 100' ahead the front tire caught and the bike flipped head over heels with our brother in it's path. All i remember is myself yelling ' no... no .. NO!" ...as I passed him. As I'm grabbing brakes Gary J' is into his corner and out of sight. It happened that quick. I get it turned about and back to the scened of the accident. Keith is getting off his bike and checking on Neal. I thought we'd lost a brother at this point but he found a pulse and breathing. We're still in the game. Everything after than just blurs together. Three of us getting the bike off him, making the 911 call ... Gary's wife tending to him the entire time keeping him still... and waiting for what seemed a lifetime for the first responders to get to us. As I look at my notes, I see I called 911 a second time, after 13 minutes asking where they were. It was another 10 or so before they showed up .. that's almost 25 minutes. It was over 45 min from my first call and they still didn't have him in the ambulance . Finally over an hour after the incident, we was being moved. Now in all fairness during this time a lot of folks were working on him ( braces, splints, etc).. But the point is... it seemed like a fucking eternity. Neal was headed to a Life Flight chopper to where folks could give him the proper care (Little Rock, AR).The Flatlanders are now in a situation where they need to get to the hospital and follow him in. But, they are eventually headed to NE . I'm headed to TX. At this point we parted ways. We'd gone about 150 miles through this beautiful area and I've got another 400 ahead of me. We said our goodbyes and I'm headed west now... replaying that scened in brain over and over, looking for a lesson learned. For the purpose of this blog, I'll just say... shit happens. No Alcohol was involved. Helmets were on, We weren't speeding excessively. And the real kicker is .. one of the first responders told me it was the THIRD accident this year at this EXACT spot. What was it about that curve that got those folks? I'm not sure. Maybe there is something with the inside lane I didn't see, that I missed , that threw his bike over. Maybe it was the rocks from the previous road and they were in the tread pattern? All I know is I spent 1/2 a week riding behind this man and he's a solid rider. An excellent rider. So.. hence my explanation. I've had close calls. Almost done the same thing myself over the years. Now, getting this down here, off my mind.. time to move on mentally. Time to reach out and see how he's doing. He's got a lot of mending ahead, but I believe we'll be riding together next year, same time. He's a prior Army Ranger and a tough bastard. Please keep him in your prayers!
Now I'm on my way and soon headed through Harrison . Can't determine which direction will keep me driest , so I'm trying to skirt south of the mess in front of. Before I get out of Harrison, it's raining cats and dogs. Quickly pull into an establishment , burn an hour of time and decide I have no choice.. the worst is through. Next 45 minutes light rain then when I hit Fayetteville , I see yet darker skies, but a clearing off the south. Now, I'm rolling 20 to 30 over to get where I need to be. Soon I'm down towards Ft Smith and temps there were 69 degrees in that mess have shot up to 92 deg. Another hour, it's nothing but sunshine and 90s rolling through Oklahoma. I've got nothing but time to think about the accident. The accident I saw last month where a guy went down. I've taken my current route because I've lost my mojo .. my want ..of twisties for the rest of this day. Instead , I'm rolling at a high rate on lots of concrete.
Before the sun settles I'm in the driveway. Luggage can wait until tomorrow. I'm .. .Home Safe Home
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