 Return to
Niobrara by Lee Bruns For my first ever assignment for MMM I was sent to Niobrara, Nebraska to report about the town. Easy, right? I mean how much could there possibly be to see and do in Niobrara? Well, as it turns out, there is so much to see and do that even listing it all is tough. To make matters worse, Teamstrange was holding their "Return to Niobrara" event there that weekend also.
The Teamstrange Return to Niobrara event included a presentation by Arlene Liska, author, world traveler and pioneer of motorcycle adventure touring. Back in the early 60's, Arlene and her husband Danny left their ranch near Niobrara on their BMW and crisscrossed the planet traveling to the ragged edges of both North and South America before crossing the ocean to explore Africa and Europe. Danny has since died but Arlene is as enthusiastic about riding today as she was 40 years ago. Arlene shared her experiences not only of her world travels, but also of Niobrara, the town. Niobrara, we learned, is one of Nebraska's oldest towns as well as its youngest.It was originally a campsite of the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1804. It was easy to see why they stopped here. Niobrara has been relocated twice to get above the floodwaters of the Niobrara and Missouri rivers. Main street of the second Niobrara location is right down the middle of the golf course of the present Niobrara. Each day of the Teamstrange event there was something new to do. Friday morning was the observation ride, a casual 150-mile ride of the meandering river roads on both the Nebraska and South Dakota sides of the river. Friday evening we ran the AMA poker run. Saturday morning we took off to ride the 14 hour Road Rally, but returned at noon to participate in the much hyped "Townies vs. Bikers" softball game. The townies chose to hit home runs so that they did not have to run around the bases preferring a more leisurely 'mosey' after belting the ball over the fence. It was a sad day for the motorcycle team as the Teamstrage softball team went down in grand defeat.
We awoke at 3am to a ferocious thunderstorm that roared through the campground snapping tent poles like so many . . . . snapped tent poles. Even through the worst of the storm, as the riders huddled under the picnic shelter the mood would not be dampened. One rider, of high spirit, in a scene straight out of "The Truman Show" shook his fist at the sky shouting "IS THAT ALL YOU'VE GOT?" That's when the hail started. Sunday dawned bright and sunny as the riders gathered their gear and strapped it to their bikes for the ride home. At the two Rivers Saloon awards were handed out to the winners of the events and the raffle. My lovely wife Donna was lucky enough to win a extremely rare autographed copy of Danny Liska's book "Two Wheels to Adventure" that she promptly gave to me. I have been wanting a copy of it for myself but at 400 dollars per copy it was out of my price range. Whether you're looking for a great ride, great food, or great people you can't go wrong with Niobrara, Nebraska and the Two Rivers Saloon. If we close our eyes and wish really hard, maybe Teamstrange will make the "Return to Niobrara" an annual event.
M.M.M. |
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This article originally appeared in the September
2004 issue of Minnesota
Motorcycle Monthly.
My
wife, Donna and daughter Sammi and I piled in to Metallic
Waste (Ed- Next month we will bring readers a full story on
this most interesting of sidecars) and headed down to
Niobrara Thursday night July 29th. It was a beautiful night
for a ride with a near full moon. We arrived around midnight
and set up our tent in the dark atop the hill in Niobrara
State Park unable to see much of the scenery by the light of
the bikes head lamp. We awoke in the morning to the 35-mile
view from the peak of the park. The 360ūpanorama ranges from
rolling prairie to lowland lakes and waterfowl
areas.
Lunches
and evening meals as well as cold beverages were all served
at the famous Two Rivers Saloon (Ed-See