Ride, Ride, Ride
To Eat
Can you ride too far for good food? I don't think so, and I'm not the only one. The phenomenon of the "Ride To Eat" event (RTE) has been growing tremendously over the past few years. To some extent, it may be surpassing the popularity that endurance rallies have had. Some popular rallies have gone away or cancelled due to insufficient entries to cover expenses. Others are no longer selling out like they had in previous years, or are taking longer to do so. There's no doubt that there is still a demand for events like the Minnesota 1000, Waltz Across Texas or the Buffalo Run, but they seem to be past their more wild heyday, maturing in quality and becoming as much social as competitive events. Further, entry fees are climbing to a point that makes one ask where your money is going and how many weekends of riding you can pay for with that entry fee. As the quality and costs increase, there must be a breaking point where gas, motel costs and entry fees (in some cases in excess of $150) are better spent elsewhere. Perhaps the most positive outgrowth of endurance rallies seems to be that a lot of otherwise weekend riders have learned how to put in big miles in safety and comfort. The country gets much smaller when you no longer consider 1000 miles to be a two or three day trip. Suddenly, heading to Kansas City for lunch is a reasonable ride. The mountains of Colorado are just an easy day away. Meeting friends for a Saturday night crawfish feed in Louisiana then turning toward home the next morning, requires just barely more than a passing thought. "Do I have two thousand miles left in that rear tire and have I got a kitchen pass to leave in the morning and not be back 'til Sunday night?" Besides the personal satisfaction of shrinking your world, it also makes for great workplace conversation: "So, what'd you do this weekend?" "I rode to Nebraska for dinner on Saturday. Took the kids to the Twins game on Sunday afternoon." "What? Really? You rode your cycle to Nebraska and back the same day? Are you nuts? I wouldn't do that in a car!" "Neither would I, but it's different on a motorcycle." Even with the limited riding I did last year, it amazes people that someone would go to Duluth for lunch and come back home for dinner. Just learn how to equip your bike, prepare yourself with some quality riding gear and condition yourself to the mindset it takes to crank out miles. After nearly two wonderful years of this column, I'd been thinking about doing a recap of some of my favorite places. Since spring is in the air and riders are planning how to spend their precious riding time, this seems to like the right time. In no particular order, here they are.
Favorite BBQ Arthur Bryant's
Barbeque
Favorite Texas Style BBQ Mike's
Smokehouse
Favorite Steakhouse Howie G's
Signature Steakhouse
Favorite Molten Lava Filled Burger-the Jucy Lucy Matt's Bar
Best Soul Food Big E's Soul
Food
Best Romantic Restaurant to take Your Best Girl or Guy to: Harbor View
Café
Favorite Joint in the Middle of Nowhere Two Rivers
Saloon
Best View of Lake Superior Sir Benedict's
Tavern on the Lake
Favorite Ribs O'Briens Decoy
Pub & Smokehouse
You don't have to limit yourself to my scribblings, though I would return in a minute to any of them. But, if you want the whole story on any of these, explore the Will Ride for Food Archives. If you want try out the long distance riding world's version of group RTE's, snoop around websites like Herbie Saint's excellent www.rallymasters.org and join the LDRiders e-mail list at www.ldriders.com. You'll find events like the Wet Coast Irregulars Spring Fling in Kirkland, Washington, and the Feast in the East X (that's "10", for those of you from the Minneapolis Public School system), in Statesville, North Carolina, as well as many others. There's no better way to work up a good hunger than to put in a full day in the saddle before dinnertime, and no better reward than good food with good friends. See you on the road. Eat well. Ride well. Got something to say to me? Comments on this article or suggestions for future reviews are welcome from readers at: kevinwynn@visi.com
M.M.M. |
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This article originally appeared in the April
2004 issue of Minnesota
Motorcycle Monthly.
by
Kevin Wynn