fredz43
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I had the pleasure of spending a great couple of days with a yst forum icon, legend, and all around good guy, Mr. Snakebitten. He is still on his way home from the Romney, WV rally and lately had been working at Indianapolis, IN. When I read that he was foolishly considering spending the weekend attending the Indy 500 car race, I suggested that he was only 3 hours from the "Fasted Dirt Track in the World", the Springfield Mile, which would be run on the same Sunday. I invited him to stay at our humble abode, just one hour south of Springfield. His schedule was a bit uncertain, but he was enthusiastic about seeing his first ever dirt track motorcycle race.
I also sent an mail with a pic of snake and his bike to my dealer, Brad Niehaus, prez of Niehaus Cycles, located 10 miles from me in Litchfield, IL to tell him that I hoped to be able to bring snake and the most tricked out Super Tenere that I had ever seen to meet him and see the shop.
As it worked out, snake found out that there was a campground right on the state fairgrounds where that race was held, so he packed up his bike, truck, and teardrop camper and headed for Springfield. He was aware that I had to attend a family graduation party Saturday afternoon, so after he got settled in at the Springfield campground, he rode his bike down to Litchfield to see the dealership and meet Brad. I was happy to learn that Brad recognized him as soon as he arrived and introduced himself and then gave him a VIP tour of the facility along with a Niehaus Cycles tee shirt.
When I got home from the grad party I saw that I had a PM from snake, saying that he was back in Springfield, so I headed up there Sat evening to meet him and we both then attended the Springfield TT that was run Sat night.
Time out to explain the Texas Bruce reference. If you lived in this part of the Midwest back in the 50's and 60's, you would remember a Saturday morning kids' show called The Wranglers Club that was on a St Louis station. The host went by the name of Texas Bruce. He always had an audience of local school kids and as a small part of his show, would teach a few words of Spanish each week. With that, he had a parting phrase that he closed the show with, "Hasta la vista, vaqueros, I'll be seein' you, wranglers." So, when I told my wife about snakebitten's possible visit, I told her that I knew his first name was Bruce, but didn't know his last name. She said "wait a minute, he comes from Texas and his name is Bruce, so we'll call him Texas Bruce until we find out his real name." We both got a kick out of that. ;D
Here is the only video I could find about the original Texas Bruce: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfoNjSqkK9U
In any case, I also told snake that I would introduce him to some of my Springfield Miler friends. I have been a member of the Springfield Milers BMW MC or 25 years, even though I have only had one BMW, a R1100S for a few months about 10 years ago. They are not your typical BMW club in that they welcome riders of all brands and are what I consider an irreverent bunch of good guys who don't take themselves very seriously.
So, as we left snake's campsite and walked toward the TT track, we came to the Milers fellowship area that is set up twice a year by one of our very generous members so that we have a spot to congregate during the Mile weekends. He features free food and beer, so it is generally a popular spot. As we approached the group there on Saturday evening, one of the Milers saw me and then saw snake and said "Wow, here comes Willie Nelson." I knew that the Milers were an easy going bunch of folks and enjoyed good humored comments, but wasn't sure how snake would take that comment and hoped that he didn't take offense. I later learned this was no problem with him.
Sunday morning saw some semi threatening skies, so we hoped that the weather would hold out so The Mile could be run. As we walked from the TT track area to the grandstands where the mile track was, we stopped to look at a vintage bike display that local riders put on each year. While looking at a very old Harley that one o my friends displays each year, I noticed a few other friends from the area. I introduced snake to them, making a comment about his being from Texas and his name was Bruce, so he was another Texas Bruce. One of my friends immediately said "Hasta la vista, vaqueros!" and we all got a good laugh out of that.
As soon as we heard the bikes practicing out on the track, snake said he wanted to go into the stands right then. I go quite of a kick out of his first reactions, which were about how big the mile track looked and how fast the bikes were going. I had suggested that he might want to wear earplugs, but he said he wanted to experience everything about his first flat track race.
We had a wonderful time. The races were typical Springfield Mile, in that the finish of the final 25 mile race came down to the wire, this time with Bryan Smith winning on his Kaw 650 powered bike, just barely ahead of the two factory Harley XR750's. The Kaw 650 engine bikes have done well in recent years and their numbers are increasing. There was also a Triumph twin and a Ducati in the final race. Cory Texter was also on the Yamaha FZ07 powered flat tracker and he looked good in the corners, but didn't have the top end power down the long straights. This was the premier appearance of this first FZ07 tracker and as is normal, will have to go thru some teething problems before becoming competitive, but it is good to see the effort starting. The Ducati rider was doing very well, but had been having some steering wobbles all day and during the final race, he lost it on the front straight right in front of us. The bike actually went toward the inside wall, with him sliding face first in what he later described as doing a Pete Rose slide at 130 mph.
As for more on the Willie Nelson thing, there was a young boy sitting to my right in the stands and his father was to his left and snake was sitting to my left. Sometime during the program the father asked me if anyone had ever told my friend that he looked like a young Willie Nelson. I thought, did he say YOUNG?' (Just kidding, Bruce). When snke overheard that, he told the father that this happened all the time and quite often people would ask if they could take a picture with him. I was glad to hear that, as I now knew that he hadn't taken offense to the previous day's Wllie comment from my Miler friend. When the races were over and we were preparing to leave the stands, the father handed me his cell phone and asked if he and his son could get a picture with "Willie". Of course Bruce obliged and that father and son went home with a great souvenir.
Of course, I had to get a pic also, just to prove that I was at the Springfield Mile with a celebrity.
We then walked back to the Miler hospitality area where we helped take down the pop up canopies so the increasing winds wouldn't blow them down. Then we sat down for some of that free food and a few cool ones.
Bruce/Willie/snakebitten took a lot more pics than I did, so I hope that he will post some here. I want to thank him for stopping in my area for a couple of days and spending some time with me and a few friends while taking in a couple of the famous Springfield races. I told him that it was one of my best adventures and I wasn't even riding my bike. ::008::
I also sent an mail with a pic of snake and his bike to my dealer, Brad Niehaus, prez of Niehaus Cycles, located 10 miles from me in Litchfield, IL to tell him that I hoped to be able to bring snake and the most tricked out Super Tenere that I had ever seen to meet him and see the shop.
As it worked out, snake found out that there was a campground right on the state fairgrounds where that race was held, so he packed up his bike, truck, and teardrop camper and headed for Springfield. He was aware that I had to attend a family graduation party Saturday afternoon, so after he got settled in at the Springfield campground, he rode his bike down to Litchfield to see the dealership and meet Brad. I was happy to learn that Brad recognized him as soon as he arrived and introduced himself and then gave him a VIP tour of the facility along with a Niehaus Cycles tee shirt.
When I got home from the grad party I saw that I had a PM from snake, saying that he was back in Springfield, so I headed up there Sat evening to meet him and we both then attended the Springfield TT that was run Sat night.
Time out to explain the Texas Bruce reference. If you lived in this part of the Midwest back in the 50's and 60's, you would remember a Saturday morning kids' show called The Wranglers Club that was on a St Louis station. The host went by the name of Texas Bruce. He always had an audience of local school kids and as a small part of his show, would teach a few words of Spanish each week. With that, he had a parting phrase that he closed the show with, "Hasta la vista, vaqueros, I'll be seein' you, wranglers." So, when I told my wife about snakebitten's possible visit, I told her that I knew his first name was Bruce, but didn't know his last name. She said "wait a minute, he comes from Texas and his name is Bruce, so we'll call him Texas Bruce until we find out his real name." We both got a kick out of that. ;D
Here is the only video I could find about the original Texas Bruce: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfoNjSqkK9U
In any case, I also told snake that I would introduce him to some of my Springfield Miler friends. I have been a member of the Springfield Milers BMW MC or 25 years, even though I have only had one BMW, a R1100S for a few months about 10 years ago. They are not your typical BMW club in that they welcome riders of all brands and are what I consider an irreverent bunch of good guys who don't take themselves very seriously.
So, as we left snake's campsite and walked toward the TT track, we came to the Milers fellowship area that is set up twice a year by one of our very generous members so that we have a spot to congregate during the Mile weekends. He features free food and beer, so it is generally a popular spot. As we approached the group there on Saturday evening, one of the Milers saw me and then saw snake and said "Wow, here comes Willie Nelson." I knew that the Milers were an easy going bunch of folks and enjoyed good humored comments, but wasn't sure how snake would take that comment and hoped that he didn't take offense. I later learned this was no problem with him.
Sunday morning saw some semi threatening skies, so we hoped that the weather would hold out so The Mile could be run. As we walked from the TT track area to the grandstands where the mile track was, we stopped to look at a vintage bike display that local riders put on each year. While looking at a very old Harley that one o my friends displays each year, I noticed a few other friends from the area. I introduced snake to them, making a comment about his being from Texas and his name was Bruce, so he was another Texas Bruce. One of my friends immediately said "Hasta la vista, vaqueros!" and we all got a good laugh out of that.
As soon as we heard the bikes practicing out on the track, snake said he wanted to go into the stands right then. I go quite of a kick out of his first reactions, which were about how big the mile track looked and how fast the bikes were going. I had suggested that he might want to wear earplugs, but he said he wanted to experience everything about his first flat track race.
We had a wonderful time. The races were typical Springfield Mile, in that the finish of the final 25 mile race came down to the wire, this time with Bryan Smith winning on his Kaw 650 powered bike, just barely ahead of the two factory Harley XR750's. The Kaw 650 engine bikes have done well in recent years and their numbers are increasing. There was also a Triumph twin and a Ducati in the final race. Cory Texter was also on the Yamaha FZ07 powered flat tracker and he looked good in the corners, but didn't have the top end power down the long straights. This was the premier appearance of this first FZ07 tracker and as is normal, will have to go thru some teething problems before becoming competitive, but it is good to see the effort starting. The Ducati rider was doing very well, but had been having some steering wobbles all day and during the final race, he lost it on the front straight right in front of us. The bike actually went toward the inside wall, with him sliding face first in what he later described as doing a Pete Rose slide at 130 mph.
As for more on the Willie Nelson thing, there was a young boy sitting to my right in the stands and his father was to his left and snake was sitting to my left. Sometime during the program the father asked me if anyone had ever told my friend that he looked like a young Willie Nelson. I thought, did he say YOUNG?' (Just kidding, Bruce). When snke overheard that, he told the father that this happened all the time and quite often people would ask if they could take a picture with him. I was glad to hear that, as I now knew that he hadn't taken offense to the previous day's Wllie comment from my Miler friend. When the races were over and we were preparing to leave the stands, the father handed me his cell phone and asked if he and his son could get a picture with "Willie". Of course Bruce obliged and that father and son went home with a great souvenir.
Of course, I had to get a pic also, just to prove that I was at the Springfield Mile with a celebrity.
We then walked back to the Miler hospitality area where we helped take down the pop up canopies so the increasing winds wouldn't blow them down. Then we sat down for some of that free food and a few cool ones.
Bruce/Willie/snakebitten took a lot more pics than I did, so I hope that he will post some here. I want to thank him for stopping in my area for a couple of days and spending some time with me and a few friends while taking in a couple of the famous Springfield races. I told him that it was one of my best adventures and I wasn't even riding my bike. ::008::
