Roy’s BBQ RTE: April 27, 2013 - Hutchinson,KS

[roginoz]

Sixth Annual Roy’s BBQ RTE
Hutchinson, Kansas – Saturday, April 27, 2013

BBQ at Roy’s in Hutchinson & Pie at the Carriage Crossing in Yoder. This is not an “official” ROMEO event, but I thought some of you might want to ride over to Hutchinson and join us.

It may seem a bit early to post an April RTE, but I wanted to get the new date out there for those who may be planning their spring rides. April looks to be a busy month in 2013. The Roy's RTE will be one week after the Austin MotoGP and two weeks after the Moonshine Lunch Run.

Year six, already. (Think of all the ribs we've gone through.) The RTE will be a little later this year. We'll have a better chance for good riding conditions (after the cold weather, and before tornado season) for those coming from up north, out west, or the east. It's a matter of safety, rather than comfort.

We’ll meet for lunch at Roy’s BBQ (1018 Nickerson Blvd., Hutchinson - also known as Fifth Avenue) at 11:00 AM. (Optional tire kicking and BS prior to lunch.) It makes for an early start for those riding in the same day, but it lets us beat the crowd. (Late comers get what the early birds didn't eat, and Roy's closes when the meat’s gone.)
Save a room for dessert (yeah, like that's possible,) because right after lunch we’ll make the traditional ride to Yoder for pie at the Carriage Crossing. There’s reserved motorcycle parking on the south side of the restaurant, and plenty of overflow on the north side with the Amish buggies.

After the pie, the Kansas Cosmosphere is worth a visit for those who've not been before. They have American rockets, German V1 and V2s, American and Soviet space capsules, and an SR71 Blackbird and a T-38 hanging in the lobby. The Kansas Motorcycle Museum, in Marquette, is a short ride north. You can see everything in the museum in an hour or less: old board racers, flat trackers, and a lot of the machines we owned or lusted after in our younger days (and still do, if the truth be told.)

Last year we had a record forty-eight in attendance, representing seven states (CO, IL, KS, LA, MO, OK, WI.) We've made special arrangements to allow Texans across the state line but none of them made it last couple of years.

I always buy lunch and pie for the rider traveling the farthest. We've had riders from Louisiana, California, Arizona (twice,) and Wisconsin take long distance honors. The long distance rider also gets his or her name engraved on the legendary Mixon Cup, which is proudly displayed year-round at Roy’s.

[Bob K.]

Roger, a couple of us are planning on attending (you had me at ribs) can you recommend a motel or other place to stay, we,ll come in the 26th, maybe check out the salt mine. Only about 250 miles one way but friend is back on 2 wheels after 30 years so this is a good time for him to get some miles. Any good motels, you can post here or e-mail me at bkoehn@att.net. Thanks Bob K.

[roginoz]

Bob:
Sorry I haven't responded sooner; I just now saw your reply. Some of the Colorado crew stay at the Comfort Inn in Hutchinson. I'm not sure if they're planning to be there again this year or not, put they've been there the past few years. The Cosmosphere is well worth visiting. Some of us may make a trip up to Marquette to the Kansas Motorcycle Museum after we have our pie in Yoder. Also well worth the time. If you haven't been to the salt mine, it's worth going one time just to have been there.
- Roger

[roginoz]

I thought I'd bump this back to the top; less than a week to go. Saturday's weather looks really nice, and BBQ is good anytime.

[roginoz]

We had seventeen bikes, one car, and twenty people show up in Hutchinson for the Sixth Annual Roy's BBQ RTE: Eleven Kansans, Two Coloradoans, two Texans, one Okie, and our long distance winner from Illinois. Four MSTA members, a bunch of folks from the ST-Owners forum, and a number of ROMEOs. Bob rode 700+ miles to claim the long distance free lunch, and have his name engraved on the Mixon Cup.

The food was excellent as always. Bob commented that the only thing better than Roy's ribs was free Roy's ribs. (And drinking from the Mixon Cup, which Anne assured us, just had it's pre-RTE washing.)

Several of us managed to save some room for pie at the Carriage Crossing, in Yoder. Afterwards a few of us headed back to my garage in Wichita, while a couple rode back to Hutchinson for a tour of the Kansas Cosmosphere.